The Making of a Terrorist : Alexandre Rousselin and the French Revolution

Much has been written about the French Revolution and especially its bloody phase known as the Reign of Terror. The actions of the leaders who unleashed the massacres and public executions, especially Maximilien Robespierre and Georges Danton, are well known. They inspired many soldiers in the Revolutionary cause, who did not survive, let alone thrive, in the post-Revolutionary world. In this work of historical reconstruction, Jeff Horn recounts the life of Alexandre Rousselin and narrates the history of the age of the French Revolution from the perspective of an eyewitness. From a young age, Rousselin worked for and with some of the era's most important men and women, giving him access to the corridors of power. Dedication to the ideals of the Revolution led him to accept the need for a system of Terror to save the Republic in 1793-94. Rousselin personally utilized violent methods to accomplish the state's goals in Provins and Troyes. This terrorism marked his life. It led to his denunciation by its victims. He spent the next five decades trying to escape the consequences of his actions. His emotional responses as well as the practical measures he took to rehabilitate his reputation illuminate the hopes and fears of the revolutionaries. Across the first four decades of the nineteenth century, Rousselin acquired a noble title, the comte de Saint-Albin, and emerged as a wealthy press baron of the liberal newspaper Le Constitutionnel . But he could not escape his past. He retired to write his own version of his legacy and to protect his family from the consequences of his actions as a terrorist during the French Revolution. Rousselin's life traces the complex twists and turns of the Revolution and demonstrates how one man was able to remake himself, from a revolutionary to a liberal, to accommodate regime change. Much has been written about the French Revolution and especially its bloody phase known as the Reign of Terror. The actions of the leaders who unleashed the massacres and public executions, especially Maximilien Robespierre and Georges Danton, are well known. They inspired many soldiers in the Revolutionary cause, who did not survive, let alone thrive, in the post-Revolutionary world.In this work of historical reconstruction, Jeff Horn recounts the life of Alexandre Rousselin and narrates the history of the age of the French Revolution from the perspective of an eyewitness. From a young age, Rousselin worked for and with some of the era's most important men and women, giving him access to the corridors of power. Dedication to the ideals of the Revolution led him to accept the need for a system of Terror to save the Republic in 1793-94. Rousselin personally utilized violent methods to accomplish the state's goals in Provins and Troyes. This terrorism marked his life. It led to his denunciation by its victims. He spent the next five decades trying to escape the consequences of his actions. His emotional responses as well as the practical measures he took to rehabilitate his reputation illuminate the hopes and fears of the revolutionaries. Across the first four decades of the nineteenth century, Rousselin acquired a noble title, the comte de Saint-Albin, and emerged as a wealthy press baron of the liberal newspaper Le Constitutionnel. But he could not escape his past. He retired to write his own version of his legacy and to protect his family from the consequences of his actions as a terrorist during the French Revolution.Rousselin's life traces the complex twists and turns of the Revolution and demonstrates how one man was able to remake himself, from a revolutionary to a liberal, to accommodate regime change. "Alexandre Rousselin's biography explores how the French Revolution inspired an educated Parisian to become a terrorist and then spent the next 45 years dealing with the consequences of his choices. Rousselin became the confidential secretary of Camille Desmoulins and Georges-Jacques Danton before undertaking two missions to Champagne as a commissioner for the Committee of Public Safety in the fall of 1793. His enthusiastic implementation of the Terror left him vulnerable to denunciation as a terrorist after the fall of his patrons. Sent before the Revolutionary Tribunal, he was acquitted, as part of political shift that brought down Maximilien Robespierre. Rousselin spent the next few years in and out of jail as he sought rehabilitation despite ongoing denunciations. The coup d'etat of Napoleon Bonaparte in 1799 made him an outsider. Rousselin had to find other means of earning a living and being useful. Acquiring a noble title, he helped to found the liberal standard-bearer Le Constitutionnel the best-selling newspaper in the world in the 1820s where he fought against censorship and for limitations on government authority paving the way for the Revolution of 1830. Although the newspaper made him rich and influential, he retired in 1838 to write history in order to avoid the consequences of his past as a terrorist. His biography explores the role of emotions and institutions across the Age of Revolution for the large generation of survivors of this exceptional trauma: Rousselin's choices show how a revolutionary became a liberal"-- Provided by publisher Cover The Making of a Terrorist Copyright Contents Acknowledgments Introduction: A Romantic Remembers the French Revolution 1. Education for Change, 1773–​1792 2. The Making of a Terrorist, 1792–​1794 3. The Consequences of Terror, 1794–​1796 4. Rehabilitation: Political, Literary, and Social, 1795–​1815 5. Liberalism and the Press, 1816–​1838 6. Remembering and Forgetting the French Revolution: Memories and Memoirs Conclusion: Satisfactions and Regrets of a Life in Revolution Appendix: Alexandre Rousselin and the Historians Timelines Notes Selected Bibliography Index This is the story of how an educated young man decided that the French Revolution was worth the use of state-sponsored violence, chose to become a terrorist to protect the republic, and spent the next five decades defending his actions.