Coalitions and Kingdoms: Revolutionary Statecraft in the Western Mediterranean

• Other Authors: Meeks, Joshua (authoraut)
• Format: Others
• Language: English; English
• Published: Florida State University
• Subjects: History
• Online Access: http://purl.flvc.org/fsu/fd/FSU_migr_etd-9402

This project explores the impact of the French Revolution on the creation and maintenance of states and alliances in the Western Mediterranean between 1789 and 1796. The radicalization of French foreign policy due to the Revolution destabilized the international dynamic of Europe, challenging the Old Regime conception of the state as existing within a balanced international system. France extricated itself from the former system, and in its place the statesmen of the Revolution proposed a vision of the state as an instrument for radicalization and the spread of republican ideas. This isolated France and resulted in the creation of the First Coalition, vaguely committed to defending international order and stability but made up of traditional rivals. However, neither the radical revolutionary conception of the state nor the Old Regime counter-revolutionary conception of the state survived contact with the Western Mediterranean. The inability of the British to establish an acceptable alternative to the French version of the state resulted in the alienation of their allies and laid the groundwork for the reentrance of the French into the international system by 1795. As the French once again began to take part in international statecraft, both the British and French reevaluated their place in relation to each other and in the international system, establishing preconditions for an increasingly stable conception of the state after 1796, especially through the efforts of Napoleon in Italy. === A Dissertation submitted to the Department of History in partial fulfillment of the Doctor of Philosophy. === Spring Semester, 2015. === March 27, 2015. === Corsica, French Revolution, Mediterranean, Napoleon, Statecraft === Includes bibliographical references. === Rafe Blaufarb, Professor Directing Dissertation; Aimee Boutin, University Representative; Jonathan Grant, Committee Member; Charles Upchurch, Committee Member; Laurie Wood, Committee Member; Darrin McMahon, Committee Member.