Napoleon Bonaparte and Napoleon Dynamite

            During its duration, the French Revolution experienced many different governments. It began with a monarchy, transitioned to a constitutional monarchy and then broke into a chaotic republic ruled by Robespierre. This led to the Reign of Terror and the eventually beheading of Robespierre himself. As a result, the middle class revolted with the Thermidorian Reaction and the creation of the Directory.

The Directory comprised of five consuls. Doesn’t this sound like another group comprised of 5 members?

http://cdn.onedirection.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/where-we-are-tour-2104-onedirection_612.jpg

            Like One Direction, the Directory was not perfect and experienced problems (sorry Kiersten). One man rose through the military ranks and overthrew the Directory with his coup d’etat. This man was Napoleon Bonaparte!

http://www.biography.com/imported/images/Biography/Images/Profiles/N/Napoleon-i-9420291-2-402.jpg

            Napoleon was a narcissistic man who believed he was the “savior of France”. Napoleon created many changes within France that helped and hurt France.

Napoleon enhanced France by allowing freedom of religion, equality in job opportunities, secularization of state, protection of private property, economic stability, rid the country of serfdom, repaired connections with the Catholic Church, and created a public education system. Some would say, “How could this man do any wrong?”

            Well, Napoleon suppressed political freedom, women’s rights, and freedom of speech. Napoleon’s insatiable thirst for power resulted in his desire to take over Europe and the world. His Machiavelli attitude that “the ends justify the means” made most of his decisions over France. Napoleon conquered many other countries such as Belgium, Germany, Holland, Italy, and Spain in his time. Though he brought rights to some of these countries, he also brought exploitation. In his “ends justify the means” he believed in order to save France, Napoleon needed the resources and money from all his new acquired land for France. The conquest and repression of these countries resulted in many deaths.

            Now we must question whether Napoleon is the same as other famous dictators in history including Hitler and Stalin. Some would say yes because he established stability in a time of turmoil and chaos (Hitler). He also suppressed common liberties, such as freedom of speech, and instead used propaganda. Alison’s opinion would be that Napoleon was not exactly the same as the other dictators. Napoleon is commonly referred to as a benevolent despot and rightly so by the great change in society and government he created. Napoleon saw the practicality in religious tolerance, the abolition of serfdom, and equal opportunities for jobs. Napoleon did not brutally murder a specific group of people (unlike Hitler) and understood the importance of the pursuit of man in economy and job opportunities (unlike Stalin).

            Napoleon Bonaparte is like the movie character Napoleon Dynamite. Both were experiencing a turbulent time (the French Revolution and high school) and took the initiative to not sit around but to take action. Napoleon Bonaparte rose through the ranks to become the Emperor of France to save it while Napoleon Dynamite was able to get on that stage and dance his heart out for his best friend to win school elections. Both Napoleons did not care about other people’s view of them and saw exactly what they needed to do to get what they wanted. And they have the same name!

France Goes to Heck in an Handbasket

After King Louis XVI was imprisoned and the monarchy was abolished, the French Revolution came into a different phase known as the "Second Revolution." Now you may be wondering, "Hey, hasn't France already had a revolution thing going on?" and would be completely right. However, the main problem that drove the French Revolution in a sense, was still not fixed. This was the fact that still, many poor people did not have enough food to eat and therefore were pushing for even more extreme measures to prevent starvation!
 Additionally, Jacobins, a generally younger and more radical group of politicians took power in the Legislative Assembly (another representative body, formed  in 1791 after the National Assembly had disbanded.)  The French Revolution now no longer contained its hatred of monarchs to the French ones, but thought that it was their duty to free other nations from tyranny.

 From Hark, a vagrant!

 Obviously this did not go over well with the neighboring monarchies found in Austria and Prussia, and resulted in France fighting the Habsburgs along with Prussia. Unfortunately for France, their army was not able to beat the combined forces of Austria and Prussia.  Ironically, Robespierre argued against using force to "liberate others." His stance on this matter will pull a full 180 shortly...

Robespierre: Let me tell you about him

Even though the government in France was under the control of the Jacobins, this group was further segmented into the Mountains and the Girondists who both fought for control. Both groups espoused republican ideals, but the Mountain were more radical led by Robespierre and Danton, while the Girondists were more moderate. Food shortages forced the urban poor, known as the sans-culottes, to beg for more radical economic action to grant them food. Thus the Mountain, eager to gain an edge over the Girondists, joined with the sans culottes and drove the Girondists out of power.

In order to deal with a country fragmented by military defeat, peasant revolts, and famine, Robespierre formed the innocuous sounding Committee of Public Safety, which in reality had dictatorial power. Robespierre and the Committee of Public Safety were able to bring France back from the brink of defeat. They employed radical economic techniques such as nationalization of industries, fixed prices, and rationing of bread. This helped to appease the sans-culottes and gained their support.
They also used revolutionary terror to ensure France was unified. Basically, Robespierre attacked anyone who might have opposed the current regime. This became known as the Reign of Terror, as many arrests and executions were made without a fair trial. Robespierre tried to rationalize this by saying that terror was needed to enforce justice and to support what was "virtuous." He thought that sometimes you had to be forced to be free.

