french revolution

Alain’s JournalThe bloody French Revolution

June 21st 1789

Three estates in one meeting

June 21st 1789I am so frustrated!

Every one of us felt anxious. There were guards in front of our chamber. Predicting the danger we moved to the tennis court. There we signed the oath, thinking this is not right. 576 people out of 577 signed for the oath. The oath was about us not going to stop until the constitution of France.

Currently, King Louis the 16th was using our tax money to support the civil war in America, for parties, and for his foolish wife! The first estates are not giving taxes but we have to pay the majority of the tax. My families are having lack of bread to eat. When I went in to the bread store and tried to buy some bread, there was no bread left. I asked the baker why there was no bread. He replied that they couldn’t afford flours to make bread.

Several months ago, King Louis 16th summoned us to discuss what to do with the economy. Our king invited the clergy, the nobilities, and us. All of us were extremely excited. It was because we can now ask the king what we want to change. Several generals were picked to go to the meeting, which included me. My friend, Lafayette, said that we could eat bread after the meeting because the economy will be better than before.

We had a vote, whether or not we should change the system of the tax or to keep it the same. The clergy and the nobilities voted for the system not to change. On the other hand, we were the only ones to vote for the change of the system. Since each state has 1 vote, the taxing system had to be the same. In other words, we have to stay hungry as we always were. Lafayette was very disappointed, he thought something will change but it was never going to happen.

As for King Louis, he was very satisfied of the outcome. He never wanted to change the tax system because it didn’t affect his wealth. For him it was okay even though we paid everything for them. For us it was definitely not okay.

For extra discussion, we headed to our chamber. However, the chamber was under construction and the guards were in front of it. Feeling apprehensive that the royal attack will be imminent. We immediately moved to the tennis court. We thought this was not right and decided to sign up for an oath that we will never stop our rage until the constitution of France. Out of 577people, only Joseph Martin-dauch did not sign up for the oath. He still thought execute decisions were not right to make other than the king.

We are planning to declare rights for ourselves. Furthermore, we are going to change France better. But is this really right? Going against our king means were going against the god… I would never want to go to hell. On the other hand, I really want my rights because something is wrong about this. I guess I’ll have to go against the god or else our life won’t be any better. Until the constitution of France, I’ll keep going.

Photo of Robespierre

One of the clergy being executed

July 29th 1794

July 29th 1794Whew

Thank god Robespierre died! He was literally killing everyone! About 40,000 people died because of him in one year. In one year! It means at least 100 people died per day! It was very scary to watch people die one by one. My wife also died because of him and it was extremely angry and depressing for me. But at the end, the guillotine that killed my wife, also revenged for me.

After the march of Versailles we made a new constitution of France, new government came in. Robespierre was elected in the committee from then. Firstly, he executed King Louis 16th, our family was happy that he died. We cheered for the fall of the King and hoped for a better life. After the king died, guillotine fell numerous times upon the neck of the clergies. We were very excited killing all the rich people, who did not give tax to the government. We were also able to execute Marie Antoinette, Louis 16th wife who spent most of the money. Everyone thought it’s all-good now.

In contrast, it turned out that it became worse. Robespierre started to kill people with no good reason. My wife got killed because she did not cheer loud enough when one of the clergy got executed. The government said that it was because she was going against the government. But my wife loved France for all her heart! She never complained about the government after the constitution. One by one, people started dying. People who did not smile, people who complained the bread price, and even people who cried got executed. Even small mistakes could lead them to death.

From the day execution started, it was a nightmare. It was best not to go out, but if you had to you always had to be careful because you could easily be the next victim of the guillotine. My friend, Lafayette, said he would never be executed, however he became executed because he cried at the funeral of his dad. Is this fair? Why do we have to die because of these astonishing reasons? I guess there were people who thought like me. Collot d’Herbois, a brave guy, was almost able to assassinate Robespierre but fail. The day after his attempt, this brave woman called Cecile Renault attempted to kill Robespierre with her knives, but her attempt turned out to fail too. When I heard these two bravely attempting assassination, in my heart, I cheered for them. If it were possible, I would’ve shouted out good luck for them. However, I did not do that because I will get executed if I did so.

Perhaps People in the committee also felt uneasy. Thankfully they ordered to arrest Robespierre. He tried to suicide with his pistol but luckily the bullet shattered his lower jaw which did not affect his life. How dare he tries to suicide! He should pay back what he did to us. To be honest, killing him with a Guillotine was not enough for me. He should’ve stayed in the prison craving death for his entire life! Also we made a grave for him too. Anyways, the terror ended now, I am relieved but on the other side I miss my wife and my friend.

December 3rd 1804

Drawing of Napoloen

December 3rd 1804

Napoleon is so cool!

He became our next emperor. He should obviously become an emperor because he protected our country. When surrounding countries such as Austria, invaded our country, Napoleon managed to prevent them from attacking us. He is a hero! Because of this, he steadily began to gain popularity from people and was able to become the emperor. Now our life will be peaceful.

To come to think of it, I have been through the whole change of France, I have heard people saying that we were through a revolution. Actually, I also do agree because we revolted for lower taxes and a better life. I have literally been through huge events! From the oath in the tennis court, many events happened. We rushed into the Bastille to destroy the symbol of the monarchy. There, I also remember there were equipment, gun and gunpowder, in the storage. It was enough for everyone to use it. The next huge incident was the march to the Versailles. Yes, I was very mad back then. The price of the bread was so high and the tax was at the max I could afford. I still remember me and my wife raging into the palace holding weapons. The palace was so unsecured. There were only few guards protecting the palace. After we arrested the King, we made him go to Tuileries Palace in Paris. We did not kill him because everyone including me did not want to kill the king since he was still our king. At that time, he was still like the god for me even though he was a horrible king. But after I heard him that he tried to escape France, I changed my mind. I was extremely depressed with him. I did not accept him as a king anymore. There were several trials of King Louis, whether or not he should be executed. Eventually he got executed with the guillotine. Several years later, we (most in 3rd estates) started to kill clergies and many lives were sacrificed. Now, I noticed that we also killed one of the great chemists Antione Lavoiser, We had to think more carefully before we killed all those people. And then finally, we had this one whole year of terror. Robespierre started to kill all these people with actually no good reasons. Luckily this ended by his death by the decisions made by the convention.

During these events, various countries surrounding us attacked our country such as Austria. Even though France had less army than Austria, whom we were consisting having war with, we managed to defeat them. Furthermore, this fight led to a treaty of Campo Formio, which made France able to gain territory. The military directory during these war was Napoleon, who was able to lead victory in the war. Isn’t that awesome? I was really surprised with his work! Not only he protected France, but he also gained territory for France! Furthermore, he succeeded in invading Egypt, which was the British trade route. This brought huge popularity amongst him. I heard my children cheering for Napoleon everyday before he became the emperor. Pope Puis 7 crowned Napoleon at Notre Dame de Paris. At the end, he is now the emperor of France who everyone likes. I guess this is the end of our revolution. It was a long way through. Many people died and lots of thing happened, but it’s all-good now. Now, Napoleon is in power and new life will start again.

Citations

• “10 Controversial Death Masks Of Famous People." Listverse. N.p., 22 Oct. 2014. Web. 18 Mar. 2015.

• "Five Things You Ought To Know About The Guillotine." The Paltry Sapien. N.p., 21 July 2011. Web. 18 Mar. 2015.

• "French Revolution | Publish with Glogster!" Glogster. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Mar. 2015.

• "National French Flag." Flag France. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Mar. 2015.

• http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:French_Revolution-1792-8-10_w.jpg