French Revolution Rebellions

“The pattern of the prodigal is: rebellion, ruin, repentance, reconciliation, restoration” -Edwin Louis Cole . Like a revolving door that never stops spinning, Cole’s pattern, revolutions, similar to prodigals, affects the daily life of every person involved. Even though revolutions place lives in danger, France continuously followed this pattern. During the Revolution, the revolving door spins twice in a matter of a decade. Rebellions broke out, a nation continuously destroyed itself, and tyrannical leaders found their way back in to power. Due to an unfair French monarchy, many second class citizens rebelled against their government, leading to the rise of an individual who generated the Reign of Terror, only to bring about the reigns of

With the unfair monarchy, French citizens revolted in a frenzy. The French Revolution started with citizens storming on the Bastille, a fortress that dates back to the fourteenth century. During the Hundred Years’ War, the Bastille stored gunpowder along with ammunition to house and protect garrison soldiers. After the war, the fortress became a small prison for some of the worst criminals. As King Louis XVI raised taxes, implanted troops throughout France, and watched his people suffer from food shortages, citizens became enraged (Llewellyn and Thompson). These enraged citizens accumulated many weapons, however, they needed gunpowder for the muskets to function. On July 14, thousands of citizens marched to the Bastille in demand for the prisoners and all of the gunpowder. The battle started when the citizens chanted for De Launay, the Bastille leader, to surrender and give them the gunpowder and release the prisoners. De Launay denied them their request, which only created more anger in the

They eventually stormed the Tuileries Palace, ending up with the monarchy overthrown. The palace housed King Louis XVI and the Legislative Assembly. As the days went on, citizens became more and more rowdy to the point where Louis could not leave the palace without putting his life in danger. He called hundreds of Swiss guards to provide protection. As the citizens grew more furious, word spread of an attack set for August 10, 1792. The night before, most of the guards fled from the palace leaving the king with little to no protection. On August 10, thousands of citizens with any type of weapon they could get their hands on crowded the palace in wait to attack. When the attack started, one of the worst massacres of any revolution broke out. Within an hour, 650 Swiss guards were slaughtered (Llewellyn and Thompson). Louis escaped to the chamber of the Legislative Assembly, only to find himself captured immediately. This attack could have changed the entire outcome of the revolution. If the guards had not fled the night before, would the citizens had even stood a chance against the trained guards? Or, if Louis would have implanted fair taxes and kept a stable economy, would the citizens even wanted to attack? The small details of Louis’s rule led to a run down country, and a crazed society. He started the turning of the revolving door which allow for the pattern to shape into place. With the him captured, the