2019, Vol., No.40

Korean Review of French History 2023 KCI Impact Factor : 1.67

pISSN : 1229-702X
https://journal.kci.go.kr/krfh

Michel Vovelle, an eminent historian of French Revolution, passed away in October 2018. He started up as apprentice of social history under the direction of Ernest Labrousse. But after having witnessed the bankruptcy of social history in the middle of the 1960’s, he switched over to l’histoire des mentalités, to stand tall as an Ancien Régimeist through some excellent researches about dechristianization and death in the long-term historical perspective. In this regard, his appointment as successor to Albert Soboul was somewhat unexpected. However, he not only managed remarkably to steer the scientific mission of the commemoration of bicentenary of the French revolution, but also contributed successfully to renovation and enlargement of studies on French Revolution. It’s above all because on the one hand he expanded objects of historical research, on the other hand he had a totalizing prospect to bring together l’histoire des mentalités and social history, even further political history into an historical entity. It is La découverte de la politique(1993) that this aspect of his totalizing ambition was revealed vividly. This book pictured a dramatic scene that a modern political theory and praxis emerged at a short decade of revolution, showing many indices of political, social, demographic, economic, cultural, religious, geographic levels through more than 300 maps. And this discovery of ‘la politique’ on the spot of French revolution suggests to us extraordinary historical real instances and reflective momentum to understand the political accumulation and revolution as the irreversible historical event.

This article aims to highlight the administration of ponts et chaussées under the French Revolution, which has long been ignored in historiography. At the beginning of the Revolution, in order to establish the New Regime, the revolutionaries put themselves in the administrative reform including the ponts et chaussées. Convinced by the need to have ‘one administration’ for the maintenance and repair of roads that represent the general interest, the revolutionaries centralize the administration of ponts et chaussées around the Corps des ponts et chaussées created in 1716 by removing all public works institutions of pays d’Etats. In the wartime circumstances, the financing of roads, which was first in charge of department in 1791 because of the financial crisis, was also centralized in the name of the Republic’s salvation, for which the revolutionaries were forced to take all possible measures. At the same time, the central administration strengthens the inspection on finances and imposes standardized management system in all departments. Thus, the administration of bridges and roads is included in the standardization caused by the Revolution, and it can be seen as an aspect of strengthening the administrative domination of the central power upon the department.

They were raised as good Christians in the schools of Guizot and became school teachers under the watchful eye of the priest during the Second Empire. Against the competition of Congregational schools, the only way to resist was to demonstrate the superiority of their methods by leading students well to obtain good exam results. Having managed to reconcile everyone during the dubious years of defeat and Moral order, they could be Republicans and promoters of secular education while remaining practicing Christians. Thus, at the end of their lives, they became essential characters in the village or urban community.