1.
French Revolution
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Through the Revolutionary Wars, it unleashed a wave of global conflicts that extended from the Caribbean to the Middle East. Historians widely regard the Revolution as one of the most important events in human history, the causes of the French Revolution are complex and are still debated among historians. Following the Seven Years War and the American Revolutionary War, the French government was deeply in debt, Years of bad harvests leading up to the Revolution also inflamed popular resentment of the privileges enjoyed by the clergy and the aristocracy. Demands for change were formulated in terms of Enlightenment ideals and contributed to the convocation of the Estates-General in May 1789, a central event of the first stage, in August 1789, was the abolition of feudalism and the old rules and privileges left over from the Ancien Régime. The next few years featured political struggles between various liberal assemblies and right-wing supporters of the intent on thwarting major reforms. The Republic was proclaimed in September 1792 after the French victory at Valmy, in a momentous event that led to international condemnation, Louis XVI was executed in January 1793. External threats closely shaped the course of the Revolution, internally, popular agitation radicalised the Revolution significantly, culminating in the rise of Maximilien Robespierre and the Jacobins. Large numbers of civilians were executed by revolutionary tribunals during the Terror, after the Thermidorian Reaction, an executive council known as the Directory assumed control of the French state in 1795. The rule of the Directory was characterised by suspended elections, debt repudiations, financial instability, persecutions against the Catholic clergy, dogged by charges of corruption, the Directory collapsed in a coup led by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1799. The modern era has unfolded in the shadow of the French Revolution, almost all future revolutionary movements looked back to the Revolution as their predecessor. The values and institutions of the Revolution dominate French politics to this day, the French Revolution differed from other revolutions in being not merely national, for it aimed at benefiting all humanity. Globally, the Revolution accelerated the rise of republics and democracies and it became the focal point for the development of all modern political ideologies, leading to the spread of liberalism, radicalism, nationalism, socialism, feminism, and secularism, among many others. The Revolution also witnessed the birth of total war by organising the resources of France, historians have pointed to many events and factors within the Ancien Régime that led to the Revolution. Over the course of the 18th century, there emerged what the philosopher Jürgen Habermas called the idea of the sphere in France. A perfect example would be the Palace of Versailles which was meant to overwhelm the senses of the visitor and convince one of the greatness of the French state and Louis XIV. Starting in the early 18th century saw the appearance of the sphere which was critical in that both sides were active. In France, the emergence of the public sphere outside of the control of the saw the shift from Versailles to Paris as the cultural capital of France. In the 1750s, during the querelle des bouffons over the question of the quality of Italian vs, in 1782, Louis-Sébastien Mercier wrote, The word court no longer inspires awe amongst us as in the time of Louis XIV
2.
Geographic coordinate system
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A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system used in geography that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation, to specify a location on a two-dimensional map requires a map projection. The invention of a coordinate system is generally credited to Eratosthenes of Cyrene. Ptolemy credited him with the adoption of longitude and latitude. Ptolemys 2nd-century Geography used the prime meridian but measured latitude from the equator instead. Mathematical cartography resumed in Europe following Maximus Planudes recovery of Ptolemys text a little before 1300, in 1884, the United States hosted the International Meridian Conference, attended by representatives from twenty-five nations. Twenty-two of them agreed to adopt the longitude of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, the Dominican Republic voted against the motion, while France and Brazil abstained. France adopted Greenwich Mean Time in place of local determinations by the Paris Observatory in 1911, the latitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle between the equatorial plane and the straight line that passes through that point and through the center of the Earth. Lines joining points of the same latitude trace circles on the surface of Earth called parallels, as they are parallel to the equator, the north pole is 90° N, the south pole is 90° S. The 0° parallel of latitude is designated the equator, the plane of all geographic coordinate systems. The equator divides the globe into Northern and Southern Hemispheres, the longitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle east or west of a reference meridian to another meridian that passes through that point. All meridians are halves of great ellipses, which converge at the north and south poles, the prime meridian determines the proper Eastern and Western Hemispheres, although maps often divide these hemispheres further west in order to keep the Old World on a single side. The antipodal meridian of Greenwich is both 180°W and 180°E, the combination of these two components specifies the position of any location on the surface of Earth, without consideration of altitude or depth. The grid formed by lines of latitude and longitude is known as a graticule, the origin/zero point of this system is located in the Gulf of Guinea about 625 km south of Tema, Ghana. To completely specify a location of a feature on, in, or above Earth. Earth is not a sphere, but a shape approximating a biaxial ellipsoid. It is nearly spherical, but has an equatorial bulge making the radius at the equator about 0. 3% larger than the radius measured through the poles, the shorter axis approximately coincides with the axis of rotation
3.
