EatTheRich
President
"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times."-Charles Dickens
Third in a series that includes
https://www.politicaljack.com/threads/the-soviet-union-the-real-story.100926/
and
https://www.politicaljack.com/threads/pol-pots-democratic-kampuchea-the-real-story.104573/
Latest political news and current events: transformed by the revolution, France reversed its long-term national decline in the 19th century, although it continued to cede ground relatively speaking against its growing rivals the UK, the U.S., Germany, Japan, the Soviet Union/Russia, and China. Key events in that decline include defeat in the Franco-Prussian War, Pyrrhic victories in WWI and WWII, the Russian and Chinese revolutions, and the colonial revolution including historic defeats in Indo-China and Algeria. However, France remains one of the most powerful nations in the world, a leading nuclear power, permanent member of the UN Security Council, chief rival of Germany for control of the EU, and a minor colonial power with possessions from Tahiti to Martinique. It has the world's 5th-highest GDP, and is a leading producer of chemicals, cosmetics and fashions, energy, and automobile tires. The Code Napoleon is the basis of government for nearly all continental Europe, their former colonies, and (at remove) every socialist country, and is influential on the legal systems of Quebec and Louisiana. Napoleon I has been a major model for numerous contemporary and later political leaders including notably Aaron Burr, Jean-Jacques Dessalines, Simon Bolivar, Napoleon III, Otto von Bismarck, Adolf Hitler, Emperor Bokassa, Mobutu Sese Seko, and Saddam Hussein, and on philosophers including especially Hegel. Robespierre was an influence for Marx, Lenin, and Pol Pot. Babeuf influenced Marx, Blanqui, Bakunin, and Lenin. Zhou Enlai, asked his opinion of the French Revolution in the 1960s, famously replied that it was too soon to tell.
Best of: the French Revolution rid not only France, but much of the world, of many feudal relations and established a uniform system of laws and measurement. It gave the world the Rights of Man, the first modern abolition of slavery outside some areas seized by runaway slaves, early feminism, and a spectacle of democracy the likes of which the world had never seen, and would not again until the Paris Commune which it helped inspire. It was an inspiration for democratic struggles worldwide to this day, notably the American fight for democracy, the Irish freedom struggle, the revolutions of 1848, and even the Spanish, Dutch, and German resistance to French rule. It strengthened the bourgeoisie in its fight against feudalism and its allies, secularism in its fight against clericalism, and the working class in its fight for emancipation. It made France the first European country, and the only white-majority country for more than 100 years, to legalize homosexuality. Haiti gained its independence as a direct result of the revolution and has long been one of the poorest countries in the world largely due to years of war compounded by American, French, and Dominican hostilities and invasions.
Trash heap (of history): the revolution helped spur the UK toward reaction, organize the triumph of the reactionary slave power under Jefferson in the U.S. through its alliance of convenience with democratic forces, elevate Napoleon to power with his hypocritical twisting of its democratic element into nationalist violence, and accelerate the birth of the French bureaucracy which became the first modern bureaucracy in the world, which laid the groundwork for centuries of bureaucratic oppression around the world. The triumphant bourgeois class eventually handed over power to the restored Bourbon monarchy in France and organized the reactionary Holy Alliance outside France. The Russian defeat of Napoleon's forces accelerated Russia's growth as a major power and as the citadel of world reaction.
