From September of 1814, after the first abidication of Napoleon, until july of 1815, going through the Government of the a Hundred Days, it was made the Vienna Congress.

 The big European economic potencies were part of it (England, Prussia, Russia, Austria, France) and they would control the discussions defending their interests.

 The main objective was to re-create the old regime on Europe. The equilibrium of forces between the European potencies and the one of legitimity, suggested by the French minister Talleyrand, it said that France should keep the same limits of 1789.

 The European geographic map had a lot of modifications.

       Marie Antionette was the queen of France and archduchess of Austria.  She is most famous for being hated and prejudiced against due to the propaganda put out against her by enemies, political rivalries, and even her own brother-in-law.

         Marie had grown up extremely rich, and married King Louis XVI, who was then known as Louis-Auguste, when she was only fourteen. When King Louis XVI took the throne, she herself had little political power, especially because anti-Austrian politicians swayed King Louis XVI’s opinion.  Antionette expressed her love for Austria very openly, which King Louis did not approve of.  She, as well as the King, were accused many times because of their lavish spending.  People thought that the king and Antionette tried to bankrupt France to make it a puppet economy for Austria to control.  Antionette’s political powers shrunk further as a result of the incident.

         Marie and King Louis XVI were also blamed for France’s large dept.  The French army had fought two large scale wars, the Seven Year’s War and the American Revolution, and didn’t have the money to support themselves.  The reason they were blamed is because they didn’t do much to help repay money and they themselves spent extremely lavishly.  People were angry because this led to a shortage in crops and extremely poor lives, while the nobility were spending money on hundreds of extravagant suits.  Propaganda influenced people’s opinion of Antionette and the king.

         Anther reason why Antionette was the subject of a lot of propaganda during the French Revolution is because of her strange usage of political power.  Instead of following the firm court manners of Versailles, where she lived, she hung around people she enjoyed no matter their political power.  She danced, gambled, and stayed out often, leading to intense criticism.

         In 1789, King Louis XVI called an emergency meeting involving Frances debts.  He called the three estates to help him.  The three estates were the nobility, the church, and the common people.  When the 577 representatives for the common people arrived at the building for the meeting, they found the other two estates already inside and locking them out.  This outraged the representatives of the common people, because they had many urgent topics to discuss with the king and other two estates.

         They marched to the closest place that could house the large number of representatives, which happened to be an indoor tennis court.  They swore “not to separate, and to reassemble wherever circumstances require, until the constitution of the kingdom be established.”  They also pledged to continue meeting until a constitution of France be written, even though the writing of one was illegal.  This was very likely because of the influences of the enlightenment, a period of political and philosophical ideas. 

         The Tennis Court Oath is significant because it almost marks the official beginning of the French Revolution. It was the first time that a part of government actually openly disobeyed the king’s rule and set opposition against it. 

         The Tennis Court Oath was propagandized by Jacques-Louis David.  Only one representative did not sign the pledge, who can be spotted at the right, sitting down with his arm crossed and head hanging.  David’s picture was symbolic in that the third estate’s unwavering unity could withstand whatever the king did against them, for all except one’s hands are raised in unison.

         A man who influenced the third estate to doing what they did is François-Marie Arouet, or Voltaire.  He was a writer during the French Enlightenment who argued for rights of freedom of religion and free trade.  He spoke to the public in his books, pamphlets, and plays despite censorship and harsh punishments behind them.  He wrote more than 2,000 books and pamphlets over his lifetime.

         His ideas were considered part of the basis for the ideals that the founding fathers of America had in mind when they created the United States of America, especially free trade and free religion.  Many French Revolution activists were also influenced by Voltaire’s writings.

Another man who’s ideas were used during the French Revolution is Charles-Louis de Secondat, baron de La Brède et de Montesquieu, or more simply, just Montesqueieu.  He is best known for imposing the idea of separation of powers to the French population. 

