Perhaps they would, but they would be wrong. Intrinsically so: reaction by definition wants an impossible return the past; revolution may make use of past examples, but it looks to the future. To compare mourning a man who, among other things, came up with what remains the motto of the French Republic with mourning a man who, by what Vovelle points out was his failure to understand history, at best contributed inadvertently and against his will to events benefiting humanity, and at worst was largely at fault for many of the major catastrophes of the late 18th century, is completely ludicrous.
I don't, of course, say this for you, since I'm sure you'll agree, at least in large part, with my assessment. Nevertheless, I find it worthwhile to point out that, if on the surface it seems reasonable to compare the two "extremes" of commemoration of the Revolution, it doesn't take much investigation to realize just what an erroneous comparison that is.
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2009-01-22 07:08 pm (UTC)I don't, of course, say this for you, since I'm sure you'll agree, at least in large part, with my assessment. Nevertheless, I find it worthwhile to point out that, if on the surface it seems reasonable to compare the two "extremes" of commemoration of the Revolution, it doesn't take much investigation to realize just what an erroneous comparison that is.