Op ed: leaders in the revolutionary period took on many ideological guises. Louis XVI modeled himself on Louis XIV and later Charles I of England, and Marie Antoinette on Catherine De Medici. Colbert aped Fleury and Malesherbes, Turgot took after Dupont, and Necker admired Pitt the Elder and Adam Smith. Mably influenced everyone from Orleans to Lafayette to Lameth to Danton to Robespierre. Condorcet influenced Lafayette and Talleyrand. Orleans was also influenced by Cincinnatus, Crassus, and William the Silent; Cincinnatus and Sulla were inspirations for Bailly. Franklin was a big influence on Helvetius, Lafayette, Mirabeau, Rochefoucauld, and Sieyes, while Jefferson influenced Barnave, Danton, Robespierre, Hebert, and David. Paine influenced, in particular, Barnave, Sonthonax, Lavoisier, Leclerc, Leon, Lacombe, and Fouche. The Lameths and Napoleon took inspiration from Frederick the Great. Pym was a model for Mirabeau, Danton, Jean-Marie Roland, and Talleyrand, and Oliver Cromwell for Desmoulins, Danton, Robespierre, and Saint-Just. Voltaire was a big influence on Lafayette, Mirabeau, Sieyes, Vadier, Robespierre, Saint-Just, Collot d'Herbois, Billaud-Varenne, Couthon, David, Diderot, Le Bas, Fouche, Sade, Roux, and Chalmette. Rousseau was a particular influence on Sade, Brissot, Barnave, Leclerc, Leon, Roux, David, Marat, and Babeuf. The Gracchi were a model for Babeuf, who renamed himself Gracchus Babeuf. Marius was a particular model for Sonthonax. Brutus was an inspiration for many including Lafayette, Louvet, Laclos, Danton, Robespierre, Saint-Just, Le Bas, David, Collot d'Herbois, Billaud-Varenne, and Corday. Caesar was a model for Marat, Varlet, and Napoleon, Pompey for Napoleon as well, Spartacus for Hebert, Toussaint L'Ouverture, and Dessalines, and Constantine for Barnave and Napoleon. It may seem, too, that Lafayette and Dumouriez modeled their conduct on that of Coriolanus, and Sade on Caligula, Nero, Elagabalus, and Bathory. Lycurgus, Savonarola, and Calvin were particular influences for Saint-Just, and Aristides was for Louvet. Cathelineau and Leon were influenced by Joan of Arc, Charette by Bonnie Prince Charlie, and La Rochejaquelain by Henry IV and the pope. Coburg seems to have relished the role of Sulla, and Pitt that of Bloody Mary. Roux took his influence from Wycliffe, John Ball, Luther, and Voltaire. Machiavelli was an influence for Mirabeau, Danton, Desmoulins, Leclerc, and Talleyrand. Lacombe was particularly influenced by Wollstonecraft, and Machefer by Abigail Adams. Cicero was an important influence on the Rolands, Burke, Laclos, Danton, Vadier, Chaumette, Tallien, and Barras. Fabre d'Eglantine was influenced by Cesare Borgia.
Third in a series that includes
https://www.politicaljack.com/threads/the-soviet-union-the-real-story.100926/
and
https://www.politicaljack.com/threads/pol-pots-democratic-kampuchea-the-real-story.104573/
Latest political news and current events: transformed by the revolution, France reversed its long-term national decline in the 19th century, although it continued to cede ground relatively speaking against its growing rivals the UK, the U.S., Germany, Japan, the Soviet Union/Russia, and China. Key events in that decline include defeat in the Franco-Prussian War, Pyrrhic victories in WWI and WWII, the Russian and Chinese revolutions, and the colonial revolution including historic defeats in Indo-China and Algeria. However, France remains one of the most powerful nations in the world, a leading nuclear power, permanent member of the UN Security Council, chief rival of Germany for control of the EU, and a minor colonial power with possessions from Tahiti to Martinique. It has the world's 5th-highest GDP, and is a leading producer of chemicals, cosmetics and fashions, energy, and automobile tires. The Code Napoleon is the basis of government for nearly all continental Europe, their former colonies, and (at remove) every socialist country, and is influential on the legal systems of Quebec and Louisiana. Napoleon I has been a major model for numerous contemporary and later political leaders including notably Aaron Burr, Jean-Jacques Dessalines, Simon Bolivar, Napoleon III, Otto von Bismarck, Adolf Hitler, Emperor Bokassa, Mobutu Sese Seko, and Saddam Hussein, and on philosophers including especially Hegel. Robespierre was an influence for Marx, Lenin, and Pol Pot. Babeuf influenced Marx, Blanqui, Bakunin, and Lenin. Zhou Enlai, asked his opinion of the French Revolution in the 1960s, famously replied that it was too soon to tell.
