Unhappy Bastille Day, but hooray for nougat
France has got its troubles:
The western Paris suburb of Nanterre, where 17-year-old Nahel M. was killed by police, is one of many municipalities to call off their annual Bastille Day fireworks displays for fear of further unrest.
“We can’t celebrate our national day because of hooligans, I believe things are much worse than people think,” David Lisnard, the head of the French Mayors’ Association (AMF) told broadcaster France Inter on Wednesday.
Lisnard, a member of the opposition conservative Republicans (LR) party, said the cancellations were “a sign of a very deep unease in French society”.
President Emmanuel Macron will celebrate Bastille Day, which marks the fall of the Bastille prison in 1789, seen as igniting the French Revolution, with ally Indian President Narendra Modi at the traditional central Paris military parade under heavy security.
The two leaders are also set to watch the main Paris fireworks display at the Eiffel Tower, which has been maintained, after nightfall on Friday.
I realize that Bastille Day is basically a French national day rather than being only about the storming of the Bastille, which was a seminal part of the French Revolution. But it also occurs to me, and not for the first time, that the French Revolution is hardly something about which to be proud. And there’s something ironic about Bastille Day celebrations being disrupted by the threat of riots.
The French rallying cry “Liberté, égalité, fraternité” sounds something like our “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness,” but in actuality it different. Although originally the “equality” meant equality under the law, things changed quite soon [emphasis mine]:
This identification of liberty and equality became problematic during the Jacobin period, when equality was redefined (for instance by Frané§ois-Noé«l Babeuf) as equality of results, and not only judicial equality of rights. Thus, Marc Antoine Baudott considered that French temperament inclined rather to equality than liberty, a theme which would be re-used by Pierre Louis Roederer and Alexis de Tocqueville, while Jacques Necker considered that an equal society could only be found on coercion.
The third term, Fraternité, was the most problematic to insert in the triad, as it belonged to another sphere, that of moral obligations rather than rights, links rather than statutes, harmony rather than contract, and community rather than individuality.
It is no coincidence that the French Revolution was marked by the Reign of Terror, and inspired both the Soviet and Chinese communist revolutions.
Nothing against the French people themselves. It’s a country I’ve visited many times and enjoyed greatly, especially the countryside.
And the pastry.
Speaking of which, here’s my reminiscence about Chez Nougat.
It’s sad the French National holiday is going by the wayside due to their immigrant invasion, and will get worse.
I do blame a lot in history on that Equality goal, it was a equal solution not equal to rules of the law and the Marxists ran with it.
Liberté, égalité, fraternité. Choose only one.
I’ve often wondered why the French Revolution is celebrated, especially with Bastille Day, in light of how things turned out. I’ve even asked several French citizens, and the best answer I’ve received is, “good question”.
Its very important, and should be studied and understood.
The French Revolution was an event that was caused in part by the American Revolution. Louis XV was a bit like Biden (neither was elected) in wrecking his country’s finances supporting a war that had little to do with his own country. Ben Franklin was not only a great scientist but a pretty good con man during his time in France. The English had only themselves to blame as they treated Franklin with disdain when he was not yet a revolutionary. He was there to settle a dispute with the mother country but they drove him out to seek allies in France.
I was in Paris for Bastille Day in more peaceful times about 20 years ago.
It is no coincidence that the French Revolution was marked by the Reign of Terror
No. It is not. It was the offspring of bad philosophy, that of Voltaire and Rousseau, and doomed to result in tyranny.
But it also occurs to me, and not for the first time, that the French Revolution is hardly something about which to be proud.
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The period running from 1786 to 1815 saw a number of accomplishments by France’s political society. Lots to critique as well of course, some things to condemn. Some things on which to reflect.
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Should note that it was not until 1898 that deputies concerned with ‘social ideas’ took as many as 20% of the seats in the national legislature and only in 1924 did parties with Marxism in their pedigree break 20%.
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In assessing Égalité, it’s important to recall that France prior to 1789 was a society of orders – clergy, nobility, burgesses, and peasants – and that rights and obligations differed between the orders. An equal society meant replacing those orders with a single body of citizens with a common set of rights and obligations. In regard to fraternité, recall that men who are brothers are equals, fight in common, and look after each other. It is not a patron-client relationship.
Choose only one.
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No, they are roughly consistent.
No. It is not. It was the offspring of bad philosophy, that of Voltaire and Rousseau, and doomed to result in tyranny.