The idea of separation of powers is to, well, separate the powers of the government into three branches; executive, legislative, and judicial.  All branches would have an equal amount of power so that no one would exceed the power of another through a complicated system of checks and balances.  The founding fathers of America also used this idea when creating the United States of America.

Montesquieu published his work on the theory of separation of powers in a book titled The Spirit of the Laws.  Over 20 years worth of research as well as 3,000 different sources went into making the book.  The book would go through 22 editions before Montesquieu’s death. 

Image via Wikipedia

Time Warp – A Strange Encounter at Versailles

The gardens at Versailles were in their full glory on August 10, 1901. It was a hot afternoon, the scent from the pants was heady, and the colors brilliant. Yet two English women, visiting the magnificent French palace for the first time, felt unaccountably depressed as they walked through the grounds.

Image via Wikipedia

Miss Anne Moberly, principal of St. Hugh’s, a women’s college of Oxford University, was spending a few days sightseeing in Paris. She was accompanied by Miss Eleanor Jourdain, who was soon to become vice-principal of the college.

Image via Wikipedia

While strolling through the palace gardens, the two women decided to find the Petit Trianon, the small, private chateau that had belonged to the ill-fated Adventure. Deep in conversation, they soon noticed that they had lost their way.

“I began to feel as though I was walking in my sleep; the heavy dreaminess was oppressive,” Miss Jourdain later wrote. Miss Moberly felt similarly strange, but each kept her feelings to herself.

A Walk into the Past

Image via Wikipedia

They were surprised to see very few people, given the time of year. They passed two men standing near a wheelbarrow, whom they took to be gardeners, despite their long coats and tricorn hats. The men directed them straight ahead. A small bandstand came into view beneath a canopy of trees. Nearby sat a man dressed in a cloak and large hat; he seemed a sinister character and made the women feel ill at ease. They moved on and were later given directions by another man whose appearance seemed strangely old-fashioned.

Image via Wikipedia

At last, through the trees, they caught sight of the Petit Trianon. Near the house, Miss Moberly noticed a woman sketching on the grass. The woman stared at her, much to Miss Moberly’s irritation. Once the ladies were inside the chateau, their depression lifted and the arrival of a lively wedding party soon helped them to forget the strange atmosphere they had sensed earlier.

A Haunting Experience

Image via Wikipedia

A week later, while Miss Moberly was writing a letter about the visit to Versailles, she experienced the same oppressive sensation again. The feeling was so strong that she felt compelled to ask Miss Jourdain if she thought the Petit Trianon was haunted.

Miss Jourdain had to admit that she did. For the first time the women discussed their experiences and became convinced that something quite extraordinary had happened to them. For instance, they had walked up to the lady who was sketching alone in the garden and she had stared at them. But Miss Moberly was astonished to learn that Miss Jourdain had seen nothing but trees and grass. Intrigued, they decided to investigate.

Image via Wikipedia

On her return to England Miss Moberly discovered that in 1792 on August 10 – the same date the two had visited Versailles – Marie Antoinette and her husband, Louis XVI, were imprisoned all day in a small room in Paris awaiting trial. Miss Moberly believed it likely that he humiliated and oppressed queen’s thoughts might have returned to the last moments of happiness she knew – at her chateau in Versailles shortly before the Revolution began. Perhaps the queen’s memory of the time was so vivid that, as Miss Moberly put it, “some impress of it was imparted to the place,” Could this be an explanation for their strange experience?

Image via Wikipedia

When Miss Moberly and Moss Jourdain returned to Versailles two years later, they found, to their astonishment, that everything had changed. The grounds and buildings they remembered were no longer the same.

Puzzling Discoveries

Image via Wikipedia

But old records and plans of the palace revealed that in 1789 the gardens were as the two women had first seen them. The clothes people had worn, which had struck them as slightly odd and dated for 1901, were the height of fashion in 1789. Miss Moberly’s excitement increased when she discovered a portrait of Marie Antoinette: it was the exact image of the “sketching lady” she had seen near the chateau.

