34
votes
Why do revolutions "eat their own?" What is the sociological dynamic here?
Revolution and Power
As Lenin famously said, the key question of any revolution is the question of Power.
Translating it into the vernacular for the benefit of the unindoctrinated: a revolution is ...
- 26.9k
20
votes
Accepted
What are the dates of these panoramas of Paris?
Acknowledgement: this answer owes a debt to some of the comments posted under the question and under this answer, especially Kimchilover.
There is conclusive evidence that all three images are from ...
- 108k
18
votes
Accepted
What are the "sexual causes" for the French Revolution cited in Wikipedia?
That section seems to have been added without any supporting citation by an anonymous user on 1 November 2019. Given France was a Catholic country in which polygamy was illegal at that time, I'd say ...
- 77.2k
18
votes
Why do revolutions "eat their own?" What is the sociological dynamic here?
Revolutions create instability.
Edmund Burke said the following after the French Revolution:
one of the first and most leading principles on which the commonwealth and the laws are consecrated is ...
- 14.1k
17
votes
What was this small state in the south of France in 1789?
That is Avignon, part of the papal states. In 1791 the French annexed it. The map below shows the extent of the papal states in 1700:
- 37.7k
16
votes
Did Diderot say "Men will never be free until the last king is strangled with the entrails of the last priest"?
Like most internet “quotes”, this is actually fake. But Diderot said something quite similar in his poem: “Les Éleuthéromanes” :
J'en atteste les temps; j'en appelle à tout âge;
Jamais au ...
- 9,696
15
votes
Accepted
How were the bodies of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette identified in their unmarked graves?
It seems that a loyalist by the name of Pierre-Louis Olivier Desclozeaux, who lived next to the plot of land where Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette were buried, wrote down exactly where the two graves ...
- 1,344
14
votes
Accepted
During the French Revolution, how did the French address non-citizens?
French historian Sophie Wahnich, on the subject of 'L’étranger et la révolution française' (Foreigners and the French Revolution), says that:
Il faut bien entendre que la notion de nationalité n'...
- 108k
14
votes
Why do revolutions "eat their own?" What is the sociological dynamic here?
Old system destroyed, new system not yet established
When you observe human behavior in large groups, you will notice a large amount of inertia. Let's take for example British political system. They ...
- 11.2k
13
votes
Accepted
Why wasn't there more resistance to the French revolution by the army?
First, review the reasons for the French Revolution - pre-eminent among those reasons is that the French state was bankrupt. It could not pay bills or collect taxes. This was not a temporary problem, ...
MCW♦
- 31.9k
13
votes
During and right after the French Revolution, how did France maintain and operate such a big army all over Europe?
The French revolution was truly revolutionary, it replaced the monarchy with a regime based on popular support. A king had to hire mercenaries, the revolutionary regime could draft patriotic citizens ...
- 16.6k
12
votes
During and right after the French Revolution, how did France maintain and operate such a big army all over Europe?
The French Revolution was more empowering than debilitating. Put another way, it awoke a sleeping giant.
At the time of the Revolution, France was the second most populous country in Europe (after ...
- 104k
11
votes
Why do revolutions "eat their own?" What is the sociological dynamic here?
It's actually very simple. So long as the target of a revolution/movement exists, the solution remains very theoretical: "solve the problem". During this time, everyone in the movement ...
- 111
9
votes
Did Diderot say "Men will never be free until the last king is strangled with the entrails of the last priest"?
The saying first appeared in the "Testament" of the atheist-priest Jean Meslier, who said he heard it from a common Frenchman in his parish. For details see the final 3 paragraphs of my ...
9
votes
Accepted
Which of Ben Franklin's grandsons was blessed by Voltaire?
According to Voltaire and the Century of Light
By Alfred Owen Aldridge, (page 400) it was
Franklin brought his namesake and grandson of eight years, Benjamin Franklin Bache to meet Voltaire and, ...
