ABSTRACT
When the Revolutionary Assemblies tackled the agrarian question they were not faced with a completely blank sheet. The problems had already been ventilated under the monarchy, which had also made some tentative efforts at a solution. The new regime carried on where the old had left off, and in very much the same spirit. But this was no slavish imitation. The new men were able to profit from the lessons of past failures; they were moved by a noticeably different set of class considerations; and many obstacles to progress had already been removed.