Image via Wikipedia

Over the years the two ladies dedicated their vacations to their research. All their findings confirmed their belief that they had seen Versailles as it was 112 years before. In 1911 they published their account in a book, An Adventure. The two women were so concerned about losing their professional credibility that they felt compelled to publish their account of the story under pseudonyms. It was only after Miss Jourdain’s death in 1924 that their true identities were revealed. The book caused a sensation and was considered to be the best authenticated ghost story of its time.

Image via Wikipedia

A few critics, however, were reluctant to accept the women’s findings. Some thought that they had been hallucinating. Others believed that the women had met and spoken to ordinary people, became confused about the layout of the gardens, and made their story fit their romantic notions.

Image via Wikipedia

There can be no doubt that the events of that summer afternoon were real enough to Miss Moberly and Miss Jourdain. But the nature of their experience – whether they stepped back in time, were caught up in the traces of a distraught queen’s memory, or shared a particularly vivid hallucination – remains, to this day, a baffling mystery.

At least he is not a revolution as radical as appearances suggest, but simply the result certainly sudden and violent work of 10 generations of men. A civil society evolving finally broke the mold now too narrow and rigid institutions born of the feudal system. This sudden explosion has not led to anarchy, but a strengthening of central power

This is the central idea defended Alexis de Tocqueville.
Before developing his arguments, I would like to introduce the author to those who do not know. Tocqueville is a benchmark in political philosophy, just maybe Montesquieu, if not more. Magistrate of origin, he became known in 1835, following a stay in the U.S., where he started studying the prison system, by issuing “Democracy in America.” This work is a monument. (It may be the subject of an opinion, but this does not appear in my short-term projects). For Tocqueville the opportunity to start a  political career that led him to the post of Minister of Foreign Affairs for several months in 1849. Only after this experience he began research for what will be the work of maturity, “the old regime and Revolution,” not a story of the French Revolution, but a study of this revolution. The book was published in 1856 and Tocqueville died some years later.

According to the author, the old regime in France was particularly prepared the ground for the Revolution. I spoke earlier of a civil society in flux. This is indeed the case with an aristocracy who abandons his charges (excluding ordinary courts, which give income), closes on itself while it is being lost, but preserved and even increases its privileges, including exemption from taxes. The bourgeoisie, for failing to collect such taxes, fled the country and acquires its own privileges in town where it benefits from the sale of offices and adopt the lifestyle and education of the aristocracy. The farmer, who now owns the land and suffers from fragmentation of plots following the legacies left alone in rural, poor, isolated, uneducated and involved in everything (tax, militia, various chores).

Meanwhile, regional particularities fade when a powerful central government emerges amid the debris of the old power system. It relies on a strong administration. Nationally, the Council decides everything, relayed in the provinces by the steward and the sub-delegation. Everything that the administration is of special courts, which gradually increase their areas of jurisdiction. This phenomenon is so marked that very quickly, nobody can imagine carrying out a case without the state gets involved. This power is however limited by any small powers which remain scattered through the old ways and the idea, ingrained in society, everything is debatable.

The result is a society which calls for reform (rather than rights, moreover, like economists and Physiocrats), which involved more long in politics but oscillates between privileges and claims of equality, a society that is enamored of the ideals and philosophers who dream only of broad principles and large systems.

This company is undergoing significant changes, particularly in the forty years preceding the Revolution, it is more entrepreneurial, richer and more responsive in all social categories, the discourse on poverty, in spite of professed old institutions (the The example of Parliament which is deleted) and private property (especially by the State ruthlessly expropriated without compensation). In 1787, provincial assemblies were created later stewards. It’s total confusion. To simplify all the rules, to satisfy his hatred of inequality and its thirst for freedom, the nation that has lost faith in God, but remains confident in itself, is ready to sink into a violent upheaval.

However, once past the initial disappointment on freedom, there remains the desire for equality and above all a stronger central government and rid of all these customs and ancient powers that impeded.

