Famous Men and Great Events of the Nineteenth CenturyMorris, Charles
History
Famous Men and Great Events of the Nineteenth Century
Morris, Charles
Nineteenth century -- History
With the fall of the Bastille discord everywhere broke loose, the
spirit of the Revolution spread from Paris through all France, and the
popular Assembly, now the sole law-making body of the State, repealed
the oppressive laws of which the people complained, and with a word
overturned abuses many of which were a thousand years old. It took
from the nobles their titles and privileges, and reduced them to the
rank of simple citizens. It confiscated the vast landed estates of the
church, which embraced nearly one-third of France. It abolished the
tithes and the unequal taxes, which had made the clergy and nobles rich
and the people poor. At a later date, in the madness of reaction, it
enthroned the Goddess of Reason and sought to abolish religion and all
the time-honored institutions of the past.
The Revolution grew, month by month and day by day. New and more
radical laws were passed; moss-grown abuses were swept away in an
hour's sitting; the king, who sought to escape, was seized and held as
a hostage; and war was boldly declared against Austria and Prussia,
which showed a disposition to interfere. In November, 1792, the
French army gained a brilliant victory at Jemmapes, in Belgium, which
eventually led to the conquest of that kingdom by France. It was the
first important event in the career of victory which in the coming
years was to make France glorious in the annals of war.
[Illustration: MARIE ANTOINETTE LED TO EXECUTION
The hapless wife of Louis XVI, of France, imprisoned
during the Revolution in the prisons of the Temple and
Conciergerie, separated from her family and friends,
and treated to great indignities, died at length under
the knife of the guillotine, October 16, 1793.]
[Illustration: THE BATTLE OF RIVOLI
Rivoli is a village of Venetia, Italy, on the western
bank of the Adige; population, about 1,000. On January
14 and 15, 1797, Napoleon Bonaparte here, in his first
campaign as commander-in-chief, gained a great victory
over the Austrians commanded by Alvinczy, who lost
20,000 prisoners.]
[=King and Queen Under the Guillotine=]
The hostility of the surrounding nations added to the revolutionary
fury in France. Armies were marching to the rescue of the king, and
the unfortunate monarch was seized, reviled and insulted by the mob,
and incarcerated in the prison called the Temple. The queen, Marie
Antoinette, daughter of the Emperor of Austria, was likewise haled from
the palace to the prison. In the following year, 1793, king and queen
alike were taken to the guillotine and their royal heads fell into
the fatal basket. The Revolution was consummated, the monarchy was at
an end, France had fallen into the hands of the people, and from them
it descended into the hands of a ruthless and blood-thirsty mob.
[=The Reign of Terror=]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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