Best of: the French Revolution rid not only France, but much of the world, of many feudal relations and established a uniform system of laws and measurement. It gave the world the Rights of Man, the first modern abolition of slavery outside some areas seized by runaway slaves, early feminism, and a spectacle of democracy the likes of which the world had never seen, and would not again until the Paris Commune which it helped inspire. It was an inspiration for democratic struggles worldwide to this day, notably the American fight for democracy, the Irish freedom struggle, the revolutions of 1848, and even the Spanish, Dutch, and German resistance to French rule. It strengthened the bourgeoisie in its fight against feudalism and its allies, secularism in its fight against clericalism, and the working class in its fight for emancipation. It made France the first European country, and the only white-majority country for more than 100 years, to legalize homosexuality. Haiti gained its independence as a direct result of the revolution and has long been one of the poorest countries in the world largely due to years of war compounded by American, French, and Dominican hostilities and invasions.
Trash heap (of history): the revolution helped spur the UK toward reaction, organize the triumph of the reactionary slave power under Jefferson in the U.S. through its alliance of convenience with democratic forces, elevate Napoleon to power with his hypocritical twisting of its democratic element into nationalist violence, and accelerate the birth of the French bureaucracy which became the first modern bureaucracy in the world, which laid the groundwork for centuries of bureaucratic oppression around the world. The triumphant bourgeois class eventually handed over power to the restored Bourbon monarchy in France and organized the reactionary Holy Alliance outside France. The Russian defeat of Napoleon's forces accelerated Russia's growth as a major power and as the citadel of world reaction.
Op ed: leaders in the revolutionary period took on many ideological guises. Louis XVI modeled himself on Louis XIV and later Charles I of England, and Marie Antoinette on Catherine De Medici. Colbert aped Fleury and Malesherbes, Turgot took after Dupont, and Necker admired Pitt the Elder and Adam Smith. Mably influenced everyone from Orleans to Lafayette to Lameth to Danton to Robespierre. Condorcet influenced Lafayette and Talleyrand. Orleans was also influenced by Cincinnatus, Crassus, and William the Silent; Cincinnatus and Sulla were inspirations for Bailly. Franklin was a big influence on Helvetius, Lafayette, Mirabeau, Rochefoucauld, and Sieyes, while Jefferson influenced Barnave, Danton, Robespierre, Hebert, and David. Paine influenced, in particular, Barnave, Sonthonax, Lavoisier, Leclerc, Leon, Lacombe, and Fouche. The Lameths and Napoleon took inspiration from Frederick the Great. Pym was a model for Mirabeau, Danton, Jean-Marie Roland, and Talleyrand, and Oliver Cromwell for Desmoulins, Danton, Robespierre, and Saint-Just. Voltaire was a big influence on Lafayette, Mirabeau, Sieyes, Vadier, Robespierre, Saint-Just, Collot d'Herbois, Billaud-Varenne, Couthon, David, Diderot, Le Bas, Fouche, Sade, Roux, and Chalmette. Rousseau was a particular influence on Sade, Brissot, Barnave, Leclerc, Leon, Roux, David, Marat, and Babeuf. The Gracchi were a model for Babeuf, who renamed himself Gracchus Babeuf. Marius was a particular model for Sonthonax. Brutus was an inspiration for many including Lafayette, Louvet, Laclos, Danton, Robespierre, Saint-Just, Le Bas, David, Collot d'Herbois, Billaud-Varenne, and Corday. Caesar was a model for Marat, Varlet, and Napoleon, Pompey for Napoleon as well, Spartacus for Hebert, Toussaint L'Ouverture, and Dessalines, and Constantine for Barnave and Napoleon. It may seem, too, that Lafayette and Dumouriez modeled their conduct on that of Coriolanus, and Sade on Caligula, Nero, Elagabalus, and Bathory. Lycurgus, Savonarola, and Calvin were particular influences for Saint-Just, and Aristides was for Louvet. Cathelineau and Leon were influenced by Joan of Arc, Charette by Bonnie Prince Charlie, and La Rochejaquelain by Henry IV and the pope. Coburg seems to have relished the role of Sulla, and Pitt that of Bloody Mary. Roux took his influence from Wycliffe, John Ball, Luther, and Voltaire. Machiavelli was an influence for Mirabeau, Danton, Desmoulins, Leclerc, and Talleyrand. Lacombe was particularly influenced by Wollstonecraft, and Machefer by Abigail Adams. Cicero was an important influence on the Rolands, Burke, Laclos, Danton, Vadier, Chaumette, Tallien, and Barras. Fabre d'Eglantine was influenced by Cesare Borgia.
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