The French Revolution Vol 1 Of 3

Unlike some other reproductions of classic texts (1) We have not used OCR(Optical Character Recognition), as this leads to bad quality books with introduced typos. (2) In books where there are images such as portraits, maps, sketches etc We have endeavoured to keep the quality of these images, so they represent accurately the original artefact. Although occasionally there may be certain imperfections with these old texts, we feel they deserve to be made available for future generations to enjoy.

"Citizens, did you want a revolution without a revolution?" - Maximilien Robespierre As one of the seminal social revolutions in human history, the French Revolution holds a unique legacy, especially in the West. The early years of the Revolution were fueled by Enlightenment ideals, seeking the social overthrow of the caste system that gave the royalty and aristocracy decisive advantages over the lower classes. But history remembers the French Revolution in a starkly different way, as the same leaders who sought a more democratic system while out of power devolved into establishing an incredibly repressive tyranny of their own once they acquired it. The height of Republican France's tyranny came during a 10 month period forever known as the Reign of Terror, the most notorious and arguably most memorable part of the French Revolution. One of the first victims of the Reign of Terror was its most famous: former French Queen Marie Antoinette. But Antoinette was followed by thousands more, including everyone from aristocrats to clergy to prostitutes and even instrumental revolutionaries like Danton, Desmoulins, and, most notably, Robespierre. It was Robespierre whose position on the Committee of Public Safety made him the Reign of Terror's instrumental figure until he himself became a victim of it in July 1794. Robespierre's date with the guillotine is often considered the official end of the Reign of Terror, but by then it is estimated that at least 16,000 people were guillotined in that time and possibly 25,000 more were summarily executed across the country. Although Robespierre is almost singlehandedly associated with the Reign of Terror and is typically blamed for it, many factors influenced the actions and beliefs of Paris and the remainder of France during late 1793 and 1794. Robespierre and the Committee of Public Safety believed passionately in the Revolution and fought to eliminate any threat to the young French Republic. Robespierre envisioned a Republic of Virtue, with no room for anyone who did not abide by his rules and morality. Counterrevolutionaries certainly did threaten the Revolution; however, most of those killed during the Reign of Terror were not counterrevolutionaries and posed no serious threat to the Revolution or Republic.

Excerpt from The French Revolution, Vol. 1 of 3: A History; The Bastille For the present, however, the grand question with the Go vernors Of France is: Shall extreme unction, or other ghostly viaticum (to Louis, not to France), be administered? About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

The French Revolution in three volumes is a historical work by French historian Hippolyte Taine. This period of far-reaching social and political upheaval in France began in 1789 with the fall of the Bastille and held the country in turbulence for the next decade. The Revolution overthrew the monarchy, established a republic, catalyzed violent periods of political turmoil, and finally culminated in a dictatorship under Napoleon. Conceived by Taine with the aim of understanding the France of his day, his work achieved originality in its use of a long perspective to analyze the causes of the French Revolution. In particular, Taine denounced the artificiality of the revolution's political constructions (the excessively abstract and rational spirit of Robespierre, for example), which, in his mind, violently contradicted the natural and slow growth of the institutions of a State. For him, the force of history is such that it is illusory to want to change a society. Thus, following the defeat of Sedan and the Commune, Taine accuses the French Revolution of being the matrix of all evils which brought France into a cycle of decadence. It is in particular the abstraction of the philosophy of the Enlightenment which is rejected.

Unlike some other reproductions of classic texts (1) We have not used OCR(Optical Character Recognition), as this leads to bad quality books with introduced typos. (2) In books where there are images such as portraits, maps, sketches etc We have endeavoured to keep the quality of these images, so they represent accurately the original artefact. Although occasionally there may be certain imperfections with these old texts, we feel they deserve to be made available for future generations to enjoy.

Excerpt from The French Revolution, Vol. 1 of 3: A History in Three Parts I. The Bastille; II. The Constitution; III. The Guillotine I Have been very largely indebted to the work and the personal kindness of friends in the compilation of this edition of Carlyle's French Revolution, particularly, however, to Mr. C. T. Atkinson, Fellow of Exeter College, who has contributed three invaluable appendices; to Mr. J. R. Moreton Macdonald, of Largie, who has contributed one appendix and revised all my notes; to Miss Eleanor Lodge, who assisted in the verification of the early references; to Mrs. Ellen Salmon, who not only opened the doors of the British Museum to me, but who has also carefully watched over the production of the whole book with the most motherly tenderness; most of all, however, to Professor Lodge, of Edinburgh University, who has contributed the most laborious of the appendices, and pointed out many errors in the notes; and to my Father, whose faultless taste in style, and whose natural literary instinct have made him my wisest critic. I send forth the book with much tremor as to the judgments likely to be passed upon the accents, the spelling, the punctuation and the omissions. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.