Marian’s Reviews > The Glory and the Sorrow: A Parisian and His World in the Age of the French Revolution > Status Update
Marian
is 47% done
"Everything that went badly for the population and the economy and for the Revolution in general could be attributed to a single all-pervasive conspiracy led by a small group of “aristocrats,” manipulating events from within the royal court and perhaps including the queen, if not the king himself, and in secret coalition with France’s foreign enemies."
— Sep 02, 2025 12:09PM
1 like · Like flag
Marian’s Previous Updates
Marian
is 42% done
"...reports that soldiers, most of them German or Swiss mercenaries, had been pulled back from the French frontiers and were encircling both Paris and Versailles. From letter to letter, Colson’s estimations of the number of troops involved expanded from 6,000 to 40,000, to as many as 100,000. What was their purpose and would they soon invade the city?"
— Sep 01, 2025 04:46AM
Marian
is 42% done
'...everyone cheered with abandon and cries of “long live the King!” after he had attached a tricolored cocarde to his coat and allowed the crowd to festoon the royal carriage with many more of the small colorful badges.'
— Sep 01, 2025 04:44AM
Comments Showing 1-5 of 5 (5 new)
date
newest »
newest »
message 1:
by
Stephen
(new)
Sep 02, 2025 02:09PM
Sounds interesting, but count me dubious about everything (during the Revolution) being the aristos' fault.
reply
|
flag
Stephen wrote: "Sounds interesting, but count me dubious about everything (during the Revolution) being the aristos' fault."This is totally my bad... I should have added some context here :P In this quote, the author is only paraphrasing a common conspiracy theory held by many of the people in Paris, including this lawyer Colson. The commoners were trying to reconcile their love for the king with the many economic hardships they were facing, plus rumors that an army of mercenaries and "brigands" had been summoned in from abroad to attack their own people. They were trying not to attribute guilt to Louis XVI, and so this conspiracy - of a group of elites plotting against the people - was the easiest way for them to absolve him in their minds. However, once Louis eventually broke his public oath of loyalty, their love for the king was crushed. There were various bands of radical (violent) commoners that Colson and his neighbors also distrusted and condemned. I just hadn't realized before how long they tried to hold on to the notion of a noble monarch. Even then, many commoners (including Colson) were fond of certain aristocrats that were known to be genuinely supportive of the cause, including his own employers and General Lafayette.
This book has really opened my eyes to how complex the situation was and how these poor people had very little information to base decisions upon. I'm sure a similar situation must have been present in some of the American colonies during our own Revolution. But in this context, the amplifying effect of bread shortages understandably fueled a lot of the violence.
Marian wrote: "Stephen wrote: "Sounds interesting, but count me dubious about everything (during the Revolution) being the aristos' fault."This is totally my bad... I should have added some context here :P In t..."
The people attributing bad things to third parties or advisors comes up a lot in monarchial or semi-monarchial settings! In THEY THOUGHT THEY WERE FREE, there was a lot of "If only the Fuhrer knew what was happening! He would change things!!"
Stephen wrote: "Marian wrote: "Stephen wrote: "Sounds interesting, but count me dubious about everything (during the Revolution) being the aristos' fault."This is totally my bad... I should have added some conte..."
It must be something in human nature, this desire (sometimes conviction) that there is a paternal figure looking out for us and who has the back of the common people. It's as if people were expecting the monarch to represent God or something. I suppose, in theory, that was his job, a benevolent head of state & church. I guess I didn't realize before how much people during the French Revolution actually believed in this.
