The Perfidy of Albion

This text describes how the French Revolution, which seemed to promise an era of Franco-British partnership, led to an even more bitter estrangement between the two nations. Both the British and French peoples saw the revolution of 1789 as offering the prospect of a new Franco-British partnership. These hopes sound foundered on old suspicions and new ideological divergences. The result was to confirm the traditional perception of each nation's own identity, centred on the state in France and the people in Britain. This study illuminates late 18th-century nationalism and xenophobia.