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NEWS at lifelock.com. It

0:34

is late June 1792. A hot

0:38

summer's day, not far from Paris. The

0:41

fierce beat of a drum accompanies thousands

0:43

of feet marching towards the capital. A

0:47

young man wearing the blue and white colors

0:50

of his home city takes off his tricorn and

0:52

wipes sweat from his brow. He

0:55

and his comrades have been walking

0:57

for three weeks, covering almost 500 miles.

1:01

They're from Marseille on the south coast, and

1:04

are heading north for Paris. Like

1:06

most of those he's marching with, the young

1:08

man has never visited the capital before. But

1:11

now he has good cause. Three

1:17

years since the revolution began, France is now at war with

1:19

Austria and Prussia. The minister of war has called for volunteer

1:21

soldiers from the provinces to come to Paris

1:24

to join the revolutionary army. And though

1:26

the king opposes them, there is nothing the

1:28

increasingly unpopular monarch

1:31

can do to stop these fédéré, or volunteer soldiers, from

1:33

pouring to Paris from

1:37

all over the country. Yet it's an absurdly long walk

1:39

from Marseille, and this man's body is

1:44

breaking down before he has gone near

1:46

a battle. Blisters are burning on his feet, and

1:49

the summer sun is beating down relentlessly. He

1:54

tips the water-gourd attached to the water. There's

2:00

bound to his lips. Knowing it is

2:02

futile. It's been empty for house. Sweaty,

2:05

dehydrated and busy with the t but he

2:07

forces himself to keep up with the rhythm

2:10

of the much men around him. As a

2:12

interfax of woodland. In

2:15

school or in the say that

2:17

the trees for the young volunteers

2:19

still struggling forcing himself to place

2:21

one foot after another except some

2:23

Rembrandt's and for sprawling to the

2:25

ground strike on have standing nearby.

2:30

Interesting enough: fines he

2:32

can't. Maybe we'll

2:34

make it to Paris after all. The

2:37

drama nearby stops beating his instrument and

2:40

comes to help him speak to the

2:42

soldier crux that he's exhausted that he

2:44

can't go any further. but the drama

2:46

reaches into account and handsome and glass.

2:50

Knowing gets his lust trickle of

2:52

water. the young century hesitates. But

2:55

the drum insists. Of

2:59

the drinking. He immediately starts to

3:01

feel better. Now. The

3:03

drama takes off his so school ago

3:05

had known as a Liberty Cap said

3:07

to resemble that won't I freed slaves

3:10

in ancient Rome. And. Opposite as

3:12

a swap. For. His new friends. Etc.

3:17

Smiles, Is being given

3:19

a symbol of the revolution? Straightening.

3:22

The cap on His new friends

3:24

had the drama grins. Than

3:26

helps the young volunteer to his feet. The

3:30

drama begins to beat the rousing rhythm

3:32

again mouth and a soldier revived decides

3:34

the pain of his blisters is not

3:36

said. that. He speaks,

3:38

pick up the pace, matching the rhythm of the others

3:40

around him. When

3:42

someone begins to sing. It.

3:46

Is a song the federate have been repeating

3:48

the whole journey. The volunteer

3:50

joins in. Every one of the men here

3:52

knows the words to what will become known

3:54

as. The. must say yes It

4:00

is a fighting song, an anthem,

4:03

and as they reach the rousing chorus, he

4:05

holds his head up high, knowing they're not

4:07

far from Paris. With

4:09

his brothers around him ready to fight and

4:11

die for the future of their beloved country,

4:15

he decides that he will make it, after

4:17

all. France

4:29

would not be France as we know it

4:31

today without the French Revolution. The

4:34

national anthem, La Marseillaise, a

4:36

trickle-or flag and that famous

4:38

slogan of liberty, equality, fraternity

4:41

were all forged during that tumultuous

4:43

time. But

4:46

far from being a single incident, the

4:48

Revolution was rather a series of events

4:50

that spanned many years. Together,

4:53

they left not only France, but the

4:55

rest of the world deeply changed. It

5:00

is simple enough to pinpoint when things began

5:02

in 1789, but when

5:04

did the French Revolution really end? How

5:07

did the relationship between the king and his

5:09

people deteriorate so badly that it culminated with

5:12

the drop of the guillotine blade on his

5:14

neck? Would

5:16

things have been different had he not married

5:18

Marie Antoinette? And what was

5:20

the lasting impact of those dark years following 1789 known

5:22

as the Reign of Terror?

5:27

I'm John Hopkins from Noiser. This is

5:29

the second in a special two-part short

5:31

history of the French Revolution. In

5:43

the summer of 1792, France is at

5:45

war with its neighbours Austria and Prussia. It

5:49

has been three years since the storming of the Bastille

5:51

and the country has changed beyond recognition. Feudalism

5:55

has been abolished, along with the privileges

5:57

held by the nobility and clergy. That

6:00

place is a more egalitarian society I

6:02

set out by the revolutionary documents. The

6:05

Declaration Of The Rights of Man and of the

6:07

citizen. The

6:10

new constitutional monarchy limits the king's

6:12

functions. The real power now lies

6:14

with the Legislative Assembly. Of

6:17

not all It's deputies trust Louis

6:19

the sixteenth and his wife Marie

6:21

Antoinette. After all the

6:24

queen was born and Austrian, but

6:26

stasis. And France is now at

6:28

war with her home country, which is ruled

6:30

by her nephew. Friends. The second.

