Originally posted by MrNECROS
I always find the whole idea the the French Revelution "just happened" because everyone was starving a bit silly.
Uh-huh.
Before anyone falls for Necros' (once again) historical rewrites, it may be helpful to review a few facts.
Necros says:
The whole country rose up in unison, the rebeleous factions were already armed and many units from the army turned about on the spot to support
the cause.
To say the "whole country rose up in unison" is nothing short of an absurdity, and demonstates either a complete lack of understanding of French
Revolutionary history, or is a blatant attempt to mislead people (perhaps Necros gest his history lessons from Freemasonry Watch?).
In reality, only the Third Estate was revolutionary, and only a small faction of the armed forces joined causes with the revolution.
Neither is Necros' assertion correct that the rebels were already armed. When warned that the king's army was approaching Paris to quell the
Rebellion, the peasants stormed the Bastille on July 14, 1789 (armed with clubs and slingshots) in order to procure firearms to defend themselves (and
this Bastille Day is still celebrated in France as we celebrate Independence Day in the US).
What originally instigated the Rebellion is easily shown. In 1788, the harvest was poor and the price of bread soared. The price of one loaf had
doubled to 4 sous, meaning that the average laborer had to spend half of his wages on bread alone in order to feed a family of four, not including
other expenses or the king's continuing tax hikes (which effected only the Third Estate; the first two Estates, clergy and nobility, paid little or
no taxes).
On October 5, an estimated 7000 Parisian peasant women marched to Louis' palace at Versaille and invaded it, massacring the royal guards. Much of
this was in retaliation to a comment made by Louis' queen, Marie Antoinette, who, when asked by the peasants how to feed their children without
bread, famously replied mockingly "Let them eat cake."
The women's revolution launched the Great Rebellion, which finally concluded with the execution of the royal family and a radical dictatorship of
revolutionary peasants lead by Robespierre and the Jacobins
after the revolution had succeeded. The Jacobins' role in the revolution itself
was miniscule.
Its also hilarious how Freemasons like to think that Napoleon saved the day - if anything he made it worse by spreading its nihilistic madness all
over Europe through a prolific series of wars that raged for over a decade.
Many more people died during his reign than during the revolution.
Being a Freemason has nothing to do with it; it is the universal consensus of all serious historians that Napoleon stabilized the revolution. He took
a society in chaos and transformed it into the first world superpower.
How one views Napoleon outside this is only personal opinion. However, I am inclined to agree with Nietzsche, who praised Napoleon as the ultimate
embodiment of the
Ubermensch, one whose determination and Will To Power is fit for the history books.
Fiat Lvx.
[edit on 11-11-2004 by Masonic Light]