The federative movement in general: social and political characteristics.

After seeing what fédérés did in an official capacity, we can now turn to what they did and said of their own account. First, fédéré writings will be considered to determine what fédérés wanted. Then, the political tendencies of the federations will be discussed, paying particular attention to whether individual associations were Jacobin, Bonapartist, or a mixture of both. Finally, the extent of the movement and the social basis of the associations will be assessed. Fédéré writings Fédéré writings give us the common denominator of fédéré aspirations. Any movement which wished to emphasise unity had to be built on certain common principles and objectives. Significantly, most of these were closely associated with the early years of the Revolution. Historians have recently placed great stress on how, through the passage of time, more and more Frenchmen were alienated by the evolution of the Revolution, and how opposition to it slowly mounted and gained force. Internecine battles between groups of men who initially had supported the Revolution eventually fragmented the movement and weakened it to the point that Napoleon was able to impose dictatorship. Observers in 1815 repeatedly pointed out that the federative movement had drawn on men from all epochs of the Revolution. This amalgamation was brought about by the experience of 1814. Invasion, occupation, return of intransigent émigrés and Bourbon government had combined to remind patriots of what they had fought to achieve during the early years of the Revolution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]