Bastille
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The Bastille was a fortress in Paris, known formally as the Bastille Saint-Antoine. It played an important role in the conflicts of France. The Bastille was built to defend the approach to the city of Paris from the English threat in the Hundred Years War. The innovative design proved influential in both France and England and was widely copied, the fortress was declared a state prison in 1417, this role was expanded first under the English occupiers of the 1420s and 1430s, and then under Louis XI in the 1460s. The defences of the Bastille were fortified in response to the English and Imperial threat during the 1550s, the Bastille played a key role in the rebellion of the Fronde and the battle of the faubourg Saint-Antoine, which was fought beneath its walls in 1652. Louis XIV used the Bastille as a prison for members of French society who had opposed or angered him including, after the revocation of the Edict of Nantes. From 1659 onwards, the Bastille functioned primarily as a state penitentiary, although inmates were kept in relatively good conditions, criticism of the Bastille grew during the 18th century, fueled by autobiographies written by former prisoners. Reforms were implemented and prisoner numbers were considerably reduced, in 1789 the royal governments financial crisis and the formation of the National Assembly gave rise to a swelling of republican sentiments among city-dwellers. On 14 July the Bastille was stormed by a revolutionary crowd, seven remaining prisoners were found and released and the Bastilles governor, Bernard-René de Launay, was killed by the crowd. The Bastille was demolished by order of the Committee of the Hôtel de Ville, souvenirs of the fortress were transported around France and displayed as icons of the overthrow of despotism. Almost nothing is left of the Bastille except some remains of its foundation that were relocated to the side of the Boulevard Henri IV. The Bastille was built in response to a threat to Paris during the Hundred Years War between England and France, in 1357, Marcel expanded the city walls and protected the Porte Saint-Antoine with two high stone towers and a 78-foot-wide ditch. A fortified gateway of this sort was called a bastille, and was one of two created in Paris, the other being built outside the Porte Saint-Denis, Marcel was subsequently removed from his post and executed in 1358. In 1369, Charles V became concerned about the weakness of the side of the city to English attacks. Charles instructed Hugh Aubriot, the new provost, to build a larger fortification on the same site as Marcels bastille. Work began in 1370 with another pair of towers being built behind the first bastille, the fortress was probably not finished by the time Charles died in 1380, and was completed by his son, Charles VI. Built to the height, the roofs of the towers. Each of the six towers had underground cachots, or dungeons, at its base
4.
Kingdom of France
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The Kingdom of France was a medieval and early modern monarchy in Western Europe. It was one of the most powerful states in Europe and a great power since the Late Middle Ages and it was also an early colonial power, with possessions around the world. France originated as West Francia, the half of the Carolingian Empire. A branch of the Carolingian dynasty continued to rule until 987, the territory remained known as Francia and its ruler as rex Francorum well into the High Middle Ages. The first king calling himself Roi de France was Philip II, France continued to be ruled by the Capetians and their cadet lines—the Valois and Bourbon—until the monarchy was overthrown in 1792 during the French Revolution. France in the Middle Ages was a de-centralised, feudal monarchy, in Brittany and Catalonia the authority of the French king was barely felt. Lorraine and Provence were states of the Holy Roman Empire and not yet a part of France, during the Late Middle Ages, the Kings of England laid claim to the French throne, resulting in a series of conflicts known as the Hundred Years War. Subsequently, France sought to extend its influence into Italy, but was defeated by Spain in the ensuing Italian Wars, religiously France became divided between the Catholic majority and a Protestant minority, the Huguenots, which led to a series of civil wars, the Wars of Religion. France laid claim to large stretches of North America, known collectively as New France, Wars with Great Britain led to the loss of much of this territory by 1763. French intervention in the American Revolutionary War helped secure the independence of the new United States of America, the Kingdom of France adopted a written constitution in 1791, but the Kingdom was abolished a year later and replaced with the First French Republic. The monarchy was restored by the great powers in 1814. During the later years of the elderly Charlemagnes rule, the Vikings made advances along the northern and western perimeters of the Kingdom of the Franks, after Charlemagnes death in 814 his heirs were incapable of maintaining political unity and the empire began to crumble. The Treaty of Verdun of 843 divided the Carolingian Empire into three parts, with Charles the Bald ruling over West Francia, the nucleus of what would develop into the kingdom of France. Viking advances were allowed to increase, and their dreaded longboats were sailing up the Loire and Seine rivers and other waterways, wreaking havoc. During the reign of Charles the Simple, Normans under Rollo from Norway, were settled in an area on either side of the River Seine, downstream from Paris, that was to become Normandy. With its offshoots, the houses of Valois and Bourbon, it was to rule France for more than 800 years. Henry II inherited the Duchy of Normandy and the County of Anjou, and married Frances newly divorced ex-queen, Eleanor of Aquitaine, after the French victory at the Battle of Bouvines in 1214, the English monarchs maintained power only in southwestern Duchy of Guyenne. The death of Charles IV of France in 1328 without male heirs ended the main Capetian line, under Salic law the crown could not pass through a woman, so the throne passed to Philip VI, son of Charles of Valois
5.
