Guerra d’indipendenza americana nel dibattito politico francese ai tempi della Legislativa (1791-1792)

Through the interventions of Alvise Zenobio, a Venetian nobleman in exile in London, the essay proposes the war begun in 1792 as the key to distinguishing classical republicanism from revolutionary republicanism. Zenobio was a republican who distanced himself from 1789 because the choice of war confirmed for him the violent and plebeian nature of the French Revolution. This approach makes it possible to return to the theme of war by proposing it as the true instrument of democratization of the revolutionary process in France. Comparing the positions of Brissot and Robespierre, it seems clear that the precedent of the American War of Independence was the natural point of reference for Brissot’s bellicism, while at the same time challenging Robespierre’s instrumental choice of preferring peace. As a result, in France, as in America, the war became revolutionary, paving the way for the figure of the soldier ready to enter politics and become the synthesis of the whole nation: America would have Washington, France would have Bonaparte.