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Royal history is at the heart of
the stories we tell about the past.
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We often think it's definitive.
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Kings and queens, dates and facts.
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All unchanging and fixed.
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But it's not like that at all.
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History is a cacophony of voices,
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all of them competing to tell
their own version of the story.
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And, when revolution's in the air...
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...that competition gets
really intense.
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In this series, I'm lifting the lid
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on three of royal history's
most extraordinary periods.
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00:00:39,513 --> 00:00:43,768
We think of the Georgian era
as genteel and ordered,
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00:00:43,793 --> 00:00:47,768
but have fibs distracted us
from a country in turmoil?
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BOOM!
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Was the Russian Revolution
really a victory
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for Lenin and the Bolsheviks?
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And in this programme,
the French Revolution.
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When the people rebelled against
Marie Antoinette and Louis XVI
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and triumphantly created
a new republic.
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Vive la revolution!
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It's a stirring story,
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but it's full of distortions,
exaggerations
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and some whopping great fibs.
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Was Marie Antoinette really
the cause of all the trouble?
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Let them eat cake!
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Who was the driving force
behind this people's revolt?
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It's surprising that the revolution
was started
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by people who were bourgeois.
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And was the revolutionary
Robespierre
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really a bloodthirsty villain?
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He tried to get the death penalty
abofished
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because he said it was barbaric.
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The French Revolution was the moment
the people rose up
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and took down the monarchy.
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It was the start of a new age,
of liberty, equality and fraternity.
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Or at least, so the story goes.
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In the late 18th century,
France was a feudal state.
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And King Louis XVI
held absolute power.
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But new ideas about democracy
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were leading to revolts
across the world.
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And the French Revolution would be
the biggest of them all.
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Its bloody climax began on
21st January, 1793,
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when the king faced the guillotine.
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The king's hands were tied
behind his back.
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His long hair was cut
to expose his neck.
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He was placed face down on a board,
like this,
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and then, the rope was released
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and that blade came whizzing down.
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Afterwards, the guards took his head
out of that basket
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and waved it in the air
so the crowd could see.
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And they shouted out,
"Vive la Republique!"
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There were thousands of witnesses,
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but people can't even agree
on the king's final moments.
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A Republican newspaper reported
that he cried out in fear,
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"l am lost!"
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But his priest recalled
that he went to his death bravely.
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So someone was already telling fibs.
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And the fibs about the French
Revolution have just kept coming.
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Today, there's just
this small plaque
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to mark the end of a French dynasty
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that had lasted for 900 years.
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The French Revolution
has gone down in history
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as the model
for all future revolutions.
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00:04:07,823 --> 00:04:11,077
But there are many competing
versions of events,
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depending on your politics
and your nationality.
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For some, it was the birth of
the modern world.
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For others, the end of civilisation.
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So, what's the real story
of the French Revolution?
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And how did it get started?
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France, in the late 1780s,
was a tinderbox of dissatisfaction.
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Cold winters
and two disastrous harvests
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had left the peasants starving.
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The country was bankrupt,
taxes were high.
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And one member of the royal family
was getting the blame.
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DRAMATIC INSTRUMENTAL
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The queen of France
was Marie Antoinette.
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An Austrian princess, she'd been
married at the age of 14
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to the French crown prince
to forge a political alliance.
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She was notorious for her love
of shoes and dresses
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and extravagant parties.
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Marie Antoinette came in for much
more criticism than the king.
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At the time, Thomas Jefferson was the
American ambassador in Paris, and he wrote,
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"Had there been no queen, there
would have been no Revolution".
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And that judgment has stuck.
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BIRDSONG
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Marie Antoinette
is supposed to have come up with
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one of the most famous phrases
in history.
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She addressed her starving people,
who'd run out of bread, and said,
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"Let them eat cake!"
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"Let them eat cake" is still taught to
almost every schoolchild in the world.
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The line's used to prove the queen's
indifference to her subjects.
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And it's seen as a catalyst
for the whole uprising.
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But it's a great, big,
revolutionary fib.
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For a start,
the phrase in French is,
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"Qu'ils mangent de la brioche".
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Meaning brioche,
a kind of an eggy bun.
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But "Let them eat a kind
of eggy bun"
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isn't quite so catchy
in translation.
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But there's a more fundamental
cake fib than that.
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There's absolutely no evidence Marie
Antoinette ever said those words.
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No documents, no eyewitness reports,
no nothing!
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The phrase had been reported coming
from the mouth of another French queen,
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the wife of Louis XIV,
a century earlier.
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00:07:23,102 --> 00:07:27,238
It wasn't until 50 years
after Marie Antoinette's death
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that the phrase was first written
down and ascribed to her.
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And even then, they said it was
a rumour that wasn't true.
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But politicians and historians
around the world
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were still trying to explain
the cause of the Revolution.
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Their narratives needed
a royal scapegoat.
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And by the 20th century,
the myth had become a fixture.
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This is an American history primer
from 1918.
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And they've put it like this -
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"When at last the court,
overwhelmed with debts,
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"had so far crushed the people
with taxes
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"that they had no bread to eat,
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"Marie Antoinette cried out,
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"If they have no bread,
let them eat cake".
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The words have been put into
her mouth
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to show how thoughtless
and out of touch she was.
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But worse than that,
they've been used to justify
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the bloody events that followed.
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Even before the Revolution, many
of her subjects hated the queen.
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And not just because she was
a woman.
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Being Austrian,
she was seen as the enemy.
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She wasted money on clothes
and outrageous hairstyles.
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She was too frivolous
to be a proper queen.
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But in 1787, Marie Antoinette
fought back
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by cultivating a more responsible
image.
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Mathieu, what's happening
in this picture?
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This is a portrait of
Marie Antoinette with her children.
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And it's very important because
it is a political representation
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of the new queen of France.
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Because at first, she was considered
as a selfish woman.
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00:09:08,643 --> 00:09:12,148
So with this portrait,
she decided to be represented
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as a queen of France. Mm-hm.
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Marie Antoinette was also looking
for other creative ways
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to improve her PR.
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Marie Antoinette loved children.
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And she took some orphans at court,
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she paid for their education.
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And she did that partly through
sincere feeling
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and partly, it must have helped
her image, as a selfish person?
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Mm...l think both.
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Oh. Both. She, er...
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I think she was very sincere
when she paid for these children
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and probably, she had on her mind,
er...
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the image she had all around
the public.
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Her critics nicknamed her
Madame Deficit,
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and said she'd bankrupted France.
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But this was another fib.
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France had built up huge debts
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during the American War
of Independence,
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when they'd supported the rebels
against the British Crown.
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The war had ended
just four years earlier,
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and the French
still couldn't balance the books.
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France supports the independence war
of America,
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and it costed about 1.5 billions.
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And the budget of France
was about 600 millions a year.
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So that is to say,
about two and a half more
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than an annual budget of France.
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Oh, wow! So it...it's
very important.
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And the Americans, after 1783,
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they decided not to reimburse
the France people.
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So we have the revenue of France...
Yes.
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...we have the clothes
of Marie Antoinette... Yes.
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...but then we have the cost of the
war to help America up here somewhere.
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Yes. France did not recover
from this deficit.
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So maybe it's, um...
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It explains the Revolution.
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So it wasn't so much
Marie Antoinette's extravagance
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that bankrupted France,
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it was France's support for
the American War of Independence.
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Thomas Jefferson neglected
to mention that a key cause
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of the French Revolution
was the birth of the United States.
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The French Revolution is also widely
believed to have been sparked
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by a peasants' revolt.
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In this version of the story,
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the starving poor rose up
to overthrow Louis XVI.
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But this image of class war
is also a myth.
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So what really happened?
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In May 1789, the king
called a meeting at Versailles
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to try to resolve
the financial crisis.
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1,200 delegates represented
three groups, or estates.
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The first was the priests
and bishops.
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The second, the titled aristocracy.
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And finally, the third estate
were the commoners.
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But the three estates
were at loggerheads.
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Finally, the commoners split off
to set up their own meeting.
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The one place that was big enough
for them all to get inside
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was the indoor royal tennis court,
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just around the corner from
the palace over there.
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So this is where they came.
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And the king had no idea
what was going on.
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RACQUETS HIT BALL
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APPLAUSE
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15-0 to the commoners.
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This assembly of commoners was the
spark that ignited the Revolution.
