History UsefulNotes / TheFrenchRevolution

Ever since the Revolution took place, it has been one of the most debated and contested of all historical events, if not ''the'' most contested and debated event. Conservatives disapproved of such radical social transformation on basic principle, with some (as well as many reactionaries) going so far as to argue that the whole event was arranged by a small minority (possibly members of the Freemasons and/or TheIlluminati, though French reactionaries at the time actually tended to blame the Duke of Orléans[[note]]Whom they thought had started the revolution as a way to prise the crown from his royal cousins, but then lost control of events[[/note]]) and had zero popular support. Moderate 17th century liberals argued that everything was going fine until it was derailed by bloodthirsty radicals who gave power to completely unqualified people, rather than trusting in carefully elected elites. Radical revolutionaries looked at the Terror and said, [[UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans "Yes, more of that, please,"]] and believed that events failed because its leaders weren't ruthless ''enough''. Unsurprisingly, these interpretations usually say more about later political developments than they do about the actual events. UsefulNotes/PoliticalIdeologies of the 19th and 20th Century, and the [[UsefulNotes/StandardEuropeanPoliticalLandscape European political spectrum]], to this very day, is largely oriented by one's opinions on the French Revolution: the terms "left" and "right" themselves originate in where the delegates sat in the national assembly (other cool terms like Montagnard (Mountaineer) have not survived).[[note]]The French Revolution also influenced American politics. Many political clubs developed in America in imitation of the French, much to President George Washington's displeasure. The pro-Revolution camp was called "Democrat" by Citizen Genet (a Girondin ambassador who got stranded in America when the ReignOfTerror was unleashed).[[/note]] The Revolution also [[TropeMaker made]] and [[TropeCodifier codified tropes]] associated with nationalism, such as national flags, national festivals, national holidays on significant anniversaries, monuments open to the public, museums and institutions for public education.

Ever since the Revolution took place, it has been one of the most debated and contested of all historical events, if not ''the'' most contested and debated event. Conservatives disapproved of such radical social transformation on basic principle, with some (as well as many reactionaries) going so far as to argue that the whole event was arranged by a small minority (possibly members of the Freemasons and/or TheIlluminati, though French reactionaries at the time actually tended to blame the Duke of Orléans[[note]]Whom they thought had started the revolution as a way to prise the crown from his royal cousins, but then lost control of events[[/note]]) and had zero popular support. Moderate 17th century liberals argued that everything was`going fine until it was derailed by bloodthirsty radicals who gave power to completely unqualified people, rather than trusting in carefully elected elites. Radical revolutionaries looked at the Terror and said, [[UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans "Yes, more of that, please,"]] and believed that events failed because its leaders weren't ruthless ''enough''. Unsurprisingly, these interpretations usually say more about later political developments than they do about the actual events. UsefulNotes/PoliticalIdeologies of the 19th and 20th Century, and the [[UsefulNotes/StandardEuropeanPoliticalLandscape European political spectrum]], to this very day, is largely oriented by one's opinions on the French Revolution: the terms "left" and "right" themselves originate in where the delegates sat in the national assembly (other cool terms like Montagnard (Mountaineer) have not survived).[[note]]The French Revolution also influenced American politics. Many political clubs developed in America in imitation of the French, much to President George Washington's displeasure. The pro-Revolution camp was called "Democrat" by Citizen Genet (a Girondin ambassador who got stranded in America when the ReignOfTerror was unleashed).[[/note]] The Revolution also [[TropeMaker made]] and [[TropeCodifier codified tropes]] associated with nationalism, such as national flags, national festivals, national holidays on significant anniversaries, monuments open to the public, museums and institutions for public education.

* AristocratsAreEvil: A very influential trope at the time and still present in pop-culture depictions, though usually overshadowed by disproportionate focus on Mob Violence.

** Comte de Mirabeau, the original leader of the Revolution, he rebelled against aristocratic conventions, did time in the Bastille for "libertinage" and ultimately even lost his privileges which made him highly empathetic to the common people and their plight. Because of his complex background he became a popular leader and middleman between the aristocrats who were to be gently coerced to losing their privileges and the angry Third Estate.

