The German Policy of Revolutionary France: A Study in French Diplomacy during the War of the First Coalition 1792-1797 Volume I

This book is a masterpiece of scholarship, and the only comprehensive work on its subject in any language. It will prove indispensable for all students of Franco–German relations during the Revolutionary period—and since.Sydney Biro has systematically investigated every available source. With the mass of new material coördinated and interpreted in the light of modern scholarship, he is able to guide the reader through the labyrinth of fact and fancy which surround the main issues. The reader will admire Biro’s placing of thesis and antithesis, both in internal policies of France, and in foreign policies, in such a way that the narrative never flags. Fact is added to fact until each point is demonstrated, and then the story focuses on the next aspect of the subject.French diplomacy during the years in question was colored by France’s yearning for the Rhine frontier. Biro begins his work with a discussion of how the question of the Rhine frontier originated. He analyzes completely every aspect of the problem during the five years concerned, and he shows how the Rhine problem has always affected Franco–German relations. Throughout he is concerned with the economic, moral, and political considerations as well as the military ones. INTRODUCTION 1. The Natural-Boundary Theory 2. Origin and History of the Rhine Problem PART I. THE CONVENTION. Valmy and Basel I. THE SETTING 1. Germany and the French Revolution 2. Origin of the Foreign War 3. The French Army in July 1792 4. Valmy, and Its Effect upon the International Situation 5. The Diet and the War II. THE EARLY REVOLUTION AND THE RHINELAND 1. General Custine and the Rhineland 2. The Convention’s Decrees of November 19, and of December 15 and 17, 1792 3. The “Club” and the Elections 4. Aix-la-Chapelle III. FRANCO-GERMAN RELATIONS UNDER DANTON 1. The Desertion of General Dumouriez 2. The Fall of the Gironde, and the Creation of the First Committee of Public Safety 3. The First Committee of Public Safety and Prussia 4. The First Committee of Public Safety and Austria IV. FRANCO-GERMAN RELATIONS UNDER ROBESPIERRE 1. The Creation of the Great Committee of Public Safety 2. The Great Committee and Germany V. HAMBURG DURING THE FIRST Two YEARS OF THE WAR VI. THE EARLY THERMIDORIANS AND GERMANY 1. The Coup d’état of 9 thermidor 2. The Early Thermidorians and the War 3. The Early Thermidorians and Austria 4. The Early Thermidorians and Prussia 5. Probst VII. THE EARLY THERMIDORIANS AND THE LEFT BANK 1. Revolutionary Finance 2. The Left Bank South of the Moselle 3. The Left Bank North of the Moselle 4. Culture Through Plunder 5. The Administrative Organization of the Left Bank 6. The Psychological Crusade VIII. THE FRANCO-PRUSSIAN TREATY OF BASEL, APRIL 5, 1795 1. First Principles and First Parleys 2. The Harnier Negotiation IX. THE TREATY OF BASEL — Continued 1. The Committee’s Peace Powers Determined 2. Hardenberg and the Signing of the Treaty 3. The Reception of the Treaty of Basel X. THE NEUTRALITY OF NORTHERN GERMANY AND THE QUESTION OF THE LEFT BANK 1. The Revised Neutrality Treaty 2. Reports on the Question of Keeping the Left Bank 3. The Self-Invited Guest 4. Gervinus’ Mission to Paris 5. The Marandet-Harnier Conversations 6. Views of Sieyes and Barthélemy XI. FRANCE AND HESSE-CASSEL MAKE PEACE, AUGUST 28, 1795 XII. THE WAR AND THE LINE OF DEMARCATION 1. The Military Situation April-September 1795 2. The Line of Demarcation in Practice XIII. FRANCE, PRUSSIA, AND THE PEACE OF GERMANY 1. The Question of Franco-Prussian Alliance 2. Armistice and Separate Peace 3. Good Offices 4. The Ratisbon Diet and Peace 5. The Danish Mediation XIV. THE LEFT BANK AFTER THE TREATY OF BASEL 1. In General 2. The Left-Bank Émigré Problem 3. Gloom Settles on the Prussian Left Bank 4. Little Food, Less Money, but No Dearth of Rumors 5. The Essay Contest 6. The Vote upon the Boundaries of the Republic 7. The Reorganization of the Left Bank XV. THE LATE THERMIDORIANS AND AUSTRIA 1. The Kroch-Merlin of Thionville Parley 2. Princess Marie Thérèse Charlotte (Madame Royale) 3. The Théremin Mission 4. Von Andlau and De Rayneval 5. Boissy d’Anglas and Poteratz 6. The Poteratz Mission to Vienna 7. The Political and Military Situation on the Eve of the Directory XVI. CONCLUDING REMARKS — CONVENTION