I will not discuss here the arguments of Tocqueville. Many philosophers and sociologists have taken up and developed to their advantage. The conclusion we are familiar, however, given the place yet the state today in France, even if democracy has been much affirmed.

Hatred of inequality, love of freedom. Our dreams are they now so different from those of the revolutionaries?

Each will make its response to issues raised by Tocqueville. The fact remains that “the old regime and Revolution” is a book well written and argued, with relatively short chapters written in simple language. The play is fun, which is so often the case with this kind of work.

The causes of the revolution were;

France was ruled by Absolute Monarchy meaning the King, Church and Nobles.

Louis XV and XVI supported the American Revolution, and helped during the 7 year war, leaving France poor and with huge debts.

The price of bread was through the roof, meaning that the poor couldn’t afford it, and so went hungry, causing resentment of the rich Nobles who could afford to eat properly.

The Roman Catholic Church put a tax on crops which made it even harder for the poorest to live well, as they were already hungry and suffering from malnutrition.

The people could see from the new America that people had more influence and freedom of religion, and so disliked the total rule in France.

The King Louis XVI failed in his duty to sort these problems out and so leading to the revolution.

The National Assembly (NA) was made up of the third Estate, on the 10th June 1789, because the First and Second estates would not listen to what they had to say. On the 20th of that same month they took an oath to work until there was a new constitution in France.

The attack of Bastille prison took place in the same year; this is the event that started the revolution. Jacques Necker had been fired as the director general of finances, and so people thought the King would try to shut down the NA. This caused mass riots and looting in Paris, and this lead to the attack on Bastille. On the 14th July, the attack was commenced; the prison was a symbol of the power of the Absolute Monarchy. They stormed the prison and released the seven prisoners held there, then beheaded the governor, placing his head on a stick as a mark of triumph.

Soon the NA took over Paris and Necker was reinstated, but by the end of July the revolution had spread all over France. The king was given a ‘Suspensive Vito’ on law, so he could not stop laws being passed. The King moved to Paris after being attacked by 7,000 women.

In 1790 all taxes and other powers of the church were revoked, and so taken from them. The first jury trials were held, trade barriers were abolished, unions, guilds and so on were also ended, and striking was banned. In 1791 the Monarchy fled Paris, but were caught and the King and his wife Marie Antoinette were imprisoned by the NA. The King was reinstated after the new constitution came into force, but with little power, much like the British Queen today. The NA gave up its government of France because a new constitution had been created, and the Legislative Assembly (LA) took over.

In 1992, France declared war on Austria, with whom Prussia joined forces with against France. This first part of the revolution, known as the Revolutionary Wars lasted until 1797. By September 1792, the LA had hardly any powers and by the 7th September the revolution had killed 1,400 people.

The king was suspected as plotting with Austria and Prussia, and in Jan 1793 was found guilty of conspiracy and publicly executed, using a guillotine, by October Marie Antoinette had also been beheaded.

The Jacobins started to think that if people feared, then the revolution would be more successful, and Maximilien De Robespierre began what is known as ‘The Terror’. This lasted until July 1794, when Robespierre was imprisoned and executed. During this time, according to historical records, 16,594 were executed, and upto 40,000 died either in prison or were killed during the terror. Another constitution was set up on the 27th September.

The Directory were set up, and became the first government of France to be split into two houses, the Parliament, and Senate, much like our House of Commons and House of Lords. Things now became much more stable than they had been before, but the people disliked the Directory. They ignored elections that did not go their way, and ignored the constitution so that they could control the people.

In 1799 there was a riot against the Directory, and they fell from power. The army had gained a general in Napoleon Bonaparte, which made them much more powerful, and Napoleon took over power from the Directory. This was known as the event 18 Brumaire, and a very important historical point in French History, as it marks the end of the revolution. In 1804 Bonaparte became the emperor of France. If you would like to know more about Napoleon, consider researching the Napoleonic Wars, or comment here and if the demand is great enough I will write an article about it.