A young French aristocrat's view on the Great French Revolution (on the example of Chateaubriand's “Experience on the ancient and modern revolutions”)

Abstract

The essay analyzes one of the earliest works of Chateaubriand, a famous French writer, philosopher and statesman of the early XIX century, whose heritage is poorly explored in our country. In “Historical, political and moral experience of the ancient and modern revolutions” Chateaubriand discusses his concept of revolution and raises the question of the relationship between revolution and Christianity. He writes about fragility of the religions, but he also sees religion as a cause for the revolution. The essay analyzes Chateaubriand’s understanding of the phenome non of the revolution, the cause of his negative perception of the revolution and compares Chateaubriand’s interpretation of the revolution with modern interpretations. The article investigates the writer's attitude to different religions, mostly to Christianity and to the Catholic clergy and refutes a well-known thesis that in his youth Chateaubriand spoke negatively about the Christian religion and was almost an atheist. The article also explores Chateaubriand’s perception of the Middle Ages and compares his ideas to the concepts of French Romanticist historians, who saw the French Revolution as the end of the struggle which had begun during the Crusades. This perception reflected the beginning of the rehabilitation of the Middle Ages in French historiography.