Questions tagged [french-revolution]
For questions about and related to the French Revolution.
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Were any women from the First Estate at the Estates-General of 1789?
Famously, women of the Third Estate were not invited to participate in the Estates-General of 1789. This led to their petition to the King, and later the March on Versailles.
The situation for the ...
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Do we have revolutionary tribunal records for Robespierre et al, 10 Thermidor An 2?
I'm interested in records of the French revolutionary tribunal. Do we have the transcript of, for example, Robespierre's trial before the revolutionary tribunal during the Thermidorian reaction? Do ...
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Were any U.S. founding fathers present at the storming of the Bastille?
Were any U.S. founding fathers present at the storming of the Bastille?
I heard that Thomas Paine was "cheering on" the French Revolution.
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What is the relation between the "Jacobins" and the "Montagnards" (French Revolution)? [closed]
What is the relation between the "Jacobins" and the "Montagnards" (French Revolution)?
Seems the Montagnards were members of the Jacobins club.
Do they have the same ideas?
I did ...
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What was the price of bread in France from 1789 - 1815?
I would really like to know the price of bread in France during the entire revolutionary and Napoleonic era. I am aware it was high in 1789, but couldn't find hard data for further years.
All my ...
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Why did the French constitution of 1791 not extend its effect to the colonies?
The French Constitution of 1791, which was accepted during the Revolution and followed the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen (1789), contained such a provision that stated that
The ...
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Does anybody know the name to this British tune?
Does anybody know the name to this British tune? The march is from the show called George Washington (1984 mini-series).
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Confirmation of existence of a historical document about French revolution and Lyon?
The site marxists.org have this document, that it is alleged was issued by the Committee of Public Safety of Maximilian Robespierre.
Wikimedia thinks it is real
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:...
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What did Robespierre think of Huguenots?
I've been reading up recently about the Huguenots ("French Protestants" could be synonym) and how they lived, and this question intrigues me- Did Maximilien Robespierre have anything to say ...
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How was Napoleon's military funded just a decade after the French Revolution ostensibly because of bankruptcy/mismanagement of funds?
It's all in the Title. Where did the funds come from for Napoleon's weaponry, uniforms, food, horses, etc.? Did Rome/The Pope/The Catholic Church fund the excursions?
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What is this item?
I bought this thing (medallion? military decoration? jewelry? something else?) just because I've become obsessed with figuring out what this broken thing is. Any ideas?
The medallion is about 3 ...
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Why didn't Louis XVI print money prior to the French revolution?
I'm currently reading "Citizens: A Chronicle of the French Revolution" by Simon Schama. It is an ok book. There is a lot of divergence into the culture leading up to the revolution, which ...
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Were people of Third Estate rich?
Till now I had the view that Third Estate was of mostly peasants and small tradesman and consequently had low economy but today I found these lines in Interpreting the French Revolution by Francois ...
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What uniform is this French gentleman wearing? [closed]
Can anyone help me identify the uniform that this gentleman is wearing?
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Why do revolutions "eat their own?" What is the sociological dynamic here?
We have a number of cases in history of revolutionary movements growing increasingly radicalized by a kind of internal dynamic that eliminates more moderate factions. Instances include the Jacobins, ...
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What was the ratio of people who were atheist prior to the French revolution or who adopted atheism as a result of the Cult of Reason?
I'm interested in the way the French people reacted to the religious policies during the French revolution, i. e. dechristianization and establishment of the Cult of Reason. Are there any estimates ...
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Why is the storming of the Bastille considered the start of revolution, and not the storming of the Hôtel des Invalides?
People only stormed the Bastille to steal the gunpowder for the Weapons they stole from Hôtel des Invalides. Why is the former decided by most historians to be the start? Also, some historians ...
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What are the "sexual causes" for the French Revolution cited in Wikipedia?
In the Wikipedia article on the causes for the causes of the French Revolution, among the causes listed in the earlier revision (I've changed it for now) was:
Sexual: Amongst the lesser known ...
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What is the meaning of this short passage in Thomas Carlyle's 'French Revolution'? [closed]
Look to it, D'Aiguillon; sharply as thou didst, from the Mill of St. Cast,
on Quiberon and the invading English; thou, 'covered if not with glory yet
with meal!' Fortune was ever accounted ...
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Why is Madame Roland considered a heroine during French Revolution?
I'm working on an assignment about Madame Roland and Olympe De Gouges, and a question says:
What is their common position on the political regime in France? Which ones do they support? Which party ...
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Does somebody know anything about the original "Tour de Croy" tower?
In Châtillon (near Paris in France), one can find today this tower. Before this, there was the Biret tower, built in 1870. Before the Biret tower there was the Croy tower (tour de Croy). A short ...
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Which French Revolutionary figure thought black slaves could oversee monkeys for labor?
I'm operating off of fuzzy memory for this question but I know I have encountered this bizarre (and offensive: fair warning) historical figure who I am inquiring about here before in my previous ...
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Are the any primary sources from during the Conciergerie's time as a prison?
Are there any letters detailing Conciergerie prisoners' experiences during French Revolution? If so where can I find them? Thank you in advance for your help!
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During the French Revolution, how did the French address non-citizens?
I've read in multiple books and articles that during the French Revolution the address of monsieur / madame (my lord / my lady) was suspended in favor of the more égalité-friendly citoyen / citoyenne (...
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Was Robespierre in the pay of the British?
I was looking for interesting books on French Revolution, when I stumbled across this history of British espionage in the late 1700s. The book is several hundred dollars, so I won't be able to procure ...
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Why did the French Revolutionary General Pichegru defect to the Royalists?
