The Government’s Duties
The government’s job had been, and always will be to protect the rights of the people. Some government does this faithfully, providing its people with every right they can. Others are corrupted, and they oppress the people so that they themselves can gorge on the riches of the nation. The administration had not been very different in the French Revolution.
Thesis: The different governments in the French Revolution dealt with the problems by the various means such as violence, propaganda and legislation.
“The government has no other end, but the preservation of property.”
-John Locke
The Monarch’s Ways
The King and the Queen of France had been very ignorant of their people. While they sat lazily in their palace, the citizens of France toiled away fruitlessly, trying to feed themselves and their family. The monarchy left a lot of be desired. They wasted the country’s wealth, and turn their backs on the struggle of the country. They couldn’t and wouldn’t deal with the problems of France. Their debts continued to build. Finally, the country was on the edge of financial collapse. The king finally agreed to call the Estate General, a meeting of the three estates. The third estate was adamant on making the other two estate pay more tax, but since they have only one vote, they always lost. The king also sided with the clergy and the nobles. After that, the people started to revolt. It was the beginning of the revolution. The angry people of Paris stormed the Bastille, and the fortress fell. Then, they marched on to Versailles to take on the king. They gave him a choice: move to Paris or die. He chose to go back to Paris, and with that, the rule of the indecisive and ignorant king ended.
“He did not have the qualities of a man born to be a leader. He was timid and lacked self confidence.”
- Statement about Louis XVI by a noble member of the Parlement
Robespierre’s Methods
During the French Revolution, people with new and extreme ideas emerged. These people were called the Radicals. The leader of these men was a man named Robespierre. People called him the incorruptible, as he was never deterred from his determination to make France a republic. But after the king was executed, and he was put into a position of power in the Committee of Public Safety, his sanity was questioned. He was intent on changing the nature of man itself, since he was convinced that it was the greatest problem they faced. He thought that everyone was corrupted and evil, but with enough time and effort, he could change that. He began by deciding that France will not be a Catholic nation anymore. Instead, he decreed that everyone shall pray to the gods of logic, thus creating the Cult of the Supreme Being, that is heavily based on classical dieties. Streets that had names which related to Christianity was renamed. The calendar, since it was based on Catholicism, was also thrown away and replaced with a new one. Not only that, but since he felt that the Loyalists were planning to overthrow him. He executed thousands of people per day, and brutally murdered the rebels fighting against him. The counter-revolutionary army was taken down, and their wives and children eliminated. This was most notable during Vendee Rebellions. Robespierre was paranoid and even killed off his friend, Danton, for telling him that the Terror has to end. His tyranny ended the day he was arrested.
"He did not create kings to devour the human race. He did not create priests to harness us, like vile animals, to the chariots of kings and to give to the world examples of baseness, pride, perfidy, avarice, debauchery, and falsehood. He created the universe to proclaim His power. He created men to help each other, to love each other mutually, and to attain to happiness by the way of virtue"
- Maximilien Robespierre's preachings of The Cult of the Supreme Being
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| Robespierre's newly invented Republican Calenda, which completely lacked terms affiliated to Christianity which was once predominant in the previous form of the calendar. |
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| An illustration of Robespierre's papermache mound, built in the heart of Paris as a place of worship for his new cult. |
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