** During the Restoration, a number of {{Urban Legend}}s about the Revolution caught life, such as the idea that UsefulNotes/LouisXVI was executed because of a single vote majority (which helped the royalist propaganda that the King was an innocent done in by an evil cabal), that Revolutionaries converted Royalists into GenuineHumanHide and used the leather to bind books (which shows up in some Revolutionary-era fiction like ''Explosion of a Cathedral'' and ''Assassin's Creed Unity''). In addition, there were tropes like [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bals_des_victimes Victims Balls]] where aristocratic women wore mourning clothes and red sashes around their necks as a symbol of the guillotine they narrowly avoided.[[note]]In actual fact only 8% of all victims of the Terror were aristocrats, and until the Great Terror/Law of Prairial there was no attempt to deliberately target aristocrats as victims. The vast majority of victims were either peasants who hoarded foods, actual counter-revolutionaries, suspected counter-revolutionaries and clergy[[/note]] There is no hard evidence to support any of this.

* ''Les Misérables: Shoujo Cosette'': adsd a cute 3-year old girl to ''Literature/LesMiserables'', bt otherwise follows the basic tale.

* ''Film/MarieAntoinette2006'', directed by Creator/SofiaCoppola with Creator/KirstenDunst portraying the titular queen. It follows Marie Antoientte's life from her marriage to Louis XVI to the beginning of the French Revolution.
* ''Film/FarewellMyQueen'' a 2012 French film starring Diane Kruger as Marie Antoinette. It explores Versailles in the first three days of the Revolution.

* ''Film/{{Napoleon|2023}}'' (2023) starts in 1793 during the ReignOfTerror and features the Siege of Toulon, where Napoléon Bonaparte had his first major feat of arms.

* ''[[Series/Napoleon2002 Napoléon]]'' is a four-parts miniseries covering the life of UsefulNotes/NapoleonBonaparte. The first episode is mostlty set during the Directory era[[note]]the episode ends with the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plot_of_the_rue_Saint-Nicaise Plot of the rue Saint-Nicaise]], during the Consulate era[[/note]] and the events depicted include [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/13_Vendemiaire 13 Vendémiaire revolt]], the Italy and Egypt campaigns, and the 1799 coup.

Meanwhile, the citizens of Paris, emboldened by the initiative of the National Assembly and responding to rumors (some of which were true) that troops were marching to shut down the Third Estate, stormed the Bastille (a French fortress) in search of arms. This marked the start of the Revolution, with a peasant revolt breaking out in the countryside as peasants attacked castles and noble mansions and literally set fire to records containing list of dues they owed to their master. The National Assembly, very concerned by these actions and trying to calm the rebellious anger,[[note]]Even the Third Estate delegates were by and large fairly conservative (for now) as the only people who could afford to be candidates, were charismatic enough to win election, and had the time to travel to Paris were the upper-class, the bourgeois; the merchants, landlords, and most particularly, lawyers, all of whom had no interest in unleashing anarchy, and were watching the nation's records literally go up in smoke in absolute horror.[[/note]] figuratively get high off patriotism and self-sacrifice and then literally tear down feudalism overnight with the August Decrees of 1789, by magnanimously surrendering their privileges and then calling on others to do the same, abusing the hell out of peer pressure. Finally, in October, the King and Queen were dragged from Versailles to the Tuileries Palace in the city by the women of Paris. By which point, NothingIsTheSameAnymore.

* ''Film/{{Napoleon}}'' (1927), a huge French silent movie directed by Abel Gance, who himself appears in the film as Saint-Just. As Napoleon is the hero, he gets inserted into scenes not based on history, such as the already completely inaccurate scene of the first performance of the Marseillaise in Paris which finishes with captain Bonaparte shaking Rouget de Lisles's hand and congratulating him for his good work for the republic.

* ''Series/{{Napoleon}}'' is a four-parts miniseries covering the life of UsefulNotes/NapoleonBonaparte. The first episode is mostlty set during the Directory era[[note]]the episode ends with the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plot_of_the_rue_Saint-Nicaise Plot of the rue Saint-Nicaise]], during the Consulate era[[/note]] and the events depicted include [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/13_Vendemiaire 13 Vendémiaire revolt]], the Italy and Egypt campaigns, and the 1799 coup.

The era in UsefulNotes/{{Fr|ance}}ench history known for UsefulNotes/MarieAntoinette [[BeamMeUpScotty allegedly]] giving her subjects some dietary advice. The people responded by storming the Bastille, then Versailles, until they found her and [[UsefulNotes/LouisXVI her husband]] and guillotined them, and a few other nobles for good measure. It promised Liberty, Equality, Fraternity but led to the rise of UsefulNotes/NapoleonBonaparte.

