The French Revolution of the End of the XVIII Century in the Historiography of the Last Third of the XIX – the Beginning of the XXI Century

Abstract

The article traces the methodological foundations of the study of the French Revolution at the end of the XVIII century and conceptual changes in its interpretation from the last third of the XIX to the beginning of the XXI century.

In the last third of the XIX century in French historiography, positivism occupied a dominant position, the principles of which were outlined by A. Comte back in the 30s. Under his influence, historians began to turn to the study of archives, universities and historical periodicals were revived. The study of the Great French Revolution was carried out by the school of A. Aulard, who is credited with developing its political history.

The Russian and Ukrainian historiography of this revolution also acquired a professional appearance, based on the same principles of positivism and became famous for the creation of the “Russian-Ukrainian historical school” – N.I. Kareev, I.V. Luchitsky, M.M. Kovalevsky, E.V. Tarle. The school, influenced by the realities of Russian reality and Marxism, made an important contribution to the development of the agrarian aspect of the revolution.

From the end of the XIX century world historiography was strongly influenced by neo-Kantianism, especially by the Baden school of W. Windelband and H. Rickert. As a result, this led to the creation of the well-known Annales school. The school considered historical facts to be psychological facts. The transition to the study of the psychology of the masses during the revolution was carried out in France by historians of the socialist direction - the pioneer was J. Lefebvre. These historians were followers of J. Jaurès.

The article traces conceptual changes in the interpretation of the French Revolution at the end of the XVIII century – changes in both French and Russian, Ukrainian, Soviet historiography. It is noted that an important stage in the formation of a new conceptual image of the revolution was its anniversaries – the 190th, 200th anniversary, and world discussions around its cardinal problems.

The article provides an overview of the points of view of French, American, Russian scientists and makes a sad conclusion that over the past decades, the study of the revolution in Ukraine has come to naught.