Of the statement of fundamental values produced by the National Assembly on August 26, 1789 at the start of the french revolution of 1789. Intended as a precursor to the drafting of a new constitution, itself part of a wider process of national reform and regeneration, the Declaration set out to articulate the principles that underpinned the transfer from an ancien regime based upon ABSOLUTISM, hierarchy, and privilege to one founded upon individual rights, equality, and liberty. Article 3 made clear the basis of the new governmental order by affirming that sovereignty emanated from the nation, not the monarch. Election would accordingly be the mechanism for the expression of national sovereignty. Liberty, property, security, and freedom from oppression (the last being left ill-defined) were listed as rights inherent in each person. Equality was not a right as such, though all men were equal in rights. Specific individual entitlements included freedom of religion and expression of opinion, freedom from arbitrary arrest, and equality before the law. The Declaration, particularly in its philosophy of natural law and social contract, reflected the predominant discourse of the enlightenment. LOUIS XVI initially refused to approve the document, but did so in the aftermath of the OCTOBER DAYS. Its principles were intended to have universal applicability and, even more than those already proclaimed in the American Declaration of Independence (1776), they remained an inspiration for liberalism and, where necessary, for revolutionary action. The Declaration was much later incorporated into the constitution of the
FIFTH REPUBLIC.
Riom Trials (1940-2) These were mounted by the authoritarian vichy regime against those alleged to have been responsible for the collapse of France in the face of hitler’s invasion early in WORLD WAR II. The administration was eager to exact revenge on the leading politicians of the THIRD REPUBLIC, especially those of the popular FRONT, by channeling towards them the public anger stemming from the defeat of June 1940. A special court was therefore established at Riom, near to Vichy itself. Those in the dock included the politicians reynaud, blum, and daladier, together with General gamelin. They faced charges not for starting the war, but for having failed to prepare France sufficiently. The accused, notably Blum and Daladier, easily turned the tables on prosecution lawyers ill-equipped for the task at hand. By spring 1942, the trial was an embarrassment. The Germans were especially angry that the defendants had not been indicted for initiating the war. Eventually the process was suspended, and in April 1943 the Germans took Blum and Daladier into custody. The collapse of the trials provided further proof to French public opinion that Vichy was not in control of its own destiny.
Risorgimento Though broadly synonymous with ITALIAN UNIFICATION, this word highlights particularly the senses in which “resurgence” or “resurrection” involved cultural as well as political objectives. Having begun to flourish in a literary context during the eighteenth century, the concept then became closely associated with the cause of NATIONALISM, and particularly after 1847 when CAVOUR gave his propagandist newspaper the title II Risorgimento. Later, “liberal” Italy would create a myth of Risorgimento in which he and other protagonists (most notably garibaldi, mazzini, and VICTOR EMMANUEL ii) were misleadingly believed to have worked as one. Though many historians and politicians, especially within Italy, continue to revere the Risorgimento, the movement arguably produced only a premature form of unification that encouraged abuse of state power and aggressive nationalism, especially under fascism. Tellingly, MUSSOLINI frequently referred to the task of having still to complete such “resurgence.”
Rivoli, Battle of The concluding victory (January 14, 1797) in a series of successes achieved during the french revolutionary wars by the so-called Army of Italy over the Austrians and Piedmontese. These gave France control of much of northern Italy and established the military reputation of the Army’s newly-appointed commander, the future napoleon i. The Austrian general,
Alvinczy, had divided his forces, thus enabling Napoleon to concentrate his own men and beat the enemy in detail. Massena’s troops, which had arrived at the battlefield by a series of forced marches, played the key part in the engagement. Victory at Rivoli and the subsequent occupation of Mantua allowed Napoleon to advance across the Alps towards Vienna. This threat, together with a measure of French success in Germany, led on to eventual Austrian acceptance of the Treaty of CAMPO FORMIO in October.
World History