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RACQUETS HIT BALL
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On 20th June, 1789, they all agreed
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00:12:58,533 --> 00:13:01,818
that France should have
a fairer form of government
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that represented the people.
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00:13:03,643 --> 00:13:06,868
The king's powers should be limited,
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although the monarchy wouldn't be
abofished.
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Deuce.
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00:13:12,043 --> 00:13:16,018
And this agreement became
known as the Tennis Court Oath.
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00:13:16,043 --> 00:13:17,868
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
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00:13:21,723 --> 00:13:24,097
They took the oath
partly out of idealism
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00:13:24,122 --> 00:13:26,938
and partly because
they wanted fairer taxes.
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00:13:28,043 --> 00:13:30,738
Either way, it was
a revolutionary act.
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00:13:33,093 --> 00:13:37,818
So here we have them, nearly 500
excitable revolutionaries.
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00:13:37,843 --> 00:13:40,097
Bang in the middle, Monsieur Bailly,
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the astronomer who was in charge
of the occasion.
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00:13:43,643 --> 00:13:46,938
Over to the right, we have
a small-town lawyer.
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00:13:46,963 --> 00:13:50,427
But he would turn out to be the most
controversial revolutionary of them all -
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00:13:50,452 --> 00:13:52,868
Maximilien Robespierre.
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00:13:52,893 --> 00:13:55,698
Robespierre would go down in history
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00:13:55,723 --> 00:13:58,938
with the blood of the king and queen
on his hands.
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00:14:00,002 --> 00:14:02,868
And over to the left,
we have a doctor.
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00:14:02,893 --> 00:14:06,618
His name was Dr Joseph Guillotin.
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00:14:08,713 --> 00:14:12,458
What jumps out at me is
just how nattily dressed
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they all are in their smart suits.
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00:14:14,533 --> 00:14:17,458
They're not peasants,
they're not workers,
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00:14:17,483 --> 00:14:20,297
they're definitely members
of the bourgeoisie.
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00:14:20,322 --> 00:14:23,588
Which is a reminder
that this revolution was led
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00:14:23,613 --> 00:14:25,788
by the upper middle classes.
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RACQUETS HIT BALL
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00:14:27,483 --> 00:14:28,938
Advantage bourgeoisie.
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CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
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They swore never to separate
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until the constitution
is established.
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It's a wonderful, idealistic moment
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00:14:40,043 --> 00:14:41,977
that happened here,
in the tennis court.
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00:14:42,002 --> 00:14:43,977
Yes, it is. It's quite exhilarating
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00:14:44,002 --> 00:14:47,047
that the deputies who assembled here
on 20th June,
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00:14:47,072 --> 00:14:49,938
who had all these ideas about, "How
could we make our country better?
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00:14:49,963 --> 00:14:53,227
"How can we reform France? How can
we give France a constitution?"
237
00:14:53,252 --> 00:14:55,868
Which is what the...Tennis Court
Oath was all about.
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00:14:55,893 --> 00:15:00,427
But it's certainly true that the actual
unity was, I would say, skin-deep.
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00:15:00,452 --> 00:15:03,148
Tell me about some of the different
factions that began to form.
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00:15:03,173 --> 00:15:05,588
You have the monarchists,
who tried to create
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00:15:05,613 --> 00:15:07,977
almost like a British-style
constitution,
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00:15:08,002 --> 00:15:10,618
But then you have radicals,
like Robespierre,
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00:15:10,643 --> 00:15:13,148
who want something more democratic.
244
00:15:13,173 --> 00:15:16,588
One of the surprising things about all
these people in the tennis court to me,
245
00:15:16,613 --> 00:15:19,588
is that they're all
pretty bourgeois, aren't they?
246
00:15:19,613 --> 00:15:23,018
Yes. The third estate was a
collection of mostly middle-class people.
247
00:15:23,043 --> 00:15:25,297
Lawyers, government office- holders,
248
00:15:25,322 --> 00:15:28,068
financiers and people with property.
249
00:15:29,643 --> 00:15:33,938
These revolutionaries were much
wealthier than we usually imagine.
250
00:15:33,963 --> 00:15:36,818
Soon, aristocrats would join them,
too.
251
00:15:36,843 --> 00:15:39,177
The Marquis de Lafayette
252
00:15:39,202 --> 00:15:41,977
had fought against the British
in the American Revolution.
253
00:15:43,403 --> 00:15:46,738
Now, with the help of his
American friend, Thomas Jefferson,
254
00:15:46,763 --> 00:15:50,338
he began drafting
a Declaration of the Rights of Man.
255
00:15:52,122 --> 00:15:54,898
The draft that Lafayette presented
to the National Assembly
256
00:15:54,923 --> 00:15:59,868
on 11th July, 1789, was the fruit
of this collaborative work.
257
00:15:59,893 --> 00:16:02,618
So in many ways, Jefferson helped
to shape what became
258
00:16:02,643 --> 00:16:05,738
the founding principles of
the Revolution of 1789.
259
00:16:05,763 --> 00:16:11,297
So, the French had helped the Americans have
their revolution against the British... Yes.
260
00:16:11,322 --> 00:16:15,047
And then it's nice to think
of Jefferson and Lafayette,
261
00:16:15,072 --> 00:16:17,658
with their American experience,
returning the favour
262
00:16:17,683 --> 00:16:21,047
and helping the French have
their own revolution. Absolutely.
263
00:16:24,643 --> 00:16:29,227
The Tennis Court Oath
unleashed a political earthquake.
264
00:16:29,252 --> 00:16:33,427
Just a month later, bread riots
started on the streets of Paris.
265
00:16:37,452 --> 00:16:40,227
This is a well-known
part of the city - Bastille.
266
00:16:40,252 --> 00:16:41,427
SIREN WAILS
267
00:16:41,452 --> 00:16:44,177
Many protests in Paris start here
268
00:16:44,202 --> 00:16:48,068
in memory of the events of
14th July, 1789,
269
00:16:48,093 --> 00:16:51,658
when the people attacked
the Bastille fortress.
270
00:16:53,403 --> 00:16:55,338
The Storming of the Bastille
271
00:16:55,363 --> 00:16:58,898
is usually seen as the Revolution
made real.
272
00:16:58,923 --> 00:17:01,227
DISGRUNTLED SHOUTS
273
00:17:01,252 --> 00:17:04,977
A huge crowd of workers
waving banners
274
00:17:05,002 --> 00:17:08,047
marched upon the city's
most famous prison.
275
00:17:08,072 --> 00:17:10,177
100 of them got killed
in the attack,
276
00:17:10,202 --> 00:17:13,018
becoming martyrs of the Revolution.
277
00:17:13,043 --> 00:17:15,458
In Britain, a magazine reported
278
00:17:15,483 --> 00:17:19,588
that all the poor and unhappy
state prisoners,
279
00:17:19,613 --> 00:17:24,458
many of whom had languished
for years in execrable abode,
280
00:17:24,483 --> 00:17:26,148
were released.
281
00:17:26,173 --> 00:17:28,738
Nobody would ever forget
the 14th ofjuly.
282
00:17:28,763 --> 00:17:31,658
MUSIC: La Marseillaise
283
00:17:31,683 --> 00:17:35,588
Every year, the French commemorate
it as Bastille Day -
284
00:17:35,613 --> 00:17:38,618
the National Day
of Republican France.
285
00:17:40,283 --> 00:17:42,688
The Bastille prison is long gone.
286
00:17:42,713 --> 00:17:45,258
An opera house now stands there.
287
00:17:47,043 --> 00:17:50,708
The Storming of the Bastille is
remembered as THE defining moment,
288
00:17:50,733 --> 00:17:53,338
when all the political prisoners
were set free
289
00:17:53,363 --> 00:17:55,738
and the monarchy swept away.
290
00:17:55,763 --> 00:17:58,818
But how much of this is true?
291
00:17:59,843 --> 00:18:03,177
Munro, we are metres away from
the site of the Bastille, aren't we?
292
00:18:03,202 --> 00:18:05,508
Where was it exactly?
293
00:18:18,202 --> 00:18:21,588
Now, a lot of people got the idea it
was packed full of revolutionaries
294
00:18:21,613 --> 00:18:23,097
who all got freed at this moment.
295
00:18:50,893 --> 00:18:52,378
A libertine.
296
00:18:52,403 --> 00:18:55,738
How did the revolutionaries present
their work in storming the Bastille?
