The Role of Presentism and Nationalism in the Historiography of the French Revolution From Marxist Interpretation to Conspiracy Theory

Abstract

During the twentieth century, the interpretation and conceptualization of the French Revolution shifted from a traditional Marxist interpretation of the revolution as a class movement to new interpretations focused on irrationality and conspiracy. The people’s fear became the primary justification for a social behavior that revealed an ancestral predator instinct behind modern high ideals of democracy. This essay retraces the evolution of the interpretation of the French Revolution in historiography, focusing on the reasons behind the extraordinary appeal of the conspiracy theory, in particular the role that nationalism and presentism had in influencing and biasing historians’ perspectives. Finally, the essay argues the need for a revision of the French Revolution. Focusing on the practical necessities of the masses of French peasants and the sans-culottes, instead of their foolish credulity, can help historians to reconnect empathically with the past, avoiding the dangerous filter that their anxiety for the present and their political ideology provide.