The dilemmas of dictatorship. Emergency powers and political pathologies in French revolutionary debate (1789-1793)
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Abstract
Frequently used by 20th century historiography to mark the different times and phases of French Revolution, the notion of «dictatorship» played an important role in the political language of French Revolutionaries too. This article aims to reconstruct the main trends in the revolutionary discourse on dictatorship, concentrating on the dif- ferent political meanings given to the word «dictature» in some of the most decisive single moments of the Revolution, from the beginnings of the Assemblée Constituente to the creation of the Comité de Salut Public.
Keywords
- French revolution
- dictatorship
- emergency
- despotism
- revolutionary classicism
