A Continent Watches Paris Burn

When Parisians stormed the Bastille in July 1789, initial reactions across Europe ranged from cautious optimism to outright celebration. Christoph Martin Wieland, the influential German poet and publisher, typified this early enthusiasm. Like many Enlightenment thinkers, he saw potential for constitutional monarchy emerging from the chaos. Yet within months, his optimism curdled into alarm as revolutionary violence escalated. By May 1790, Wieland condemned the National Assembly’s actions as replacing “aristocratic and monarchical despotism with democratic tyranny.” This dramatic shift in perspective mirrored broader German intellectual circles’ disillusionment with revolutionary France.

The Road to Disillusionment

The turning point came with the October Days of 1789, when a Parisian mob forcibly relocated Louis XVI from Versailles to the Tuileries Palace. Wieland’s subsequent writings reveal a profound philosophical crisis:

1. Constitutional Concerns: He argued the revolutionaries violated proper separation of powers
2. Historical Precedent: Advocated gradual reform following Britain’s constitutional model
3. Missed Opportunities: Believed France could have achieved reform through cooperation with nobility

Johann Gottfried Herder’s journey proved even more dramatic. The Weimar intellectual initially championed the revolution, but by 1792 recoiled at “the rule of embittered and insane mobs.” His maritime metaphor—watching France’s revolution like a shipwreck from safe shores—captured Germany’s growing detachment.

The German Sonderweg Debate

A fascinating intellectual divergence emerged among German thinkers regarding their nation’s political future:

Conservative Reformists
– Wieland, Herder, and later Kant
– Advocated gradual constitutional evolution
– Saw the Reformation as Germany’s “revolution”
– Warned that without reform, revolution would come

Radical Sympathizers
– Johann Georg Forster (Mainz Republic supporter)
– Georg Friedrich Rebmann (radical journalist)
– Recognized France’s path as unsuitable for Germany
– Advocated top-down reforms by enlightened rulers

Immanuel Kant’s 1795 Perpetual Peace articulated a middle path—republican principles within monarchical frameworks, rejecting both absolutism and direct democracy. His constitutionalism reflected Germany’s distinctive political philosophy.

The Burkean Earthquake

Edmund Burke’s Reflections on the Revolution in France (1790) resonated powerfully in Germany. Friedrich Gentz’s 1793 translation became required reading among intellectuals. Burke’s core arguments found particular traction:

1. Historical Continuity: Rights as inherited rather than abstract
2. Practical Statesmanship: Reform through existing institutions
3. Dangers of Theory: Warning against untested political systems

His prediction of military dictatorship (anticipating Napoleon) and critique of confiscated church properties struck German observers as prophetic as revolutionary violence intensified.

Paine’s Radical Counterpoint

Thomas Paine’s Rights of Man (1791-92) offered the revolutionary antithesis to Burke:

– Popular Sovereignty: Constitutions as creations of the people
– Universal Principles: Rights transcending national traditions
– Republican Peace Theory: Elected governments less warlike

Paine’s subsequent persecution during the Reign of Terror ironically validated Burke’s warnings about revolutionary excess, even as his ideas continued influencing democratic movements.

The German Legacy

This intellectual confrontation left enduring marks:

1. Constitutional Monarchism: Shaped 19th-century German states’ development
2. Reform vs Revolution: Framed debates leading to 1848 revolutions
3. Philosophical Foundations: Influenced Hegel’s dialectic and Marx’s historical materialism

The German Enlightenment’s fractured response reveals a fundamental tension—how to reconcile progressive ideals with historical particularity. As Wieland presciently observed, the true test wasn’t destroying old systems, but whether new orders could heal the wounds of transition. This dilemma continues resonating wherever societies confront revolutionary change.