6:34

Then there's the small matter of the royal

6:36

family's failed escape plan of the previous year

6:38

known as the like To wherein. The

6:42

secret plot to meet up with a

6:44

royalist general and his trump's has eroded

6:46

public trust in the monarchy. And.

6:48

Increased republican sentiment in France.

6:52

Still, Somehow an uneasy peace

6:54

has been between the Monique and his

6:56

people. But. It is

6:58

fragile. And now new

7:00

volunteer troops are pouring into Paris to

7:03

join the army in the fight against

7:05

pressure. Austria. And. The

7:07

Queen's own relatives. Distrustful

7:12

of his troops known as the Federal

7:15

and keenly aware of is precarious position.

7:17

The King refuses to sign a

7:20

law authorizing this new voluntary force.

7:23

In. Response. Thousands. Take to

7:25

the streets in Paris on June twentieth, some

7:27

dignity to. Aiming to plant or

7:30

Liberty Tree and the King's Home to

7:32

Laurie Panisse. Such. Trees

7:34

have become a symbol of the revolutionary spirit.

7:37

Mimicking. Be Elm planted across the

7:39

Atlantic in Boston. To. Become a

7:41

rallying point for revolutionists. Arriving

7:45

at the palace, the crowd finds no resistance

7:47

from the national guard, many of whom sympathize

7:49

with their costs. Be.

7:52

Assembled citizens sport all the symbols

7:54

of the revolution. Tricolor. As

7:56

It's and Liberty caps but also

7:58

long trousers instead of. The Purchase.

8:01

Those embracing this trend reject aristocratic

8:03

styles in favor of the costumes

8:06

of ordinary workers. And become

8:08

known as the some to lot

8:10

meaning without purchase. Seeing.

8:14

The crowd coming. Marie Antoinette steps away in

8:16

time and of a side entrance. But

8:18

Louis wearing an extra west coast

8:21

and kissing stabbed. He

8:24

meets his people. And when one of

8:26

those corner and him office him the Red Liberty kept

8:28

dangling from a blade. He has no

8:30

choice but to take. Place.

8:34

In the cap on his head. He. Drinks: a

8:36

toast to his nation. It

8:38

is a humiliating incident. But.

8:40

Lose survives. it. It'll

8:43

be the last time a confrontation with his

8:45

people is concluded peacefully. The.

8:49

Straw that breaks the camel's back.

8:51

his place that by accident. The

8:54

Duke of Brunswick's the leader of

8:56

the Prussian and Austrian forces, issues

8:59

a threat of severe consequences to

9:01

Paris. if any harm comes to

9:03

king or queen. It

9:06

makes a direct link between France is king.

9:08

That. A Foreign enemies. In

9:13

furious response in August something that it

9:15

to the said array and some Culottes

9:17

storm the twin repost again. This.

9:20

Time They massacre any royal guards who

9:22

stand in their way. The.

9:25

King and his family flee to safety.

9:27

is simply. But. Louis is stripped of

9:30

his to. The. Monarchy is suspended.

9:32

And within days Louis, Marie Antoinette

9:34

and the to surviving children a

9:36

sense to the temple. A. Medieval

9:39

fortress used as a prison. Now.

9:44

A Provisional Executive Council.

9:46

Dominated by the larger than life

9:49

firebrand George Don't On. Passes.

9:51

A series of draconian emergency powers.

9:54

and prisms start to fill

9:56

with suspected royalist sympathizers A

10:03

gregarious and sociable bon vivant, Donton

10:06

is the opposite of his political

10:08

ally, Maximilian Robespierre, an

10:10

abstemious lawyer known as the

10:12

incorruptible, who lives on a diet

10:14

of coffee and fruit. Robespierre,

10:18

who is credited with popularizing

10:20

the slogan, Liberté, Egalité, Frétanité,

10:23

has been involved in the revolution since the beginning. And

10:26

it's not until 1792 that he steps

10:28

into the limelight. Robespierre

10:31

is driven by his beliefs, a

10:34

conviction politician, but an

10:36

idealist in a revolution can

10:38

be a dangerous thing. Professor

10:41

Marisa Linton is a historian and

10:43

author of Choosing Terror, Virtue,

10:46

Friendship and Authenticity in the French

10:48

Revolution. Similien

10:50

Robespierre was a lawyer

10:53

in Arras in northern France.

10:56

If the revolution hadn't happened, no one would

10:59

have heard of him. He was marred-mannered, he

11:01

was inoffensive, but then the revolution

11:03

happened and he got drawn into it like

11:05

so many other people and he becomes very

11:08

much a political

11:10

activist. If Robespierre

11:12

had died in 1792, we would probably

11:15

just think he was a good man, an

11:18

idealistic man. He was all those things, but

11:20

he was also a very dedicated revolutionary and

11:22

he comes to believe like many others that

11:24

in the course of the revolution you may

11:26

have to do things that are

11:28

terrible. So he starts to accept, as

11:31

many others do, that terrible things must be

11:33

done. While

11:35

the patriotic Saint-Coulotte sign up to fight in

11:37

the war, fear spreads that the

11:40

revolution's enemies might break out of prison while

11:42

they're away. In

11:45

early September, news reaches Paris that the

11:47

Prussians have captured Verdun in northeastern France

11:49

close to the border. In

11:52

Response, a bloodthirsty mob storms the

11:54

prisons in the capital, believing that

11:56

the political prisoners there are planning

11:58

to join a counter-revolutionary. Rip Lot.

