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Alan Heffez's avatar

Thank you. I appreciated your efforts in teasing out the shifting social dynamics that resulted from the oligarchic capture of the state apparatus in Russia during the late-1990s and early-2000s.

I recently completed an essay entitled "Terror In A Time of Radical Change" in which I traced the changing demography of the Jacobin Club membership and its impact in driving forward the French Revolution in the 1790s --- from the Republicanism of the Montagne faction, to the radicalism of the elected Committee for Public Safety under Robespierre, Saint-Just and Barère, to the reactionary response of the Thermidorians and ultimately to the police states of, first, Paul Barras and Joseph Fouché and, later, of Napoleon Bonaparte. I was impressed that similar social elements were exploited by influential members of the emerging oligarchy in both movements to capture and hold the popular initiative.

I look forward to your next installment.

AH

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