Republics at War, 1776-1840 : Revolutions, Conflicts, and Geopolitics in Europe and the Atlantic World

This book places itself at the intersection of two fields of study-military history and political ideologies-in order to investigate the troubling links between warfare and republicanism during the Revolutionary era. This international team of historians probes the dynamics of nations born of revolutions, and the violent confrontations that erupted as republicans carried their principles beyond their borders. The collection presents fresh work, including articles by scholars who have not previously published in English. Their wide-ranging inquiries highlight the impact of war on slave emancipation in the Caribbean and the United States, as well as the attempts to impose republicanism through warfare in Ireland, Italy and Spain. They trace debates in theaters, diplomatic communiqués, and conscription strategies to understand the meaning of war in the name of a republic. Together, the contributions reveal the profound, often damaging, and sometimes liberating consequences of those combined military and political undertakings.