Abstract
Having briefly outlined the official policy of the British government regarding the Revolution, I now turn to an examination of Burke’s more radical alternative. This chapter will show that Burke’s conservative crusade is fueled by a particular understanding of the Revolutionary threat and its wider implications for the stability of the Commonwealth of Europe. For Burke, 1789 signifies more than a mere shift in personnel within the French state which other European powers can watch with impartiality. Unlike the Glorious Revolution of 1688 or the American Revolution of 1776, both of which Burke supports as revolutions “within a tradition”, he conceives the French upheaval as a complete “revolution in sentiments, manners, and moral opinions”.1 In its proclamation of Jacobinism, Atheism, and Regicide, the French Revolution seeks to undermine the very foundations of European civilisation, as outlined in Chapter 3. Further, the transnational character of its ideological challenge means that the Revolution will necessarily expand beyond the borders of its country of origin to infect all other members of the Commonwealth. And finally, because the revolutionaries adopt the non-military means of sedition and subversion to propagate their principles, the “example of the conduct of France during peacetime” is even more dangerous to the European powers “than a state of open war”.2
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
Notes and References
Works, VI, p. 369, cited in Canavan, “Edmund Burke as a Reformer”, in The Relevance of Edmund Burke, ed. P.J. Stanlis (New York, 1964), pp. 85–108; Reflections, in WS, VIII, p. 72.
Michael Freeman, “Burke and the Theory of Revolution”, Political Theory, vol. 6 (1978), pp. 277–99 (p. 280).
Cobban, The Debate, p. 4. See also Ian R. Christie, Wars and Revolutions. Britain 1760–1815 (London, 1982), p. 212. While the French Revolution can in retrospect be recognised as one of the most decisive events for European international relations, it was some time before the struggle became the dominant theme in European affairs. The destruction of Poland and the fate of the Ottoman Empire remained salient and often overriding issues for the major powers in the first few years of the Revolution, and the notion that 1789 might spread to other states was not yet taken seriously. Hence, a pamphlet produced by the Austrian chancellor entitled “Reflections on the Pretended dangers of Contagion with Which the New Constitution of France Menaces Other Sovereign States”, dismissed the idea of the French Revolution having international consequences.
See Gordon Craig and Alexander George, Force and Statecraft, Second Edition (New York, 1990), p. 25.
Conor Cruise O’Brien, “A Vindication of Edmund Burke”, The National Review, December 17, 1990, pp. 28–35, (p. 30). The early sections of the Reflections are devoted to countering Price’s sermon.
Remarks, in WS, VIII, p. 462. Post-1945 East European intellectuals discuss the notion of “civil society” in a strikingly similar way. For them, intermediate institutions were essential in undercutting the arbitrary power of the totalitarian regime. See T.G. Ash, The Uses of Adversity (New York, 1989), pp. 193–95; 270–74.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Copyright information
© 1995 Jennifer M. Welsh
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Welsh, J.M. (1995). Burke’s Reaction to the French Revolution. In: Edmund Burke and International Relations. St Antony’s. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230374829_5
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230374829_5
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London
Print ISBN: 978-1-349-39230-8
Online ISBN: 978-0-230-37482-9
eBook Packages: Palgrave History CollectionHistory (R0)