297
00:19:17,683 --> 00:19:21,047
After the fall of the Bastille,
what was next for the monarchy?
298
00:19:32,002 --> 00:19:33,378
YELLING
299
00:19:33,403 --> 00:19:36,977
The idea that the fall of
the Bastille went hand in hand
300
00:19:37,002 --> 00:19:39,538
with the end of the monarchy
is another fib.
301
00:19:40,483 --> 00:19:42,538
In fact, over the next three years,
302
00:19:42,563 --> 00:19:46,018
the king retained
a key constitutional role.
303
00:19:47,683 --> 00:19:52,068
But as Bastille Day later turned
into a Republican celebration,
304
00:19:52,093 --> 00:19:54,938
this initial support of the monarchy
was soon forgotten.
305
00:19:57,643 --> 00:19:59,938
Even so, the French national flag
306
00:19:59,963 --> 00:20:03,538
contains a clue about the king's
role in this early period.
307
00:20:05,283 --> 00:20:08,977
The revolutionaries replaced
the royal fleur-de-lis
308
00:20:09,002 --> 00:20:11,818
with the red, white
and blue Tricolour.
309
00:20:11,843 --> 00:20:15,427
The flag of the people...or was it?
310
00:20:17,683 --> 00:20:20,688
So, what about these colours
of the French flag?
311
00:20:20,713 --> 00:20:23,938
The red and the blue
were the colours of Paris.
312
00:20:23,963 --> 00:20:26,588
And you might be thinking,
well, the white,
313
00:20:26,613 --> 00:20:28,618
that must be the colour of liberty.
314
00:20:28,643 --> 00:20:30,378
Far from it.
315
00:20:30,403 --> 00:20:34,148
White was the ancient colour
of the Bourbon royal family.
316
00:20:34,173 --> 00:20:36,227
So the flag represented a compromise
317
00:20:36,252 --> 00:20:38,588
between the king
and the revolutionaries.
318
00:20:38,613 --> 00:20:41,458
And that's how,
after the fall of the Bastille,
319
00:20:41,483 --> 00:20:46,148
they persuaded him to wear in
his hat the tri-coloured cockade,
320
00:20:46,173 --> 00:20:50,898
as a sign that he was...all right
with the changes so far.
321
00:20:50,923 --> 00:20:53,018
MUSIC: La Marseillaise
322
00:20:57,002 --> 00:21:02,047
The idea that the Revolution
was truly egalitarian is also a fib.
323
00:21:02,072 --> 00:21:03,658
We tend to think
324
00:21:03,683 --> 00:21:06,508
that the revolutionaries
rallied to the cry of liberty,
325
00:21:06,533 --> 00:21:10,297
equality and fraternity
right from the start.
326
00:21:10,322 --> 00:21:13,818
But the revolutionaries
had lots of other stirring slogans.
327
00:21:15,322 --> 00:21:18,938
There was,
"Union, strength, virtue".
328
00:21:18,963 --> 00:21:22,977
There was,
"Strength, equality, justice".
329
00:21:23,002 --> 00:21:27,297
There was even,
"Liberty, security, property".
330
00:21:27,322 --> 00:21:29,818
That doesn't sound
very revolutionary at all.
331
00:21:29,843 --> 00:21:32,427
And finally, there was
Robespierre's version.
332
00:21:32,452 --> 00:21:35,177
"Liberty, equality, fraternity."
333
00:21:35,202 --> 00:21:37,297
It came up in a military context,
334
00:21:37,322 --> 00:21:40,148
and it didn't catch on
more generally for ages.
335
00:21:40,173 --> 00:21:42,938
It wasn't until 1848
336
00:21:42,963 --> 00:21:46,458
that "Liberte, egalite,
fraternite"
337
00:21:46,483 --> 00:21:49,148
became the official motto of France.
338
00:21:49,173 --> 00:21:52,227
And shorthand for revolution
everywhere.
339
00:21:54,002 --> 00:21:57,977
So, how egalitarian
was the 1789 Revolution?
340
00:21:58,002 --> 00:22:01,618
Only wealthier people
over the age of 25
341
00:22:01,643 --> 00:22:05,868
would be allowed to vote for the
deputies in the National Assembly.
342
00:22:05,893 --> 00:22:08,338
Just 15% of the population.
343
00:22:09,533 --> 00:22:12,177
And, of course,
we're talking about men.
344
00:22:12,202 --> 00:22:14,338
That's what fraternity is all about.
345
00:22:14,363 --> 00:22:17,738
Ooh! Here's a lady at last!
I've been looking for her.
346
00:22:17,763 --> 00:22:20,898
What had the French women
been up to all this time?
347
00:22:24,893 --> 00:22:27,378
Three months after
the storming of the Bastille,
348
00:22:27,403 --> 00:22:29,538
in October, 1789,
349
00:22:29,563 --> 00:22:33,708
10,000 market women from Paris
marched on Versailles.
350
00:22:35,643 --> 00:22:39,148
Angered by the cost of bread,
they wanted the king to act.
351
00:22:40,363 --> 00:22:44,868
It was a brave, revolutionary
confrontation right on his doorstep.
352
00:22:47,283 --> 00:22:49,508
But it's been largely overshadowed
353
00:22:49,533 --> 00:22:51,688
by the more famous
storming of the Bastille.
354
00:22:54,252 --> 00:22:56,818
In France at this time,
there was a fantastic feminist
355
00:22:56,843 --> 00:22:59,427
called Olympe de Gouges.
356
00:22:59,452 --> 00:23:02,047
Here she is. And she responded
357
00:23:02,072 --> 00:23:05,508
to the writings of Jefferson
and Lafayette on the rights of man
358
00:23:05,533 --> 00:23:07,177
with a little something of her own,
359
00:23:07,202 --> 00:23:10,337
called a Declaration
of the Rights of Women.
360
00:23:10,362 --> 00:23:13,497
"Oh, women, women," she wrote.
361
00:23:13,522 --> 00:23:16,337
"When will you cease to be blind?
362
00:23:16,362 --> 00:23:20,056
"What advantage have YOU realised
from the Revolution?"
363
00:23:21,242 --> 00:23:25,217
As time went on,
the Revolution's claims to equality
364
00:23:25,242 --> 00:23:27,617
rang increasingly hollow.
365
00:23:27,642 --> 00:23:29,256
FORMAL DANCE MUSIC
366
00:23:35,411 --> 00:23:38,467
Over the next three years,
the National Assembly
367
00:23:38,492 --> 00:23:41,497
engaged in a diplomatic two-step
with the king.
368
00:23:46,882 --> 00:23:49,777
Royal power shifted backwards
and forwards.
369
00:23:51,961 --> 00:23:55,256
The radicals, the jacobins,
wanted rid of the monarchy.
370
00:23:56,772 --> 00:23:58,747
But most of the Assembly
was moderate,
371
00:23:58,772 --> 00:24:00,977
and hoped to continue working
with the king.
372
00:24:03,242 --> 00:24:07,107
The king remained relatively
popular for two more years.
373
00:24:10,642 --> 00:24:13,777
He was the guest of honour
at a party held in 1790
374
00:24:13,802 --> 00:24:15,936
to commemorate
the fall of the Bastille.
375
00:24:19,411 --> 00:24:23,537
This lingering affection for the
king got written out of history.
376
00:24:26,002 --> 00:24:30,467
Meanwhile, the queen was growing
ever more unpopular.
377
00:24:33,031 --> 00:24:37,186
And that's thanks to some very nasty
propaganda.
378
00:24:44,772 --> 00:24:47,467
Charles-Eloi Vial
at the National Library of France
379
00:24:47,492 --> 00:24:50,777
has investigated how dangerous
libels about her
380
00:24:50,802 --> 00:24:52,697
were gathering momentum.
381
00:24:52,722 --> 00:24:55,256
Charles-Eloi,
what are you looking at?
382
00:25:12,312 --> 00:25:15,977
And do you have other, worse images
of her?
383
00:25:43,802 --> 00:25:47,936
Do you think here we have some
negative feelings towards the king,
384
00:25:47,961 --> 00:25:52,136
but we can't criticise the king,
we will turn to his wife?
385
00:26:04,922 --> 00:26:07,857
And do you have another image
of her private life?
386
00:26:14,411 --> 00:26:15,617
He comes in!
387
00:26:16,802 --> 00:26:19,386
So we have the wife,
the lover and the husband.
