That man! The incorruptible; Maximilien Robespierre; it was his bloody madness in the first place that bathed the innocence of Liberty in the blood of the French nation. Down came the pitiless blade! July 14th 1789 the Bastille was stormed and a nation declared a revolution! But all became lost in a bloody political struggle as the Ancien Régime was swept aside only to be replaced by an even more terrible set of demagogues. Robespierre, together with the firebrand Danton and the fanatical ravings of Marat, rose in earnest only to plunge the entire virtues of the Revolution within a maelstrom of hatred. It was this very political chaos once unleashed that eventually sowed the seeds for the rise of Napoléon Bonaparte. It all began with the madness of the bloody political purge now referred to as the Reign of Terror. In despair, France Herself could not but turn to the salvation of a strong and steady hand. An embittered and divided France cried out for the restoration of Her morality and the lost ideals of Her Revolution. The revolutionary movement that began in earnest sought fair representation and a moderate voice in the politics of France, along similar lines to the newly-established model of the British constitutional Monarchy. But arguments and hatreds ensued as the shadow of the dreaded guillotine raised its specter over La Place de la Concorde.
 |
| La Liberté guidant le peuple - 1830, Eugène Delacroix, Louvre, Paris. |
Jean-Jacques Rousseau was the
literary architect and inspiration of the French Revolution. In his great work: The
Social Contract, Rousseau outlines that “Man is born free and everywhere he is in chains.” The politics of France was an appalling autocracy. France under the reigns of Louis XIV and Louis XV had reached the height of her powers with a kingdom that shone in brilliance as bright as the sun with her growing economic affluence. But the wealth of the nation did not exhibit equalities and with the rise of a new mercantile class the agitation for a voice began with a murmur and thus spread across the land. Such was the absolute rule of the French Monarchy that prior to 1789 in the preceding 175 years there
had been no regular deliberation of the body of
French government that included representatives of three Estates: the
First being comprised of the clergy, the Second, the nobility and the
Third comprised of the middle and lower classes being the educated and
relatively affluent bourgeoisie. Thus with the growth of the economic power of France came the voice for more direct political action. Already across the channel England had undertaken a glorious revolution of it's owns as the Commons defied the Royalists upon the lines of similar liberal political writings of John Locke. Europe was in a sea of economic change and the rural poverty of the past but a distant memory as the need for land reforms became blatantly apparent as middle classes began to prosper in their trades. The growing philosophical voices of Voltaire, Denis Diderot and the Marquis de Condorcet added to the fierce political debate of representation in France.
18th century France, like modern socio-economics today, exhibited the concentration of wealth in fewer hands. The nation was prosperous on the whole. However, the policy of intervening in the American War of Independence was costly and the system of taxation which ensued deemed excessive and unfair to all. Gradually the seeds of discontent could not be contained as tax increases permeated every aspect of life right down to the cost of the common man's daily staple of bread. The mercantile classes sought redress and the discontent did not pass by unnoticed. Grudgingly, the King of France would concede to his ministers that a short form of deliberation would be granted to address the issues of the day.
The Estates of France began their first meeting at Versailles on May 5, 1789 with Robespierre in attendance and almost immediately they became rebuffed by the Monarchy. The Third Estate then declared itself the "National Assembly" for which Robespierre became a deputy. As a matter of conciliation the National Assembly made overtures to the other two Estates. But the proceedings were unsuccessful in addressing the issue of political changes for modern times and the rebuttal of the Third Estate by King Louis XVI simply added fuel to the more extreme voices crying for immediate action to wrest the government and the voice of the people from the existing shambolic guise of representation. The seeds of anger thus were sown and throughout the summer of June 1989 words of wrath and the spirit of discontent spread across the nation like wildfire. France must change but changes there were none. The King of France would not have the current order and way of rule altered as the negotiations for concessions came to a grinding halt and in that obstinacy to accede so would the king's stubbornness ignite and unleash forces of incomprehensible and overt revolt.