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Or it was a consequence of social dynamics you commonly see in unsettled situations. I’m not seeing that France after 1815 was governed tyrannically when compared to the rest of Europe, much less Latin America.
The third term, Fraternité, was the most problematic to insert in the triad, as it belonged to another sphere, that of moral obligations rather than rights, links rather than statutes, harmony rather than contract, and community rather than individuality.
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I’m going to disagree here. I think it’s the mode in France, especially among men, to be inner-directed and to manifest various sorts of resistance to people who try to tell you what to do. I’m recalling a French emigré who lived in Livingston County, NY. He tells me that he saw one of Richard Nixon’s speeches on television in 1973 asking people to drive more slowly for energy conservation. He said he was poleaxed and that if de Gaulle, Pompidou, or Giscard had ever tried this “everyone in France would be out on the road the next day driving 100 miles per hour”. He himself regarded traffic laws as nuisance suggestions, married a co-ed 18 years his junior, and sired his youngest child at age 49.
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A note about French hygiene. They don’t care if you don’t like how they smell.
well the bourbons were restored in 1815, challenged again in 1830, napoleon 3rd came in around 1848, then there was a short lived revolution in 1871, the canal scandal created serious social unrest around 1893, although boulanger another man on horseback, was active before, (that’s sort of the subtext of the dreyfus affair) in the interim period france acquired colonies in north africa and southeast asia, they clashed with the germans at agadir,
After 1815? You mean after the revolution was long over?
Also Captain Bligh reached Timor in the Bounty launch on this day in 1789. According to Wikipedia or June 14th also according to Wikipedia.
Not only did people lose their heads doing that revolting stuff, the also did the silly metric thing, early on they included clocks and metric weeks and months but that did not last too long. I am not anti-Frog, I have enjoyed the wonderful food and museums in Paris and it is, or at least over 40 years ago it was a beautiful city and there are a few things that I do know.
In France the people who live in Paris are called Parisians and here in Texas the people who live in Paris, Texas are called Parasites, that will be all.
People sometimes ask me for a source about the French Revolution. I usually recommend Sabatini’s novel “Scaramouche” as an easy introduction, then “Citizens” by Schama. I’ve tried to read history about pre-revolutionary France but it is pretty boring.
when napoleon was exiled to elba, jay winiks the great upheaval, summarizes the revolution, in context with the American revolution, and Catherine’s aborted enlightenment,
The French Revolutionaries did go out to transform France to the best of their ability. They went right after religion being one of their rivals for equally.
and the jacobins were the fore runner of the bolsheviks a century later, premature social justice warriors,
Voices of the French Revolution by Richard Cobb should be better known. Left side of the page, letters/accounts written at the time (the voices), right side of the page the historical context that provides modern readers with the meaning of the letters. Highly effective way to write history.
Schama’s Citizens should be the first thing you read if you’re looking for an introduction.
Mike Plaiss– Have you seen the BBC documentary titled “Terror! Robespierre and the French Revolution”? Simon Schama is one of the scholars who participated in the filming. The documentary is an interesting combination of re-enactments of the events of 1793–94 interspersed with clips from older movies about the Revolution and commentary from Schama and other historians. It’s about 90 minutes long but is well paced:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=suZdYkZ_feM&ab_channel=Darryan
An aside: the documentary made me realize how difficult casting is for films of this type: the actor who plays Robespierre is a pleasant-looking, one might even say handsome, Englishman of average height– which is why I was startled to discover that the real Robespierre was only 5’3″ and anything but attractive. Of course it would be difficult to find a contemporary adult male who is that short and looks like Robespierre, and if one could be found, it would be a distraction from the flow of the documentary. Anyway, the film is an example of what the BBC at its best used to produce.
It may have ended with atrocities, genocide, darkness and chaos, but the Revolution did manage to get the peasant class out from under the aristocracy, at least. Now instead of hereditary family trees, they have organization diagrams and ‘Public Servants’ to bow before – and of course, the EU. I would say the hole today is in many ways deeper and more intractable than the one in 1789.
Ten years of Revolution! Just imagine.
Yes, I agree – BBC at its best, it’s very good, but I’m a sucker for all things French Revolution. As anti-revolution as I am, I concede it is a massively important piece of western history. It’s all there, left, right, collectivism vs individualism, constitutional government vs progressive government and it’s all arguably still playing out. It changed the very trajectory of the western world. The idea that it ended feudalism is wrong, but I’ll save that for another rant.
