Revolution as Historical Experience: Narrative Construction and Information Flow Between Istanbul and Paris Around the 1730 Revolt

This article examines the flow of information between Istanbul and Paris in the eighteenth century and explores how this exchange contributed to the shaping and dissemination of historical narratives across Europe. It draws on an unpublished French manuscript entitled Revolte de Constantinople, produced within French diplomatic circles in Istanbul, which narrates, day by day, the history of the 1730 (Patrona Halil) revolt. The article analyzes how this manuscript contributed to the shaping and publication of various texts, first in the French magazine Mercure de France (April 1731), and subsequently in a book published in The Hague in 1737 by the editor Jean Néaulme. In conclusion, the article offers a preliminary analysis of the possible Ottoman sources of the manuscript and reflects on the uses of the term “revolution.” Finally, from a historical perspective, the article considers how non-European social unrests, such as the Patrona Halil Revolt, have influenced the evolving connotations and semantic charge of the term “revolution” within the European vocabulary in post-1789 contexts.