The Vendée War and the Identity of the French Revolution

Abstract

In French history, culture diversity differed from the imagined community of the modern nation-state. In the case of Vendée, local identity showed that there was no homogeneity between the provinces and Paris under the ancient régime.Even after the French Revolution, the French government tried to regenerate the French nation by misplacing the memories. However, Vendée tried hard to maintain their local identity and to transfer it into a resistant force.The dispute of genocide highlights these two long held approaches still occupying the two sides of the spectrum of French Revolution. Furthermore, the local identity continues to fight against the general tendency of centralization.

法國多樣性文化所造成的地方特殊性，與近代民族國家意圖建立的想像共同體相違，在大革命期間，透過全民入伍法案的激化以及旺代戰爭的爆發，呈現出法國在舊制度下不為同一體的特徵。對「大屠殺」議題的爭論，更突顯此一不同質性延續至今依舊存在。經由革命建構民族國家的過程中，法國透過共同的遺忘使法蘭西民族再生，旺代則透過共同的記憶使地方認同凝聚。此二種力量佔據法國認同問題光譜的兩端，持續影響法國歷史上的抉擇與發展。