12:02

What? Follows. Is. Nothing less than

12:04

a bloodbath. Some.

12:06

Of the victims or priests who have

12:09

refused to swear allegiance to the constitution.

12:12

Others include vagrants and children.

12:15

Oddly, counterrevolution conspirators.

12:18

A friend of Marie Antoinette refuses to

12:20

reveal details about the royal couple of

12:22

communication with foreign powers. And

12:24

is brutally beaten. Did this in the streets. As

12:28

his paraded outside the Temple

12:30

Prison to taunt the former

12:32

Queen. Who is invited to kiss

12:34

the woman. Their. Legs was once

12:36

another. It's

12:39

thanks to the loyalty of friends such as these.

12:42

That. Marie Antoinette has survived this long. A

12:45

correspondence with contacts abroad have indeed

12:47

been treacherous, but so far the

12:49

revolutionaries have been unable to prove

12:51

it. So. Marie Antoinette is

12:53

permitted to live. On Now. All

12:57

in all, the carnage of these

13:00

September massacres continues for four days

13:02

and claims more than twelve hundred

13:04

lives. When.

13:06

Word of the killings spreads to the rest

13:08

of Europe. It's met with horror and rebels.

13:12

The. Times newspaper in London, the Portsmouth

13:14

particularly grizzly panache on the scenes

13:16

in Paris. Be. This

13:18

is of the mangled victims it says. Or

13:21

become so familiar the they are passed

13:23

by them, trod on without any particular

13:25

notice. But.

13:32

Even amid such bloodshed, Be.

13:34

Administration has work to do. During

13:37

this critical phase of the French revolution, A

13:39

new body is elected to provide an

13:41

updated constitution for the country. Calling.

13:44

Itself the National Convention and

13:47

numbers of a seven hundred

13:49

exodus including.on and refer. To.

13:52

Of the Conventions earliest acts of a

13:54

formal abolition of the monarchy on September

13:56

Twenty first, And. The next day. establishment

13:59

of them The

14:03

early days of the National Convention

14:05

are dominated by the struggles between

14:08

opposing revolutionary factions. The

14:10

Girondins call for a more moderate transition

14:12

of power, while the more radical

14:14

voices come from the Montagnards. Their

14:17

name, meaning the mountain men, comes

14:19

from the high benches they sit on at

14:21

the convention. One

14:24

of the burning questions on which the two factions

14:26

disagree is what to do with Louis

14:28

the Last, as the King is known. In

14:32

the end, a trial is agreed upon. The

14:35

trial of Louis XVI takes place

14:37

in December 1792. He stands

14:40

accused of various charges that cover his

14:43

attempt to flee from Paris, his alleged

14:45

collusion with foreign powers against the Republic,

14:48

and his opposition to revolutionary reforms.

14:52

He is found guilty, but the

14:54

decision to execute him is passed by

14:56

a single vote. It

14:58

is the first time in history that a French

15:00

royal has been sentenced to die, and

15:03

the Republic marks the occasion with the

15:05

use of a new contraption. The

15:10

guillotine was invented by the

15:13

French revolutionaries themselves. It

15:15

was meant to be humane, that is

15:18

compared with hanging or beheading by an

15:20

axe. It was quicker than either of

15:22

those things. Obviously, to our

15:24

eyes, very horrible, but this is a society

15:26

that has a death penalty, and so it

15:28

doesn't seem so strange to

15:30

them. So they see it as a humane and

15:33

egalitarian way of killing people. They

15:35

use it experimentally a couple of times in 1792,

15:38

but the first time it's used for a political execution is

15:40

with the King, 21st of January 1793. That

15:50

day, on the scaffold, the King's

15:52

hair is cut in preparation for the guillotine.

15:55

He attempts to make one last speech, but

15:58

his words are drowned out by an anticipation. and

16:00

at 1022, the blade of the guillotine falls. A

16:05

cannon is fired. Hearing

16:10

it in the temple prison, Murray Antoinette

16:13

collapses in grief. Our

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16:49

The execution of the king wins

16:51

the republic few new friends, but

16:54

her enemies swiftly multiply. The

16:57

British Republic and the Dutch Republic join the

16:59

fight against France, followed by Spain and several

17:01

Italian states. In

17:03

February 1793, uprisings break out in

17:06

Brittany and the Vendée in western

17:08

France. There, rebels

17:10

begin to form a Catholic and royal

17:12

army, devoted to restoring the

17:15

heirs of the king they see as a

17:17

martyr. Within

17:20

a month, the convention initiates

17:23

the Revolutionary Tribunal in

17:25

order to keep control of an

17:27

increasingly turbulent situation. The

17:30

tribunal is a court for the

17:32

trial of political offenders accused of

17:34

counter-revolutionary activities, treason, and other crimes

17:36

against the state. It

17:39

gains a reputation for its swift and

17:42

often arbitrary judgments. By

17:45

the early summer, the moderates,

17:47

the Girondins, are overthrown, and

17:49

the more extreme, left-leaning Montagnard

17:51

now dominate the convention. It

17:54

is the latter who compose the majority of

17:56

the new Committee of Public Safety, which

17:58

holds sway... from 1793 to 1794. But

18:04

despite its innocuous sounding name, the

18:06

period it presides over becomes known as

18:09

the Reign of Terror. The

18:14

period of the Terror was a

18:17

traumatic time in French history. It's

18:20

the time when revolutionaries have recourse

18:22

to laws which will enable the

18:24

revolutionary regime to stay in power

18:26

and to fight off its enemies.

