I was reading a bit about the various Allied Coalitions arrayed against the French Republic in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, and it felt like you had all these European monarchies who wanted to destroy France because they felt existentially threatened by this radical new form of government. It seemed pretty easy to draw a parallel between that and the Western world's reaction to Soviet Communism in the 20th century.
Does this intuition hold water at all? How does it fall apart?
For example, European monarchies were still pretty interested in destroying France after Napoleon became Emperor, so it clearly wasn't just an issue of Republicanism. Did they transmute their fear of Republicanism to a hatred of the Napoleonic dynasty?
Also, if Republicanism did play a factor, why did European monarchies seem to care way less about America's experiment in governance? Was it an issue of, "Those guys are a bunch of hick farmers on the other side of the globe," or was another reason predominant?
I guess a more direct question would be this: What role did Republican ideology play in France's foreign relations from this time period? How and why was it similar or different to other ideology-based diplomatic problems?
Thanks for your time!
I think you might be interested in Anatomy of Revolution by Crane Brinton.
Does this intuition hold water at all? How does it fall apart?
Crane underlies some patterns and constructs a model fitting both the Russian and French Revolutions. I know linking to wikipedia is frowned upon but I feel it's pretty appropriate here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Anatomy_of_Revolution
There are definitely many parallels, Robespierre and Lenin, Napoleon and Stalin being two of them (Europeans still feared Napoleonic France even after revolutionary republicanism got toned down just as they feared Stalin's Socialism in one Nation after World revolution got toned down).
I guess a more direct question would be this: What role did Republican ideology play in France's foreign relations from this time period? How and why was it similar or different to other ideology-based diplomatic problems?
The creation of the "sister-republics" in conquered territories as client states is one example of this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sister_Republic
Just as of course, the creation of Socialist Republics in Eastern Europe as client states in conquered territories was an example for the Soviet Union.
Also, if Republicanism did play a factor, why did European monarchies seem to care way less about America's experiment in governance? Was it an issue of, "Those guys are a bunch of hick farmers on the other side of the globe," or was another reason predominant?
The American Revolution was not entirely ignored either in the continent. On the contrary of course, France even supported the Colonies. This did come back with a vengeance, as Lafayette returned to France with considerable revolutionary zeal. At first a similar pattern actually occurred in France at the onset of the Revolution, with the belief that a weakened France would be a boon for its neighbours. But this started to change once the royal family got into personal danger and were executed.
And this is where the parallel with the American Revolution indeed falls flat. The Americans broke free from a monarchy, but the monarchy wasn't really native to their territory and the position of the royalty or their lives did not get into danger. The French monarchy as a whole was uprooted on the other hand, one of the oldest and most powerful in all of Europe.
For your other points DeSoulis's answer should suffice. While Napoleon indeed seemed hardly as radical as the leaders of the first years, he was still a revolutionary. The legal prerogatives of church and old nobility in the territories he conquered were still dramatically cut, even if they were no longer executed or exiled, or the churches closed. Even in Napoleon's France the church had to obey the state, not the other way around. The conservative powers that fought against Napoleon and dominated Europe until 1848 wanted to preserve the powers of church and nobility.
A good book which details among many things the ideal of "Gallicanization" of Europe by the French revolutionaries, is "Revolutionary France, 1770-1880" by Francois Furet.