Capital punishment
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Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is a government sanctioned practice whereby a person is put to death by the state as a punishment for a crime. The sentence that someone be punished in such a manner is referred to as a death sentence, etymologically, the term capital in this context alluded to execution by beheading. Fifty-six countries retain capital punishment,103 countries have abolished it de jure for all crimes, six have abolished it for ordinary crimes. Capital punishment is a matter of controversy in various countries and states. In the European Union, Article 2 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union prohibits the use of capital punishment, also, the Council of Europe, which has 47 member states, prohibits the use of the death penalty by its members. The United Nations General Assembly has adopted, in 2007,2008,2010,2012 and 2014, non-binding resolutions calling for a moratorium on executions. Although most nations have abolished capital punishment, over 60% of the population live in countries where executions take place, such as China, India. Execution of criminals and political opponents has been used by nearly all societies—both to punish crime, in most countries that practise capital punishment it is reserved for murder, terrorism, war crimes, espionage, treason, defection or as part of military justice. In many countries use the death penalty, drug trafficking is also a capital offence. In China, human trafficking and serious cases of corruption are punished by the death penalty, in militaries around the world courts-martial have imposed death sentences for offences such as cowardice, desertion, insubordination, and mutiny. The use of formal execution extends to the beginning of recorded history, most historical records and various primitive tribal practices indicate that the death penalty was a part of their justice system. Communal punishment for wrongdoing generally included compensation by the wrongdoer, corporal punishment, shunning, banishment, usually, compensation and shunning were enough as a form of justice. The response to crime committed by neighbouring tribes or communities included a formal apology, a blood feud or vendetta occurs when arbitration between families or tribes fails or an arbitration system is non-existent. This form of justice was common before the emergence of a system based on state or organized religion. It may result from crime, land disputes or a code of honour, acts of retaliation underscore the ability of the social collective to defend itself and demonstrate to enemies that injury to property, rights, or the person will not go unpunished. However, in practice, it is difficult to distinguish between a war of vendetta and one of conquest. Elaborations of tribal arbitration of feuds included peace settlements often done in a religious context, compensation was based on the principle of substitution which might include material compensation, exchange of brides or grooms, or payment of the blood debt. Settlement rules could allow for animal blood to replace human blood, the person offered for execution did not have to be an original perpetrator of the crime because the system was based on tribes, not individuals
6.
Pierre-Augustin Hulin
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Pierre-Augustin Hulin was a French general under Napoleon Bonaparte who took part in the storming of the Bastille, the trial of the Duke dEnghien, and the foiling of the Malet coup. Pierre Augustin Hulin, the son of a Parisian draper, was born on September 6,1758 and he entered the army in 1771, serving in a Champagne infantry regiment. In 1772 he was transferred to the French Guards, in the ranks of which he rose to sergeant, in 1787 he had already retired from the guards and was a successful operator of the Royal Laundry. During the week that preceded the storming of the Bastille Hulin was several times spotted agitating the mob against the Crown, madame de Staël wrote that Hulin told her, I want to take revenge for your father on these bastards who want to butcher us. On the day of the storming of the Bastille Hulin offered his services to the Hôtel de Ville and he assembled a company of seventy men armed with five cannons. Around 3 oclock he led his men from Les Invalides to the Bastille, two hours later artillery fire and pressure from the Bastille personnel persuaded its governor Marquis de Launay to capitulate. By this time the attacking mob lost around a hundred men, Hulin and his deputy Jacob Elie defended De Launay from the mob and sent him under an armed escort to the Hôtel de Ville. According to Pitra, Hulin and Elie saved De Launay from lynching at least once, the mob finally forced their way past the convoy on the Place de Grève, when it was near its destination. A cook named Denót or Desnot killed De Launay, royalist provost Jacques de Flesselles was killed too, although five were lynched, most of the Bastilles defenders were escorted safely to the Hôtel de Ville. The governors head was severed and carried around the city on a pike, on the next day, July 15,1789, Hulin was appointed company commander of the Volontaires de la Bastille, an armed force paid by the city government which later evolved into the National Guard. This permanent core of the newly created Paris militia was recruited from certified veterans of the Bastille Day such as Hulin, Hulins own performance made him a national hero, a herculean victor, and a staple of patriotic leaflets and magazines issued since 1790. Republican historians of the 19th century amplified popular perception and downplayed the excesses of the mob, as aristocrats left the army in large numbers, new officers were promoted from the enlisted ranks. Hulin, however, did not escape the excesses of the Reign of Terror and was incarcerated for almost a year, when Robespierres radical government fell in 1794, Hulin was released. Hulin, under the command of self-appointed First Consul Napoleon Bonaparte, in August 1803 Hulin was promoted to brigadier general. In 1804 he presided over the commission that tried Louis Antoine, Hulin fought in the Grande Armée in the campaigns of 1805 and 1806, fighting in present-day Germany. He was given command of troops in Berlin after the completion of the Prussian campaign, in 1807 he was promoted to major general and appointed governor of Paris. He held the title until 1814, and during the Hundred Days in 1815. In 1808 he was styled Count of the Empire, and in 1809 was made Grand Officer of the Legion of Honor
7.
