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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsHappy Bastille Day
The French of the Enlightenment showed they knew how to deal with the oligarchy.
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femmocrat
(28,394 posts)Tuesday Afternoon
(56,912 posts)femmocrat
(28,394 posts)That is the only item on it!
#1. Go to Paris.
alterfurz
(2,467 posts)Across this great old nation
Tell me what you gonna do?
When there's one law for the rulers
and one law for the ruled
Which side are you on, boys?
Which side are you on?
Which side are you on, boys?
Which side are you on?
packman
(16,296 posts)Contrary to what one may think, the real reason for storming the Bastille was to get shot and powder for arms taken from another raid. The citizens went to the Bastille:
"seeking to acquire the large quantities of arms and ammunition stored at the Bastille. On the 14th there were over 13,600 kilograms (30,000 lb) of gunpowder stored there.
At this point, the Bastille was nearly empty of prisoners, housing only seven old men annoyed by all the disturbance: four forgers, two "lunatics" and one "deviant" aristocrat, the Comte de Solages (the Marquis de Sade had been transferred out ten days earlier). The cost of maintaining a medieval fortress and garrison for so limited a purpose had led to a decision being taken to close it, shortly before the disturbances began. It was, however, a symbol of royal tyranny."
Seven old men, one a pervert all annoyed by the the disturbance to their daily routine. Sounds like what we would get if we stormed the Congress-old men and perverts being annoyed with the disturbance.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Storming_of_the_Bastille
another_liberal
(8,821 posts)Hurrah for the people!
BobbyBoring
(1,965 posts)If Louie 16 had drones with hellfire missiles and APCs for his storm troopers, the French revolution would have turned out differently.
Takket
(21,425 posts)That would explain the clue on my Jeopardy calendar today:
"The Bastille was built by this 14th century king to defend Paris against attack."
Good luck! no using google!
Jack Rabbit
(45,984 posts)He would be the same French King who owed a barrel-full of money to the Knights Templar and found a unique way to cancel the debt: he trumped up heresy charges against the Templars and burned them at the stake.
Takket
(21,425 posts)Jack Rabbit
(45,984 posts)I looked after my earlier guess. They were trying to protect France from the English.
Who protected England from the French in 1066?
Takket
(21,425 posts)You didn't phrase it in the form of a question!
femmocrat
(28,394 posts)MisterP
(23,730 posts)Last edited Tue Jul 15, 2014, 03:00 PM - Edit history (1)
who was greeted by a "foule ... très enthousiaste"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fete_de_la_Federation
ah well!
Jack Rabbit
(45,984 posts)!!
MisterP
(23,730 posts)Bastille Day itself is from 1879, and a bunch of shopkeepers putting on revolutionary airs never impressed anyone!
Jack Rabbit
(45,984 posts)Of course, Louis XIV wouldn't have been celebrating the overthrow of the monarchy, no matter when it happened.
{A} bunch of shopkeepers putting on revolutionary airs never impressed anyone!
I'm not sure what you mean by that, but I am impressed with the shopkeepers, the dissident clergymen, the enlightened noblemen like LaFayette, the fish market women who kindly escorted the Bourbon family back to Paris, and especially with the authors of the Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen. It is too bad that Robespierre, who could talk a good line about giving power to the people but never quite trusted the masses, turned the Revolution on its head and made way for Bonaparte, and from there one draws a straight line to the tyrannical Congress of Vienna. Never trust an ideologue.
MisterP
(23,730 posts)even Gambetta); I sometimes read histories of the French (and Roman) Revolutions to keep myself fresh
interestingly, any post-1920 writer on the kaleidoscopic alignments and reversals and interests and ideologies at play in fact has to start out by undoing the lens of 19th-c. interpretations of the 18th-c. events
Jack Rabbit
(45,984 posts)The very idea of rule by the people continued to be anti-establishment after Waterloo. To listen to the crooks who ran the Congress of Vienna, you would think that Napoleon was a full blooded democrat. I wouldn't trust a man who talked a good game about republicanism but had the nerve to crown himself emperor enough to give hime #20 to tie him over until payday, but I would never give the time of day to Metternich, Castlereagh, Tsar Alexander or Tallyrand, the ring leaders of the Congress. Metternich's most notable twentieth century admirer was Dr. Kissinger. Let that speak for itself. What they believed in was the perpetuation of the landed aristocracy. If the French Revolution demonstrated anything it was that the landed aristocracy had outlived its usefulness to the common people (assuming that it ever had any).
sarisataka
(18,220 posts)Le jour de gloire est arrivé !
Jack Rabbit
(45,984 posts)Yes, as a matter of fact, this is one of my favorite renditions of La Marseillaise.
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aint_no_life_nowhere
(21,925 posts)from the 1938 film La Marseillaise by the great director Jean Renoir (son of the famous painter). La Marseillaise was written by Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle. It was originally called the War Song Of The Rhine Army and was written when French troops were fighting both an internal war against the King's armies but also a war against the Prussian and Austrian crowns' armies at the Rhine river, who invaded France to try to put down the revolution. It's said the first troops to sing the song were volunteers from Marseille who brought it to the streets of Paris, hence the new name.
