To all you Frenchies out there, Happy Bastille Day! Bastille Day marks the beginning of the bloody revolution and the reformation of the French government...which took a few decades to refine. I wrote about Georgiana's reaction to the Revolution last year so why write about it again! Yes I know, I'm lazy, but it's Bastille Day which is an excuse for me to go into Holiday-mode.For more French Revolution chat, check out this post on Charlotte Corday, England's favourite heroine.
The reaction of the British liberals to the Revolution was interesting...most of them supported it until it got ugly. It scared the bejeezus out of the aristos.
ReplyDeleteYes a good fact to bring up! Charles Fox was a firm supporter until it got really ugly. It was Grace Elliot's personal letters to him that gave the French an excuse to imprison her, even though she reminded them he was a friend to their plight. They were just blood-thirsty at that point.
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting how long British nationals were allowed to come and go after the beginning of the Revolution. They were pretty cavalier about it early on...as were the Americans, for that matter (aside from Thomas Jefferson, of course, who just went psycho right along with the French!) I believe it wasn't really until the Terror got going that they really began to crack down on them?
ReplyDeleteUm, I have a rock song about Charlotte Corday stuck in my head right now...
The age of treason. Members of my own family just escaped the terror. Remember, after revolution in England - military dictator Cromwell, in France - Marat, Robespeare and the Emperor Napoleon, in Russia - Stalin, in Germany after the November 1918 revolution - Hitler. Romove a monarchy and you get totalitarianism. Vive le Roi, Vive le France.
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