By Kate Beaton; Hark, a Vagrant

Finally, the French gained a much greater sense of nationalism and the average French person became more involved with the war effort. This allowed a greater mobilization of French resources and men than had been previously and contributed greatly to the victory of France over the First Coalition of Prussia and Austria.

Du Pain, S'il Vous Plaît? (Some Bread, Please)

Many of the problems of the French Revolution stemmed from the fact that there were different goals and interests for society depending on the social class of each individual person. While the nobles enjoyed lavish meals and levied for a greater say in their government, the poor commoners barely had enough bread to survive. This divergence can be summed up in a simple explanation...the rich people already had more than their fair share of food; therefore, they focused their attention on what they wanted, i.e. more political power. The poor people, on the other hand, focused their attention on what they needed, i.e. bread and more economic power. This does not seem like an unreasonable plea, right? I mean, who doesn't like bread. I, for one, love bread.

The peasants were all like....

While Marie Antoinette was all like...

Sorry for that disturbing image....Anyway, while the members of the Third Estate were pressing for equality with the nobility and the clergy, economic hardship was hitting the common people in France. Because of the extremely poor grain harvest and the high bread prices, a severe depression was unleashed. Thousands of people lost their jobs, notably artisans and small traders. The people shifted from feelings of misery and despair to feelings of revolution and revolt. The revolutionaries blamed their economic woes on human causes; more specifically, they feared the growing power of the aristocratic landowners and grain speculators. Fear of vagabonds and criminals, coined the term "The Great Fear," added to the intensity of the rebellion. 

Surprisingly, women were the driving force behind the violence of the Revolution. During the 18th century, it was widely believed that a woman's place was in the home. This belief, commonly referred to as the "cult of domesticity," is precisely what motivated the women for their extreme acts of violence. It was the woman's job to buy the food and to manage the few resources of her poor family. When mothers could not provide for their children because they could not afford a simple loaf of bread, their hatred and desire for revenge was unveiled. As seen below, women were usually at the front of the lines during the famous events, like the march at Versailles.

Thus, women were mean and people were hungry. However, Marie-Antoinette had a simple solution to these problems....

The 3rd Estate is 3rd wheeling it

National Assembly vs. Estates General




The Estates General was a representation of all three estates of France. Louis XVI called upon the Estates General to approve general taxation, but it did not. This was a major challenge to the kings authority. His absolutism reign was slipping right out of his grasps into the hands of the estates, predominantly the third estate. "With great power comes great responsibility" (Spiderman) so in order to take control, the National Assembly was formed. It was a continuation of the Estates General. Now the questions you may be asking is "why did the Estates General change? Or "What is the difference between the general and assembly?" How else to answer these but with a comparison to Miley Cyrus!

Once upon a time Miley, Lilly, and Oliver were best friends(see below) or at least in cahoots much like the three estates in the Estates General. Sure they had their ups and downs, but they were still united. Then one day Lilly starts dating Oliver (GASP! but really no surprise). Miley is now the third wheel and becomes a loner (poor Miley).

(The three best friends that anyone could have)  TO   (we're happier without Miley!)

She should have gone and started her own National Assembly, just as the common people did during the French Revolution when they were ignored by the nobility and the clergy. The clergy and the nobility allied up (for lack of better word) against the commoners and didn't listen to their ideas or give them a say. The commoners became the 3rd wheel(get it 3rd Estate, 3rd wheel?!) like Miley, left the nobles and the clergies, and focused on their own power. Miley gained power and drew her friends back with her Hannah Montananess. The 3rd Estate had its population, almost a gazillion people!(see below). They all gathered together, with a few members of the 1st and 2nd estates, and started the National Assembly.  

Thus, that is the story of how Miley became the 3rd wheel and how the Estates General led to the National Assembly.

Now a quick side note on Bastille Day (Just because I found a catchy song)

All seemed well and good until Bastille Day! The upper class was not intuned with the poor, hence Marie Antoinette's comment '"Let them eat cake!" Others said they should eat grass like horses. Cake was too hot, and grass was too cold, but bread was jusssstttt right (Goldilocks reference). They just wanted to live life normally. Along with their economic problems, there were rumors that the king was going to invade with his army (UH OH!!) The peasants were desperate so they bombarded the Bastille prison. The peasants eventually broke the monopoly power of the army and saved the National Assembly which would continue to do great things for France.  Song time!!!
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GW72Gmqjse4

We Heart Liberals

Liberals exercise a political philosophy based on ideas of liberty and equality. The liberals just before the French Revolution based their ideas on many Enlightenment philosophies, such as individual liberty, personal happiness, and faith in science and rationality. These ideas came to the forefront in Europe just before the Revolution. Liberals do like being "revolutionary", don't they? 