388
00:26:19,411 --> 00:26:22,857
What was the motivation
for the people producing
389
00:26:22,882 --> 00:26:24,386
and selling these images?
390
00:26:43,772 --> 00:26:46,497
Louis' uneasy dance
with the National Assembly
391
00:26:46,522 --> 00:26:48,497
was grinding to a halt.
392
00:26:49,961 --> 00:26:52,056
The propaganda against his wife
didn't help.
393
00:26:53,312 --> 00:26:56,497
The revolutionaries
were confiscating church lands,
394
00:26:56,522 --> 00:26:58,186
and this enraged the king.
395
00:27:00,522 --> 00:27:03,107
And as they thrashed out
a new constitution,
396
00:27:03,132 --> 00:27:07,056
the Assembly was constantly
eroding the king's power.
397
00:27:11,242 --> 00:27:14,056
The king took drastic action.
398
00:27:14,081 --> 00:27:17,287
Around midnight on June 20th, 1791,
399
00:27:17,312 --> 00:27:20,287
the royal family sneaked out
of their palace.
400
00:27:23,161 --> 00:27:26,857
They were in disguise
as an ordinary bourgeois family.
401
00:27:26,882 --> 00:27:30,287
A prearranged carriage
was waiting for them.
402
00:27:30,312 --> 00:27:32,497
They got in, they travelled
out of Paris.
403
00:27:32,522 --> 00:27:35,337
It looked like they'd escaped
from the revolutionaries!
404
00:27:35,362 --> 00:27:38,537
They must have breathed
the biggest sigh of relief.
405
00:27:42,772 --> 00:27:46,337
The carriage trundled east
from Paris along the back roads.
406
00:27:46,362 --> 00:27:49,857
Some claimed they were deserting
France altogether.
407
00:27:49,882 --> 00:27:51,997
Others that they intended to rule
408
00:27:52,022 --> 00:27:54,797
from the safety of a royal palace
near the border.
409
00:27:55,942 --> 00:27:58,156
Either way, within 24 hours,
410
00:27:58,181 --> 00:28:02,437
they were approaching
the Austrian-occupied Netherlands.
411
00:28:04,872 --> 00:28:07,767
But when they reached
the town of Varennes,
412
00:28:07,792 --> 00:28:10,136
everything went wrong.
413
00:28:10,161 --> 00:28:11,917
Arretez-vous!
414
00:28:14,622 --> 00:28:17,637
Local officials wanted to know
who was travelling.
415
00:28:17,662 --> 00:28:22,487
And the postmaster thought, "Hang
on, I've seen that face before".
416
00:28:22,512 --> 00:28:24,206
He recognised the king
417
00:28:24,231 --> 00:28:27,206
because he'd seen pictures of him
on money.
418
00:28:29,622 --> 00:28:31,847
Sacre nom...
419
00:28:31,872 --> 00:28:34,406
The whole gamble had failed.
420
00:28:34,431 --> 00:28:36,637
The king, Marie Antoinette
and the children
421
00:28:36,662 --> 00:28:39,637
were all taken back to Paris
in disgrace.
422
00:28:41,012 --> 00:28:43,517
Confidence in the king
was shattered,
423
00:28:43,542 --> 00:28:45,276
and he was suspended from power.
424
00:28:46,582 --> 00:28:48,717
But then, that astronomer,
Jean Bailly,
425
00:28:48,742 --> 00:28:51,206
a monarchist supporter
among the revolutionaries,
426
00:28:51,231 --> 00:28:52,956
told a whopping fib.
427
00:28:54,872 --> 00:28:58,406
He claimed that the king
and his family had been kidnapped.
428
00:28:58,431 --> 00:29:00,847
Forced to leave Paris
against their will.
429
00:29:02,262 --> 00:29:04,797
Amazingly, the fib was accepted.
430
00:29:04,822 --> 00:29:07,847
On 15th July, 1791,
431
00:29:07,872 --> 00:29:11,206
the National Assembly
reinstated the king,
432
00:29:11,231 --> 00:29:14,276
who finally approved
the new constitution.
433
00:29:16,462 --> 00:29:19,847
This was seen
as a revolutionary new dawn.
434
00:29:19,872 --> 00:29:23,917
The Assembly wanted people to
embrace a whole new way of living,
435
00:29:23,942 --> 00:29:27,026
based on enlightenment and progress.
436
00:29:27,051 --> 00:29:29,917
They were getting excited about
all the latest developments
437
00:29:29,942 --> 00:29:31,637
in science, in philosophy
438
00:29:31,662 --> 00:29:35,406
and in technology, including flight.
439
00:29:37,981 --> 00:29:39,997
The story of the French Revolution
440
00:29:40,022 --> 00:29:42,767
is usually all about anarchy
and destruction.
441
00:29:42,792 --> 00:29:45,956
The storming of the Bastille
and the cutting off of heads.
442
00:29:47,332 --> 00:29:49,307
But this is only half the story.
443
00:29:52,101 --> 00:29:55,637
The revolutionaries were also keen
to bring rationality,
444
00:29:55,662 --> 00:29:58,357
order and progress to the world.
445
00:29:59,742 --> 00:30:03,237
One scientist was inspired to fly
a hot-air balloon,
446
00:30:03,262 --> 00:30:05,026
only recently invented,
447
00:30:05,051 --> 00:30:08,517
all the way from Paris
to a little town 15 miles away.
448
00:30:12,051 --> 00:30:16,406
He took along piles of copies
of the brand-new constitution.
449
00:30:16,431 --> 00:30:20,877
La Constitution de la France
nouvelle!
450
00:30:20,902 --> 00:30:22,917
Tres importante.
451
00:30:22,942 --> 00:30:26,276
And, of course, being French,
he took some refreshments, too.
452
00:30:26,301 --> 00:30:29,557
Some freshly-baked bread for you,
monsieur.
453
00:30:29,582 --> 00:30:31,437
A picnic of roast chicken.
454
00:30:31,462 --> 00:30:36,127
And, inevitably,
une bouteille du vin.
455
00:30:36,152 --> 00:30:38,487
Bon voyage!
456
00:30:39,622 --> 00:30:41,047
FLAME ROARS
457
00:30:42,622 --> 00:30:44,597
Liftoff!
458
00:30:46,902 --> 00:30:48,797
Vive la revolution!
459
00:30:50,382 --> 00:30:53,517
As he floated off,
this revolutionary aeronaut
460
00:30:53,542 --> 00:30:56,847
scattered the constitution
across the countryside.
461
00:30:56,872 --> 00:30:58,847
Vive la revolution!
462
00:30:58,872 --> 00:31:03,076
He was spreading the word
that a new France had been born.
463
00:31:06,022 --> 00:31:08,717
The popular story of the Revolution
often ignores
464
00:31:08,742 --> 00:31:11,597
this love of new technology,
like the balloon.
465
00:31:14,382 --> 00:31:16,357
But in fact, the revolutionaries
466
00:31:16,382 --> 00:31:19,206
frequently pushed the boundaries
of science.
467
00:31:21,512 --> 00:31:25,437
In the old regime, weights
and measures were an inexact affair.
468
00:31:26,822 --> 00:31:29,997
Measurements were based on
the length of the king's own foot.
469
00:31:31,382 --> 00:31:35,076
And units of distance
differed wildly across France.
470
00:31:36,462 --> 00:31:38,517
But now, all measures would be
standardised,
471
00:31:38,542 --> 00:31:42,717
using the scientific precision
of the new metric system.
472
00:31:44,582 --> 00:31:48,276
The perfect metre would be exactly
one ten-millionth
473
00:31:48,301 --> 00:31:50,717
of the distance from the pole
to the equator.
474
00:31:52,181 --> 00:31:55,667
A kilogram based on the mass
of a specific volume of water.
475
00:31:57,301 --> 00:32:00,156
With everything neatly divisible
by ten.
476
00:32:02,022 --> 00:32:04,076
Few people today remember
477
00:32:04,101 --> 00:32:08,156
that this building block of modern
science was laid during this period.
478
00:32:09,942 --> 00:32:13,767
There seemed no end
to the revolutionary ingenuity.
479
00:32:16,101 --> 00:32:20,637
They even tidied up time
by decimalising it.
480
00:32:20,662 --> 00:32:23,997
The day was now going to be split
into ten hours,
481
00:32:24,022 --> 00:32:26,276
as this revolutionary clock shows.