18:28

You can't understand that without understanding

18:30

that there was a war going

18:32

on, that France was surrounded on

18:34

all sides by enemies and also

18:36

that there was internal conflict within

18:38

France. Within

18:41

France's own boundaries, civil war in the

18:43

Vendée continues to rage with

18:46

royalist forces opposed to the revolutionary

18:48

government fighting against the Republic. There

18:51

is a series of horrific mass

18:54

drownings of Catholic priests and others

18:56

considered to be against the revolution's

18:58

aims. But

19:01

those hoping to repel the convention will

19:03

not be deterred. Similar

19:06

pockets of resistance result in

19:08

uprisings throughout France called the

19:10

Federalist Revolts. The

19:14

Committee of Public Safety launches a

19:16

campaign to eliminate perceived counter-revolutionaries and

19:18

internal enemies. However,

19:21

killing French men, even

19:23

a French king, is one thing, but

19:26

what of his widow, Marie Antoinette? Robespierre

19:35

asks the convention if they can leave

19:37

in peace someone who is, in his

19:40

words, no less guilty and

19:42

no less accused by the nation than

19:45

Louis. There is no

19:47

doubt that he is referring to the hated former queen

19:50

who will always be associated in the minds of

19:52

the people with France's long-term

19:54

enemy and neighbor, Austria. Marie

19:58

Antoinette's trial takes place. on October

20:00

14th, 1793, when she

20:02

stands accused of immorality and treason.

20:07

When France and Austria were at war with

20:09

one another over whether

20:11

the revolution should continue, Marie

20:14

Antoinette passed battle plans

20:16

of the French armies to the Austrians.

20:18

So, in fact, she was a traitor,

20:20

she actually was. But the people

20:22

who put her on trial didn't know that, they

20:25

guessed it, but they didn't know it. And

20:27

what they really convict her of is being

20:30

a bad woman generally on the

20:32

basis of some quite fabricated evidence.

20:35

She was actually accused of having sexually

20:38

abused her small son in order

20:40

to corrupt him politically. And that

20:42

was a terrible and very, very

20:44

unjust accusation and an awful

20:47

thing to be said to her. What

20:51

makes it worse is that her son,

20:53

Louis Chael, has been forced by the

20:55

family's enemies to make the accusation against

20:57

his own mother. The

21:00

moment in which Marie Antoinette defends herself

21:02

against this terrible charge is the

21:04

most dramatic of her trial. Appearing

21:10

in a ragged black dress, her hair

21:12

now white as snow, despite her age

21:14

of just 37,

21:16

she makes a passionate plea. Calling

21:19

on all mothers as her witness, she insists

21:21

that she could never do the disgusting things

21:23

she has been accused of doing to her

21:25

son, Louis Chael. There

21:28

is a rousing cheer from the women in the public

21:30

gallery. With this

21:32

brief moment of support, does not save

21:34

Marie Antoinette. She is pronounced

21:36

guilty and sentenced to follow her

21:38

husband to the guillotine. It

21:48

is 4.30 on the morning of October 16,

21:50

1793. In a cold, damp cell of the Conciergere prison

21:56

on an island in the Seine, Marie

21:59

Antoinette is seated at a desk

22:01

quill in hand. She

22:03

is writing a final letter to her sister-in-law,

22:05

Elizabeth, in which she sends her love

22:08

and blessings to her children, and she

22:10

hasn't seen in months. She

22:13

extends her pardon to her son,

22:15

Louis-Sherl, forgiving him for the

22:17

unfounded allegations he'd been forced to

22:19

make. His

22:21

words, in part, are what condemned her,

22:24

but she knows how easy it can be to manipulate

22:26

a fragile child. She

22:29

leaves the letter on her desk and returns to

22:31

her bunk. Facing the

22:33

small, high window on the wall opposite, she

22:36

looks out at her last hours of daylight. At

22:40

seven, her maid attends to her. Mary

22:43

Antoinette dresses in a plain black dress

22:46

and takes just a few mouthfuls of broth for

22:48

breakfast. But

22:51

at eight, a priest and the

22:53

executioner arrive. They order her

22:55

to change into a white dress instead, and

22:57

though she begs for privacy, she is forced to

22:59

undress in full view of her guards. Now

23:04

the executioner cuts her long, white hair

23:06

in preparation for the blade. Thin

23:12

and frail, Mary Antoinette is a shadow of

23:14

her former self. There is no

23:17

sign now of the pretty teenager

23:19

whose diamond-covered wedding dress sparkled at

23:21

Versailles two decades ago. She

23:25

covers her head with a makeshift bonnet, and

23:27

her hands are painfully bound behind her back

23:30

with rope. It's

23:32

a humiliation she knows her husband was

23:34

not forced to endure. The

23:37

moment comes at last, and she is

23:39

taken from her cell to meet her fate. Outside

23:45

the prison, Mary Antoinette's transport to

23:47

the guillotine is waiting for her. An

23:50

open cart so the crowd can see

23:52

her and shout their final insults. She

23:55

climbs in, obeying the instruction to sit

23:57

with her back to the horses. Paraded

24:01

through the streets of Paris, with crowds

24:04

ten people deep, Marie Antoinette sits up

24:06

straight and keeps her gaze fixed ahead.

