Posted on 01/18/2005 9:44:13 AM PST by Borges
Did anyone catch this the other night? The common attempt to link the American revolution and the French was certainly not present here. The differences couldn't be more blunt. Robespierre, Marat and the rest of their gang were nothing less then brutal totalitarian mass murderers.
The program is actually quite well done.
The decription of the "de-christianization" of France, removing the names of all saints from Streets and towns, the changing of the calendar to a 10 day week to eliminate Sundayt, the renaming of the months..... fascinating that this happened in 1792.
The American Revolution was mainly a Conservative Revolution. We have always been, from the Declaration of Independence onward, a Nation under God with rights derived from the Creator, not from man.
Every event in the 200 years following the French Revolution, from the Russian Revolution, Communism, Nazism and both world wars stem from that event.
Liberty,Equality,Fraternity , a sick blood soaked joke on the French and the entire world.
Well said...and Lib'rals will still tell you that Socialism--despite being a failure whenever and wherever employed as a political system--will work if the Ruling Class just won't greedily betray their utopian vision.
FReegards...MUD
The people on the right side did not support the ancient regime, they wanted a constitutional republic with a monarch. The people sitting on the left wanted to kill all aristocrats.
No, I'm certain he was not there. I suppose a quick web search on him would confirm it, but I am absolutely certain he was not there. The people there were ordinary criminals.
there's truth in your statement!
professor albert boime of ucla wrote a book "art and the french commune" which compared the los angeles riots to the commune.
unsuckcessfully in my opinion.
it's worth a puke to look at the book.
In the case of the french revolution the "left" would be the "intellectuals". (The buggers view is still alive and well in france.) The french believe that to be a Christian is equivalent to being totalitarian and despot (the poor folks don't know any better because they ran their Protestants off..tee hee). Hence Christianity (in all forms) is almost dead there.
my compliments on your well written overview in #150
This was my all-time favorite class in College. "French Revolution and Napoleon." I had a terrific history professor. I think it should be a required course. I have the program on DVR will probably watch it tonight.
He has an extensive amount of information on the web that he says ".... represents the results of a lifetime of inquiry into the mystery of human existence." I find his work fascinating to say the least. P> http://www.newgenevacenter.org/west/enlightenment2.htm
It was a pretty good show, I thought. It certainly made plain the differences between ours and theirs. We were fighting to be free, they were simply free to be fighting.
"Now, for two hours, it won't kill you to love the French."
"Now, for two hours, it won't kill you to love the French."
Ping
I cannot tell a lie. THAT and the fact that they bought promotional time on FNC, where I would see it, is what caused me to watch.
ALL:
I love threads like this on FR, as I get great recommendations for books to read. I am looking for recommendations on a good biography of Napolean. I am particularly interested in the influence of the Napolean civil code on Northern Germany.
I will catch a repeat. The French Revolution is more complex than some might think.
I don't discount the Christian aspect, but would point out that the rationalism of the French Revolution certainly made it more susceptible to violence as it allowed them to make or change their own rules as they went along, whereas the concept of the rule of law of the American Revolution meant just the opposite.
In a way, we are on the same page here, since both the rule of law and the Christian system of ethics require specific unchanging standards of behavior.
FWIW, I consider Bush to be something of a rationalist...Yesterday, I believe he said in a speech that he has a responsibility to do "big things for America."
I admire the guy in spite of it, though.
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