The storming of Bastille on the afternoon of 14 July 1789 became the event that changed the course of history of 18th Century France and Europe.the political debate now was no longer the prerogative or mandate of the newly formed National Assembly. Very quickly the politics of France was upon every street corner and square where public voice could be heard and speeches made as the spirit of resentment spread across Paris day by day. In particular the grounds of The Palais-Royal became an assembly point of deliberation as more and more people convened and the crowds began to press for answers from the new National Assembly. The single flash-point became the public outcry at the imprisonment of some French Grenadiers who earlier had refused their orders to fire upon the crowd at any point of break-down of law and order. The people thus angered against the imprisonment of these men, rose in a huge swell and marched to storm the Bastille where the soldiers were imprisoned. It has been said by eye-witness account that as many as ten thousand people gathered that afternoon to storm the hated prison of Paris manned by some one hundred soldiers with 30 canon. In the mêlée that ensued some ninety eighty people were killed as well as six defending guards. Once the prison was stormed and the imprisoned guards released the National Assembly implored the King for clemency of official release.with alarm the guards were pardoned by the King but now it was too late. The crowds of commoners from the streets of Paris had forces the King's hand and won a huge moral victory. This was now the juncture in French politics and the precedent for wresting more and more concessions via the use of force.
As the agitation grew and events became more heated by the day Thomas Jefferson, America's Minister to France, of the newly liberated United States of America (13 colonies) and independent since 1776, became the coincidental eye witness to the birth of the French Revolution as the political calamity at Versailles dramatically unfolded in the month of July 1789. In his letters to the American secretary of State, John Jay,Jefferson wrote a vivid account of how the revolutionary events unfolded over a dramatic 4 day period starting 12th July 1789:
"July 12
In the afternoon a body of about 100 German cavalry were advanced and drawn up in the Place Louis XV. and about 300 Swiss posted at a little distance in their rear. This drew people to that spot, who naturally formed themselves in front of the troops, at first merely to look at them. But as their numbers increased their indignation arose: they retired a few steps, posted themselves on and behind large piles of loose stone collected in that Place for a bridge adjacent to it, and attacked the horse with stones. The horse charged, but the advantageous position of the people, and the showers of stones obliged them to retire, and even to quit the field altogether, leaving one of their number on the ground. The Swiss in their rear were observed never to stir. This was the signal for universal insurrection, and this body of cavalry, to avoid being massacred, retired towards Versailles.
The people now armed themselves with such weapons as they could find in Armourer's shops and private houses, and with bludgeons, and were roaming all night through all parts of the city without any decided and practicable object".
"July 13
The next day the States press on the king to send away the troops, to permit the Bourgeoisie of Paris to arm for the preservation of order in the city, and offer to send a deputation from their body to tranquillize them. He refuses all their propositions. A Committee of magistrates and electors of the city are appointed, by their bodies, to take upon them it's government.
The mob, now openly joined by the French guards, force the prisons of St. Lazare, release all the prisoners, and take a great store of corn, which they carry to the corn market. Here they get some arms, and the French guards begin to form and train them. The City committee determines to raise 48,000 Bourgeois, or rather to restrain their numbers to 48,000".
"July 14
On the 14th, they send one of their members (Monsieur de Corny, whom we knew in America) to the Hotel des Invalides to ask arms for their Garde Bourgeoise. He was followed by, or he found there, a great mob. The Governor of the Invalids came out and represented the impossibility of his delivering arms without the orders of those from whom he received them.
De Corney advised the people then to retire, retired himself, and the people took possession of the arms. It was remarkable that not only the Invalids themselves made no opposition, but that a body of 5000 foreign troops, encamped within 400 yards, never stirred.
Monsieur de Corny and five others were then sent to ask arms of Monsieur de Launai, Governor of the Bastille. They found a great collection of people already before the place, and they immediately planted a flag of truce, which was answered by a like flag hoisted on the parapet. The deputation prevailed on the people to fall back a little, advanced themselves to make their demand of the Governor, and in that instant a discharge from the Bastille killed 4. people of those nearest to the deputies. The deputies retired, the people rushed against the place, and almost in an instant were in possession of a fortification, defended by 100 men, of infinite strength, which in other times had stood several regular sieges and had never been taken. How they got in, has as yet been impossible to discover. Those, who pretend to have been of the party tell so many different stories as to destroy the credit of them all.
They took all the arms, discharged the prisoners and such of the garrison as were not killed in the first moment of fury, carried the Governor and Lieutenant governor to the Greve (the place of public execution) cut off their heads, and set them through the city in triumph to the Palais royal.
About the same instant, a treacherous correspondence having been discovered in Monsieur de Flesselles prevot des marchands, they seize him in the hotel de ville, where he was in the exercise of his office, and cut off his head.
These events carried imperfectly to Versailles were the subject of two successive deputations from the States to the King, to both of which he gave dry and hard answers, for it has transpired that it had been proposed and agitated in Council to seize on the principal members of the States general, to march the whole army down upon Paris and to suppress it's tumults by the sword. But at night the Duke de Liancourt forced his way into the king's bedchamber, and obliged him to hear a full and animated detail of the disasters of the day in Paris. He went to bed deeply impressed.
The decapitation of de Launai worked powerfully thro' the night on the whole Aristocratical party, insomuch that in the morning those of the greatest influence on the Count d'Artois represented to him the absolute necessity that the king should give up every thing to the states. This according well enough with the dispositions of the king, he went about 11 oclock, accompanied only by his brothers, to the States general, and there read to them a speech, in which he asked their interposition to re-establish order. . . Tho this be couched in terms of some caution, yet the manner in which it was delivered made it evident that it was meant as a surrender at discretion.
The demolition of the Bastille was now ordered, and begun. A body of the Swiss guards, of the regiment of Ventimille, and the city horse guards join the people. The alarm at Versailles increases instead of abating. They believed that the Aristocrats of Paris were under pillage and carnage, that 150,000 men were in arms coming to Versailles to massacre the Royal family, the court, the ministers and all connected with them, their practices and principles.
The Aristocrats of the Nobles and Clergy in the States general vied with each other in declaring how sincerely they were converted to the justice of voting by persons, and how determined to go with the nation all it's lengths.
The foreign troops were ordered off instantly".
"July 16
Every minister resigned . . . and that night and the next morning the Count d'Artois and a Monsieur de Montesson (a deputy) connected with him, Madame de Polignac, Madame de Guiche and the Count de Vaudreuil favorites of the queen, the Abbe de Vermont her confessor, the Prince of Conde and Duke de Bourbon, all fled, we know not whither.
The king came to Paris, leaving the queen in consternation for his return . . .the king's carriage was in the center, on each side of it the States general, in two ranks, afoot, at their head the Marquis de la Fayette as commander in chief, on horseback, and Bourgeois guards before and behind.
About 60,000 citizens of all forms and colours, armed with the muskets of the Bastille and Invalids as far as they would go, the rest with pistols, swords, pikes, pruning hooks, scythes &c. lined all the streets thro' which the procession passed, and, with the crowds of people in the streets, doors and windows, saluted them every where with cries of 'vive la nation.' But not a single 'vive Ie roy' was heard.
The king landed at the Hotel de ville. There, Monsieur Bailly presented and put into his hat the popular cockade, and addressed him. The king being unprepared and unable to answer, Bailly went to him, gathered from him some scraps of sentences, and made out an answer, which he delivered to the Audience as from the king.
On their return, the popular cries were 'vive le roy et la nation.' He was conducted by a garde Bourgeoise to his palace at Versailles, and thus concluded such an Amende honorable as no sovereign ever made and no people ever received."
Reference: Jefferson's account: Boyd, Julian (ed.), The Papers of Thomas Jefferson, vol 15 (1958)
18th century France, like modern socio-economics today, exhibited the concentration of wealth in fewer hands. The nation was prosperous on the whole. However, the policy of intervening in the American War of Independence was costly and the system of taxation which ensued deemed excessive and unfair to all. Gradually the seeds of discontent could not be contained as tax increases permeated every aspect of life right down to the cost of the common man's daily staple of bread. The mercantile classes sought redress and the discontent did not pass by unnoticed. Grudgingly, the King of France would concede to his ministers that a short form of deliberation would be granted to address the issues of the day.
The Estates of France began their first meeting at Versailles on May 5, 1789 with Robespierre in attendance and almost immediately they became rebuffed by the Monarchy. The Third Estate then declared itself the "National Assembly" for which Robespierre became a deputy. As a matter of conciliation the National Assembly made overtures to the other two Estates. But the proceedings were unsuccessful in addressing the issue of political changes for modern times and the rebuttal of the Third Estate by King Louis XVI simply added fuel to the more extreme voices crying for immediate action to wrest the government and the voice of the people from the existing shambolic guise of representation. The seeds of anger thus were sown and throughout the summer of June 1989 words of wrath and the spirit of discontent spread across the nation like wildfire. France must change but changes there were none. The King of France would not have the current order and way of rule altered as the negotiations for concessions came to a grinding halt and in that obstinacy to accede so would the king's stubbornness ignite and unleash forces of incomprehensible and overt revolt.
The storming of Bastille on the afternoon of 14 July 1789 became the event that changed the course of history of 18th Century France and Europe.the political debate now was no longer the prerogative or mandate of the newly formed National Assembly. Very quickly the politics of France was upon every street corner and square where public voice could be heard and speeches made as the spirit of resentment spread across Paris day by day. In particular the grounds of The Palais-Royal became an assembly point of deliberation as more and more people convened and the crowds began to press for answers from the new National Assembly. The single flash-point became the public outcry at the imprisonment of some French Grenadiers who earlier had refused their orders to fire upon the crowd at any point of break-down of law and order. The people thus angered against the imprisonment of these men, rose in a huge swell and marched to storm the Bastille where the soldiers were imprisoned. It has been said by eye-witness account that as many as ten thousand people gathered that afternoon to storm the hated prison of Paris manned by some one hundred soldiers with 30 canon. In the mêlée that ensued some ninety eighty people were killed as well as six defending guards. Once the prison was stormed and the imprisoned guards released the National Assembly implored the King for clemency of official release.with alarm the guards were pardoned by the King but now it was too late. The crowds of commoners from the streets of Paris had forces the King's hand and won a huge moral victory. This was now the juncture in French politics and the precedent for wresting more and more concessions via the use of force.
 |
| La Prise de la Bastille - 1789, Jean-Pierre Houël, Bibliothèque Nationale de France. |
As the agitation grew and events became more heated by the day Thomas Jefferson, America's Minister to France, of the newly liberated United States of America (13 colonies) and independent since 1776, became the coincidental eye witness to the birth of the French Revolution as the political calamity at Versailles dramatically unfolded in the month of July 1789. In his letters to the American secretary of State, John Jay,Jefferson wrote a vivid account of how the revolutionary events unfolded over a dramatic 4 day period starting 12th July 1789:
"July 12
In the afternoon a body of about 100 German cavalry were advanced and drawn up in the Place Louis XV. and about 300 Swiss posted at a little distance in their rear. This drew people to that spot, who naturally formed themselves in front of the troops, at first merely to look at them. But as their numbers increased their indignation arose: they retired a few steps, posted themselves on and behind large piles of loose stone collected in that Place for a bridge adjacent to it, and attacked the horse with stones. The horse charged, but the advantageous position of the people, and the showers of stones obliged them to retire, and even to quit the field altogether, leaving one of their number on the ground. The Swiss in their rear were observed never to stir. This was the signal for universal insurrection, and this body of cavalry, to avoid being massacred, retired towards Versailles.
The people now armed themselves with such weapons as they could find in Armourer's shops and private houses, and with bludgeons, and were roaming all night through all parts of the city without any decided and practicable object".
"July 13
The next day the States press on the king to send away the troops, to permit the Bourgeoisie of Paris to arm for the preservation of order in the city, and offer to send a deputation from their body to tranquillize them. He refuses all their propositions. A Committee of magistrates and electors of the city are appointed, by their bodies, to take upon them it's government.
The mob, now openly joined by the French guards, force the prisons of St. Lazare, release all the prisoners, and take a great store of corn, which they carry to the corn market. Here they get some arms, and the French guards begin to form and train them. The City committee determines to raise 48,000 Bourgeois, or rather to restrain their numbers to 48,000".
"July 14
On the 14th, they send one of their members (Monsieur de Corny, whom we knew in America) to the Hotel des Invalides to ask arms for their Garde Bourgeoise. He was followed by, or he found there, a great mob. The Governor of the Invalids came out and represented the impossibility of his delivering arms without the orders of those from whom he received them.
De Corney advised the people then to retire, retired himself, and the people took possession of the arms. It was remarkable that not only the Invalids themselves made no opposition, but that a body of 5000 foreign troops, encamped within 400 yards, never stirred.
Monsieur de Corny and five others were then sent to ask arms of Monsieur de Launai, Governor of the Bastille. They found a great collection of people already before the place, and they immediately planted a flag of truce, which was answered by a like flag hoisted on the parapet. The deputation prevailed on the people to fall back a little, advanced themselves to make their demand of the Governor, and in that instant a discharge from the Bastille killed 4. people of those nearest to the deputies. The deputies retired, the people rushed against the place, and almost in an instant were in possession of a fortification, defended by 100 men, of infinite strength, which in other times had stood several regular sieges and had never been taken. How they got in, has as yet been impossible to discover. Those, who pretend to have been of the party tell so many different stories as to destroy the credit of them all.
They took all the arms, discharged the prisoners and such of the garrison as were not killed in the first moment of fury, carried the Governor and Lieutenant governor to the Greve (the place of public execution) cut off their heads, and set them through the city in triumph to the Palais royal.
About the same instant, a treacherous correspondence having been discovered in Monsieur de Flesselles prevot des marchands, they seize him in the hotel de ville, where he was in the exercise of his office, and cut off his head.
These events carried imperfectly to Versailles were the subject of two successive deputations from the States to the King, to both of which he gave dry and hard answers, for it has transpired that it had been proposed and agitated in Council to seize on the principal members of the States general, to march the whole army down upon Paris and to suppress it's tumults by the sword. But at night the Duke de Liancourt forced his way into the king's bedchamber, and obliged him to hear a full and animated detail of the disasters of the day in Paris. He went to bed deeply impressed.
The decapitation of de Launai worked powerfully thro' the night on the whole Aristocratical party, insomuch that in the morning those of the greatest influence on the Count d'Artois represented to him the absolute necessity that the king should give up every thing to the states. This according well enough with the dispositions of the king, he went about 11 oclock, accompanied only by his brothers, to the States general, and there read to them a speech, in which he asked their interposition to re-establish order. . . Tho this be couched in terms of some caution, yet the manner in which it was delivered made it evident that it was meant as a surrender at discretion.
The demolition of the Bastille was now ordered, and begun. A body of the Swiss guards, of the regiment of Ventimille, and the city horse guards join the people. The alarm at Versailles increases instead of abating. They believed that the Aristocrats of Paris were under pillage and carnage, that 150,000 men were in arms coming to Versailles to massacre the Royal family, the court, the ministers and all connected with them, their practices and principles.
The Aristocrats of the Nobles and Clergy in the States general vied with each other in declaring how sincerely they were converted to the justice of voting by persons, and how determined to go with the nation all it's lengths.
The foreign troops were ordered off instantly".
"July 16
Every minister resigned . . . and that night and the next morning the Count d'Artois and a Monsieur de Montesson (a deputy) connected with him, Madame de Polignac, Madame de Guiche and the Count de Vaudreuil favorites of the queen, the Abbe de Vermont her confessor, the Prince of Conde and Duke de Bourbon, all fled, we know not whither.
The king came to Paris, leaving the queen in consternation for his return . . .the king's carriage was in the center, on each side of it the States general, in two ranks, afoot, at their head the Marquis de la Fayette as commander in chief, on horseback, and Bourgeois guards before and behind.
About 60,000 citizens of all forms and colours, armed with the muskets of the Bastille and Invalids as far as they would go, the rest with pistols, swords, pikes, pruning hooks, scythes &c. lined all the streets thro' which the procession passed, and, with the crowds of people in the streets, doors and windows, saluted them every where with cries of 'vive la nation.' But not a single 'vive Ie roy' was heard.
The king landed at the Hotel de ville. There, Monsieur Bailly presented and put into his hat the popular cockade, and addressed him. The king being unprepared and unable to answer, Bailly went to him, gathered from him some scraps of sentences, and made out an answer, which he delivered to the Audience as from the king.
On their return, the popular cries were 'vive le roy et la nation.' He was conducted by a garde Bourgeoise to his palace at Versailles, and thus concluded such an Amende honorable as no sovereign ever made and no people ever received."
Reference: Jefferson's account: Boyd, Julian (ed.), The Papers of Thomas Jefferson, vol 15 (1958)
The politics of France moved so swiftly now that the King became powerless as one by one all form of law and order and structure became replaced by the will of the people. National Assembly now became the National Convention and the government of France declared itself republican in nature. In 1792 a Revolutionary Tribunal was set up to decide a list of public enemies. At this time Robespierre, who headed the 'Mountain" faction, in the 'National Convention', because he sat on the very top benches, became the leading voice in the Convention, but even he became helplessly swept along as the extremists in the Convention began to declare larger and larger lists with more names of public enemies. Thus the hated Reign of Terror began as summarily executions commenced.
 |
| Execution of King Louis XVI - Getty Images |
Whilst the King was largely confined to his rooms at his palace in impotence public opinion was not entirely against the King as the trials and executions of public enemies began. It was not until a discovery was made of a secret cache of some 726 documents of King Louis' personal letters to European nations; in particular to Austria, discussing the possibilities of Austrian intervention and military assistance. The contents of these letters and discussions were deemed treasonable to the people of France and once revealed set the French public against the King and Tribunal on a path towards a serious accusation of treason and cry for a trial.
At the trial of the King, Maximilien Robespierre argued in favor for an
execution were treason to be proved beyond doubt. Finally, in the National Convention, on 15 January 1793, a final vote was carried out charging
Louis XVI with conspiracy and attacks upon public safety. The vote was hugely damning with 691 of the 749 deputies voting in judgement for proven treason after carefully deliberating over the stash of secret letters. On the 19th January
1793, after further deliberations on the punishment to be accorded, 387 deputies voted for the death penalty and 334 voted for detention
or a conditional death penalty, and 28 abstained or were absent.
On January 21, 1793 King Louis XVI was executed at the at the Place de la Révolution and there died all the last remnant vestiges of the monarchy of France.
With the execution of King Louis XVI in 1793 the divided nation fell into a state of immediate shock at the new heights of the Revolutionary Tribunal. The writer
Saint-Honore
watching the procession of the doomed king drew the curtains of his apartment so that the younger eyes in his house
would not ever see that which should not be seen at all in the first place. As a matter of consequence, ironically, as the Reign of Terror descended into further madness it would soon become the
turn of Danton and even Maximilien Robespierre himself. Marat of course was murdered in his own bathroom by an aggrieved woman much to the silent relief of much of Paris. But as for the chief architect of this terrible system of government, Maximilien Robespierre, there were no curtains drawn and closed when he found himself forced down the path to the guillotine. Indeed,
onlookers were thrilled to see the back of this man, or rather, the very
head of the man who had terrorized his beloved nation France for many years!! In the scuffle for his arrest Robespierre was shot in the face but survived and deemed fit for immediate and peremptory trial. It is said that when his bandages were unwrapped from his wounded face, Robespierre screamed in terror until the final curtain was drawn before the merciless blade of the guillotine.