482
00:32:26,301 --> 00:32:28,946
You can see one to ten
on the clock face there.
483
00:32:28,971 --> 00:32:32,437
And each minute was going to contain
100 seconds.
484
00:32:33,622 --> 00:32:36,717
Ten-hour clocks didn't stand
the test of time,
485
00:32:36,742 --> 00:32:40,026
but one innovation
would never be forgotten.
486
00:32:43,692 --> 00:32:46,517
The guillotine
is presented in history
487
00:32:46,542 --> 00:32:49,667
as a deliberately brutal
killing machine
488
00:32:49,692 --> 00:32:52,917
created for the blood lust
of the radicals.
489
00:32:52,942 --> 00:32:54,717
But that's a fib.
490
00:32:56,822 --> 00:33:00,156
In fact, the revolutionaries
intended to make capital punishment
491
00:33:00,181 --> 00:33:03,237
more egalitarian and humane.
492
00:33:04,542 --> 00:33:07,487
Until then, noblemen were beheaded
with a sword,
493
00:33:07,512 --> 00:33:09,877
while commoners were usually hanged.
494
00:33:11,742 --> 00:33:15,667
Dr Joseph Guillotin proposed
an enlightened alternative.
495
00:33:18,822 --> 00:33:22,026
Joseph Guillotin said
that it was virtually painless.
496
00:33:22,051 --> 00:33:27,076
That all you'd feel was a little
coolness on the back of the neck.
497
00:33:39,742 --> 00:33:41,517
One of its first victims
498
00:33:41,542 --> 00:33:44,127
would turn out to be
the most famous of them all.
499
00:33:45,872 --> 00:33:49,877
By August 1792,
the National Assembly was afraid
500
00:33:49,902 --> 00:33:53,437
the king would become a figurehead
for counter-revolutionaries.
501
00:33:54,582 --> 00:33:57,637
The delegates voted
to get rid of the monarchy.
502
00:33:57,662 --> 00:33:59,307
The king was imprisoned,
503
00:33:59,332 --> 00:34:01,877
but it still wasn't clear
what would happen to him.
504
00:34:03,792 --> 00:34:06,597
Today, we often assume that it was
a foregone conclusion
505
00:34:06,622 --> 00:34:09,076
that the king would be guillotined.
506
00:34:11,101 --> 00:34:14,047
But his execution wasn't inevitable.
507
00:34:15,742 --> 00:34:21,557
By now, the jacobin revolutionaries
had split into two main factions.
508
00:34:21,582 --> 00:34:24,667
The moderates were the Girondins.
There they are.
509
00:34:24,692 --> 00:34:27,357
And they wanted to keep the king
alive.
510
00:34:27,382 --> 00:34:31,687
On the other side, though, we have
the more radical Montagnards,
511
00:34:31,712 --> 00:34:33,437
led by Robespierre.
512
00:34:33,462 --> 00:34:35,156
And they wanted to execute him.
513
00:34:36,512 --> 00:34:39,076
The two sides were
battling over poor old Louis,
514
00:34:39,101 --> 00:34:40,487
trapped in the middle.
515
00:34:40,512 --> 00:34:43,487
Eventually, a compromise
was reached.
516
00:34:43,512 --> 00:34:45,637
The king would be given
a proper trial,
517
00:34:45,662 --> 00:34:47,637
with proper lawyers to defend him.
518
00:34:49,742 --> 00:34:53,917
The charges against the king
included his crime of fleeing Paris
519
00:34:53,942 --> 00:34:58,997
and of treason - for causing
the blood of Frenchmen to flow.
520
00:34:59,022 --> 00:35:03,237
He was found guilty by a huge
majority of the National Assembly.
521
00:35:03,262 --> 00:35:06,597
95% of the 700 delegates
against him.
522
00:35:08,742 --> 00:35:11,026
But the vote over his punishment -
523
00:35:11,051 --> 00:35:13,877
banishment, imprisonment
or the guillotine -
524
00:35:13,902 --> 00:35:15,847
was much closer.
525
00:35:15,872 --> 00:35:19,076
The death penalty,
to be carried out immediately,
526
00:35:19,101 --> 00:35:23,517
was passed by a close margin
of just 6%.
527
00:35:23,542 --> 00:35:28,406
Louis XVI almost survived
the French Revolution.
528
00:35:33,101 --> 00:35:37,076
The king's execution marked
the beginning of the Terror.
529
00:35:39,582 --> 00:35:44,237
The Terror is rarely remembered by
those who celebrate the French Revolution.
530
00:35:44,262 --> 00:35:47,026
But the enemies of the Revolution
point to it
531
00:35:47,051 --> 00:35:49,357
as a powerful counter-argument.
532
00:35:52,692 --> 00:35:55,357
Many early victims of the Terror
were aristocrats...
533
00:35:56,582 --> 00:36:00,156
...and soon included the scapegoat
for the Revolution,
534
00:36:00,181 --> 00:36:01,487
Marie Antoinette.
535
00:36:20,991 --> 00:36:24,657
One accusation was especially
outrageous.
536
00:36:24,682 --> 00:36:28,897
That the queen had sexually
abused her eight-year-old son.
537
00:36:30,602 --> 00:36:34,617
Do you think that this charge
of incest
538
00:36:34,642 --> 00:36:37,537
grew out of the earlier pornography
539
00:36:37,562 --> 00:36:39,577
and the pamphlets against her?
540
00:36:56,892 --> 00:37:00,096
Would you describe this
as a true trial,
541
00:37:00,121 --> 00:37:01,966
or more of a show trial?
542
00:37:34,842 --> 00:37:38,737
This is the exact spot
occupied by the prison cell
543
00:37:38,762 --> 00:37:43,867
in which Marie Antoinette spent
the final 75 clays of her life.
544
00:37:45,991 --> 00:37:49,737
She was 37 when she died,
with two young children.
545
00:37:51,922 --> 00:37:55,426
She wrote a very moving final letter
to her sister-in-law.
546
00:37:55,451 --> 00:37:59,617
She wrote, "l embrace you
with all my heart,
547
00:37:59,642 --> 00:38:02,966
"as well as those poor,
dear children.
548
00:38:02,991 --> 00:38:08,737
"My God, it is heartbreaking
to leave them forever."
549
00:38:13,172 --> 00:38:15,737
History's come up with
wildly different ideas
550
00:38:15,762 --> 00:38:19,216
about the significance
of the queen's execution.
551
00:38:21,071 --> 00:38:23,577
For the revolutionaries,
killing Marie Antoinette
552
00:38:23,602 --> 00:38:27,426
kept the fire of revolution
burning brightly.
553
00:38:27,451 --> 00:38:30,737
But for critics of the Revolution,
554
00:38:30,762 --> 00:38:33,377
it revealed their ultimate cruelty.
555
00:38:37,762 --> 00:38:40,787
Maximilien Robespierre
is usually remembered as
556
00:38:40,812 --> 00:38:44,017
the fanatical monster
who unleashed the Terror.
557
00:38:45,892 --> 00:38:47,867
For most of the revolutionary years,
558
00:38:47,892 --> 00:38:50,176
he lived in this house
in the centre of Paris.
559
00:38:51,642 --> 00:38:53,787
He was fastidious.
560
00:38:53,812 --> 00:38:55,296
A stickler for detail.
561
00:38:56,712 --> 00:38:58,817
The hard-working Robespierre
562
00:38:58,842 --> 00:39:01,897
was totally dedicated
to the Revolution.
563
00:39:01,922 --> 00:39:04,377
He became known as
"The lncorruptible".
564
00:39:04,402 --> 00:39:09,296
He's gone down in history
as a cruel tyrant.
565
00:39:09,321 --> 00:39:10,787
As a despot.
566
00:39:10,812 --> 00:39:12,897
But what's the real version?
567
00:39:18,282 --> 00:39:21,176
This is the main law court in Paris,
568
00:39:21,201 --> 00:39:23,017
where the Terror was launched.
569
00:39:24,682 --> 00:39:27,147
Now, Marisa, a lot of people
think of Robespierre
570
00:39:27,172 --> 00:39:30,617
as a cruel, reptilian
sort of a person.
571
00:39:30,642 --> 00:39:32,737
But you think differently,
don't you?
572
00:39:32,762 --> 00:39:35,377
Yes. This is a complete
misunderstanding of who he was.