The era in UsefulNotes/{{Fr|ance}}ench history known for UsefulNotes/MarieAntoinette [[BeamMeUpScotty allegedly]] giving her subjects some dietary advice. The people responded by storming the Bastille, then Versailles, until they found her and [[UsefulNotes/LouisXVI her husband]] and guillotined them, and a few other nobles for good measure. It promised Liberty, Equality, Fraternity but led to the rise of UsefulNotes/NapoleonBonaparte. He marched across Europe, stopped only by Richard Literature/{{Sharpe}} or the [[Literature/WarAndPeace Russian winter]], depending on your nationality.

The era in UsefulNotes/{{Fr|ance}}ench history known for UsefulNotes/MarieAntoinette [[BeamMeUpScotty allegedly]] giving her subjects some dietary advice. The people responded by storming the Bastille, then Versailles, until they found her and [[UsefulNotes/LouisXVI her husband]] and guillotined them, and a few other nobles for good measure. It promised Liberty, Equality, Fraternity but [[MeetTheNewBoss led to the rise of]] UsefulNotes/NapoleonBonaparte. He marched across Europe, stopped only by Richard Literature/{{Sharpe}} or the [[Literature/WarAndPeace Russian winter]], depending on your nationality.

* ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedUnity'' is set between 1789 and 1793.

Ever since the Revolution took place, it has been one of the most debated and contested of all historical events, if not ''the'' most contested and debated event. Conservatives disapproved of such radical social transformation on basic principle, with some (as well as many reactionaries) going so far as to argue that the whole event was arranged by a small minority (possibly members of the Freemasons and/or TheIlluminati, though French reactionaries at the time actually tended to blame the Duke of Orléans[[note]]Whom they thought had started the revolution as a way to prise the crown from his royal cousins, but then lost control of events[[/note]]) and had zero popular supportn Moderate 17th century liberals argued that everything was`going fine until it was derailed by bloodthirsty radicals who gave power to completely unqualified people, rather than trusting in carefully elected elites. Radical revolutionaries looked at the Terror and said, [[UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans "Yes, more of that, please,"]] and believed that events failed because its leaders weren't ruthless ''enough''. Unsurprisingly, these interpretations usually say more about later political developments than they do about the actual events. UsefulNotes/PoliticalIdeologies of the 19th and 20th Century, and the [[UsefulNotes/StandardEuropeanPoliticalLandscape European political spectrum]], to this very day, is largely oriented by one's opinions on the French Revolution: the terms "left" and "right" themselves originate in where the delegates sat in the national assembly (other cool terms like Montagnard (Mountaineer) have not survived).[[note]]The French Revolution also influenced American politics. Many political clubs developed in America in imitation of the French, much to President George Washington's displeasure. The pro-Revolution camp was called "Democrat" by Citizen Genet (a Girondin ambassador who got stranded in America when the ReignOfTerror was unleashed).[[/note]] The Revolution also [[TropeMaker made]] and [[TropeCodifier codified tropes]] associated with nationalism, such as national flags, national festivals, national holidays on significant anniversaries, monuments open to the public, museums and institutions for public education.

Ever since the Revolution took place, it has been one of the most debated and contested of all historical events, if not ''the'' most contested and debated event. Conservatives disapproved of such radical social transformation on basic principle, with some (as well as many reactionaries) going so far as to argue that the whole event was arranged by a small minority (possibly members of the Freemasons and/or TheIlluminati, though French reactionaries at the time actually tended to blame the Duke of Orléans[[note]]Whom they thought had started the revolution as a way to prise the crown from his royal cousins, but`then lost control`of`eventsn[[onote]]) and`had zero`popular supportn Moderate 1yth`century liberals argued`that`everything was`going`fine until it was derailed by bloodthirsty radicals who gave power to completely unqualified people, rather than trusting in carefully elected elites. Radical revolutionaries looked at the Terror and said, [[UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans "Yes, more of that, please,"]] and believed that events failed because its leaders weren't ruthless ''enough''. Unsurprisingly, these interpretations usually say more about later political developments than they do about the actual events. UsefulNotes/PoliticalIdeologies of the 19th and 20th Century, and the [[UsefulNotes/StandardEuropeanPoliticalLandscape European political spectrum]], to this very day, is largely oriented by one's opinions on the French Revolution: the terms "left" and "right" themselves originate in where the delegates sat in the national assembly (other cool terms like Montagnard (Mountaineer) have not survived).[[note]]The French Revolution also influenced American politics. Many political clubs developed in America in imitation of the French, much to President George Washington's displeasure. The pro-Revolution camp was called "Democrat" by Citizen Genet (a Girondin ambassador who got stranded in America when the ReignOfTerror was unleashed).[[/note]] The Revolution also [[TropeMaker made]] and [[TropeCodifier codified tropes]] associated with nationalism, such as national flags, national festivals, national holidays on significant anniversaries, monuments open to the public, museums and institutions for public education.

