The French Revolution (1957)

[Music] [Applause] whenever I think of the French Revolution I think of Paris for it was in this city that I took part in many of the events of that greater people I often think of October 1795 6 Years After the Revolution began it was here near the Church of San Roos that I watched government troops of our French Republic fire on some royalists I was watching the last great flare up of the French Revolution [Applause] how France had changed and I had seen it happening the ancient monarchy destroyed the Republic set up in its place our freedom won six years of Revolution my thoughts went back to that fateful year when it All Began 1789 I thought of my long journey in the spring of that year when I George Ro lawyer member for the Third Estate was traveling to Versailles I was one of a number of men who were going to the Estates General an assembly summoned by the king there were many of us Frenchmen traveling from all parts of France to solve the great crisis in our government there seemed little evidence of Crisis as I looked out over our French Countryside on this spring day the land seemed peaceful and prosperous yet I knew the peasants were not prosperous most of them good times or bad paid taxes to their landlords usually Nobles ancient feudal rights gave the aristocrats rents and services from The Peasants and control of lands often vast Estates in Chateau like these many Nobles lived very well they were exempt from certain taxes and the best government positions were open only to them then there were the clergy they possessed about one/ tenth of the land from their Holdings and other sources the clergy derived great income I thought of these classes of French society the clergy of the first estate the Nobles of the second estate The Peasants and other commoners of the Third Estate I was a commoner too a member of of the Third Estate and so were most of the people of the towns in one town where we stopped I talked with Miss fa one of my clients another member of the Third Estate fa was a businessman typical of many of our middle class bisi as we call them he was an educated capable man who could have served his country well if he had been born a noble I thought of the government's need for capable men as I read the financial report of the Finance Minister we were counting on the financial wizard Miss neir to save the situation I could see from his Finance report that France was close to bankruptcy more and more it was obvious to me sweeping reforms were needed to save France not far from Paris we stopped at an inn it was here that I and my traveling companion met other elected deputies to the Estates General we were going to an Estates General that would be the first one called in 175 years we talked of little else each of us had his Cay or list of grievances we agreed that privileges especially tax privileges must go we hoped for many reforms to be achieved under a constitutional monarchy the inkeeper boy was interested in our conversation he wanted to know more about our government I said that perhaps with the help of a few Chessmen I could illustrate our present form of government in theory we were ruled by the king he alone made the laws these laws governed all three classes of French society the clergy the nobility and all the rest of us the Third Estate the system worked badly the monarchy needed reform we the commoners of the Third Estate wanted a constitution to improve the condition of the people the boy told us that the deputies in the other private room wanted a constitution too he had heard them talking yes these were deputies too members of the nobility and clergy they also wanted a constitution but of a different kind this nobleman would like the Constitution to guarantee the traditions and privileges of his class this Churchman wanted to see the Estates General give wide powers to his own First Estate and to the second estate of the Nobles to govern France and will they get their way the boy wanted to know in the old days the first and second Estates voting as units always outvoted the Third Estate two to one but this time if we vote as individuals then all of us of the Third Estate have a chance for in number we have as many deputies as the other two Estates combined yes I said perhaps we of the Third Estate May yet achieve the equality for all that we want equality equal opportunity for future generations of France little did I know as I resumed my journey that we would achieve that equality step by step we built the Republic I remembered the first step May 5th 1789 I was impressed when I saw versailes Palace seat of the ancient autocracy of France here all of us deputies were welcomed by Louis 16th our King I remember His Face face of a well-meaning but slow-witted man he found it hard to make decisions I remember other faces mirabo the great orator a noble who joined us of the Third Estate the Marquee de Lafayette another liberal Noble who helped our cause as he had helped the cause of the American Revolution most of all I think I remember the people of Paris they had come to wish us well and were looking to us the deputies to correct old abuses the young looked forward to new opportunity equality the old hoped we could improve on the ancient monarchy so we came to Versailles with high resolve I remember the scene of the Great Hall where all the deputies met and I remember how each estate was dismissed to deliberate separately we of the Third Estate would enjoy no Unity with the other two Estates for about two months we did little then in a momentous step we declared our group the National Assembly we invited the others to join us and