Stanislas-Marie Maillard
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Stanislas-Marie Maillard was a captain of the Bastille Volunteers. As a national guardsman, he participated in the attack on the Bastille, Maillard testified in court to the events at Versailles. Maillard participated in the taking of the Bastille on July 14,1789, henceforth bearing the title “Captain of the Volunteers of the Bastille”, he took an active part in most of the landmark revolutionary events. Recruited into the ranks of the “Hébertistes”, he was charged by the Committee of Public Safety with the task of organizing a revolutionary police force. This latter statement referred to rumors that, at the banquet of October 2,1789, put on for the visiting Flanders regiment by the royal bodyguards, the national cockade had been trampled underfoot. The marchers themselves behaved violently on the 5th, insulting the Queen and the priests they met in the National Assembly, and clashing with the guards of the palace. Named captain of the guard in 1790, he signed, on July 17,1791, the petition of the Champs-de-Mars. Charged by the Commune of Paris in September 1792 to put an end to recent wholesale massacres of prisoners and he seems to have aided and abetted the massacres, having loaned them an air of legality with his presence. Others credit him with having a role in the affair. Posterity knows him as “the grand judge of the Abbaye” or “Chief of the Murderers” and this name refers to the legend that, in order to spare her father’s life, she was compelled to drink a glass of blood. Jules Claretie, in the role of second-in-command, gave an account of Maillard in the role of judge, “Maillard was a young man of thirty, large, dark. He wears stockings, and a habit with large pockets. Detained two times under the due to his ties with the Hébertists, he died, in misery. Stanislas Maillard, lhomme du 2 septembre 1792
8.
French language
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French is a Romance language of the Indo-European family. It descended from the Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire, as did all Romance languages, French has evolved from Gallo-Romance, the spoken Latin in Gaul, and more specifically in Northern Gaul. Its closest relatives are the other langues doïl—languages historically spoken in northern France and in southern Belgium, French was also influenced by native Celtic languages of Northern Roman Gaul like Gallia Belgica and by the Frankish language of the post-Roman Frankish invaders. Today, owing to Frances past overseas expansion, there are numerous French-based creole languages, a French-speaking person or nation may be referred to as Francophone in both English and French. French is a language in 29 countries, most of which are members of la francophonie. As of 2015, 40% of the population is in Europe, 35% in sub-Saharan Africa, 15% in North Africa and the Middle East, 8% in the Americas. French is the fourth-most widely spoken mother tongue in the European Union, 1/5 of Europeans who do not have French as a mother tongue speak French as a second language. As a result of French and Belgian colonialism from the 17th and 18th century onward, French was introduced to new territories in the Americas, Africa, most second-language speakers reside in Francophone Africa, in particular Gabon, Algeria, Mauritius, Senegal and Ivory Coast. In 2015, French was estimated to have 77 to 110 million native speakers, approximately 274 million people are able to speak the language. The Organisation internationale de la Francophonie estimates 700 million by 2050, in 2011, Bloomberg Businessweek ranked French the third most useful language for business, after English and Standard Mandarin Chinese. Under the Constitution of France, French has been the language of the Republic since 1992. France mandates the use of French in official government publications, public education except in specific cases, French is one of the four official languages of Switzerland and is spoken in the western part of Switzerland called Romandie, of which Geneva is the largest city. French is the language of about 23% of the Swiss population. French is also a language of Luxembourg, Monaco, and Aosta Valley, while French dialects remain spoken by minorities on the Channel Islands. A plurality of the worlds French-speaking population lives in Africa and this number does not include the people living in non-Francophone African countries who have learned French as a foreign language. Due to the rise of French in Africa, the total French-speaking population worldwide is expected to reach 700 million people in 2050, French is the fastest growing language on the continent. French is mostly a language in Africa, but it has become a first language in some urban areas, such as the region of Abidjan, Ivory Coast and in Libreville. There is not a single African French, but multiple forms that diverged through contact with various indigenous African languages, sub-Saharan Africa is the region where the French language is most likely to expand, because of the expansion of education and rapid population growth
9.
Paris
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Paris is the capital and most populous city of France. It has an area of 105 square kilometres and a population of 2,229,621 in 2013 within its administrative limits, the agglomeration has grown well beyond the citys administrative limits. By the 17th century, Paris was one of Europes major centres of finance, commerce, fashion, science, and the arts, and it retains that position still today. The aire urbaine de Paris, a measure of area, spans most of the Île-de-France region and has a population of 12,405,426. It is therefore the second largest metropolitan area in the European Union after London, the Metropole of Grand Paris was created in 2016, combining the commune and its nearest suburbs into a single area for economic and environmental co-operation. Grand Paris covers 814 square kilometres and has a population of 7 million persons, the Paris Region had a GDP of €624 billion in 2012, accounting for 30.0 percent of the GDP of France and ranking it as one of the wealthiest regions in Europe. The city is also a rail, highway, and air-transport hub served by two international airports, Paris-Charles de Gaulle and Paris-Orly. Opened in 1900, the subway system, the Paris Métro. It is the second busiest metro system in Europe after Moscow Metro, notably, Paris Gare du Nord is the busiest railway station in the world outside of Japan, with 262 millions passengers in 2015. In 2015, Paris received 22.2 million visitors, making it one of the top tourist destinations. The association football club Paris Saint-Germain and the rugby union club Stade Français are based in Paris, the 80, 000-seat Stade de France, built for the 1998 FIFA World Cup, is located just north of Paris in the neighbouring commune of Saint-Denis. Paris hosts the annual French Open Grand Slam tennis tournament on the red clay of Roland Garros, Paris hosted the 1900 and 1924 Summer Olympics and is bidding to host the 2024 Summer Olympics. The name Paris is derived from its inhabitants, the Celtic Parisii tribe. Thus, though written the same, the name is not related to the Paris of Greek mythology. In the 1860s, the boulevards and streets of Paris were illuminated by 56,000 gas lamps, since the late 19th century, Paris has also been known as Panam in French slang. Inhabitants are known in English as Parisians and in French as Parisiens and they are also pejoratively called Parigots. The Parisii, a sub-tribe of the Celtic Senones, inhabited the Paris area from around the middle of the 3rd century BC. One of the areas major north-south trade routes crossed the Seine on the île de la Cité, this place of land and water trade routes gradually became a town
10.
