july 14 1789 today celebrated in france as bastille day is generally regarded as the
beginning of the international convulsions known as the french revolution it actually
began much earlier than that in the salons and the slums of paris the estates general became the
national assembly the preceding june weakening the powers of the first and second estates the
nobility and the catholic church more power came into the hands of the third estate the lower
classes and the peasantry all occurred because of unfair taxation with the third estate bearing
the bulk of the oppressive taxes the nobility and the churches paid little to no taxes at all
france resembled a smoldering fire ready to burst into flame with little provocation the final piece
of tindo which led to the conflagration came in the form of starvation failed harvest in
successive years meant little bread and what there was cost an average of a month's wages
for a single loaf mobs demonstrated in paris for relief and the kingdom's ministers demonstrated
incompetence in dealing with them finally on july 14 1789 mobs in paris and antonine cord
district stormed what they viewed as the most visible symbol of the oppressive government
the fortress prison known as the bastille the assault led to 10 years of national tragedy
and triumph before it ended the king and queen of france were dead executed by their people
monarchs across europe viewed the violence as a threat to their own reigns and coalitions formed
to restore the house of bourbon as rulers of france the revolution became a symbol of bloody
violence with the guillotine ending the lives of thousands it ushered in the age of napoleon
and 25 years of global warfare the french revolution remains one of the most seminal
events in modern european history and here are 10 shocking facts about the french revolution
number 10. lacking explosives the citizens of paris tore down the bastille by hand
originally built as a fortress to protect the east side of paris were invaders the bastille
centennial towered over the district for four centuries built largely of stone surrounded
by a drawbridged moat and warrened inside with passageways and apartments it gradually became
prison the kings of france used the fortress to imprison political enemies husbands of mistresses
debtors and others of whom's company they had grown tired by 1789 it had a relatively small
garrison though the paris police used it for their own purposes its reputation as a dank
dungeon with prisoners perpetually in chains and often tortured is inaccurate though most prisoners
enjoyed relatively comfortable conditions gradually its use as a prison decreased when
the parisian mob stormed the prison and killed its garrison commander only seven prisoners were
held in the fortress in the weeks that followed the seizure of the bastille pro-revolutionary
propaganda demonized the prison and by extension the regimes which had operated it the propaganda
is the source of the bastille's reputation today including the famous story of the man in the iron
mast the pamphletes and orators decried the fortress as the scene of cruel tortures sexual
depredations upon innocent young girls including by catholic bishops and other like tales of horror
san anton's mobs took heed the commta mirabeau an early revolutionary leader decided to destroy the
prison and experts were assigned to demolish the facility the bulk of the demolition fell to the
mobs which destroyed nearly all of the ancient fortress using picks hammers iron bars and their
bare hands by the time demolition experts arrived with explosives to bring down the battlements
they were all but gone relics of the bastille became popular souvenirs in france one relic a
large iron key to the gates was obtained by the marquis de lafayette he presented it was
a souvenir to george washington today the key is displayed at washington's estate at mount
vernon in virginia number nine the first zoo was created in paris as a means of housing the
exotic animals of the aristocracy beginning in 1626 physicians to the royal court developed a
herb garden for both medicinal purposes and for the chefs to cuisine serving the king
by the late 17th century it had expanded into other forms of plants and flowers and
the public gained admittance to what became known as the chardonnay plant during the late 17th
century and throughout the 18th century the king and queen kept exotic animals on the grounds at
the palace of versailles as well as at his other residences the nobility and clergy emulated the
king and estates across france featured exotic animals and birds in the gardens of the rich
during the revolution many nobles fled for their lives exiled wherever they found sanctuary
even the king and queen attempted to flee which led to their execution by guillotine thousands
of nobles and the wealthy shared their fate as the revolutionaries took over the estates of
the rich they found exotic animals from all over the world on their hands the national assembly
decided their fate in 1793. the assembly ordained the animals be brought to paris either alive or
stuffed as specimens for display at the chardonnay plant they also expanded the former herb garden to
accommodate the animals displayed and the public who could enjoy the menagerie at their leisure
thus the pets of much of the aristocracy survived the revolution which killed so many of their
owners the menagerie de jadon de plante was the first zoological garden in france though not the
first in europe and it remains in operation today number 8 the french revolution temporarily ended
slavery in the french colonies france held an overseas empire at the height of the revolution
with colonies and trading posts in the indian ocean southeast asia and the caribbean in the
latter large plantations grew coffee and sugar the most important crop to the french economy
enslaved africans and indigenous peoples of the islands worked the plantations governed by royal
edicts known as the code noir in 1794 in response to continuing rebellions by slaves in the islands
