Let Them Eat Cake Essay

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French Revolution

The author of this report has been asked to speak to the genuine and real causes of the French Revolution. Indeed, that part of world history is one of the most intriguing and exciting parts of world history to study. It is also one of the more debated and questioned. It does not help that the period in question happened more than two centuries ago and stretched on for roughly a decade. Even so, this report shall explore the root causes and history behind this pivotal moment in European and world history. While some may not speak highly or deeply of the French Revolution, what happened within the Revolution itself and what it started around the rest of the world is beyond question.

Analysis

A lot of what the author of this report has learned lately about the French Revolution was captured in the lecture notes. Part and parcel of the French Revolution was violence and the invoking of the same. For example, the call to "hang the aristocrats on the lantern" was an example of invocation as created and propagated by the people. Actual events of violence and uprising could be seen in the storming of the Bastille and the September Massacre. All of this came about in large part because of the idea that a hegemonic and repressive government being necessary and proper inspired terror and fear in the people. The Bastille was a target of the Revolution because it was symbolic and representative of the tyranny of the monarchy.

The lecture notes further talk of acts of reprisal and upheaval against the leaders of France. Another example was in a July during the Revolution when royal authorities transferred two hundred and fifty barrels of gunpowder to the Bastille from the French arsenal. There was also the allocation of a good number of muskets. The fortress was stormed by a mob not long thereafter. The mob was held back but not without some consequences. About a hundred mob members were killed but some defecting French soldiers corralled some cannons and aimed them at the Bastille itself. Between this action and the fact that both Parisians and non-Parisians alike were involved in the scrum, the taking of the Bastille was complete. These actions precipitated an acquiescence from Louis XVI and led to a constitutional government after the Bastille was torn down brick by brick with the last of those bricks being presented to the National Assembly.

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Things really started to get nasty when the aforementioned September Massacre came to pass. The killing began on September 2nd when a group of prisoners was being transferred to Abbaye Prison near Saint Germaine. His group was attacked by an armed group of men. In the next four days, the massacre that started with this attack spread to the prisoners of the other cities. Civil authorities surely wanted to stop the mayhem but had no ability to do so and were thus powerless. In the end, about half of the prison population of Paris alone had been executed in short order and with no due process. There was a so-called "popular tribunal" but it was more of a show than anything genuine.

These massacres were a manifestation of the collective mentality that existed in Paris at the time. The climate was raw due to the recent overthrow of the monarchy as described earlier in this report. The onus of responsibility for the massacres became a political football among the parties vying for power. The moderate Girondins blamed the people they deemed to be their radical enemies. Particular people that were targeted include Jean Paul Marat, George Danton and Robespierre. The bloody massacre was a "watershed" moment when it came to the relationships and dynamics that existed between the people of the country and the political elite in the city of France. In the end, no one was every prosecuted for the killings but the political power of the Girondins and Jacobins were both heavily damaged. The problems revealed were that the Girondins were too moderate and the Jacobins were too barbaric and bloodthirsty.

Noted French historian Albert Soboul thought that the uprising was deliberate and premediated. He did note that the actions were indeed partially justified by the punitive leadership of the country. He further stated that such "eliminations" of opponents have a logic to them and that the will of the people cannot be ignored by the ruling class of a country. When it comes to perspectives and post-mortems about the French Revolution, there….....

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