1795 to 1797

Society

1795. The French Convention, threatened by a royalist revolt, calls upon Napoleon Bonaparte to protect it, and he drives the Paris mob from the streets. The French Convention names Napoleon Bonaparte commander of the army.

Literature

Wilhelm Meister. Goethe. German. 1795. Novel. Original and classic example of the Bildungsroman. Progress from naive, excitable youth to responsible manhood. Gradually develops modest, objective view of himself.

The Monk. Matthew Gregory Lewis. British. 1795. Gothic Novel. Monk seduced by demon in disguise. Destroyed by the devil in a desert waste.

On Naive and Sentimental Poetry. Friedrich Schiller. German. 1795/96. Essay. Naive poet = realist. Sentimental poet = idealist.

Society

1796. French forces under Napoleon Bonaparte invade Italy and defeat the Austrians.

1796. Washington, in his Farewell Address, warns against permanent alliances with foreign powers.

1796. John Adams of Massachusetts is elected to succeed Washington as president after a bitter contest with Thomas Jefferson.

1796. A Public Land Act passed by Congress authorizes the sale of U.S. Government lands in minimum lots of 640 acres each at $2 per acre with payments to be made under a credit system.

1796. English physician Edward Jenner pioneers the use of vaccination against smallpox.

Literature

Farewell Address (from the presidency). George Washington. American. 1796. Speech. Never delivered. Reasons for not seeking a third term. Warned against the dangers of the party system. Avoid permanent foreign alliances. Temporary alliances in extraordinary circumstances.

Jacques le fatalist. Denis Diderot. French. 1796. Novel. Digressions. Stories within stories. Novel as medium for depicting reality. Determinism vs. fatalism.

"The Hasty Pudding." Joel Barlow. American. 1796. Poetry. Mock epic. Describes making and eating New England mush.

Society

1797. The Battle of Rivoli gives Gen. Bonaparte his first decisive victory.

1797. Mantua falls to Bonaparte.

1797. Bonaparte crosses the Alps to challenge the archduke Charles at Vienna.

Literature

Hermann and Dorothea. Goethe. German. 1797. Idyllic. Honesty and simplicity of the love between two main characters as a balance to the unrest of the times.

"Kubla Khan." ST Coleridge. British. 1797. Poetry. Unfinished. Interrupted by a visitor. Precursor of symbolism and surrealism.

Hyperion or the Hermit in Greece. Freiedrich Holderlin. German. 1797/99. Epistolary Novel. Set in modern Greece. Expresses the longing for the human, artistic perfection of ancient Greece.