Listening to all the coverage of the Arab Spring, the Egyptian revolution and counterrovolution has made me curious. Did it get covered in countries that weren't Britain or British colonies? Or France?
What was the opinion? Did any unexpected countries have vested interests?
France was apprised of the events in the soon-to-be-former colonies with a considerable delay. The "Gazette" (one of Paris' only newspapers) offered a French translation of the text of the Virginia Resolution of May 15 1776… when they finally recieved it from London on July 22 1776. Here are the photos of that article. The news of the Virginia congress was only the sixth bit of news in this issue: First they mention the Prince of Morocco's visit to Cairo, the murder of the Consul of France in Alexandria ("… was shot at close range in the guts"), and the departure of the Duc of Chartres from Cadix.
You'll notice that the location of the news is LONDON, not Virginia.
In the next few weeks, they continue to publish little events, but they are always from the British perspective. They complain about how much the political tensions have hurt business in the Bermudas. They congratulate the English on the efficiency of their peace-keeping activities. There is never any mention of the Declaration of Independence!
At the time in France, the press was extremely regulated by the State and the King. Not only did the newspaper not want to overstate the events in the colonies, they didn't want to even touch the idea of revolution against a monarch. This is all I feel comfortable saying, but I hope that helps complicate the issue a little…
