Etudes et leçons sur la Révolution Française

Book excerpt: Alphonse Aulard (1849-1928) was the first French historian to use nineteenth-century historicist methods in the study of the French Revolution. Pioneered by German historians such as Leopold van Ranke, this approach emphasised empiricism, objectivity and the scientific pursuit of facts, rather than the philosophical and literary concerns that had guided earlier scholars. Aulard's commitment to archival investigation is evidenced by the many edited collections of primary sources that appear in his extensive publication record. In these eight volumes of papers analysing the French Revolution (published 1893-1921), Aulard sought to apply the principles of historicism to reveal the truth and dispel myths. The work draws on earlier journal articles and lectures which Aulard delivered as Professor of the History of the French Revolution at the Sorbonne, a post he had held since 1885. Volume 2 (1898) covers the September Massacres of 1792 and the establishment of the Consulate in 1799.