“ Men who loved humanity so much, they felt entitled to exterminate the human beings who stood in its way.”
As fine an epithet as I have heard of the French Revolution.
Speaking of Robespierre, there are varying accounts of his death, all with commonalities. My favorite goes as follows. His arrest imminent, and the national razor awaiting, he goes to shoot himself in the head with a pistol. At the last moment he evidently loses his nerve and only manages to shoot himself in the jaw – specifically at the hinge that joins the upper and the lower. One half of his jaw is now hanging down attached only by the skin that survived the blast. One of the first people to him tended to this by tying a cloth under his chin and up around the top of his head thus holding the jaw in place but leaving him unable to speak or utter a sound. His execution followed in short order and after his hands were bound and he was secured to the plank, the executioner’s assistant removed the cloth. Robespierre is now horizontal, in proper position, and screaming in pain when the blade drops and abruptly ends the screaming.
Mike K.,
“(neither was elected)”
🙂 !!!
It may have ended with atrocities, genocide, darkness and chaos, but the Revolution did manage to get the peasant class out from under the aristocracy, at least.
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The Vendee was fairly grisly, but to refer to any events of the period as ‘genocide’ is florid nonsense.
“He himself regarded traffic laws as nuisance suggestions, married a co-ed 18 years his junior, and sired his youngest child at age 49.
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A note about French hygiene. They don’t care if you don’t like how they smell.” Art Deco
If that is the societal norm, then what has been described is a nation of an immature and remarkably selfish character. Which if true, explains much.
I also find it odd Bastille day is celebrated as France’s “Independence Day,” and continue to be surprised at how much Napoleon is revered in France. I think most Frenchmen and women revere both, yet they are at odds with each other.
“We got rid of our King! Bon travail!”
“Eliminating our king resulted in a military general declaring himself emperor and bankrupting the country! Bon travail!”
After 1815? You mean after the revolution was long over?
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No, I mean after the Napoleonic Wars, after the codification of the laws, after the establishment of a comprehensively revised administrative architecture, after the transfer of allodial rights over rustical land, and after the Bourbon restoration (with their new constitution).
If that is the societal norm, then what has been described is a nation of an immature and remarkably selfish character. Which if true, explains much.
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France is a remarkably accomplished nation and there is much beauty in it. In mundane life, they have good points and bad points. Tends to be the case in a country populated by human beings.
As to the end of Robespierre, the version I believe is that he was shot as he was writing out the warrant for the arrest and execution of the other members of the “Committee of Public Safety.” They burst into the room and shot him. In the Musee Carnavalet , in one of my first visits to Paris, I saw the arrest warrant with Robespierre’s blood on it. That supported the theory that he was shot by others as he was writing it. Why would he attempt suicide as he was writing an arrest warrant for others ?
On another visit to the museum, the document was no longer on display. Maybe that was an early part of restoration.
“The Vendee was fairly grisly, but to refer to any events of the period as ‘genocide’ is florid nonsense.”
“Jacques Villemain is a French diplomat, and is currently the vice representative of France at OECD and is representing France at the International Court of Justice. He presents a legal study on the War of Vendée based on current international law, then according modern findings in the international courts on genocide cases like the Rwanda Genocide, and the Srebrenica massacre, is that there were war crimes performed by The French Republic in March 1793, Crime against Humanity from April to July 1793 and Genocide from 1 August 1793 to middle of 1794.
I don’t have any particular, studied opinion on the matter, But it seems obvious it has been a contended issue for over a century, and something approaching 200,000 peasants slaughtered, most of them barbarically. But to call this, and other rational and supportable opinions on the matter ‘florid nonsense’ is, well, perhaps dismissive and unserious. You could even look it up in the encyclopedia Britannica.
Our alleged Secretary of State, or whoever handles his social media, embarrassed himself badly the other day by showing how little he knows about this history, tweeting:
@SecBlinken
The War of Independence and the French Revolution were fueled by the same aspirations for freedom, democracy, and human rights. Today, we are more committed than ever to defending them — together. Warmest wishes on Bastille Day to the people of France.
10:29 AM · Jul 14, 2023
https://twitter.com/SecBlinken/status/1679860760145543169
But to call this, and other rational and supportable opinions on the matter ‘florid nonsense’ is, well, perhaps dismissive and unserious.
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It deserves ‘dismissive and unserious’. ‘Genocide’ is an absurdly overused word and overused by people playing rhetorical games.