ABSTRACT
Setting out from a contrast in recent analyses between revolution as a ‘war of independence’ and as a ‘civil war’, this chapter argues that, contrary to trends in recent appreciations of revolution in the contemporary world, it is a necessary act of historical recognition to identify revolutionary upheaval with warlike conflict, and particularly with the long-term scars left by civil war. Reviewing the thematic commonalities of other contributions to this volume, it adds further reflections on the French Revolution, the shaping of certain aspects of events into iconic images and their use down to the present day as politically active ‘memories’ of the events that displace critical historical analysis.
