From the book
The Gods Are Athirst
Anatole France · Diotimos Editions · 2026
Browse this book’s lexicon →Meaning
Related words and phrases.
Fédéralisme is federalism; fédéraliste names its supposed adherent. In these revolutionary disputes they function as charged classifications, not neutral membership of a present-day constitutional party. Gamelin couples federalists with treachery, while the soldier outside the theatre says they forge chains. Robespierre’s teaching then makes federalism the damned opposite of unity and indivisibility in Gamelin’s creed. Dubosc dies under the label and the associated charge of conspiracy against the Republic’s unity. The record of what these accusations do is not independent proof that every person so named shared one programme or intended enslavement and slaughter.
Places to read
- Chapter I, paragraph 5Frenchtraîtres fédéralistes: a partisan category condemned to death. Gamelin’s response to the petition.
- Chapter V, paragraph 39Frenchles fédéralistes nous forgent des fers: opponents imagined as makers of chains. The young soldier harangues the crowd, accusing Marat of sleeping.
- Chapter XIII, paragraph 12Frenchdans le fédéralisme, la damnation: in federalism, damnation. Gamelin’s political creed borrows the grammar of salvation.
- Chapter XIX, paragraph 21Frenchcomme fédéraliste: as a federalist. Dubosc is sentenced under a political label tied to the Republic’s unity.