Revolutionary Spade - France - 18th Century

Revolutionary spade
France
18th century
Iron
H. 31 ; L. 5 ; Thickness 2,5 cm
(Old soldering)

Revolutionary spade with two hollow sides, with edge.
Circa 1790.

"In 1792, the Assembly decided to reintroduce the pike in the French army. This endowment was the culmination of doctrinal thinking carried out since 1728 by the "folardist" tactical school. The reintroduction of this weapon was certainly a response to the material difficulties of the army of the Revolution, but more than that, it reinforced the "popular system" that was then being forged. The decision of 1792 was also the consecration of a strong symbol of sans-culotterie. Thus the pike became the medium of a political struggle for equality between active and passive citizens. However, the trial by fire was fatal to this experiment, which ended in the Vendée. (Renaud Faget, 2018)

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