the New Regime Transformations of French Civic Order, 1789 1820s

This work examines the development of a new civic order in France after 1789, tracing the New Regime's evolving civic values, policies and institutions. Topics explored include the shifts in lawmaking and local authority, the creation of public primary schools and experiments in public assistance. “ The New Regime is a refreshing departure from [the new revisionist] orthodoxy, Woloch takes a long view of the Revolution, from 1789 to the Restoration, even to 1830, so that the period of the Terror ceases to dominate. He sees the Revolution essentially as a constructive project, which tore down the Old Regime but put in its place a New Regime of revamped central and local government, wider political participation, the establishment of public education and public welfare systems, trial by jury and universal military service. . . . He brings to bear an immense amount of archival research in order to test the success of the revolutionary project. . . . But in spite of that vastness, he writes elegantly, clearly, with a light touch and a certain wit. . . . The most significant contribution of Woloch’s book is to highlight the difficulties faced by the architects of the new civic order, and not just in terms of counter-revolutionary or religious opposition. . . . Woloch amply demonstrates that the interests of building the state directly conflicted with the building of the civic order.” —Robert Gildea, Merton College, in Times Literary Supplement