Nonviolence, violence and revolution: Political demonstrations and collaborative protest in Paris, 1787--1795

Parisian protests during the French Revolution have been known largely for their violent excesses, and used by scholars such as Francois Furet, Simon Schama and Arno Mayer to attempt to place violence at the center of the Revolutionary experience. However, the Revolutionary development of the relatively nonviolent forms which have dominated contention in France over the last two centuries -- including petition-campaigns, banquets, mass-meetings, and most centrally political demonstrations -- has been almost entirely overlooked. Utilizing a wide variety of newspapers, pamphlets, correspondence, journals and other contemporary sources, this dissertation posits the Revolution to be a central moment in the development of the Parisian contemporary protest "repertoire," and highlights the fraternal, collaborative aspects of the protest campaigns of 1787-1795. Over eighty-five percent of all identified street-protests remained physically nonviolent, as did over ninety percent of all demonstrations. With the rise of alternatives to physical violence, the later appears only a secondary strategy which protest organizers adopted reluctantly. Parisian protesters predominantly attempted to effect change from within the system, occasionally turning to violence only after other repeated attempts had failed.