24:10

She doesn't speak to the priest sitting beside

24:12

her and does her best to ignore the

24:14

jeers of the thousands of gleeful spectators. Eventually

24:18

she arrives at the Place de la Révolution, the

24:21

largest square in Paris, adjacent

24:23

to her former home at the Tuileries.

24:27

Building the square is an enormous

24:29

Statue of Liberty, represented seated on

24:31

a rock, the red cap

24:34

on her head, a spear in her hand.

24:37

In her shadow stands the guillotine.

24:41

The cart pulls up next to the scaffold

24:43

and Marie Antoinette climbs out and begins her

24:45

ascent up the wooden stairs. She

24:49

doesn't try to run or bargain. Her

24:51

long suffering is now close to its end. Her

24:54

faces in the crowd, held back by guardsmen,

24:57

are a blur to her. But

25:00

as the towering structure of the guillotine

25:02

looms ahead, for a moment

25:05

fear descends. Stepping

25:07

back, Marie Antoinette treads

25:09

on the executioner's foot. Her

25:12

final words are an apology. Her

25:17

head is placed in the lunette, the

25:19

U-shaped board that is named for its

25:21

shape like a crescent moon. The

25:23

other half is closed on her neck.

25:27

The guillotine falls just after midday.

25:30

The head of the former queen is held

25:32

up to the ecstatic grounds. The

25:42

body of the former queen is thrown in a

25:44

communal grave, but not before a

25:46

young woman called Marie Grossholz makes a death

25:48

mask of her face. When

25:52

she marries in two years' time, she will become

25:54

Madame Tussaud. Later in

25:56

life be proprietor of a waxworks museum

25:58

in London. The

26:01

Chamber of Horrors at a famous

26:03

collection will include exhibits made from

26:05

death-masks of victims of the French

26:07

Revolution, including, of course, the

26:10

ill-fated Queen of France. The

26:14

execution of Marie Antoinette further

26:16

enrages revolutionary France's enemies. The

26:19

reign of terror continues to escalate. Under

26:23

the auspices of the Committee of Public Safety,

26:25

led by Rube Speer and Donton, thousands

26:28

of people are arrested, tried, and

26:30

executed in the name of revolutionary

26:32

justice. Death carts

26:34

rattle from the streets of Paris, and

26:36

the Committee's spies are everywhere. Paranoia

26:39

sweeps through the city. The

26:42

Law of Suspects, a decree

26:45

passed by the Convention at autumn, defines

26:47

those who can now potentially be subject

26:49

to arrest and potential execution. The

26:53

many categories include returning aristocratic

26:55

émigré and their family. But

26:59

other criteria for being labeled a suspect

27:01

are deliberately vague. They

27:03

can extend to anyone perceived as not

27:05

actively supporting the new government, or

27:08

those believed to have demonstrated

27:10

counter-revolutionary sentiment. The

27:14

victims of the reign of terror are diverse. They

27:17

range from obvious candidates, such as

27:19

the former King's sister, to a

27:21

one-time mistress of his grandfather, Louis

27:23

XV. But

27:25

even common criminals can now be seen as enemies

27:27

of the state. Indeed, even

27:29

something as small as a kind word about

27:31

the former King, or use of the old

27:34

terms monsieur or madame instead

27:37

of the egalitarian citizen, can

27:39

have dire consequences. Catholic

27:42

priests are again considered to be supporters of

27:45

the old regime, and suffer continued persecution as

27:47

a result. The

27:53

authorities initiate a policy

27:55

of de-Christianization to remove

27:57

the influence of the Catholic Church and

27:59

promote revolutionary ideology. Churches

28:03

are desecrated and streets sparing

28:05

religious references like the word

28:07

saint are renamed. A

28:10

revolutionary calendar replaces the old Christian

28:12

one. Now the months are

28:15

named after nature and the seasons. Florial

28:18

occurs in spring, Thermidor

28:20

in summer. Each

28:22

month of 30 days is

28:25

divided into three ten-day

28:27

weeks called decades. And

28:30

the decimalization doesn't stop there. The

28:32

days are now formed of ten

28:34

hours which are in turn divided

28:37

into 100 decimal minutes of 100

28:39

seconds each. History

28:43

itself is reset with years numbered

28:45

from when France officially became a

28:48

republic. What most of the world

