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When the armies of the French Revolution crossed the frontier of the Holy Roman Empire in 1792, their proclaimed objective was to spread liberty, equality, and fraternity and their slogan was 'war to the châteaux, peace to the cottages'. They had been assured by the Brissotin orators of the National Assembly that the appeal of this combination would prove irresistible to the oppressed peoples they were seeking to liberate. Not the least of Ute Planert's achievements in her very long but enthralling book is to show how this emancipatory mission was doomed from the start. The crucial passage is reached on page 134 where she demonstrates that even those Germans who entertained some sympathy for the revolutionary programme were immediately alienated by the actions of the French soldiers. Of the many illustrations, the most poignant is the story of the young man who donned his best suit before sallying forth to greet his liberators. But before he could make his speech of welcome, they stripped off his suit, taking his watch and wallet into the bargain. He escaped in his underwear, sadder but wiser.
The best of ideological intentions were wrecked by material reality. With no resources of their own, the French were obliged to make 'war sustain war' by living off the land...