- 38.5k
8
votes
Were any French aristocrats guillotined facing up?
New World Encyclopedia:
[in 19th century Germany]... victim being decapitated either face up or down
depending on how the executioner predicted they would react to the
sight of the machine
The ...
- 26.9k
8
votes
Accepted
Why did the Levee en Masse call for children to make lint?
Lint seems to have a number of potential uses in the period:
As tinder for starting fires.
In the treatment of wounds.
As wadding for guns (cannon and muskets).
- 18.8k
8
votes
Why did the French Revolutionary General Pichegru defect to the Royalists?
General Jean-Charles Pichegru' defection to the Royalist cause appears to have been down to disillusion with the republican movement, coupled with a hefty financial incentive. Pichegru, though, ...
- 108k
8
votes
Does somebody know anything about the original "Tour de Croy" tower?
The Tour de Croy was completed in 1765, according to the Chatillon site page Histoire de la ville. Construction took place in stages, starting in 1763. The height was eventually 50 feet in total.
It ...
- 108k
8
votes
Accepted
Why is the storming of the Bastille considered the start of revolution, and not the storming of the Hôtel des Invalides?
The Bastille was a prison where people were sent with lettre de cachet mostly. Meaning, it was only by royal order, often without judgment.
A lot of the people there were considered enemy of the ...
- 198
8
votes
How was Napoleon's military funded just a decade after the French Revolution ostensibly because of bankruptcy/mismanagement of funds?
From 1799 (when Napoleon became First Consul of France) to 1805, the French treasury was most dependent on taxes from France and its empire. After 1805, conquered territories in Europe such as Spain, ...
- 108k
7
votes
When was the first secular society?
This question makes no sense until a "religion" is unambiguously defined. And this is difficult. Some definitions are so broad that according to these definitions,
there is no irreligious society at ...
- 38.4k
7
votes
Why was Lafayette imprisoned after the French Revolution?
Lafayette was a noble who had helped start the French Revolution, and had also participated in the American Revolution. Those facts made him a "revolutionary," (and a repeat offender) which counted ...
- 104k
7
votes
Why do revolutions "eat their own?" What is the sociological dynamic here?
In these kinds of situations, the divide is between the call for "continuing" revolution by some, and the wish by others to "Join the Establishment."
Naziism was a "...
- 104k
6
votes
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?
Well played sir, well played! Drake has persuaded me to offer a bad answer. This is a bad answer because I'm going to cite a set of generalizations without either the sources that I prefer or the ...
MCW♦
- 31.9k
6
votes
Curious office hours of Topographical Bureau where Napoleon served in 1795?
The Cabinet Historique et topographique militaire was created by a decree the 28th August 1794. The decree goes in detail about the work and the organization to the point of naming who does what. A ...
- 431
6
votes
Accepted
Which French Revolutionary figure thought black slaves could oversee monkeys for labor?
There are many mentions from French Enlightenment writers, which is not the same as Revolutionary, but I think more adequate to what you are looking for. This is because influences of Linnaeus and ...
- 2,489
6
votes
What are the "sexual causes" for the French Revolution cited in Wikipedia?
Q: “Sexual causes” for the French Revolution?
Ouh, oui!
Sexual mores, or simply biopolitics or biopower did play a role.
Morals, social norms and social problems related to sex and gender roles: ...
- 80.6k
5
votes
During and right after the French Revolution, how did France maintain and operate such a big army all over Europe?
The French Convention decreed a levée en masse on 23 August 1793 to resist the anti-French coalition:
From this moment until such time as its enemies shall have been driven from the soil of the ...
- 23.2k
5
votes
Accepted
Why didn't every nation commit genocides against every other nation when they conquered land?
Even the Mongols, who killed over thirty million people in their conquests and were some of the most bloodthirsty invaders on record found it more worthwhile to set themselves up as leaders. Why ...
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Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible