How was the French Revolution perceived in other states considered 'republican' such as Venice or the Swiss Confederacy?

by johhny-turbo
microtherion

Here's a paper that discusses this question in considerable detail regarding Switzerland: http://www.academia.edu/1347816/The_Helvetic_Republic_an_ambivalent_reception_of_French_revolutionary_liberty

To summarize some of the points:

  • Switzerland at the time did not have much of a concept of individual liberties (as opposed to collective self rule), and even less of a concept of equality of individuals.
  • There were quite a few Swiss who agreed with the principles of the French Revolution, both on philosophical grounds and out of self interest (e.g. inhabitants of rural regions who wanted equal rights with the citizens of the cities who ruled them).
  • The massacre of the Swiss Guards at the Tuileries on 10 August 1792 considerably cooled Swiss sympathies for the revolution.
  • The authorities dealt very harshly with people advocating for French Revolutionary ideas, e.g. the authors of the "Stäfner Memorial" of 1794.
Feezec

Also, were the polish commonwealth and Dutch republic still around at this time? Weren't they relatively democratic? What did they think. What did British parliamentarians think, especially in light of the English civil war a few centuries back?