The French term civilization replaced police because police only captured order, not moral progress

Evidence

Febvre, “Civilisation,” makes it clear that before the French coined the term “civilization,” they had used the term “police” (un peuple police) to describe the contrast between European societies and barbaric ones. But by the 1770’s this word no longer adequately expressed the image the French had of themselves, for “police” failed to reflect French achievements in the moral and scientific realms. — Alice L. Conklin, A Mission to Civilize_ The Republican…, 918

Categorization

• DEFINE: Explains the linguistic shift from police to civilisation in French self-description, a key antecedent to the civilizing mission concept.