France
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France, officially the French Republic, is a country with territory in western Europe and several overseas regions and territories. The European, or metropolitan, area of France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, Overseas France include French Guiana on the South American continent and several island territories in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans. France spans 643,801 square kilometres and had a population of almost 67 million people as of January 2017. It is a unitary republic with the capital in Paris. Other major urban centres include Marseille, Lyon, Lille, Nice, Toulouse, during the Iron Age, what is now metropolitan France was inhabited by the Gauls, a Celtic people. The area was annexed in 51 BC by Rome, which held Gaul until 486, France emerged as a major European power in the Late Middle Ages, with its victory in the Hundred Years War strengthening state-building and political centralisation. During the Renaissance, French culture flourished and a colonial empire was established. The 16th century was dominated by civil wars between Catholics and Protestants. France became Europes dominant cultural, political, and military power under Louis XIV, in the 19th century Napoleon took power and established the First French Empire, whose subsequent Napoleonic Wars shaped the course of continental Europe. Following the collapse of the Empire, France endured a succession of governments culminating with the establishment of the French Third Republic in 1870. Following liberation in 1944, a Fourth Republic was established and later dissolved in the course of the Algerian War, the Fifth Republic, led by Charles de Gaulle, was formed in 1958 and remains to this day. Algeria and nearly all the colonies became independent in the 1960s with minimal controversy and typically retained close economic. France has long been a centre of art, science. It hosts Europes fourth-largest number of cultural UNESCO World Heritage Sites and receives around 83 million foreign tourists annually, France is a developed country with the worlds sixth-largest economy by nominal GDP and ninth-largest by purchasing power parity. In terms of household wealth, it ranks fourth in the world. France performs well in international rankings of education, health care, life expectancy, France remains a great power in the world, being one of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council with the power to veto and an official nuclear-weapon state. It is a member state of the European Union and the Eurozone. It is also a member of the Group of 7, North Atlantic Treaty Organization, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the World Trade Organization, originally applied to the whole Frankish Empire, the name France comes from the Latin Francia, or country of the Franks
11.
Fortification
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Fortifications are military constructions or buildings designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and also used to solidify rule in a region during peace time. Humans have constructed defensive works for many thousands of years, in a variety of increasingly complex designs, the term is derived from the Latin fortis and facere. From very early history to modern times, walls have been a necessity for cities to survive in a changing world of invasion. Some settlements in the Indus Valley Civilization were the first small cities to be fortified, in ancient Greece, large stone walls had been built in Mycenaean Greece, such as the ancient site of Mycenae. A Greek Phrourion was a collection of buildings used as a military garrison. These construction mainly served the purpose of a tower, to guard certain roads, passes. Though smaller than a fortress, they acted as a border guard rather than a real strongpoint to watch. The art of setting out a camp or constructing a fortification traditionally has been called castramentation since the time of the Roman legions. Fortification is usually divided into two branches, permanent fortification and field fortification, there is also an intermediate branch known as semi-permanent fortification. Castles are fortifications which are regarded as being distinct from the fort or fortress in that they are a residence of a monarch or noble. Roman forts and hill forts were the antecedents of castles in Europe. The Early Middle Ages saw the creation of towns built around castles. Medieval-style fortifications were made obsolete by the arrival of cannons in the 14th century. Fortifications in the age of black powder evolved into much lower structures with greater use of ditches and earth ramparts that would absorb, Walls exposed to direct cannon fire were very vulnerable, so were sunk into ditches fronted by earth slopes. The arrival of explosive shells in the 19th century led to yet another stage in the evolution of fortification, steel-and-concrete fortifications were common during the 19th and early 20th centuries. However the advances in warfare since World War I have made large-scale fortifications obsolete in most situations. Demilitarized zones along borders are arguably another type of fortification, although a passive kind, many military installations are known as forts, although they are not always fortified. Larger forts may be called fortresses, smaller ones were known as fortalices
12.
Arsenal
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An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury or armory are mostly regarded as synonyms, although differences in usage exist. A sub-armory is a place of storage or carrying of weapons and ammunition. From Italian, arsenale, and French, arsenal, from Arabic, دار تعبئة, dār a-tabiya, in a second-class arsenal, the factories would be replaced by workshops. The situation of an arsenal should be governed by strategic considerations. If of the first class, it should be situated at the base of operations and supply, secure from attack, not too near a frontier, the importance of a large arsenal is such that its defences would be on the scale of those of a large fortress. The usual subdivision of branches in a great arsenal is into storekeeping, under construction, Gun factory, carriage factory, laboratory, small-arms factory, harness and tent factory, powder factory, etc. In a second-class arsenal there would be instead of these factories. Frederick Taylor introduced command and control techniques to arsenals, including the U. S. s Watertown Arsenal, armorer Dresden Armory Halifax Armoury Harpers Ferry Armory Kremlin Armoury Royal Arsenal Royal Armouries Springfield Armory Zeughaus Magazine
13.