28:50

calls September the 22nd 1792 is now determined

28:53

to be the first day of year

28:55

one. At

28:59

this point, France's fortunes seem to

29:01

change. At the end

29:03

of December 1793 the British

29:06

forces supporting the royalist rebels in

29:08

Toulon on the Mediterranean coast are

29:11

driven away. Playing

29:13

an important role in this success is a little-known

29:15

artillery officer in the French Revolutionary

29:17

Army by the name of Napoleon

29:19

Bonaparte. Further

29:21

afield there has been a developing

29:23

situation in the Caribbean French colony

29:26

of Saint-Domingue. Inspired

29:28

by France's revolutionary principles, enslaved

29:30

individuals and free people of

29:32

color have staged their own

29:34

revolution. Their arguments

29:36

persuade the French Republic to outlaw

29:38

slavery in its colonies in February

29:40

1794. Not

29:44

everything that the revolutionaries did within that time

29:46

period was about terror. They did many humanitarian

29:48

things as well like the abolition of slavery

29:51

in the French colonies. By

29:55

spring 1794 the Republic

29:57

is free from foreign occupation. reign

30:00

of terror has achieved its goals. So

30:03

can its steely grip now be

30:05

loosened? Former

30:08

allies Donton and Robespierre disagree

30:10

on this point. Donton

30:12

advocates for a relaxation of the purging,

30:15

but Robespierre thinks his old friend

30:17

is being too moderate. For

30:20

the idealist Robespierre, the concepts of

30:23

virtue and terror are intertwined. Terror

30:26

without virtue, he says, is

30:28

disastrous, but virtue without

30:30

terror is powerless. What

30:33

Robespierre dreams of is a

30:35

republic of virtue. By

30:38

virtue, he means commitment to the common

30:40

good, civic duty, and self-sacrifice for the

30:42

benefit of the nation. In

30:45

contrast, the pleasure seeker Donton jokes that virtue

30:47

is what he does every night in bed

30:49

with his wife. Robespierre

30:53

insists on continuing the harsh measures

30:55

to protect the revolution. Soon

30:58

the fallout between the two old friends

31:00

grows deadly. On April

31:02

the 2nd, 1794, Donton is

31:04

accused of treason and sent to trial.

31:07

The powerful speaker argues his case

31:09

eloquently, but to no avail. Three

31:13

days later, Donton meets his end

31:15

at the guillotine. Just

31:17

before the blade falls, he exclaims that

31:19

his only regret is that he's going

31:21

before the man he calls that

31:24

rat Robespierre. The

31:28

revolution is devouring its own children.

31:33

The terror intensifies, with

31:35

the guillotine pausing only for festivities in

31:37

June 1794. For

31:41

a single day, what the people

31:43

call the national razor is dismantled

31:45

and put away for a celebration

31:47

of the new civic religion, festival

31:50

of the supreme being. It

31:54

is the brainchild of Robespierre who has

31:57

concerns about the effects of decristianization and

31:59

the growing number of atheists. He

32:02

thinks people need something to believe in,

32:04

a replacement for the traditional Catholic Church.

32:08

By introducing a new civic religion

32:10

centered around the supreme being, Robespierre

32:12

and his supporters aim to create

32:14

a sense of national unity and

32:16

loyalty to the revolutionary government. The

32:20

religion is arguably a strange marriage,

32:23

merging both Catholic and Enlightenment values.

32:26

Its adherents believe in a Creator and

32:29

the immortality of the soul alongside

32:32

Republican sentiments and an emphasis

32:34

in fiction. It

32:44

is five o'clock in the morning on June the 8th, 1794. What

32:46

would have been the day of

32:49

Pentecost in the old calendar? The

32:53

sound of drums rouses Maximilian Robespierre

32:55

from a light sleep. Today

32:58

the whole city is being woken early to

33:01

give the people a chance to decorate their

33:03

homes with wreaths of oak and laurel, tricolor

33:05

ribbons and flowers. Too

33:09

excited for breakfast, Robespierre dresses carefully

33:11

in a sky blue coat, tricolor

33:13

sash and powdered wig. Checking

33:16

his reflection in the mirror, he adds the

33:18

finishing touch of a plumed hat and

33:21

then he is ready. The

33:24

man they call the incorruptible

33:26

strides out into a sunlit morning.