573
00:39:35,402 --> 00:39:37,577
What were his redeeming features
574
00:39:37,602 --> 00:39:39,937
that I might be surprised to hear
that he had?
575
00:39:39,962 --> 00:39:43,657
He was a very idealistic man.
576
00:39:43,682 --> 00:39:46,296
He was very humanitarian,
577
00:39:46,321 --> 00:39:49,147
which might surprise you,
but it certainly is the case. Mm.
578
00:39:49,172 --> 00:39:52,937
He was opposed to the death penalty.
579
00:39:52,962 --> 00:39:55,377
Right up until May, 1791,
580
00:39:55,402 --> 00:39:57,426
he tried to get the death penalty
abofished
581
00:39:57,451 --> 00:40:01,737
because he said it was barbaric
and it didn't stop crime.
582
00:40:01,762 --> 00:40:05,817
He was very strongly in favour
of equality of rights.
583
00:40:05,842 --> 00:40:09,897
So they'd had this Declaration of the Rights
Of Man and Citizen, which is all very fine,
584
00:40:09,922 --> 00:40:12,817
but he said, "lf you don't actually
put this into practice,
585
00:40:12,842 --> 00:40:15,817
"if you don't give everybody..."
Well, every man.
586
00:40:15,842 --> 00:40:17,867
"If you don't give every man a vote,
587
00:40:17,892 --> 00:40:20,257
"then that's not really equality,
is it?"
588
00:40:20,282 --> 00:40:21,687
This included the Jews.
589
00:40:21,712 --> 00:40:25,096
The Jews were the biggest religious
minority in France at that time,
590
00:40:25,121 --> 00:40:27,966
and lots of people didn't want
to give the Jews political rights.
591
00:40:27,991 --> 00:40:30,507
Robespierre certainly was one
of those who argued for that.
592
00:40:32,602 --> 00:40:35,377
But by 1793,
many revolutionaries feared
593
00:40:35,402 --> 00:40:38,657
that the young republic
was going to be crushed.
594
00:40:40,532 --> 00:40:45,377
France was riven by civil war and
foreign armies were on the march.
595
00:40:45,402 --> 00:40:50,257
To save the Revolution,
Robespierre became more extreme.
596
00:40:50,282 --> 00:40:52,176
He and the radicals now
felt justified
597
00:40:52,201 --> 00:40:54,817
in eliminating all opposition.
598
00:40:54,842 --> 00:40:58,327
A ruthless legal machine
went into action.
599
00:41:00,962 --> 00:41:04,257
This is the room where
the Revolutionary Tribunal met.
600
00:41:04,282 --> 00:41:07,657
Where so many trials were held
of famous people.
601
00:41:07,682 --> 00:41:09,537
Just here, in this space?
Right here.
602
00:41:09,562 --> 00:41:13,937
So this is where so many came
at the moment of crisis,
603
00:41:13,962 --> 00:41:17,147
before their...
before their execution.
604
00:41:17,172 --> 00:41:18,607
Gives you a shiver.
605
00:41:19,991 --> 00:41:22,377
The Terror was used
to destroy opposition
606
00:41:22,402 --> 00:41:25,737
and frighten citizens
into submission.
607
00:41:25,762 --> 00:41:30,346
In Paris alone, up to 3,000 people
were sentenced to death.
608
00:41:30,371 --> 00:41:32,046
Nobody was safe.
609
00:41:33,482 --> 00:41:36,507
That astronomer from
the tennis court got the chop.
610
00:41:36,532 --> 00:41:40,216
Olympe de Gouges was guillotined
for her feminist beliefs.
611
00:41:40,241 --> 00:41:43,426
There's a persistent story
that Dr Guillotin himself
612
00:41:43,451 --> 00:41:45,537
was the victim of his own invention.
613
00:41:45,562 --> 00:41:48,897
But that's too good to be true.
It's just a story.
614
00:41:48,922 --> 00:41:51,897
It comes from
this satirical cartoon,
615
00:41:51,922 --> 00:41:55,176
which shows Robespierre
guillotining Dr Guillotin
616
00:41:55,201 --> 00:41:58,687
because he was literally
the only man left living in Paris.
617
00:42:01,042 --> 00:42:04,296
There's no doubt that Robespierre
played a key role in the Terror.
618
00:42:05,402 --> 00:42:08,737
But he was part of a system
of revolutionary committees
619
00:42:08,762 --> 00:42:11,937
and tribunals,
with many enthusiastic supporters.
620
00:42:13,962 --> 00:42:18,426
In the end, Robespierre himself
would fall foul of the tribunal.
621
00:42:19,712 --> 00:42:23,817
In the summer of 1794, he was
accused by fellow revolutionaries
622
00:42:23,842 --> 00:42:25,377
of being a dictator.
623
00:42:26,562 --> 00:42:29,687
He and his allies
were sentenced to death,
624
00:42:29,712 --> 00:42:31,327
and quickly guillotined.
625
00:42:33,402 --> 00:42:38,017
Do you think that Robespierre has the
reputation that he deserves from history?
626
00:42:38,042 --> 00:42:42,457
Robespierre was made into
a scapegoat after his execution
627
00:42:42,482 --> 00:42:45,176
for all the things that had
happened in France
628
00:42:45,201 --> 00:42:46,577
during the period of terror.
629
00:42:46,602 --> 00:42:50,457
Once he was dead, yes,
it became very convenient to say
630
00:42:50,482 --> 00:42:53,966
that this had all been Robespierre,
it had all been one man.
631
00:42:53,991 --> 00:42:58,296
They invent this notion of him being
the mastermind behind the Terror.
632
00:42:58,321 --> 00:43:00,737
Like a sort of spider
in the centre of a web
633
00:43:00,762 --> 00:43:03,426
who'd been the one person
who'd thought of all these things.
634
00:43:03,451 --> 00:43:05,096
And this is... this is nonsense.
635
00:43:07,352 --> 00:43:11,216
We often think of the Revolution
as being confined to France itself.
636
00:43:13,121 --> 00:43:15,817
But at the time,
France's neighbouring nations
637
00:43:15,842 --> 00:43:18,147
were terrified
that revolutionary ideas
638
00:43:18,172 --> 00:43:21,096
would spread across the
whole of Europe.
639
00:43:21,121 --> 00:43:24,096
And by 1793, France was caught up
640
00:43:24,121 --> 00:43:26,737
in a violent,
counter-revolutionary war.
641
00:43:28,352 --> 00:43:31,687
The monarchies of Austria and
Prussia were the main antagonists.
642
00:43:33,172 --> 00:43:35,657
Before long, Spain, Portugal,
643
00:43:35,682 --> 00:43:38,147
Holland, Sardinia and Naples
644
00:43:38,172 --> 00:43:40,577
were all piling in
against the Revolution.
645
00:43:41,991 --> 00:43:46,296
Across the Channel, Britain had a
complex attitude to the French Revolution.
646
00:43:47,812 --> 00:43:50,147
In the early clays,
British radicals had seen it
647
00:43:50,172 --> 00:43:53,426
as a beacon of hope
for political progress.
648
00:43:55,882 --> 00:43:59,657
The English philosopher
Jeremy Bentham was terribly excited.
649
00:43:59,682 --> 00:44:01,507
"Now is the time", he argued,
650
00:44:01,532 --> 00:44:05,046
"to give the vote to both men
and women in Britain!"
651
00:44:05,071 --> 00:44:09,176
Meanwhile, William Wordsworth
was getting excited in poetry!
652
00:44:09,201 --> 00:44:13,096
"Bliss it was," he wrote,
"in that dawn to be alive!
653
00:44:13,121 --> 00:44:16,577
"But to be young was very heaven!"
654
00:44:16,602 --> 00:44:20,737
Obviously, the supporters of King
George Ill were much less keen.
655
00:44:20,762 --> 00:44:23,537
And as the news of the Terror
filtered through,
656
00:44:23,562 --> 00:44:28,397
enthusiasm turned to horror
and condemnation.
657
00:44:30,302 --> 00:44:35,877
The execution of Louis XVI
was the final straw for King George.
658
00:44:35,902 --> 00:44:40,627
And in 1793, Britain joined
the European Coalition,
659
00:44:40,652 --> 00:44:43,397
dedicated to restoring
the French monarchy.
660
00:44:45,062 --> 00:44:49,366
A Royal Navy force sailed to the
port of Toulon in southern France.