some of them did join us we the National Assembly took a great oath that we would never disband until we had written a constitution yes we had defied the king the next Defiance came not from us but from the people of Paris there was discontent in the city jobless and hungry citizens drifting in from the country were piling food Swiss and German troops appeared the rumor spread the King was bringing in Mercenaries to rule by force tyranny the Parisian mob grew there began a frenzied search for food and arms the French guards joined them adding strength weapons were seized from a government warehouse now the mob marched on the basti grim prison symbol of tyranny the assault was led by the French guards it was Revolution there was no turning back the violence spread in the provinces peasants Rose against their landlords the aristocrats a few months later the parisians again took action at Versa clamoring for bread they entered the gates of the Royal Palace they moved on into the Royal Apartments they took the king back with them to Paris yes that was how the violence had begun then we deputies had come to Paris too to continue the work of the assembly the making of new laws I remember that day in 1789 when I saw a copy of the first part of our constitution the Glorious Declaration of the rights of man how pleased and happy we were in our declaration we had expressed the meaning of the revolution men are born and remain free and equal in rights these rights are Liberty property security and resistance to oppression all have the right to be represented in the government these and other rights meant the end of privilege now the Nobles and clergy of the first two Estates could work with us to give France a constitutional government to achieve that government many Nobles of France gave up their Rank and privileges willingly and worked with us they gave up the costume of the aristocracy for the plain dress of the citizen but other noblemen in the two hectic years of 1790 and 91 fled France for safety some went to foreign courts and tried to win aid for their cause in 1791 the king himself self tried to flee Paris before he had gotten very far he was caught and brought back to Paris King Louie was now virtually a prisoner political cartoons showed him in a cage subservient to popular will we had forced him to accept the constitution of 1791 but the turn of events had alarmed other monarchs of Europe Austria and Prussia invaded France in 1792 determined to rescue the king and punish the people of Paris our French troops fought well but for a time it seemed that our enemies might win back at home the people of Paris stormed the Palace of the twiller the king and queen were placed under arrest and the Republic was proclaimed power was shifting to the more radical revolutionaries dant was one of the leaders who voted to execute the king Robespierre was another Louie must die he said that the country may live for Louis the 16th the guillotine was [Music] inevitable and after that events moved swiftly ah yes we were confident then we offered our slogan Liberty equality fraternity we announced that France would help all people achieve Freedom it was this kind of propaganda that spurred European monarchies to action France was fighting not only Austria and Prussia but Great Britain Spain and Holland as well in 1793 France was fighting almost all of Europe and the Republic was fighting for its life at home as well in insurrections broke out there was religious Strife inflation our government took ruthless measures to arrest and Destroy royalists and others who opposed the Republic for anyone who spoke against the government arrest even M fa my old friend and business client went to prison men such as Carno and ropes Pierre leaders of the Committee of Public Safety were attempting to destroy the enemies of the Revolution at home and the foreign enemies fighting France and as the situation improved on the home front and the warfront the people approved for a time they approved even when some of us members of the government itself were arrested it was a systematic organized government of Terror increasing numbers of people guilty and innocent alike were sent to death in the end even such leaders as Danton and Roes Pierre followed their victims to the guillotine suddenly the terror was stopped a conservative reaction set in quietly we went to work to try to consolidate the gains we had made in the revolution but there was still a final chapter one more Uprising in this time our Republic put down royalist insurgents once again cannon in the streets of Paris I hoped I had seen the last attempt to overthrow the Republic Edmund Burke had said the person who commands your army is the master of your whole Republic I did not know much about the young Commander I saw his name was Napoleon bonap heart and so on that October day in 1795 I thought of the future of our young Republic and I thought too of all we had won in those six years of revolution in 1789 we had come together from all parts of France we had determined to establish a constitutional government to replace the absolute monarchy we with the help of some of the Nobles and clergy had Swept Away the Privileges of the Anan regime the old order we had replaced privilege with equality we had uprooted the last traces of feudalism our Declaration of the Rights of Man set forth the ideals of democratic government for all the world to see true our methods were sometimes violent and cruel and we did not accomplish all our goals but we had accomplished lasting results it was up to the generations to come to decide what we had done in the French Revolution [Applause]