Political prison
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A political prisoner is someone imprisoned because they have opposed or criticized the government responsible for their imprisonment. The term is used by persons or groups challenging the legitimacy of the detention of a prisoner, supporters of the term define a political prisoner as someone who is imprisoned for his or her participation in political activity. If a political offense was not the reason for the prisoners detention. Some understand the political prisoner narrowly, equating it with the term prisoner of conscience. Amnesty International campaigns for the release of prisoners of conscience, which include political prisoners as well as those imprisoned for their religious or philosophical beliefs. To reduce controversy, and as a matter of principle, the organizations policy applies only to prisoners who have not committed or advocated violence, thus, there are political prisoners who do not fit the narrower criteria for POCs. The organisation defines the differences as follows, AI uses the political prisoner broadly. It does not use it, as others do, to imply that all such prisoners have a special status or should be released. It uses the only to define a category of prisoners for whom AI demands a fair. Governments often say they have no political prisoners, only prisoners held under the criminal law. AI however describes cases like the examples given above as political, for instance, French anarchist groups typically call the former members of Action Directe held in France political prisoners. While the French government deemed Action Directe illegal, the group fashioned itself as a guerilla movement. In this sense, political prisoner can be used to describe any politically active prisoner who is held in custody for a violent action which supporters deem ethically justified, some libertarians also include all convicted for treason and some convicted of espionage in the category of political prisoners. Currently, there is much controversy and debate around how to define this term. Political prisoners can also be imprisoned with no legal veneer by extrajudicial processes, some political prisoners need not be imprisoned at all. Supporters of Gedhun Choekyi Nyima in the 11th Panchen Lama controversy have called him a political prisoner and he is held under secluded house arrest. This is common in situations which may otherwise be decried nationally and internationally as a human rights violation or suppression of a political dissident, particularly in this latter situation, whether an individual is regarded as a political prisoner may depend upon subjective political perspective or interpretation of the evidence. In the Soviet Union, dubious psychiatric diagnoses were sometimes used to political prisoners in the so-called psikhushkas
14.
Bastille Day
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Bastille Day is the common name given in English-speaking countries/lands to the French National Day, which is celebrated on 14 July each year. In France, it is called la Fête nationale and commonly and legally le 14 juillet. On 19 May 1789, Louis XVI invited Estates-General to air their grievances, the deputies of the Third Estate, representing the common people—the two others were the Catholic clergy and the nobility —decided to break away and form a National Assembly. The Third Estate took the Tennis Court Oath, swearing not to separate until a constitution had been established and they were gradually joined by delegates of the other estates, Louis XVI started to recognize the validity of their concerns on 27 June. The assembly renamed itself the National Constituent Assembly on 9 July, jacques Necker, the finance minister, who was sympathetic to the Third Estate, was dismissed on 11 July. As it happened, at the time of the attack in July 1789 there were only seven inmates, the crowd was eventually reinforced by mutinous Gardes Françaises, whose usual role was to protect public buildings. They proved a match for the forts defenders, and Governor de Launay. However, possibly because of a misunderstanding, fighting resumed, shortly after the storming of the Bastille, late in the evening of 4 August, after a very stormy session of the Assemblée Constituante, feudalism was abolished. On 26 August, the Declaration of the Rights of Man, the Fête de la Fédération on 14 July 1790 was a celebration of the unity of the French nation during the French Revolution. The aim of this celebration, one year after the Storming of the Bastille, was to symbolize peace, the event took place on the Champ de Mars, which was at the time far outside Paris. The place had been transformed on a basis by the population of Paris. A mass was celebrated by Talleyrand, bishop of Autun, the popular General Lafayette, as captain of the National Guard of Paris and a confidant of the king, took his oath to the constitution, followed by King Louis XVI. On 30 June 1878, a feast was arranged in Paris to honour the French Republic. On 14 July 1879, there was another feast, with a semi-official aspect, the days events included a reception in the Chamber of Deputies, organised and presided over by Léon Gambetta, a military review at Longchamp, and a Republican Feast in the Pré Catelan. All through France, Le Figaro wrote, people feasted much to honour the storming of the Bastille, on 21 May 1880, Benjamin Raspail proposed a law to have the Republic choose the 14 July as a yearly national holiday. The Assembly voted in favour of the proposal on 21 May and 8 June, the Senate approved it on 27 and 29 June, favouring 14 July against 4 August. The law was made official on 6 July 1880, and the Ministry of the Interior recommended to Prefects that the day should be celebrated with all the brilliance that the local resources allow, indeed, the celebrations of the new holiday in 1880 were particularly magnificent. This day cannot be blamed for having shed a drop of blood and it was the consecration of the unity of France
15.