33:32

It is going to be a good day. At

33:34

8 o'clock a cannon is fired to call

33:36

delegates to their marching positions. Robespierre

33:40

makes his way to the Jardin Nationale

33:42

beside the Tuileries Palace where today's

33:45

celebrations will begin. By

33:48

the time he reaches the garden, a crowd is

33:50

gathered. The landscape

33:53

is dominated by a vast

33:55

Papier-Mache statue representing atheism, a

33:57

misthapen figure with donkey's ears. When

34:01

everyone has gathered, Robespierre surveys

34:03

the sunlit scene. Women

34:06

with roses in their hair, men

34:08

in hats decorated with leaves. He

34:12

clears his throat and makes a speech

34:15

in praise of the supreme being, which

34:17

is followed by a performance from the choir. Then

34:21

the moment arrives. He

34:23

must set the statue of atheism

34:25

alight. Looking

34:28

forward to receive the lighted torch, he touches

34:31

the flames to the statue. It

34:33

catches instantly. And

34:36

as the representation of atheism disintegrates into

34:38

ash, another statue is

34:40

revealed within. This

34:43

one, met with an eruption of

34:45

cheering from the crowd, represents

34:47

wisdom. The

34:52

seated female figure, made of

34:55

plaster overlaid with fireproof clay,

34:57

is a little scorched but still

34:59

in one piece. Robespierre

35:04

breathes a sigh of relief that the

35:06

magic triggers worked and, after the smoke

35:08

is cleared, he makes another speech. Then

35:11

it is time for the celebratory parade through the

35:13

city. Accompanied

35:16

by the military band, a procession sets

35:18

off with Robespierre as the president of the

35:20

convention at its head. First

35:24

they pass through the Place de la Révolution, where

35:26

the guillotine has been removed for the day. The

35:29

cobblestones have even been scrubbed of blood, but

35:32

Robespierre can't resist a glance down. There

35:35

are still faint traces of red staining

35:37

the ground beneath his feet. Next

35:41

the route takes them over the Seine, its

35:43

many boots covered in flags. But

35:46

the best is yet to come. On

35:50

reaching the Seine de la Réunion, the

35:52

procession pools around the base of an enormous,

35:55

man-made mountain. One

35:57

hundred and twenty feet long and thirty feet high,

35:59

it is covered in greenery and

36:01

flowers. And right at

36:03

its peak is a liberty tree beside

36:06

Hercules on a tall pillar, a

36:08

representation of the people. Now

36:13

Robespierre leads a delegation up the

36:15

mountain. Officials, soldiers

36:17

and citizens, nursing mothers holding

36:20

babies, members of the convention,

36:22

plus an orchestra and choir,

36:25

another man who has become the nation's leader. Standing

36:29

on the highest platform, he squints against

36:31

the sun to survey the sea of

36:33

faces gazing up at him. He

36:37

notices their expressions, a

36:39

mixture of reverence and in some

36:41

cases, skepticism. Robespierre

36:45

remains impassive. Suddenly

36:47

there are those in the convention accusing him

36:50

of the tyranny of playing good, but

36:52

he won't let them affect this perfect

36:54

day. At

36:57

the top of the artificial peak, he

36:59

begins his carefully crafted oration

37:02

and tries not to think about how, from here,

37:05

the only way is down. What

37:14

Robespierre doesn't know is that the festival

37:16

of the Supreme Being will mark a

37:18

turning point in his own political fortunes.

37:21

It will lead to the twilight of his influence

37:23

and the dawn of a new chapter in the

37:25

French Revolution. Since

37:28

the death of Donton, there has been dissent

37:30

in the national convention and murmurs

37:32

that Robespierre is acting like a dictator.

37:37

His downfall finally comes in late July 1794.

37:41

He delivers a speech in the national convention

37:43

in which he accuses his political opponents of

37:46

conspiracy. But he makes the mistake

37:48

of naming only three deputies in

37:51

a cryptic address that seems to

37:53

incriminate many others. With

37:56

everyone else terrified that their own names will be

37:58

denounced at a later point. the

38:00

tide turns against him. Robespierre,

38:03

his brother, and several of his close

38:06

associates are arrested and kept under watch

38:08

in the city hall. When

38:11

shots ring out early the next morning,

38:14

guards race to the scene. One

38:16

of the prisoners has jumped out of the window, another

38:18

has shot himself. Whether

38:22

it's an accident or suicide attempt,

38:25

Robespierre has a bullet wound to the face.

38:28

His jaw is shattered and

38:30

the famous irritor is silenced. Robespierre

38:35

and his associates are sentenced to death

38:37

for crimes against the people. As

38:40

they are prepared for the guillotine in

38:42

a cell at the concierge prison, one

38:45

of his friends gestures to the declaration of

38:47

the rights of man and of the citizen

38:49

hanging on the wall. At

38:52

least we did that, he says. With

38:59

the death of Robespierre, the terror

39:01

is over. Or

39:04

is it? It's

39:07

hard to say exactly when the

39:09

terror ended, but the general view

39:12

is that these laws that enabled terror begin

39:14

to be wound down after the fall of

39:16

Robespierre in the summer of 1794. It's

39:19

also the time when France has won

39:21

a big military victory over the

39:24

invading armies. And from that

39:26

point on, they don't need that

39:28

violence so much, that internal violence.

39:31

And they are happy to divest

39:33

themselves of it, not least because

39:36

many of the deputies themselves died under

39:38

the guillotine. In

39:41

1795, yet another form of government is

39:43

in place. Established

39:45

in reaction to the excesses of the

39:47

reign of terror, the Directory

39:49

is a five-member executive government which

39:52

aims to provide more stability. But

39:56

it is not flawless. Within

39:58

four years, the French government is again in

40:00

disarray, threatened by corruption and

40:03

factionalism. Recognizing

40:05

an opportunity when he sees one,

40:07

Napoleon Bonaparte, now a general, stages

40:09

a coup that leads to

40:11

the dissolution of the Directory. What

40:14

takes place is yet another new government,

40:17

the Consulate. Robespierre

40:23

had warned of the dangers of this. He

40:25

said, you will have a Julius Caesar, you

40:27

will have an Oliver Cromwell who will set

40:29

himself up. And there

40:31

were a number of generals who wanted

40:34

to set themselves up in political power.

