The first of the term "Révolution française".
- Thread starter sotos
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If we take the start date of the revolution as 5 May 1789 (the opening of the Estates General in Versailles), then Google Ngram Viewer tells us that the expression had already occurred in print nine times in the century before the event and even two cases in the 1600s. But the sudden rise in use of the phrase in the years 1791-1804 shows that it came into early currency with its present meaning.
Of course, none of this shows the context in which the phrase was used...
Of course, none of this shows the context in which the phrase was used...
«Mais c’est une révolte? — Non, Sire, c’est une révolution!»
Réponse du duc de LA ROCHEFOUCAULD-LIANCOURT (1747-1827), à LOUIS XVI (1754-1793), réveillé le soir du 14 juillet, à Versailles.
L' HISTOIRE EN CITATIONS
According to a book of mine, the American Revolutionary War and the resulting democratic constitution of the United States were already described in France by the contemporaries as a revolution. In July 1789 the Duke de La Rochefoucauld-Liancourt and the French king could understand the concept "Revolution" as a fundamental transformation of the constitution and the structure of the state, even if at that time neither the historical meaning of the Storming of Bastille nor its further development could be clear to him.
Réponse du duc de LA ROCHEFOUCAULD-LIANCOURT (1747-1827), à LOUIS XVI (1754-1793), réveillé le soir du 14 juillet, à Versailles.
L' HISTOIRE EN CITATIONS
According to a book of mine, the American Revolutionary War and the resulting democratic constitution of the United States were already described in France by the contemporaries as a revolution. In July 1789 the Duke de La Rochefoucauld-Liancourt and the French king could understand the concept "Revolution" as a fundamental transformation of the constitution and the structure of the state, even if at that time neither the historical meaning of the Storming of Bastille nor its further development could be clear to him.
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Thanks for the answers. Even if the above citation is a myth (as the reference is of 1883), it seems that "revolution francaise" occured around the revolution francaise.