The Scottish martyrs, Scotland and internationalism in revolutionary France, 1794–99

Journal article

The case of the ‘Scottish martyrs’ transported from Britain for sedition in 1794 was followed closely in revolutionary France. Although these five foreign citizens of an enemy state could only be discussed and recognized as allies from afar, their case animated a renewed debate about how internationalist principles related to the peoples of England and Scotland as well as the relationship between political repression in Britain and France. This article follows French engagement with the incident from its role in the Montagnard debates of 1794 about the collective guilt borne by Britons for the crimes committed by their government to the failure of Thomas Muir to establish meaningful ties between France and Scotland in 1797–99. The case acted as a proxy for the contestation of interconnecting interpretations about repression, internationalism and the role of foreign individuals and peoples in the Revolution.

Authors: Muller, C

• Publication status: Published
• Peer review status: Peer reviewed
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Journal: French History
• Article number: crag017
• Publication date: 2026-04-24
• DOI: 10.1093/fh/crag017
• EISSN: 1477-4542
• ISSN: 0269-1191
• Language: English