661
00:44:50,902 --> 00:44:54,087
They were supporting
a group of French royalists
662
00:44:54,112 --> 00:44:57,557
who were fighting
against the revolutionary army.
663
00:44:57,582 --> 00:45:01,527
But the expedition failed,
largely because of the brilliance
664
00:45:01,552 --> 00:45:07,167
of a young Republican artillery
officer, Napoleon Bonaparte.
665
00:45:08,192 --> 00:45:10,557
He was known as the Little Corporal.
666
00:45:10,582 --> 00:45:12,986
And he wasn't actually that little.
667
00:45:13,011 --> 00:45:15,877
He was five foot seven,
a fairly average height.
668
00:45:15,902 --> 00:45:19,557
But we think of him as little
because British propaganda
669
00:45:19,582 --> 00:45:21,807
always made out that he was
super-small.
670
00:45:21,832 --> 00:45:24,236
He did very well at Toulon,
671
00:45:24,261 --> 00:45:27,957
and Europe would be hearing
a lot more about this chap.
672
00:45:29,832 --> 00:45:33,957
The French Revolution is usually
assumed to have brought
673
00:45:33,982 --> 00:45:36,677
autocratic rule in France to an end.
674
00:45:36,702 --> 00:45:38,597
But is that really true?
675
00:45:40,372 --> 00:45:44,707
In 1789, France had
an absolute monarch, that was Louis,
676
00:45:44,732 --> 00:45:47,557
and then, monarchy was ended
with the Revolution.
677
00:45:47,582 --> 00:45:50,957
But just ten years later, by 1799,
678
00:45:50,982 --> 00:45:54,597
France was once again
under the control of just one man.
679
00:45:54,622 --> 00:45:59,446
It was the hero of the Siege
of Toulon - Napoleon Bonaparte.
680
00:46:01,982 --> 00:46:04,477
Napoleon's goal was to conquer
much of the world
681
00:46:04,502 --> 00:46:06,957
and turn it into a vast empire.
682
00:46:09,141 --> 00:46:11,807
He would soon be
the most powerful man in Europe.
683
00:46:13,471 --> 00:46:16,557
This painting shows him
and his wife, Josephine,
684
00:46:16,582 --> 00:46:19,236
being crowned
Emperor and Empress of France.
685
00:46:21,782 --> 00:46:24,917
In what ways was Napoleon Bonaparte
like a king?
686
00:46:24,942 --> 00:46:27,397
For most people at the time,
most observers,
687
00:46:27,422 --> 00:46:31,446
it was pretty clear that a rather
monarchical form of government
688
00:46:31,471 --> 00:46:32,986
had been restored in France.
689
00:46:33,011 --> 00:46:35,066
He's made First Consul for life,
690
00:46:35,091 --> 00:46:38,347
the right to nominate
his own successor.
691
00:46:38,372 --> 00:46:40,757
And you don't get more kingly
than that.
692
00:46:42,942 --> 00:46:47,527
But Napoleon's imperial goals
were eventually thwarted.
693
00:46:47,552 --> 00:46:50,757
And in 1814,
after the allies deposed him,
694
00:46:50,782 --> 00:46:52,837
something astonishing happened.
695
00:46:55,862 --> 00:46:59,677
They put a Bourbon king back
on the French throne.
696
00:46:59,702 --> 00:47:01,986
The monarchy had returned!
697
00:47:03,582 --> 00:47:06,757
When you look at the executions
of Louis XVI
698
00:47:06,782 --> 00:47:08,627
and Marie Antoinette,
699
00:47:08,652 --> 00:47:11,986
things like the fall of the
Bastille, the reign of terror,
700
00:47:12,011 --> 00:47:14,677
it's pretty hard to imagine
that in 1814,
701
00:47:14,702 --> 00:47:16,597
the Bourbons will be restored
702
00:47:16,622 --> 00:47:18,627
and France will be a monarchy again
under them.
703
00:47:19,622 --> 00:47:22,677
It happens largely because
the allies want it to.
704
00:47:22,702 --> 00:47:27,957
Louis XVIII, Louis XVI's
younger brother, returns as king.
705
00:47:29,422 --> 00:47:32,366
This Bourbon dynasty
lasted for 15 years.
706
00:47:33,582 --> 00:47:35,397
But it's often written out of
the story,
707
00:47:35,422 --> 00:47:38,877
because yet more French revolutions
were on the way.
708
00:47:40,341 --> 00:47:43,196
Most people,
particularly British people,
709
00:47:43,221 --> 00:47:46,757
assumed that 1789
had somehow settled it,
710
00:47:46,782 --> 00:47:49,677
but there were revolutions in 1830,
711
00:47:49,702 --> 00:47:52,957
in 1848, in 1871.
712
00:47:52,982 --> 00:47:58,037
Every revolution is followed by
a restoration,
713
00:47:58,062 --> 00:48:00,807
or the potential of a restoration.
714
00:48:00,832 --> 00:48:04,037
It seems like it's two steps forward
and one step back each time.
715
00:48:10,732 --> 00:48:15,347
But the events of 1789 are still
remembered as the real French Revolution.
716
00:48:15,372 --> 00:48:19,597
Its story and imagery
have echoed around the world.
717
00:48:19,622 --> 00:48:24,477
And this is largely thanks to
a young German radical, Karl Marx.
718
00:48:26,502 --> 00:48:30,116
In 1843, Marx moved to Paris.
719
00:48:30,141 --> 00:48:33,917
He would hang out in the cafes
along this very bit of street
720
00:48:33,942 --> 00:48:36,037
with his best friend, Engels.
721
00:48:36,062 --> 00:48:38,277
They believed that consuming alcohol
722
00:48:38,302 --> 00:48:40,957
was a necessary response
to capitalism.
723
00:48:40,982 --> 00:48:44,757
Marx had this scientific theory
of history,
724
00:48:44,782 --> 00:48:48,196
in which he thought
he could see patterns emerging.
725
00:48:48,221 --> 00:48:52,807
And he wrote that, "the revolutionary
movement, which began in 1789,
726
00:48:52,832 --> 00:48:55,347
"gave rise to the communist idea.
727
00:48:55,372 --> 00:48:57,837
"This idea, consistently developed,
728
00:48:57,862 --> 00:49:01,116
"is the idea of a New World Order."
729
00:49:01,141 --> 00:49:04,917
So Marx's theory is rooted in
a radical version
730
00:49:04,942 --> 00:49:08,316
of the story of
the French Revolution.
731
00:49:08,341 --> 00:49:11,707
And the result would be the promise
of a world revolution
732
00:49:11,732 --> 00:49:13,707
and the birth of communism.
733
00:49:14,982 --> 00:49:19,807
Mike, do you see the French Revolution
as the granddaddy of revolutions?
734
00:49:44,652 --> 00:49:46,597
The leaders of
the Russian Revolution
735
00:49:46,622 --> 00:49:49,957
appropriated the symbolism
of the French one.
736
00:49:49,982 --> 00:49:52,116
Workers marching through
the streets.
737
00:49:52,141 --> 00:49:53,986
Riots and street battles.
738
00:49:54,011 --> 00:49:56,837
And the storming of significant
state buildings.
739
00:49:58,192 --> 00:50:00,917
The crowds even sang
the Marseillaise.
740
00:50:02,422 --> 00:50:05,446
Lenin admired the most radical
French revolutionaries.
741
00:50:05,471 --> 00:50:10,167
He had statues of Robespierre
erected in Moscow and St Petersburg.
742
00:50:11,702 --> 00:50:15,397
Lenin and his fellow Bolsheviks
described themselves as
743
00:50:15,422 --> 00:50:18,116
"Glorious Jacobins".
744
00:50:18,141 --> 00:50:21,477
The parts of the French Revolution
that particularly appealed to Lenin
745
00:50:21,502 --> 00:50:25,877
were the revolutionary tribunal
and state-sponsored terror.
746
00:50:27,502 --> 00:50:32,777
In 1918, Lenin said that
"Class struggle is inconceivable
747
00:50:32,802 --> 00:50:36,517
"without severest destruction
and terror".
748
00:50:38,542 --> 00:50:43,196
The French Revolution has been adopted
as a model for action against oppression,
749
00:50:43,221 --> 00:50:46,116
especially in France.
750
00:50:46,141 --> 00:50:49,807
From the Paris riots of May 1968
751
00:50:49,832 --> 00:50:52,986
to the recent Gilet jaunes
demonstrations
752
00:50:53,011 --> 00:50:55,316
against the Macron
government's reforms.
