Robert Darnton's The Great Massacre

When analyzing the periodic shifts in the governments and regimes of the 18th and 19th centuries, one must wonder to what extent the cultural aspects of each countries respective society affects the manner in which the state is governed and led. It cannot be denied that the promotion of culture in different states results in the promotion of nationalistic ideas and tendencies, to the point where each citizen feels dedicated to their country and worthy of being called a “German,” for example, rather than just some other inhabitant of land in a country. Some cultural aspects of societies all across the world (and particularly throughout Europe) include religion, identity, race and ethnicity, language, and art. In order to analyze the shifts in governmental policy and beliefs, it is equally as important to analyze the shift in culture that came from the citizens of each state, and to what extent they affected how the government was led, either by revolting against them or working cohesively with them. In some cases, the culture enhanced the citizen’s

Robert Darnton’s The Great Cat Massacre offers up revelatory insight on French society under the Ancien Regime. In particular, this piece of scholarly work gives readers a unique look into the Three Estates that made up France’s socioeconomic ladder. Through the combination of a positivist and hermeneutic approach in analyzing unique primary sources, Darnton explains to readers that the Ancien Regime was unintentionally set up for definite failure because of the mass consolidation of the Third Estate, which led to tensions and class division within the Estate itself. This insightful documentation of French life personalizes the entire experience of learning about the lives of French citizens from different classes and how they dealt with their