The other radical measure is the first general abolition of slavery in the Western world, without pre-conditions or compensation for slaveowners. This took place in February 1794, in response to the Revolution in Haiti.[[note]]Initial attempts by Mirabeau to get his colleagues to support total abolition fell on deaf years, and the Assembly largely followed a moderate line of expanding rights to mulattos and freedmen in France's Caribbean colonies but made no calls for total abolition since [[OlderThanTheyThink the slaveowning lobby of Club Massiac]] was quite active and influential in stifling these calls. The Committee of Public Safety dispatched Victor Hugues to enforce abolition in France's colonies and in Guadaloupe, Hugues commanded a desegregated army of Frenchmen, Freedmen and rebellious slaves to repel an alliance of slaveowners and Englishmen. But after Thermidor, the Republic was less interested in enforcing the decree, backsliding on enforcing it in the island of Reunion, before Napoleon halted and reversed the decree, appointing the same Victor Hugues to re-enslave manumitted slaves and send them back to their masters.[[/note]]

The oath particularly stung, since papal supremacy in spiritual matters is a core Catholic tenet, and the new oath didn't seem to leave any room for that. The state wages were not really a problem, being a logical extension of the "Gallican" theory of papal power of which France had long been a bastion. The Gallican theory was that the Pope had no authority over temporal affairs outside of lands he personally ruled, and that included decisions about Church administration and what amounted to Church HR. For centuries, the French Crown had enjoyed the absolute right to appoint all bishops and abbots in France -- with a theoretical but never-used papal veto--and there was no expectation this would change.

Ever since the Revolution took place, it has been one of the most debated and contested of all historical events, if not ''the'' most contested and debated event. Conservatives disapproved of such radical social transformation on basic principle, with some (as well as many reactionaries) going so far as to argue that the whole event was arranged by a small minority (possibly members of the Freemasons and/or TheIlluminati, though French reactionaries at the time actually tended to blame the Duke of Orléans[[note]]Whom they thought had started the revolution as a way to prise the crown from his royal cousins, but then lost control of events.[[/note]]) and had zero popular support. Moderate 19th century liberals argued that everything was going fine until it was derailed by bloodthirsty radicals who gave power to completely unqualified people, rather than trusting in carefully elected elites. Radical revolutionaries looked at the Terror and said, [[UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans "Yes, more of that, please,"]] and believed that events failed because its leaders weren't ruthless ''enough''. Unsurprisingly, these interpretations usually say more about later political developments than they do about the actual events. UsefulNotes/PoliticalIdeologies of the 19th and 20th Century, and the [[UsefulNotes/StandardEuropeanPoliticalLandscape European political spectrum]], to this very day, is largely oriented by one's opinions on the French Revolution: the terms "left" and "right" themselves originate in where the delegates sat in the national assembly (other cool terms like Montagnard (Mountaineer) have not survived).[[note]]The French Revolution also influenced American politics. Many political clubs developed in America in imitation of the French, much to President George Washington's displeasure. The pro-Revolution camp was called "Democrat" by Citizen Genet (a Girondin ambassador who got stranded in America when the ReignOfTerror was unleashed).[[/note]] The Revolution also [[TropeMaker made]] and [[TropeCodifier codified tropes]] associated with nationalism, such as national flags, national festivals, national holidays on significant anniversaries, monuments open to the public, museums and institutions for public education.

After this, the Revolution faced a series of problems, many of them revolving on debates that were OlderThanFeudalism but got stirred up during UsefulNotes/TheEnlightenment. Obviously old-fashioned autocratic Kingdom, DivineRightOfKings, feudal class distinctions and religious control on social levers was getting increasingly unacceptable. If the King and Church was removed, or at least, if their power was limited anyhow, what could take its place? The suggestion put forth was "the Nation" revolving around a conception of French identity that individuals of all classes, all beliefs in all regions could share and accept. Problem was that most of France, outside of the Paris Basin, didn't really feel this unified 'French' identity, and nobody was sure about how, if at all, this idea of the "French nation" was ever to really replace the local traditions of feudal monarchy, always backed by the Church that was more than a millennium old.