Louis XVI of France
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Louis XVI, born Louis-Auguste, was the last King of France and Navarre before the French Revolution, during which he was also known as Louis Capet. In 1765, at the death of his father, Louis, Dauphin of France, son and heir apparent of Louis XV of France, Louis XVI was guillotined on 21 January 1793. The first part of his reign was marked by attempts to reform France in accordance with Enlightenment ideas and these included efforts to abolish serfdom, remove the taille, and increase tolerance toward non-Catholics. The French nobility reacted to the reforms with hostility. Louis implemented deregulation of the market, advocated by his liberal minister Turgot. In periods of bad harvests, it would lead to food scarcity which would prompt the masses to revolt, from 1776, Louis XVI actively supported the North American colonists, who were seeking their independence from Great Britain, which was realized in the 1783 Treaty of Paris. The ensuing debt and financial crisis contributed to the unpopularity of the Ancien Régime and this led to the convening of the Estates-General of 1789. In 1789, the storming of the Bastille during riots in Paris marked the beginning of the French Revolution. Louiss indecisiveness and conservatism led some elements of the people of France to view him as a symbol of the tyranny of the Ancien Régime. The credibility of the king was deeply undermined, and the abolition of the monarchy, Louis XVI was the only King of France ever to be executed, and his death brought an end to more than a thousand years of continuous French monarchy. Louis-Auguste de France, who was given the title Duc de Berry at birth, was born in the Palace of Versailles. Out of seven children, he was the son of Louis, the Dauphin of France. His mother was Marie-Josèphe of Saxony, the daughter of Frederick Augustus II of Saxony, Prince-Elector of Saxony and King of Poland. A strong and healthy boy, but very shy, Louis-Auguste excelled in his studies and had a taste for Latin, history, geography, and astronomy. He enjoyed physical activities such as hunting with his grandfather, and rough-playing with his brothers, Louis-Stanislas, comte de Provence. From an early age, Louis-Auguste had been encouraged in another of his hobbies, locksmithing, upon the death of his father, who died of tuberculosis on 20 December 1765, the eleven-year-old Louis-Auguste became the new Dauphin. His mother never recovered from the loss of her husband, and died on 13 March 1767, throughout his education, Louis-Auguste received a mixture of studies particular to religion, morality, and humanities. His instructors may have also had a hand in shaping Louis-Auguste into the indecisive king that he became
16.
Inflation
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In economics, inflation is a sustained increase in the general price level of goods and services in an economy over a period of time resulting in a loss of value of currency. When the price rises, each unit of currency buys fewer goods. Consequently, inflation reflects a reduction in the power per unit of money – a loss of real value in the medium of exchange. A chief measure of inflation is the inflation rate, the annualized percentage change in a general price index, usually the consumer price index. The opposite of inflation is deflation, Inflation affects economies in various positive and negative ways. Economists generally believe that high rates of inflation and hyperinflation are caused by a growth of the money supply. However, money supply growth does not necessarily cause inflation, some economists maintain that under the conditions of a liquidity trap, large monetary injections are like pushing on a string. Views on which factors determine low to moderate rates of inflation are more varied, low or moderate inflation may be attributed to fluctuations in real demand for goods and services, or changes in available supplies such as during scarcities. However, the view is that a long sustained period of inflation is caused by money supply growing faster than the rate of economic growth. Today, most economists favor a low and steady rate of inflation, the task of keeping the rate of inflation low and stable is usually given to monetary authorities. Rapid increases in quantity of the money or in the money supply have occurred in many different societies throughout history. By diluting the gold with other metals, the government could issue more coins without also needing to increase the amount of used to make them. When the cost of each coin is lowered in this way and this practice would increase the money supply but at the same time the relative value of each coin would be lowered. As the relative value of the coins becomes lower, consumers would need to give more coins in exchange for the same goods and these goods and services would experience a price increase as the value of each coin is reduced. Song Dynasty China introduced the practice of printing paper money in order to create fiat currency, during the Mongol Yuan Dynasty, the government spent a great deal of money fighting costly wars, and reacted by printing more money, leading to inflation. Fearing the inflation that plagued the Yuan dynasty, the Ming Dynasty initially rejected the use of paper money, historically, large infusions of gold or silver into an economy also led to inflation. This was largely caused by the influx of gold and silver from the New World into Habsburg Spain. The silver spread throughout a previously cash-starved Europe and caused widespread inflation, demographic factors also contributed to upward pressure on prices, with European population growth after depopulation caused by the Black Death pandemic
17.
