----------------- HES POSTING ----------------- A quick Google search shows that the phrase originated with Georges Clémenceau in the debates with Déroulède and others concerning the first centennial commemoration of the Revolution in 1889. At the time, Clémenceau did represent the pro-Revolutionary, although non-socialist Left. During the Bicentennial of 1989, Mitterrand repeated the phrase. It was generally intended to mean that you have to consider the revolutionary phenomenon as a whole without picking and choosing the more moderate changes (or in more recent times the struggles for human rights) and shoving the Terror under the rug (which the Bicentennial nevertheless tended to do). For some sympathizers with the Revolution, the accent was on the inevitable tragedy of violence used in the struggle for freedoms, while for others it could serve as a justification for violence in future revolutionary struggles. Martin S. Staum ------------ FOOTER TO HES POSTING ------------ For information, send the message "info HES" to [log in to unmask]