the constituent assembly in paris abolished slavery the abolition was enforced in only three
of the french colonies saint domingue guadalupe and guyana the other french colonies were slavery
existed largely ignored the government in paris and the practice of slavery continued in french
india senegal martinique and other colonies in 1802 sandoming declared itself independent of
france as the nation of haiti the declaration came in part as response to the restoration of slavery
in the french empire under then-first consul napoleon bonaparte following the restoration
of the bourbons at the end of the napoleonic wars slavery remained an institution throughout
the french colonial holdings until it was again abolished in 1848 7. the revolution triggered
25 years of nearly continuous warfare around the world france's continental rivals and the british
empire took a dim view of a republic emerging as a force in europe republicanism directly threatens
the crowned heads of europe and their dynasties the french queen marie antoinette was the sister
of the emperor of austria and appealed to the austrians for aid against the revolutionaries
the relationship served as one rationale for the queen's execution on the guillotine
in 1792 austria declared war on revolutionary frauds later joined by prussia great britain
spain and several smaller monarchies in the german states the war of the first coalition 1792-1797
led to french victory the establishment of the french republic and the beginnings of the french
empire eventually known as the napoleonic empire the war of the second coalition 1797-1802 gave
france another victory expanded its territory and hardened british determination to destroy napoleon
following a brief period of peace war again broke out in the war of the third coalition in 1803.
from that point until the battle of waterloo in 1815 europe remained almost continuously at
war and the conflict spread to all corners of the globe great britain provided funding to allies to
continue the fight against napoleon throughout the wars each of the eventual seven coalitions against
the french were diplomatically and financially supported by the british and its fleets enforced
trade restrictions against the french war extended to the caribbean sea north america the war of 1812
india china southeast asia and in colonial africa after the collapse of the empire and the exile of
napoleon the period of warfare beginning with the french revolutionary wars was known as the great
war in europe it retained that designation until the eruption of another great war
in 1914. number six a severe hailstorm helped trigger the revolution of 1789. french harvests
in 1787 and 1788 were poor and imports of grain to feed the people of france were subjected to
heavy taxation the french roll treasury had depleted itself supporting the americans in
their revolution as well as other ill-advised adventures undertaken by louis xvi's ministers
taxes on imports were needed to restore the treasury by 1788 the price of a loaf of bread in
paris exceeded the wages of most workers the same situation presented itself in other cities and
black markets and grain developed in several of france's ports in 1788 the early growing season
appeared promising in france's heartlands and it seemed the years of poor harvests would end
later that spring severe weather appeared across france devastating the crops in the fields as
well as the vineyards and orchards hail storms of biblical proportions flattened the crops in july
as they had in preceding years by late july it was evident that the 1788 harvests would be just
another failure accordingly the price of existing grain stocks rose dramatically and bread became
unaffordable bred riots in cities across france emboldened the mobs and the harsh response of the
french government emboldened them still further as it became abundantly clear that the wealthy
suffered from no shortages and were protected by the government the ministers of the king became
the enemy of the people in july 1789 the mobs attacked the government itself when they stormed
the bastille number five the revolution led to the creation of a new calendar including a 10-day week
in pre-revolutionary france the catholic church held such power it rivaled that of the king
bishops held governmental posts owned vast estates and exerted clerical authority over secular
matters the church was corrupt wealthy paid no taxes and acted in concert with the aristocrats
many bishops had wives and mistresses and church officials often imprisoned enemies and rivals one
of the early acts of the revolutionary government curbed the power of the church yet making an enemy
of the catholic church in france presented great difficulties in part to separate french daily life
from the ecclesiastical calendar the revolutionary government created a new calendar of its own the
calendar also served as part of the movement to move all the french life into the decimal system
the french implemented the new calendar in 1793 and it featured a 10-day week with 10-hour days
hours of 100 minutes and each minute of 100 seconds its 12 months contained three weeks
and were named for seasonal events for example vol mer the first month of autumn was derived from the
french von d'orge or vintage to correspond with grape harvests the government act five
national holidays on the end of the year six in leap years to make a comply with a solar year
the french republican calendar began with year one the government adopted it
though the french people largely did not for one thing it immediately rendered every timepiece in
france obsolete french churches continued to ring their bells in accordance with the old method of
keeping time at least in smaller communities the republican calendar remained the official method
of measuring time in france for just 13 years before napoleon abolished it in 1805. number
four the september massacres of 1792 led to the execution of more than 1 200 people in august
1792 an insurer action in paris established a new commune to control the city and imprisoned