Zorra
(27,670 posts)KamaAina
(78,249 posts)if the French had won the Cup the day before.
aint_no_life_nowhere
(21,925 posts)the lady representing freedom and democracy and the ideals of the revolution over the monarchy. Here she is in the famous painting by Delacroix and in various other representations. She's roughly analogous to Columbia, the American goddess of liberty seen in statues and on coins, etc.
scarletwoman
(31,893 posts)Allons enfants de la patrie,
Le jour de gloire est arrivé !
Contre nous de la tyrannie
L'étendard sanglant est levé ! (bis)
Entendez-vous dans les campagnes,
Mugir ces féroces soldats ?
Ils viennent jusque dans nos bras
Égorger nos fils, nos compagnes !
Refrain
Aux armes, citoyens !
Formez vos bataillons !
Marchons ! Marchons !
Qu'un sang impur
Abreuve nos sillons !
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Que veut cette horde d'esclaves,
De traîtres, de rois conjurés ?
Pour qui ces ignobles entraves,
Ces fers dès longtemps préparés ? (bis)
Français ! pour nous, ah ! quel outrage !
Quels transports il doit exciter !
C'est nous qu'on ose méditer
De rendre à l'antique esclavage !
Quoi ! ces cohortes étrangères
Feraient la loi dans nos foyers !
Quoi ! ces phalanges mercenaires
Terrasseraient nos fiers guerriers ! (bis)
Grand Dieu ! par des mains enchaînées
Nos fronts sous le joug se ploiraient !
De vils despotes deviendraient
Les maîtres de nos destinées !
Tremblez, tyrans ! et vous, perfides,
L'opprobre de tous les partis,
Tremblez ! vos projets parricides
Vont enfin recevoir leur prix ! (bis)
Tout est soldat pour vous combattre,
S'ils tombent, nos jeunes héros,
La France en produit de nouveaux,
Contre vous tout prêts à se battre !
Français, en guerriers magnanimes,
Portez ou retenez vos coups !
Épargnez ces tristes victimes,
A regret s'armant contre nous. (bis)
Mais ces despotes sanguinaires,
Mais ces complices de Bouillé,
Tous ces tigres qui, sans pitié,
Déchirent le sein de leur mère !
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Amour sacré de la patrie,
Conduis, soutiens nos bras vengeurs !
Liberté, Liberté chérie,
Combats avec tes défenseurs ! (bis)
Sous nos drapeaux, que la victoire
Accoure à tes mâles accents !
Que tes ennemis expirants
Voient ton triomphe et notre gloire !
Refrain
Nous entrerons dans la carrière
Quand nos aînés n'y seront plus ;
Nous y trouverons leur poussière
Et la trace de leurs vertus. (bis)
Bien moins jaloux de leur survivre
Que de partager leur cercueil,
Nous aurons le sublime orgueil
De les venger ou de les suivre !
Refrain
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
En Anglais:
Let's go children of the fatherland,
The day of glory has arrived!
Against us tyranny's
Bloody flag is raised! (repeat)
In the countryside, do you hear
The roaring of these fierce soldiers?
They come right to our arms
To slit the throats of our sons, our friends!
Refrain
Grab your weapons, citizens!
Form your batallions!
Let us march! Let us march!
May impure blood
Water our fields!
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
This horde of slaves, traitors, plotting kings,
What do they want?
For whom these vile shackles,
These long-prepared irons? (repeat)
Frenchmen, for us, oh! what an insult!
What emotions that must excite!
It is us that they dare to consider
Returning to ancient slavery!
What! These foreign troops
Would make laws in our home!
What! These mercenary phalanxes
Would bring down our proud warriors! (repeat)
Good Lord! By chained hands
Our brows would bend beneath the yoke!
Vile despots would become
The masters of our fate!
Tremble, tyrants! and you, traitors,
The disgrace of all groups,
Tremble! Your parricidal plans
Will finally pay the price! (repeat)
Everyone is a soldier to fight you,
If they fall, our young heros,
France will make more,
Ready to battle you!
Frenchmen, as magnanimous warriors,
Bear or hold back your blows!
Spare these sad victims,
Regretfully arming against us. (repeat)
But not these bloodthirsty despots,
But not these accomplices of Bouillé,
All of these animals who, without pity,
Tear their mother's breast to pieces!
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Sacred love of France,
Lead, support our avenging arms!
Liberty, beloved Liberty,
Fight with your defenders! (repeat)
Under our flags, let victory
Hasten to your manly tones!
May your dying enemies
See your triumph and our glory!
Refrain
We will enter the pit
When our elders are no longer there;
There, we will find their dust
And the traces of their virtues. (repeat)
Much less eager to outlive them
Than to share their casket,
We will have the sublime pride
Of avenging them or following them!
Refrain
Motown_Johnny
(22,308 posts)^snip^
NEW DU3 RULES: The official band of DU3 will now be Rush
all those oppose can kiss my ass!
roguevalley
(40,656 posts)was born on his birthday. VIVE LA Daddy and Josh!
left is right
(1,665 posts)Have a revolutionary Bastille Day but dont loose your head