40:37

The one who was successful,

40:39

the one we remember, is

40:41

Napoleon Bonaparte and he was

40:43

both very lucky and very

40:46

astute in how he managed

40:48

his situation. As

40:52

first consul, Napoleon becomes the de

40:54

facto ruler of France. But

40:57

that's not enough for the man nicknamed the

40:59

Little Corporal by his soldiers. In

41:02

May 1804, he crowns himself Emperor under

41:04

the name of Napoleon I. Like

41:08

his hero, Julius Caesar, he offers his

41:10

rule as a stable alternative to the

41:12

murderous turmoil that preceded it. If

41:16

there is a whiff of hypocrisy about

41:18

crowning himself Emperor, you can argue that

41:20

in his case it is meritocracy at

41:22

work rather than the hereditary aristocracy of

41:24

the old regime. After

41:33

a series of military victories, Napoleon signed

41:35

the Treaty of Tilsit in 1807 with Russia

41:39

and Prussia, effectively dividing Europe

41:41

into French and Russian spheres of

41:43

influence. In

41:48

the end, it marks a high point in the Emperor's power. Within a

41:50

few years, various conflicts culminate in a disastrous

41:52

invasion of Russia in 1812 and

41:55

it tumbles from grace. Napoleon

41:57

abdicates and is exiled to the island of

41:59

Elbe. between Cosska and Italy in

42:02

1814. The next

42:05

year he escapes and returns to power

42:07

for what historians will call later the

42:09

Hundredth Days. His

42:12

comeback is short-lived. Defeated

42:15

by the British at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815, he is exiled

42:17

again. He'll

42:20

spend the rest of his life on the remote island of

42:22

St. Helena in the South Atlantic Ocean. By

42:29

the time Napoleon falls, decades

42:31

have passed since the revolution first called

42:33

for the end of the monarchy. The

42:36

major European powers are keen to

42:39

restore stability to post-Napoleonic Europe. It's

42:42

time for a king to return to France.

42:46

Louis the Sixteenth's son, he

42:48

who was manipulated into accusations against his

42:51

mother, is long since dead

42:53

from tuberculosis. So now

42:55

the period called the Bourbon Restoration sees

42:57

the throne go to Louis' brother. But

43:01

that is not the end of the story. Other

43:03

revolutions follow in France in 1830, 1848, 1871, and even

43:09

1968. Some see

43:12

these later revolutions as a continuation of what

43:14

began at the time of the tennis court

43:16

oath and the storming of the Bastille.

43:21

Some people say that the French Revolution

43:23

ended with the fall of Robespierre in

43:26

July 1794 because

43:29

that saw the end of the most radical

43:31

phase of the French Revolution. Other

43:34

people, other historians, say that it

43:36

ended with the military coup

43:38

by which Napoleon came to power,

43:41

November 1799. But

43:43

Napoleon said for some time that

43:45

he was continuing the French Revolution

43:47

but under other means. He said

43:49

the French Revolution had been given

43:51

to the care of an emperor.

43:54

So some people would say the French Revolution went

43:56

on to the final overthrow of Napoleon in Waterloo,

43:58

1815. Some people

44:01

say the French Revolution is still going on

44:03

because there were other revolutions in France afterwards.

44:08

Far from being a contained moment in

44:10

history, the ramifications of the

44:12

French Revolution extend far beyond national

44:15

borders. Its lessons

44:17

are learned by the thinkers of the coming

44:19

centuries and its leaders too. So

44:23

for Karl Marx for example, he thinks that

44:25

all history is the history of class struggle

44:28

and that they should have been much tougher. And

44:30

Lenin of course takes lessons from the French Revolution, but

44:33

he also thinks that they were weak. And the first

44:35

thing they should do if you're having a revolution is

44:37

to take hold of the money, close

44:39

down the banks, kill anybody

44:41

who might be in your way to be

44:44

utterly ruthless. So people learn lessons from the

44:46

French Revolution, but they are different lessons

44:48

depending on what their political

44:50

perspective is. The

44:58

French Revolution tore up the old order of

45:00

things, getting rid of the

45:02

aristocracy, the king, even rethinking

45:04

religion. The way

45:06

in which we understand politics now in

45:09

terms of left and right comes from

45:11

the French Revolution and where the deputies

45:13

sat in the assemblies according to their

45:15

political allegiances. Many

45:18

of the revolution's ideals, though

45:20

radical at the time, have

45:22

slowly been integrated into politics

45:24

worldwide. In

45:27

1948 when the United Nations set

45:29

out a framework of rights for

45:31

all people, it's actually modeled

45:33

quite closely on the Declaration of the Rights of

45:36

Man and Citizen that was framed by the French

45:38

revolutionaries in 1789. Many

45:41

of those principles still stand. The idea

45:43

that people have rights over and above

45:45

the specific laws of the country, rights

45:47

to existence, right to live freely, it's

45:50

very important. The

45:53

French Revolution endures then in our

45:55

daily lives and conversations. But

45:58

Is it possible to make a clear eye to some of the most important things in the world? of

46:00

it's legacy even now. Did

46:04

it truly achieve it's aims? And

46:07

can. It's end is indeed it has one.

46:10

Be. Justified. By. The terrifying means

46:12

that achieved it. Perhaps.

46:16

As Chinese Premier Joe Am Lie is

46:18

reputed to have claimed in Nineteen Seventy

46:20

Two, It. Is still. Too

46:23

early to say. Next.

46:31

Time on short history of will bring you

46:33

a short history of the real Pirates of

46:35

the Caribbean. Why

46:39

the way looked upon pirates as

46:42

these colorful characters did Nature rat

46:44

scallions. Operating on the open ocean

46:46

as opposed to looking at them

46:48

as what they were and what

46:51

they are today which is the

46:53

it's not romantic at all. Perhaps

46:55

people want to abstract the image

46:57

of the know it's getting rid

46:59

of their job, going on the

47:02

open ocean, searching for treasure, getting

47:04

drunk when they want to whine

47:06

women and song and been in

47:08

the ad. It was

47:10

a very alluring image as

47:12

next.