>>3744446Unlikely. French was the lingua franca (yeah, what a pun) back then. France might have been not in a good place politically, but it still considered itself culturally dominant. So they would have as little incentive to learn one of the modern languages (as opposed to Latin or Greek, which men of culture were still expected to know), as, say, current Americans and British have. I don't mean it as a joke or a dig. Just a fact. You know how 'much' Americans enjoy watching movies with subtitles. So much that whenever a movie from a non-English speaking country is internationally successful, they remake it. They even remake British movies and shows, so much they resent consuming a product from an 'inferior' and 'alien' culture. If that kind of nationalistic cultural snobism still exists today, just imagine how bad it was in the XVIII century, when people basically invented nationalism and it was all the rage. No, they would most likely tell you that real patriots of France have no time for cringe English books and learning the filthy enemy language.
At least Robespierre didn't know English. I don't remember where I read it. Perhaps in Mantel's novel, which people claim was well researched. Personally, I don't believe in certainty about such small details. Sadly, there was way too much butthurt and propaganda after Termidor, too much info destroyed or obfuscated, etc. And 200+ years later, it's still too charged a topic to expect objectivity even from academics.
>>3744702You sick fuck...
