A Tale of Two CitiesBehind the Madness

City #1

London compared

City #2

to Paris

History…

• Beginning?

• Mind Bender:

Doesn’t everything in SOME WAY influence EVERYTHING else? (“We didn’t start the fire…”)

The French Revolution

• “The greatest and bloodiest revolution Europe has ever known…”

French and American Revolutions take place at the same time: England and

France both are at war (duality)

Louis XVI

• Heir to French throne• 1770: Married at age

15 (during a storm)• a “fat waffler”• No social skills• A shy “dork”• Sexual problems (long time with no heir)

Marie Antoinette

• Arch Duchess of Austria

• Married at age 14• “fair of face” and

blond hair• A “mall rat”• French people soured

on her after years of no heir

When Louis Met Marie…

• Marriage united France and

Austria (where

Marie Antoinette

was from)

The Mallrat meets the French Fry!

Note the lay out (England, France, and what was the Austrian

Netherlands)

Louis XIV dies leaving the French crown to his pudgy grandson

• Louis the XVI is 20 years old

• Still a “waffler” – (er…a French Crepe?!)

• Not a good leader…easily led

• France was an absolute monarchy (the King was a direct line to God)

France was already in trouble…

• Numerous wars had cost France a lot of money

• The 17th century (before “Pudge Boy’s” reign) was known for the king and aristocracy’s extravagancy

• France was in severe debt

• The people of France were hungry

More trouble…

• The nobles and clergy (the second sons of the nobles) enjoyed special privileges– Fewer taxes– “feudal” rights

• Imprison anyone for any reason at any time in political prisons (i.e.: “The Bastille”)

• The aristocrats “owned” their vassals (like slaves)

• The common people (the great majority of the population) resented this

Louis XVI’s reaction to inheriting this country in crisis…

• “Do I HAVE to?”

The Age of Enlightenment

• During the late Middle Ages, peasants moved from rural estates to towns in order to find increased prosperity…

…They found it.

The Age of Enlightenment

• They started businesses.– The bourgeoisie .

• The peasants became convinced that they fostered their prosperity by their own hard work…unlike the inherited wealth of the aristocrats.

• They started to like the new “changes” they brought about by their moving to the cities.

• They started to think they could foster more changes…

The Age of Enlightenment

• Individual more important than king or church (the king and the church were connected).

• This led to a change in political thought and philosophy…

• The Enlightenment, which began in France, spread to other countries of Europe and eventually to America

• Shifted thinking from reliance on the Church to self-reliance

• It fostered a change from blind faith to inquiring minds.

• It encouraged the investigation of new ideas.

Enlightenment mottos

• “Question authority”

• “Trust reason ALONE”

European Class Divisions

• Since Middle Ages classes had been split into three parts:

– The aristocracy/church– The business/trades people– The peasants

Enlightenment Thought

=EQUALITY=

(no class divisions)

The Enlightenment

• Led to the American Revolution taking place AT THE SAME TIME across the Atlantic

1788-1789

• France has THE WORST winter in 90 years

• Poor crops

• People go hungry • Flour and bread are

hard to come by (1 loaf=1 month’s earnings)

• People riot for food

French Government

• Organized into the THREE ESTATES– #1: The aristocracy – #2:The clergy (2nd sons of nobles)– #3: everyone else

– Estates 1 & 2 = 3% of population– Estate 3 = 97% of population

1789

• Maximillian Robespierre – Lawyer– comes to Parliament to fight for a fair voice for

the 3rd estate (the people he represents)– excellent speaker– wants Estates 1 & 2 to start paying taxes

The Tennis Court Oath

• Louis XVI feels pressured to pay taxes and LOCKS OUT THE REPRE-SENTATIVES OF THE THIRD ESTATE from Parliament

• 3rd estate feels its power

The Result: A “Headbutt”

• 3rd Estate proclamation: The PEOPLE hold power!

• King: gathers forces to overthrow “The People”

The Pressure Mounts

• The People start their own national guard and raid Paris’ armories

• Steal 28,000 muskets

• …but they need gunpowder

The Bastille

• Political prison

• Houses Paris’ gun powder reserves

• Known as a dungeon of torture

July 14, 1789: Bastille Day

• The people of Paris storm the Bastille

• Governor of Bastille locks down the prison

• The people break in • They torture and kill

him and the guards– mounting their heads on spikes…

The Revolution has begun…

• Revolutionaries wear red hats

• “san culottes”

• People demand a constitutional monarchy (equal rights of men)

• Jean Paul Marat starts The Friend of the People newspaper demanding vengeance for the people

Liberty Equality Fraternity!

The Women of the Revolution

• Hungry

• Children are hungry

• Take matters into their own hands…

• They storm the palace, decapitate the guards, and try to kill the queen

Prisoners

• Paris women take Louis and Marie Antoinette hostage

• Austria and France go to war

Paranoia

• Robespierre and revolutionaries fear sympathy for the aristocrats

• See “plots” everywhere

• Fear retaliation from Austria

• Solution: KILL ALL SYMPATHIZERS

Guillotine created

The TERROR• The Revolution spins out of

control

• Everyone suspected of treason

• Neighbors turned in neighbors

• Angry mobs become fanatical

• All nobles imprisoned and then slaughtered (1600+ people in a couple of days)

Robespierre

• Attempts to gain control of revolution

• Enlists the help of “police spies” to arrest people who are “counter revolution”

• People begin to fear each other (who could be a spy?)

“Enlightenment” destroys Catholic church

• De-Christianization (blamed for traditional thought)

• Priests disemboweled

• New calendar created– Sept 1792

(overthrow of monarchy) becomes Year 1

The New Religion

• Robespierre creates “The Festival of the Supreme Being” – The “Goddess of Reason”

Cult replaces Catholic Church

• Robespierre’s friends question his sanity

Terror continues…

• 800 people per month guillotined for “treason”

• Robespierre makes a tactical error: he appears before people with a “new list” of traitors

• Everyone fear s/he is on the list

• Robespierre is taken prisoner in order to silence him.

Irony?

• Robespierre tried to commit suicide…

- Bullet shatters jaw

- Can’t speak or eat

- Guillotined!

• Revolution begins to calm down…

• 5 years later… Napoleon takes over France

The Revolution ends

Some THEMATIC QUESTIONS you will ponder throughout the novel:

• How much violence is justified in achieving a better society?

• Do people have the right to overthrow what they feel is an unjust system?