753
00:50:57,221 --> 00:51:00,697
But people aren't always honest
about the Revolution's legacy
754
00:51:00,722 --> 00:51:04,517
of violence, dictatorship
and bloodshed.
755
00:51:06,502 --> 00:51:09,236
Modern France has
a complicated relationship
756
00:51:09,261 --> 00:51:10,986
with the French Revolution.
757
00:51:11,011 --> 00:51:14,446
This extraordinary building -
it's a sculpture -
758
00:51:14,471 --> 00:51:18,556
was opened in 1989 to commemorate
200 years since the Revolution.
759
00:51:18,581 --> 00:51:22,226
And it's called
the Grand Arch of Fraternity,
760
00:51:22,251 --> 00:51:25,226
in reference to revolutionary
ideals.
761
00:51:25,251 --> 00:51:29,586
President Macron likes to refer
to these ideals.
762
00:51:29,611 --> 00:51:35,636
In 2018, he celebrated France's
fraternity with the United States
763
00:51:35,661 --> 00:51:37,876
in their Congress.
764
00:51:37,901 --> 00:51:41,436
Our two nations
are rooted in the same soil,
765
00:51:41,461 --> 00:51:44,075
grounded in the same ideals,
766
00:51:44,100 --> 00:51:46,836
of the American
and French revolutions.
767
00:51:48,021 --> 00:51:52,556
We have worked together
for the universal ideals of liberty,
768
00:51:52,581 --> 00:51:55,275
tolerance and equal rights.
769
00:51:55,300 --> 00:51:56,856
APPLAUSE
770
00:51:56,881 --> 00:51:58,656
But, along with many
of his compatriots,
771
00:51:58,681 --> 00:52:02,916
Macron rarely mentions
the Terror of 1793.
772
00:52:06,331 --> 00:52:10,195
You know, it seems to me that
the French have almost airbrushed
773
00:52:10,220 --> 00:52:13,025
the more horrific aspects
of their revolution
774
00:52:13,050 --> 00:52:15,476
out of their national story.
775
00:52:15,501 --> 00:52:16,916
And who can blame them?
776
00:52:16,941 --> 00:52:20,556
Why would you concentrate on the
bits that make your nation look bad?
777
00:52:20,581 --> 00:52:25,215
An example of this is that there are
surprisingly few statues of Robespierre,
778
00:52:25,240 --> 00:52:27,796
the most influential revolutionary
of them all.
779
00:52:27,821 --> 00:52:30,046
There is one in Paris,
but it's really small
780
00:52:30,071 --> 00:52:33,436
and it's tucked away in
an insignificant little square.
781
00:52:33,461 --> 00:52:37,876
It's almost like Robespierre
has become a state secret.
782
00:52:58,310 --> 00:53:00,776
While the French often
gloss over the Terror,
783
00:53:00,801 --> 00:53:04,596
the British remember a very
different version of the story.
784
00:53:04,621 --> 00:53:07,955
In Britain, a die-hard monarchy,
785
00:53:07,980 --> 00:53:11,415
we've a long tradition
of using the Terror as a warning
786
00:53:11,440 --> 00:53:15,205
against ideologues
who take things too far.
787
00:53:15,230 --> 00:53:19,205
And that perhaps explains
the popularity of Charles Dickens'
788
00:53:19,230 --> 00:53:23,105
revolutionary novel,
A Tale of Two Cities.
789
00:53:23,130 --> 00:53:28,056
It's about what happens when the
brutality of revolution gets out of hand.
790
00:53:28,081 --> 00:53:31,806
As he writes, "Liberty, equality,
791
00:53:31,831 --> 00:53:34,446
"fraternity or death.
792
00:53:34,471 --> 00:53:39,285
"The last much the easiest
to bestow, O Guillotine!"
793
00:53:42,060 --> 00:53:44,056
With Madame Tussaud's waxworks,
794
00:53:44,081 --> 00:53:46,316
the Terror became
a national obsession.
795
00:53:47,701 --> 00:53:50,826
In the early 1880s,
she escaped from France
796
00:53:50,851 --> 00:53:52,726
and set up her museum in London.
797
00:53:54,341 --> 00:53:57,596
She exhibited wax heads of
executed victims of the Terror,
798
00:53:57,621 --> 00:53:59,806
including Marie Antoinette.
799
00:54:01,701 --> 00:54:06,085
Madame Tussaud even claimed to have
the original guillotine blade.
800
00:54:06,110 --> 00:54:09,205
Britain would never forget
the Terror.
801
00:54:13,511 --> 00:54:16,586
Americans have yet another
perspective on the French Revolution,
802
00:54:16,611 --> 00:54:19,506
somewhere in between that of
the French and the British.
803
00:54:21,511 --> 00:54:25,316
They're big fans of Lafayette,
the moderate revolutionary
804
00:54:25,341 --> 00:54:29,006
who'd helped the Americans
win their own independence.
805
00:54:49,471 --> 00:54:51,236
I love this idea that the Americans
806
00:54:51,261 --> 00:54:53,776
had a better revolution than
the French did.
807
00:54:53,801 --> 00:54:55,285
ETHEREAL SINGING
808
00:54:56,671 --> 00:54:58,776
There are still some people
in France
809
00:54:58,801 --> 00:55:02,486
who will never allow the Terror
to be written out of history.
810
00:55:04,591 --> 00:55:07,886
The Cathedral of Saint-Denis
is the resting place
811
00:55:07,911 --> 00:55:10,566
for most of the kings and queens
of France,
812
00:55:10,591 --> 00:55:13,975
including Louis XVI
and Marie Antoinette.
813
00:55:16,871 --> 00:55:20,526
And every year, on the anniversary
of the king's execution,
814
00:55:20,551 --> 00:55:22,886
a small group of royalists,
815
00:55:22,911 --> 00:55:25,415
some wearing Bourbon white,
gather here.
816
00:56:12,911 --> 00:56:14,415
They love the queen!
817
00:56:49,801 --> 00:56:54,415
Marie Antoinette's reputation
is finally being reappraised.
818
00:56:54,440 --> 00:56:56,596
Instead of seeing her as
the hate figure
819
00:56:56,621 --> 00:57:00,085
whose careless words
caused the Revolution,
820
00:57:00,110 --> 00:57:02,596
many now view her
with more sympathy.
821
00:57:04,081 --> 00:57:08,285
This exhibition in Paris is a
celebration of her life and of her image.
822
00:57:10,190 --> 00:57:13,085
Fashion people really love her.
823
00:57:13,110 --> 00:57:17,646
Here's John Galliano referencing
her style for Dior.
824
00:57:17,671 --> 00:57:20,205
It seems that fashion
just can't get enough
825
00:57:20,230 --> 00:57:24,415
of the tragic glamour
of the doomed queen.
826
00:57:27,031 --> 00:57:31,846
The Revolution is a stirring
national myth for Republican France.
827
00:57:31,871 --> 00:57:34,366
It's a powerful story
828
00:57:34,391 --> 00:57:38,776
that continues to be told and retold
all over the world.
829
00:57:38,801 --> 00:57:44,366
Complete with exaggeration,
manipulation and fibs.
830
00:57:44,391 --> 00:57:46,726
From the exciting
fall of the Bastille
831
00:57:46,751 --> 00:57:50,596
to the tragic execution
of Marie Antoinette,
832
00:57:50,621 --> 00:57:54,085
everybody has their favourite parts
of the French Revolution
833
00:57:54,110 --> 00:57:57,526
that they like to pick out to tell
their own version of the story.
834
00:57:57,551 --> 00:58:02,056
And the fib that poor Marie
Antoinette said, "Let them eat cake"
835
00:58:02,081 --> 00:58:06,285
is going to be almost impossible
to erase from history.
836
00:58:09,440 --> 00:58:12,955
Next time, George IV
and Regency Britain.
837
00:58:12,980 --> 00:58:16,366
Was the king as foolish
as his caricatures suggest?
838
00:58:17,440 --> 00:58:20,486
Who really won
the Battle of Waterloo?
839
00:58:20,511 --> 00:58:24,926
And was the United Kingdom
as united as we think?
840
00:58:24,951 --> 00:58:28,646
In some ways, it was the most
astounding piece of propaganda
841
00:58:28,671 --> 00:58:29,926
in the 19th century.
97793
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