Abstracts

Panel 2: Alliances (Day 2)

Chair: Clément Thibaud (Nantes)

Paul Chopelin, Université Lumière Lyon 2 (France), “Popular Royalism in France (1789-1900)”

La question du royalisme populaire en France a longtemps constitué un impensé de la recherche historique. Les travaux de Jean-Clément Martin pour l’Ouest ou, plus récemment, de Valérie Sottocasa pour le Midi ont démontré l’existence d’un engagement royaliste assumé au sein des milieux paysans et ouvriers, groupes sociaux traditionnellement associés à la défense de la Révolution. La notion d’anti-révolution, élaborée par les historiens français dans les années 1980, pour qualifier un mécontentement populaire purement circonstanciel, intrinsèquement apolitique, qu’il faudrait distinguer d’une conscience contre-révolutionnaire propre aux élites, est ainsi largement remise en question. En relevant d’autres exemples, sur une plus large échelle géographique et chronologique, il est possible de faire apparaître ainsi un autre aspect du militantisme royaliste, qui permet de mieux comprendre les enjeux des affrontements politiques en France au cours du XIXe siècle.

For a long period of time, the question of popular royalism in France has been unthought-of by historical research. Jean-Clément Martin’s work about the Vendée or, more recently, Valérie Saccatosa’s about the Midi have shown that an asserted royalist commitment existed among peasants and workers, these two social groups being traditionally linked with the defense of the Revolution. The concept of “anti-revolution” developed by French historians in the 1980s to describe a purely circumstantial and inherently apolitical popular discontent, which should be distinguished from a counter-revolutionary awareness proper to elites, is thus largely questioned. It is possible, by collecting other examples on a wider geographical and chronological scale, to conjure up another aspect of royalist activism and therefore, to better understand the stakes of political conflicts in France during the 19th century.

Steinar A. Saether, University of Oslo (Norway), “Decorations as Signs of Royalism during the Latin American Wars of Independence”

The paper discusses possible meanings of medals and orders awarded by the Spanish monarchy to indigenous leaders during the wars of independence. Should they be understood as proofs of indigenous royalism /loyalty to the crown or were they primarily an instrument used by the royalists to secure loyalty in the future? What value were ascribed to them by the parties involved? The paper uses the case of Antonio Núñez, cacique of Mamatoco, to explore these issues.