With Robespierre, Danton and Marat all gone the republican politics of France and the streets of Paris descended into bloody chaos. The National Convention was overtly ant-Catholic and the discrimination did not go down well in a country that was at best staunchly and reverently Catholic. Anti-republican feelings quickly broke ot across the land in revulsion of the Reign of Terror that saw many people executed arbitrarily. This anti-republican feeling soon found unity by the many royalists that could never forgive the madness of executing the King of France. By 1795 events quickly moved and came to a head and the people began to rise in strong dissent against the republican government. The royalists sensing their opportunity for a resurrection of the monarchy openly allied with the Catholic cause to rid the land of the extremist republican government of France.
The 5th October 1795 is known in history as the 13 Vendémiaire for on this day the Royalists rose in revolt in Paris and sought to rid the nation of his hated republican government once and for all. L' Armée catholique et royal raised quick diplomatic recognition from the British government. Swelling in numbers to the amount of 25,000 men, the cause declared revolt and the rag tag army of royalists marched upon the government offices in Paris. But ahead of the marching royalists, in front of the Église Saint-Roch, on Saint-Honoré Street, stood one commander by the name of Napoléon Bonaparte with 5000 guard and 40 pieces canon. In the height of emotions the Royalists cried to the small body of guard to step aside and allow the royalists to surmount the French republican government offices and restore the royal government. Napoléon Bonaparte did not stir and commanded the artillery to open fire. In the ensuing chaos some 300 royalists perished and some 100 guard died in the defence. The royalists were defeated and the republican government heaped praise after praise upon the young artillery officer. At the age of 26 years, in 1795, the celebrated Napoléon Bonaparte was rewarded for his unwavering loyalty with the command of the Army of Italy. The young Napoléon Bonaparte was now appointed general and received the mandate of the French republican government to engage in his first military campaign against the conspiring Austrians and their Italian allies.
With Robespierre, Danton and Marat all gone the republican politics of France and the streets of Paris descended into bloody chaos. The National Convention was overtly ant-Catholic and the discrimination did not go down well in a country that was at best staunchly and reverently Catholic. Anti-republican feelings quickly broke ot across the land in revulsion of the Reign of Terror that saw many people executed arbitrarily. This anti-republican feeling soon found unity by the many royalists that could never forgive the madness of executing the King of France. By 1795 events quickly moved and came to a head and the people began to rise in strong dissent against the republican government. The royalists sensing their opportunity for a resurrection of the monarchy openly allied with the Catholic cause to rid the land of the extremist republican government of France.
The 5th October 1795 is known in history as the 13 Vendémiaire for on this day the Royalists rose in revolt in Paris and sought to rid the nation of his hated republican government once and for all. L' Armée catholique et royal raised quick diplomatic recognition from the British government. Swelling in numbers to the amount of 25,000 men, the cause declared revolt and the rag tag army of royalists marched upon the government offices in Paris. But ahead of the marching royalists, in front of the Église Saint-Roch, on Saint-Honoré Street, stood one commander by the name of Napoléon Bonaparte with 5000 guard and 40 pieces canon. In the height of emotions the Royalists cried to the small body of guard to step aside and allow the royalists to surmount the French republican government offices and restore the royal government. Napoléon Bonaparte did not stir and commanded the artillery to open fire. In the ensuing chaos some 300 royalists perished and some 100 guard died in the defence. The royalists were defeated and the republican government heaped praise after praise upon the young artillery officer. At the age of 26 years, in 1795, the celebrated Napoléon Bonaparte was rewarded for his unwavering loyalty with the command of the Army of Italy. The young Napoléon Bonaparte was now appointed general and received the mandate of the French republican government to engage in his first military campaign against the conspiring Austrians and their Italian allies.
