Introduction

Abstract

This introductory chapter shows the Revolutionary Western Mediterranean to be an understudied region that is critically important in nuancing the conceptions of international politics in the 1790s. The argument here is based on turning the focus from the centers of power to the actors on the periphery. This includes both the diplomatic representatives of the Great Powers, such as France and Britain, as well as the smaller powers, such as Tuscany or Corsica. From there, the chapter embraces contradictions within the application of Counter-Revolutionary and Revolutionary ideologies as causal forces in shaping international politics. In addition to establishing these two elements to the argument, it also briefly examines the historiographic connections between the Mediterranean and the Revolutionary era, focusing especially on the recent global-imperial push.