Peasants' War (1798)

Infobox Military Conflict
conflict=Peasants' War
partof=the French Revolutionary Wars


caption=
date=12 October 1798 – 5 December 1798
place=Southern Netherlands (modern Flanders, Luxembourg, and part of Germany)
casus=
territory=
result=French victory
combatant1=flagicon|France French First Republic
combatant2=flagicon|Luxembourg Luxembourgish Local peasantsflagicon|Flanders Flemish Local peasants
combatant3=
commander1=
commander2=Pieter Corbeels
commander3=
strength1=
strength2=
strength3=
casualties1=
casualties2= in Flanders circa 15,000 dead and in Luxembourg 200–300 [lb icon cite web
url=http://histoprim.cte.lu/schuelerseite/kleppelverlaf.html |title=De Verlaf vum Klëppelkrich |accessdate=2007-09-10 |publisher=Histoprim ]
casualties3=
notes=The Peasants' War ( _lb. Klëppelkrich, _fr. Guerre des Paysans, _de. Klöppelkrieg, _nl. Boerenkrijg) was a peasant revolt in 1798 against the French occupation of the Southern Netherlands, including modern Belgium, Luxembourg, and parts of Germany, during the French Revolutionary Wars.

The revolt was sparked off by the introduction of conscription for all men aged between 20 and 25 years old in Luxembourg, in late September 1798, [Trausch (2002), p. 205] and quickly spread, enveloping most of the West Eifel. [Kreins (2003), p. 66] For the most part, the revolt was restricted to the peasantry, hence its name, and the revolutionary impulse barely spread to the middle classes, for whom the spirit of anti-clericalism and modernisation that the French Revolution brought were advantageous. [Kreins (2003), p. 66]

Bereft of organisation and military training, and without the backing of the middle classes, the insurgency was quickly put down by the French occupiers. [Kreins (2003), p. 66] In retribution for the revolt, 94 insurgents were tried, of whom 42 were sentenced to death. [cite journal |last=Brown |first=Howard |year=2005 |month=June |title=Revolt and Repression in the Midi Toulousain |journal=French History |volume=19 |issue=2 |pages=p. 252 |id= |url= |accessdate= |quote= |doi=10.1093/fh/cri013 ]

Footnotes

References

* cite book | first=Jean-Marie | last=Kreins | year=2003 | title=Histoire du Luxembourg | edition=3rd edition | publisher=Presses Universitaires de France | location=Paris | id= ISBN 978-21-3053-852-3
* cite book | first=Gilbert | last=Trausch | year=2002 | title=Histoire du Luxembourg | edition= | publisher=Privat | location=Paris | id= ISBN 978-27-0894-773-3