Published by Longman (1994), price £12.99
ISBN 0-582-49051-0
Paperback, 226 pages.
First published in 1986 and reprinted regularly.

Enthusiasm for Orders-of-Battle, uniforms and the lives of personalities is quite understandable, but the events of the wars can only be properly understood in the context of the political policies (internal and external) deployed by each state, which drove all of Europe into 23 years of war. Our view of the Revolutionary War tends to be of a fledgling Republican France facing the combined efforts of the reactionary monarchist states, financed by Britain for her own colonial purposes. The truth is rather more complex, especially as the induction of a republic into the world system had occurred with the acceptance of the USA just six years before the Revolution. The three main Continental Powers were more concerned with territorial gains in Eastern Europe and rather welcomed a weakened France. The Revolutionaries themselves needed war to survive their internal problems and even felt that some of the other Powers could become allies.

How these national policies turned into an international war is at the heart of Professor Blanning's book, which draws together the many threads into a coherent whole, written in a clear narrative that makes it possible to keep track of the myriad personalities and policies. The first chapter adopts a theoretical approach to the start of all wars and can be skipped over, especially as the whole lot is rejected at the end of the book as being of little help in defining the underlying causes. Most helpfully, the author's first substantive chapter reviews the history of the previous half-century to explain each nation's policy, notably Prussian and Russian expansionism compared with the strains in the Austro-French alliance; the latter placing particular emphasis on France's steady decline and the growing desire for national regeneration.

The main narrative, broken up into three chapters, looks at the developments on the Continent either side of the crucial declaration of Pillnitz (27 August 1791), including France's internal struggles up to the start of the war in April 1792, followed by Britain's growing involvement as Revolutionary armies advanced into the Low Countries during 1792-3. The author rightly postulates that the War of the Second Coalition was really the First Coalition War renewed after a brief pause for breath, but the chapter on this war is primarily used to discuss why France's traditional support for Turkey (to counterbalance Austria), turned into Bonaparte's 1798 attempt to take Egypt, and how the Russians became involved in Central Europe.

Using reliable secondary material from the main European languages, the author coherently argues that the Revolutionaries and their opponents fundamentally misunderstood what was happening internally in the other's territory and thus greatly underestimated their opponent's ability to fight. The Revolutionaries felt that military expansion would obscure their internal troubles, while the other Powers were more concerned with making territorial gains at the expense of a weakened France. The resulting wars, which reshaped Europe and catapulted Napoleon to power in place of the Revolutionaries might never have happened, at least on its scale, without some major political blunders and mistakes in calculating other state's reactions.

Enjoyable, thought-provoking reading, which will be illuminating to all enthusiasts, and should be bought at this price. As well as being extensively footnoted, there is a detailed list for further reading in all languages. Recommended.

Other Book Reviews:

Imperial Bayonets
Wellington's Peninsula Victories
British Forces in the West Indies
Recollections of Rifleman Harris
Nelson's Battles
Anatomy of Glory

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