Finding Aid for the Collection of French Political Broadsides LSC.0530

Finding aid prepared by Susan Cribbs with assistance from Elizabeth Sheehan in the in the Center for Primary Research and Training (CFPRT), 2007; machine-readable finding aid created by Caroline Cubé.
UCLA Library Special Collections
Online finding aid last updated 2007.
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Contributing Institution: UCLA Library Special Collections
Title: A Collection of French Political Broadsides
Identifier/Call Number: LSC.0530
Physical Description: 1 unknown (3 oversize boxes)
Date (inclusive): 1788-1871
Abstract: Collection of broadsides, by various regimes, and occasionally popular societies, composed and posted between the years 1793 and 1871.
Physical Location: Stored off-site. All requests to access special collections material must be made in advance using the request button located on this page.
Language of Material: Materials are in English.

Restrictions on Access

Open for research. All requests to access special collections materials must be made in advance using the request button located on this page.

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Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], A Collection of French Political Broadsides (Collection Number 530). UCLA Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library, University of California, Los Angeles.

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Processed by Susan Cribbs with assistance from Elizabeth Sheehan in the in the Center for Primary Research and Training (CFPRT), 2007.
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UCLA Catalog Record ID

UCLA Catalog Record ID: 9942327383606533 

History

As all of these broadsides were posted in times of exceptional political and social upheaval, they demonstrate the various governments' perception that this was an important medium by which information could be immediately conveyed to as large of an audience as possible. During the Revolution, broadsides were used, by both the government and the populace, as a tool to identify and unify 'good', patriotic citizens and define and detain 'bad', rebellious citizens. Thus, during the Terror, the broadsides were frequently used to announce exceptional legislation designed to render ever larger groups of people 'suspect' or to encourage fraternity through the celebration of new revolutionary holidays. However, defining patriotic behavior was not the task of the government alone; most of the Revolution-era broadsides are saturated with letters professing loyalty to the government and the nation, which individual citizens, popular societies, cantons, communes, departments, and regions submitted.
After the Revolution, and most significantly beginning with reign of Napol£on, the broadsides cease to be a means of popular expressions of loyalty and demonstrations of patriotism. From the time of the First Empire through to the fall of the Paris Commune, the broadsides are increasingly devoted to the posting of new legislation, procedures for public celebrations, tax collection and election dates, and for public addresses, which often state the needs of the government for the funding of wars or the hospitalization of soldiers.
Perhaps the most remarkable theme to emerge from the collection is that these broadsides were an outlet to communicate information to or within cities or departments determined to be in a state of emergency. This is most exemplified in the two major seiges that book-end the collection; much of the National Convention's communications revolve around the twin uprisings of the Vend£e and the seige of Lyon. The broadsides issued from the Convention demonstrate that the Jacobin government, anxious to use Lyon as an example of what happens to cities populated by 'bad' citizens, was quick to decree the destruction of the city. The Lyonnais representatives, however, also used the broadsides, first, to persuade the Lyonnais to cease their rebellion and, second, stall the government's execution of its plans. Similarly, the collection ends with the struggle between the Paris Commune and Thiers' temporarily relocated government. The Parisian-based Central Committee used the broadsides to inform and instruct citizens about what must be done to defend Paris against the national government. Theirs', isolated in Versailles, used the broadsides to post information, within the walls of Paris, regarding the immenent re-capture of the capital.

Scope and Content

Collection of broadsides, by various regimes, and occasionally popular societies, composed and posted between the years 1793 and 1871.
All of the documents included in this collection are broadsides, by various regimes, and occasionally popular societies, composed and posted between the years 1793 and 1871. Material in this collection has been placed into chronological order and has also been separated according to regime. This was seen as an important classificatory system because the political crises endured during each regime was specific to the form of government that was in place. The collection is further separated according to the city from which the broadside originated, since the two primary cities--Paris and Lyon--addressed issues specific to their contingencies. The broadsides issued from Paris trend toward an international, as well as national, consideration of the political and military events occuring, whereas those emanating from Lyon are localized in their subject matter.
The topics addressed in the broadsides range from acknowledgment of patriotic gifts, acts of treason, public celebrations, and personal sacrifices. Nearly all of the documents disclose newly enacted or revised laws. The vast majority of the documents also report on military strategies, requisitions, conscriptions, theaters, and deaths. There are occasional references to trials, republican or refractory priests, births, and marriages. The documents belonging to the period of the Commune are frequently used to post information regarding the elections of officials.

Organization and Arrangement

Arranged in the following series:
  1. National Convention, 1792-1794
  2. Directory, 1796-1797
  3. First Empire, 1805-1814
  4. Restoration and Cent jours, 1815-1829
  5. Louis-Napol£on Bonaparte, 1851
  6. Paris Commune, 1871.

Subjects and Indexing Terms

France -- History -- Second Empire, 1852-1870 -- Sources.
France -- Politics and government -- Sources.
France -- History -- Louis Philip, 1830-1848 -- Sources.
France -- History -- Restoration, 1814-1830 -- Sources.
France -- History -- Wars of the Vend£e, 1793-1832 -- Sources.
France -- History -- Consulate and First Empire, 1799-1815 -- Sources.
France -- History -- Louis XVI, 1774-1793 -- Sources.
France -- History -- Revolution, 1789-1799 -- Sources.