This is the French motto: liberty, equality, fraternity, or death. The French really like to copy us "stupid Americans". "Give me liberty or give me death", anyone?

As their name suggests, liberals called for liberty, or "the ability to do anything that does not harm another person" (692). This includes freedom of religion, freedom from censorship, and freedom from unjust laws. Most importantly, this new call for freedom also called for a freer form of government. French liberals believed that the people had sovereignty, or the authority to make laws that limited individual freedom (how very Rousseau). Furthermore, they preferred a representative government to the absolutist one to which they were accustomed. The French admired England's parliamentary system in which several elected officials were the voice of the people in government (not according to the American colonists, but that's a story for another time). 

While their ideas of freedom and equal rights were all well and good, who did they really think were allowed to be free? If you answered "white, land-owning men", you're right. These intelligent liberals could not even imagine a world in which women were equal to men. Little did they know what an important role women would play in the ensuing revolution. This is the "fraternité" part of the French motto. 

Liberals believed in an economy in which people had equal opportunity. This does not mean that everyone was equal in terms of finances and property, but that everyone had equal opportunity to make money. I like this. It sounds like capitalism. 

 Then they could eat all the cake they could afford through hard work, Marie Antoinette. Or croissants or cheese, whatever they preferred. 

 

While these liberal ideas seem perfectly normal us liberty-loving Americans*, they were remarkably radical in a time of absolutist rule. They were so radical and became so popular that they helped incite the French Revolution. 

* As opposed to popular belief all Americans love freedom, including Republicans. 

Lol, just kidding 

Did we cause the French Revolution?

          For the last two years we have practiced our own form of isolationism and have learned about the history of the United States. It makes sense because, well… we live here. Anyway once we landed on Plymouth Rock and established the colonies you might remember a little war called the revolution. So we were wrapped up in internal affairs that we neglected to see the impact we had around the world. The colonies became a source of inspiration for other nations, one being France. Looking closer it’s possible that our Revolutionary War caused the French Revolution…

Now, we haven’t fully covered the French Revolution yet, so this is just the tip of the iceberg. From my understanding, the French Revolution was sort of a mash-up of revolutions. It began with the aristocracy wanting to get rid of the king, then came a bunch of other government systems, then Napoleon. So France went in circles to wind up with basically the same government and a ton of blood on their hands.

 

 

            Anyway, we learned that the members of the French aristocracy were truly the ones who prompted this revolution. France was pretty much bankrupt at this time for a few reasons. They financed a HUGE chunk of the American Revolution and building palaces such as Versailles is not exactly budget friendly. Tensions were high in the upper-class. The nobles thought that they could run the country better than the King and the King obviously did not reciprocate those feelings.

 

 

So all in all, rising tensions and the lack of money caused the French Revolution. Did America contribute to these problems? Yes. Did America cause the French Revolution? No.

CanDIDe and What He DID

http://www.whitman.edu/VSA/Candide/1stedition.jpeg

Candide by Volatire follows the story of a man, Candide, who travels the world in search for his love Cunegonde. On his journey he encounters many diverse people and places such as Eldorado, a city made of gold, and a cannibalistic tribe.

http://www.manitobaopera.mb.ca/learn/images/CandideJourney.gif

            Voltaire satirically reflects the philosophical thinkers of the Enlightenment with one of his characters named Pangloss who presses on Candide that “all is for the best in the best of all possible worlds.” Candide holds on to this optimism while he is ruthlessly beaten with unfortunate events throughout the novel such as floggings and robberies. This leads to the characters and the reader to wonder whether or not there is truly a “God” and whether or not he is “good”.

http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_ljrtndckBh1qgg7pu.png

            From Voltaire’s perspective, there is a Clockwork God who designed the universe, pressed a button, and watches the repercussions. The reader must make the assumption that every action is the result of a cause that is not intentionally bad or good but the result of another cause. Bad and good things will happen out of the control of people in general. Voltaire represents this through his characters with Candide and his many trials (bad) but he ultimately receives (an ugly) Cunegonde and a farm with all his friends(good). Sadly, Candide and his friends face a brutal boredom that leaves everyone quarrelsome.

http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/02432/CERXNB_2432592b.jpg

            Candide and his friends avoid boredom by cultivating their garden. By sitting around and philosophically speculating about the world, everyone is left with an empty unfulfilled life. They all seek change in the world around them and expect it to happen on its own. Working on their farm finally gives them a productive result they can see and touch. Voltaire teaches the reader that though you can stop to philosophize about the word, to create real results you must make a change by taking action because God only watches and does not intervene. You must be the change you wish to see in the world (Mahatma Ghandi).