This thesis analyses how the French government and American diplomats utilised and subsequently shaped the French-language press due to their influence and propaganda efforts during the American...Show moreThis thesis analyses how the French government and American diplomats utilised and subsequently shaped the French-language press due to their influence and propaganda efforts during the American Revolutionary War. The role of the press in the Ancien Régime can reveal developing political, social, and diplomatic cultures. The rigid censorship policy of the French monarchy places the newspapers in a middle ground between the government and the literate portion of the population. There were competing notions amongst the most popular European publications as to what constituted news and how it should be communicated, thus the coverage of the American Revolutionary War varied across geographical and temporal boundaries. This thesis seeks to assess the social and political upheaval that was the American Revolution in 1775, and its impact on France, through the lens of governmental control of newspapers. France’s role in the American Revolution has been well documented, as the monarchy utilised this opportunity to gain prestige and damage Britain’s standing as a global power. France officially sent military and financial aid to the rebels from 1778, and many French soldiers such as the Marquis de Lafayette became heroes who fought alongside their American counterparts to overthrow the control of King George III in the colonies. However, getting France to agree to this was difficult. It was therefore necessary for the Americans to send diplomats to Versailles to vouch for their cause and elicit support. Thus ensued a major propaganda campaign which would entangle both state and non-state actors, and would have significant implications for the development of press culture in France. France heavily censored newspapers and imposed strict regulations on the influx of foreign information from countries with a freer press environment, such as the Netherlands. In Britain, the licensing act lapsed in 1695, and provincial and national newspapers consequently multiplied in number and prospered. After the British government allowed the publication of parliamentary reports in 1772, French-language newspapers were able to reprint them, leading to increased scrutiny on their response to events in the colonies. This meant that readers of foreign French-language newspapers illegally circulating in France at the time were being exposed to alternative sources of news. The national newspapers largely reflected and upheld elite values that were ingrained into French society at the time, and left little room for debate or opposition. However, this was radically altered by the presence of the American diplomats in Paris. Leading figures, such as Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson, were greatly admired by the French public, and they utilised this wave of popularity to bolster their political agenda. This agenda had undoubtedly been influenced by French Enlightenment thought - particularly regarding the individual rights of man, political representation, and freedom of speech and the press. This thesis explores how this philosophical and political transfer influenced the French government’s approach to the medium of the press. It identifies four main newspapers as indicators of how the war was impacting the way in which the government wanted to portray itself on the diplomatic stage. The American Revolution showed the world how it was possible to uproot a system of political injustice and to justify it using fundamental ideas of democracy. The use of the French-language press by the Americans and the French government to further their interests, therefore, exposed a reading audience to political ideas that might have otherwise been suppressed. It is in this context that the newspapers take on significance. The attempted control of the content of these papers through the manipulation of texts, propaganda and the production of war narrative that favoured French and American interests shaped how French readers came to view the conduct of their government in a way not previously seen. Furthermore, the personal relationships formed between government figures, American political leaders and philosophers, and the editors of highly influential and widely-read papers sheds light on the deep entanglement of the press with politics. While the limitations of readership in Ancien Régime France are taken into account, this thesis argues that the French involvement in the American Revolutionary War shaped French government relations with the press, and contributed to a shaping of its diplomatic engagements with America both during and after the war.Show less