Once upon a time in the late 18th century, France was like a kingdom from a fairy tale, but not all tales have happy beginnings. In this land, society was stacked like a deck of cards—unfairly and precariously. At the very top were the clergy and nobility, glittering with wealth and exempt from taxes, living in a world apart from the troubles of the day.

Down below, the vast and varied Third Estate—comprising everyone from wealthy merchants to weary peasants—bore the heavy burden of taxes and hardship. While the elite dined in lavish halls, the commoners faced soaring food prices and growing discontent, setting whispers of change in the wind.

As the kingdom stood on the brink of monumental change, a spark of rebellion simmered among the people. With every unfair tax and every empty stomach, the flames of frustration grew, ready to ignite. This is the story of how a society, ripe with injustice, was on the verge of a revolution that would shake the very foundations of the monarchy. So, buckle up, dear reader, as we dive into the dramatic and transformative era of the French Revolution!

Hungry for change

In those days, as the kingdom's population grew, so did its appetite, but alas, the land could not keep up. The peasants toiled, yet the harvests dwindled. Bread, the lifeblood of every common French table, became a luxury many could not afford. And as the bellies of the poor grew emptier, their anger swelled, filling the streets with whispers of revolt and the bitter scent of impending chaos.

Amidst the turmoil, a new class arose within the Third Estate: the bourgeoisie. These were the learned, the merchants, the intellectuals who had tasted education and drunk deeply from the cup of Enlightenment ideals. Influenced by philosophers like John Locke and Jean-Jacques Rousseau, they began to dream of a society where a person's fate wasn't written by their birth but by their merit.

They spoke of a world based on freedom and equality, inspired by tales of a distant land across the sea where colonies had thrown off the yoke of an empire to form a republic—the United States of America. These ideals spread like wildfire through salons and coffee houses, through pamphlets and passionate debates, igniting aspirations for a France reborn.

The fall of Bastille

As discontent turned to uprising, the once-stable monarchy found itself on shaky ground. King Louis XVI, desperate to salvage the royal coffers and his crumbling authority, convened the Estates-General, a grand assembly of all three estates. But what was meant to be a meeting to resolve the kingdom's finances quickly turned into a battleground of ideals.

The Third Estate, fed up with being sidelined and silenced, took a historic stand. They declared themselves the National Assembly, vowing to draft a constitution that reflected the general will. The tensions reached their zenith on a fateful July 14, 1789, when the masses stormed the Bastille, a fortress prison symbolizing royal oppression. This dramatic siege marked the explosive beginning of the French Revolution.

What followed was a whirlwind of change and turmoil. The National Assembly moved swiftly, abolishing feudal privileges and proclaiming the Rights of Man—liberty, property, security, and resistance to oppression. Yet, the path to a new France was fraught with challenges. The revolution, once a beacon of hope, spiraled into the Reign of Terror, where suspicion and fear led to the guillotine's sharp kiss for thousands, from the highest noble to the humblest peasant.

As the terror waned, the stage was set for a new leader to emerge from the chaos—Napoleon Bonaparte. With promises of stability and glory, he turned the republic into an empire, spreading the revolutionary ideals across Europe with each conquest.

The French Revolution, a tale of rise and fall, of hope and horror, reshaped not only a nation but also the world. Its echoes can still be heard in the calls for justice and equality today.

Fashion police

During the French Revolution, wearing fancy, aristocratic clothing could literally cost you your head. The sans-culottes (literally "without breeches") preferred simple clothing, which became a political statement against the opulent dress of the nobility. Anyone caught wearing silk or fine lace might be suspected of royalist sympathies and risked the guillotine.

The metric system

The French Revolution gave birth to the metric system. It was developed and adopted during the Revolution to replace the myriad of traditional measures and create a unified and rational system based on multiples of ten.

Louis XVI’s flight

In a dramatic escape attempt in 1791, King Louis XVI and his family tried to flee France in disguise. Unfortunately for them, the king was recognised in Varennes because his face was on the nation’s currency. This failed escape attempt further damaged the monarchy's credibility and hastened its downfall.

Revolutionary calendar

The revolutionaries were so intent on erasing all traces of the old monarchical system that they even created a new calendar. The Revolutionary Calendar had ten-day weeks and months named after seasonal features like Frosty and Flower. It started from the date considered the beginning of the Republic, 22 September 1792, and was used until 1806.

Guillotine: a humane method?

The guillotine was introduced as a more humane method of execution. It was considered egalitarian because all classes would face the same fate without distinction, unlike the previous methods where nobles were usually beheaded (a quicker death) and commoners hanged or subjected to other types of painful executions.

The Reign of Terror

During the Reign of Terror (1793–1794), about 16,000 people were officially executed by guillotine, with historians estimating tens of thousands more died in prison or through extrajudicial killings.

Women's march on Versailles

One of the pivotal events early in the Revolution was the Women's March on Versailles. Frustrated by bread shortages and high prices, thousands of market women and their allies marched to King Louis XVI's palace at Versailles, demanding action. This resulted in the king and his family being brought back to Paris under the watchful eye of the revolutionaries.

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Vol 77 | No. 286

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Once upon a time in France

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