General Pichegru was a famous French Revolutionary military leader who had won great victories in 1795. And then, all of a sudden:
Although he had become a hero of the Revolution, he allowed his
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What are the dates of these panoramas of Paris?
As part of a personal project I've been looking for period etchings, engravings, and black and white illustrations of Paris as it might have looked during the French Revolution of 1789. Those who are ...
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When and who did the Legislative Assembly banish from France during the French Revolution?
On what dates and what people were required to quit France by decree of the Legislative Assembly?
EDIT 21 April 2018
The following details were added by the OP in comments to an answer below
I ...
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Which of Ben Franklin's grandsons was blessed by Voltaire?
I've seen this image and I was curious if anyone knows which grandson of Ben Franklin's this is receiving Voltaire's blessing:
https://www.wikitree.com/genealogy/Franklin-Descendants-1
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How many keys to the French Bastille are still in existence?
France's national day on July 14th is called Bastille Day in English.
The day commemorates when a mob of people on July 14 1789 took a medieval castle, a symbol of Bourbon Royalty, in the opening ...
user27618
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Why didn't every nation commit genocides against every other nation when they conquered land? [closed]
I'm not saying genocides were great or anything like that. I'm just curious as to why would you leave the conquered population alive, leaving the door open for the possible future revolts when you ...
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How direct was the Enlightenment's role in the French Revolution?
John Thomson, in his book "Europe after Napoleon", argues that the Enlightenment had little direct role in creating the conditions for revolution. Neither the thinkers prescribed revolution nor the ...
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Hotel de Ville during Women's March on Versailles
What is the present location of the Hotel de Ville where women congregated just before the March on Versailles to take the king to Paris? Specifically, where they met with Mirabeau, Robespierre, etc
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Why did the Levee en Masse call for children to make lint?
The 1789 decree calling for general conscription begins,
Henceforth, until the enemies have been driven from the territory of the republic, the French people are in permanent requisition for army ...
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During and right after the French Revolution, how did France maintain and operate such a big army all over Europe?
During revolutions or civil wars, countries usually suffer enormous economic losses along with much civil unrest. These things would seem to make it impossible for a nation to operate a huge army and ...
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Why was Lafayette imprisoned after the French Revolution?
I have read books about the American and French revolutions, but in all my reading it was never made clear why exactly Lafayette was imprisoned by the Austrians. It's clear that he angered the radical ...
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With what weapons were the towers of the Bastille armed?
I am researching the Bastille for a project in which I have to depict the Royal soldiers that stood on the towers during the French Revolution. Specifically, I am looking for the types of weapons ...
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Why wasn't there more resistance to the French revolution by the army?
Reading about the French revolution in 1789, none of the readily available Sources (Wikipedia history.com encyclopedia.com) mentions much resistance to the revolution by the army, even though "The ...
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Military Strategy of Carnot
I'm listening to Mike Duncan's podcast, Revolutions, episode 3.44, and in it, he details the misfortunes of the French bumbling about the wrong side of the Rhine.
According to Duncan, Carnot, now a ...
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What happened to the Swiss troops in French service after August 10, 1792?
We know that the Swiss guards were disbanded in the aftermath of the Assault on the Tuileries, on August 10, 1792, and all other Swiss troops in French service followed soon thereafter. We also know ...
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Where did the French National Constituent Assembly meet on August 4, 1789?
Where did the National Constituent Assembly decide to abolish feudalism?
I read that the National Constituent Assembly did not meet in a specific place. Therefore I want to know where they met in ...
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What motivated revolutionary France to declare war on Britain in 1793?
France declared war on Britain in 1793 (War of First Coalition). What was its motivation for declaring war? It was already at war with many European powers at the moment, and it was not likely in a ...
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Did Diderot say "Men will never be free until the last king is strangled with the entrails of the last priest"?
The following quote is often attributed to Diderot - co-founder of the Encyclopédie and one of the most notable figures during the Enlightenment:
Men will never be free until the last king is ...
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How was the U.S. divided regarding the French Revolution around 1789?
How was America divided regarding the French Revolution during the early going (1789-1791, when the French hero of the American War of Independence, Lafayette, was one of its leaders)? What side of ...
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When and why did Girondins split from Jacobins [closed]
So I'm reading through Schama's Citizens and am thoroughly confused. I've gathered that at the beginning there were Feuillants and Jacobins, of whom the majority were followers of Brissot, the ...
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To what extent is a coincidence that the Dec. of the Rights of Man and the Citizen and the USA Dec. of Independence were approved so close in time? [closed]
France helped North Americans revolutionaries during the Independence War. The USA Declaration of Independence (USA, 1776) and the US Constitution (USA, 1787) influenced the content of the Declaration ...
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What was the meaning of Auguste Delfosse's statement "La liberté française pour faire le tour du monde n'a pas besoin de passer en Belgique!"
Auguste Delfosse, a Belgian politician, is said to have given this statement in the Belgian House of Representatives on March 1, 1848:
La liberté française pour faire le tour du monde n'a pas ...
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Napoleon's medals
I'm currently part-way through a biography of Napoleon. I'm curious about the medals he had struck to commemorate events such as battlefield victories. How widely were these distributed within the ...
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How were the bodies of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette identified in their unmarked graves?
I have read that Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette were both buried in unmarked graves after their executions during the French Revolution. On January 18, 1815, during the Bourbon Restoration, their ...
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When was the first secular society?
When was the first attempt to create a secular society? (a society that was intentionally separate from religion). Was the French Revolution the first to discard religion as an legitimizing force and ...
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