louis xvi and his family in the tulare palace they stripped the king of his constitutional
authority established by an earlier government and established armed troops loyal to the commune in
each of the city's 48 govern districts they also established a central committee the
tribunal to consider the cases of those accused of opposing the republic or supporting the king
at the same time an army of mostly prussian troops led by the duke of brunswick approached paris from
the east jean-paul moreau organized the committee of surveillance at the commune to which reported
subcommittees from each parisian district he encouraged those subcommittees to purge their
districts of non-supporters of the revolution the approach of the prussians led to most armed
troops being dispatched to fight them and the commune controlled most of the armed people in
the city including a substantial number of armed assassins all priests who had not complied with
the law making them subservient to the republic rather than the vatican were ordered to leave the
city those who did not were imprisoned along with political prisoners and common criminals
from september the 1st through september the 6th the arms thugs hired by the commune prowled
the prisons and jails of paris summarily killing prisoners that they encountered an estimated
1 600 prisoners were murdered during the purge likely ordered by morat he also ordered outlying
towns and cities to rally to the defense of paris after executing similar purges within
their jurisdictions following the massacres marat claimed there had been a spontaneous uprising of
the people of paris although bloody and widespread the september massacres paled in comparison to the
excesses of the reign of terror which followed number three the fascists served as a symbol of
the revolutionaries there are several symbols connected via history to the french revolution
beginning with the guillotine supporters of the revolution pinned a red white and blue cockade to
their clothing or caps a brimless cone-shaped cap usually a felt and known as a liberty cap
were worn by both men and women the marcellae officially titled by its composer as the song of
war for the army of the rhine became the national anthem of the french republic in 1795. another
symbol adopted by the revolutionaries from the beginning were the fassies originating in ancient
rome the fascists comprised a bundle of birch rods surrounding an axe the french revolutionaries
adapted the fatties by placing a liberty cap on top of the bundle and in many cases added
the words liberty equality fraternity the national emblem of france continues to display the fascists
today though unadorned by the liberty gap these fancies which became a symbol of italian fascism
in the 20th century was but one of the many roman symbols adopted by the french revolutionaries in
later napoleon number two only seven prisoners occupied the bastille when it was stormed
numerous stories and articles describing the storming of the bastille list the infamous marquis
de sade as being one of the prisoners at the time on july the 2nd 1789 the marquis called to the mob
gathering outside the bastille informing them the guards were killing the prisoners two days later
he was taken from his apartment at the bastille to the insane asylum at charinton outside paris
he was transferred in retaliation for inciting the mob he had been in the bastille five years but
missed the storming of the fortress by ten days he spent the rest of his life in and out of various
prisons and asylums and dispersed with brief periods of freedom there were seven prisoners
in the bastille at the time the mob captured the fortress one of whom the comm desolage had
been imprisoned for deviancy at the request of his father another had been in the prison since 1759
having allegedly plotted to assassinate louis xv four criminals convicted of forgery were the only
prisoners in the bastille to have been convicted of crimes an englishman james white occupied
another cell in the prison little about him or his reason for being there is known for certain number
one public executions were popular attractions with programs sold listing the day's victims the
reign of terror the period most often associated with the french revolution in entertainment
took place from september 1793 through july 1794. on september the 17th the national convention the
ruling body of the government in 1792 enacted the law of suspects the law required all citizens to
denounce anyone suspected of being opposed to the acts of the convention or otherwise demonstrating
they were enemies of the state in october the convention suspended the constitution the
committee of public safety became the supreme instrument of the government it determines
the fate of the accused and most were executed executions of accused enemies of the state were
daily events in paris as well as several other cities demand for space where the executions took
place became a means for cash-strapped governments to raise money tickets for the best seats were
sold as were those for viewing from public and private buildings before and during executions
vendors worked the crowd selling food and drinks souvenirs and programs which listed those being
executed that day as well as their place in line and the crime for which they were being sent to
their deaths besides beheadings executions were carried out by hanging firing squad and drownings
more than 4 000 people were drowned in the loire river at nant alone by june 1794 those denounced
in the provinces were ordered sent to paris for trial and execution that month crowds in paris
watched up to two dozen beheadings a day overall more than a hundred thousand people were executed
during the reign of terror most publicly the terror officially ended with the execution
of ross pierre its main protagonist in july 1795. even then revenge killings continued across france
for many months to come so i really hope you found that video interesting if you did
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