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From:
[log in to unmask] (Marcel Claessen)
Date:
Mon May 14 08:10:33 2007
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Re. the Condorcet quote by Hayek: ??? la guerre comme ??? la guerre!

Yuri Tulupenko's references and Alain Alcouffe's remarks have gratefully 
scattered my disbelief of Condorcet's proposition for the PHYSICAL 
destruction of historical artefacts. But still: his politico-parliamentary 
statement and the consequent burning of deeds of nobility etc. (more than 
symbolic, but would this have eradicated ALL historical evidence?) must 
have made (some) sense in 1792. Perhaps in the way that the burning of 
books had been a common - though unsuccessful -  symbolical procedure of 
Royal censorship in the Ancient Regime. Condorcet made his proposal at a 
time when - following the bad performance of the French army at the start 
of the first Coalition War (april 1792 -  the Austro-Prussian Coalition 
was preparing for the invasion of France. In order to counter this threat, 
fierce  revolutionary propaganda had to be made for the levy of 
volunteers, and ... ??? la guerre comme ??? la guerre! The bad turn of events 
in the war was caused, it was believed, by counter revolutionary treason 
in France and by the desertion of a large part of the aristrocrat officer 
corps. This First Revolutionary War itself was the French respons to the 
Coalition's Declaration of Pilnitz (August 1791) threatening the 
revolutionary parliament and demanding no less than the full restauration 
of the Ancien Regime.

Marcel Claessen

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