France in the American Revolutionary War
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France played a key role in the American Revolutionary War. Motivated by a rivalry with Britain and to avenge their territorial losses during the French and Indian War. By 1763, the French debt acquired to fight in the French and it set off Frances own fiscal crisis, in which a political brawl over taxation soon became one of the reasons for the French Revolution. The French objective in assisting the Americans was to weaken Britain, in 1777, America captured the British invasion army at Saratoga. In 1778, France recognized the United States of America as a nation, signed a military alliance. Benjamin Franklin served as the American ambassador to France from 1776 to 1785 and he met many leading diplomats, aristocrats, intellectuals, scientists. Franklins image and writings caught the French imagination, there were many images of Franklin being sold on the market, and he became the cultural icon of the archetypal new American. Franklin even became a hero for a call for new order inside France, having lost Canada in the Conquest of 1760, France wanted revenge. Meanwhile, the American colonists and the British government began a dispute over whether Parliament in London, the ideological conflict escalated into open warfare in 1775, at which point the American patriots took control of each of the 13 colonies away from Royal officials. Britain refused to accept the independence, France, which had been rebuilding their Navy and other forces, now saw an opportunity to seriously weaken her perennial enemy. France bitterly resented her loss in the Seven Years War and sought revenge, the opportunity came following the Declaration of Independence, the American Revolution was well received in France, by both the general population and the aristocracy. The Revolution was perceived as the incarnation of the Enlightenment Spirit against the English tyranny, Benjamin Franklin, dispatched to France in December 1776 to rally its support, was welcomed with great enthusiasm. The French had become interested in the American Revolution from the outset and they saw the revolution as an opportunity to strip Britain of their North American possessions in retaliation for Frances loss of Canada a decade earlier. At first, French support was covert, French agents sent the Patriots military aid through a company called Rodrigue Hortalez et Compagnie, estimates place the percentage of French supplied arms to the Americans in the Saratoga campaign up to 90%. By 1777, over five million livres of aid had been sent to the American rebels, motivated by the prospect of glory in battle or animated by the sincere ideals of liberty and republicanism, volunteers joined the American army such as Pierre Charles LEnfant. The most famous was Lafayette, a young aristocrat who defied the kings order. He became an aide to Washington and a combat general, more importantly, he solidified a favorable American view of France. Kramer argues that Lafayette provided a legitimacy for the war and confidence that there was serious European support for independence, Lafayettes personal style was highly attractive
18.
Regressive tax
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A regressive tax is a tax imposed in such a manner that the tax rate decreases as the amount subject to taxation increases. Regressive describes an effect on income or expenditure, referring to the way the rate progresses from high to low. These taxes tend to reduce the tax burden of the people with an ability to pay. The regressivity of a tax can also factor the propensity of the taxpayers to engage in the taxed activity relative to their resources. In other words, if the activity being taxed is more likely to be carried out by the poor and less likely to be carried out by the rich, the tax may be considered regressive. To measure the effect, the elasticity of the good being taxed as well as the income substitution effect must be considered. The measure can be applied to taxes or to a tax system as a whole. The opposite of a tax is a progressive tax, in which the average tax rate increases as the amount subject to taxation increases. In between is a flat or proportional tax, where the tax rate is fixed as the amount subject to taxation increases, poll taxes A tax with a cap, above which no taxes are paid. So-called sin taxes have also criticized for being regressive, as they are often consumed more by the lower classes. For example, people in the bottom income quintile spend a 78% larger share of their income on alcohol taxes than people in the top quintile. Tobacco in particular is highly regressive, with the bottom quintile of income paying an effective rate 583% higher than that of the top quintile. An allowance reduction in a tax system allows for an individuals personal allowance to be withdrawn. In the UK there is an effective 60% band at £100,000 that returns to 40% at £120,000, non-uniform excise taxation based on everyday essentials like food, transport, energy and housing is frequently regressive on income. The income elasticity of demand of food, for example, is less than 1 and therefore as a households income rises. Therefore, as a proportion of expenditure, the relative tax burden falls more heavily on households with lower incomes. Low rates of tax and capital gains tax, which increase the value of inherited wealth. Such tax policies benefit wealthy individuals or those in wealthy families disproportionately, in that sense, Social Security benefits are progressive
19.
Estates General of 1789
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The estates general, a general assembly representing the French estates of the realm, the clergy, the nobility, and the commoners. It was brought to an end when the Third Estate formed into a National Assembly and this signals the outbreak of the French Revolution. The suggestion to summon the Estates General came from the Assembly of Notables installed by the King on 22 February 1787 and it had not met since 1614. The usual business of registering the Kings edicts as law was performed by the Parlement of Paris, in this year it was refusing to cooperate with Charles Alexandre de Calonnes programme of badly needed financial reform, due to the special interests of its noble members. Calonne was the Controller-General of Finances, appointed by the King to address the state deficit, as a last measure, Calonne was hoping to bypass them by reviving an archaic institution. The initial roster of Notables included 137 nobles, among them many revolutionaries, such as the Comte de Mirabeau. Lafayette had served in George Washingtons army, much of the debt had been incurred on behalf of the Americans. The final defeat of Lord Cornwallis at the Battle of Yorktown was due in part to the participation of the French army. If Calonne thought he would find more cooperation by changing the assembly and he proposed a land tax, Subvention Territoriale, to be imposed on all land-holders, rich or poor. Calonne was dismissed on 8 April 1787, and then was exiled and he commented on the French political scene from London. Calonnes replacement was Étienne Charles de Loménie de Brienne, President of the Assembly of Notables and he was offered the post of Prime Minister, which was to include being Controller. They made a number of proposals but they would not grant the King money, Lafayette suggested that the problem required a national assembly. Brienne asked him if he meant the Estates General, on receiving an affirmative answer, Brienne recorded it as a proposal. Frustrated by his inability to obtain money, the King staged a day-long harangue and their proposals reverted to the Parlement. Turning again to the Parliament, the King found that they were inclined to continue the issues that had raised in the Assembly of Notables. Unless registered, the edicts were not lawful, on 6 July 1787, Loménie forwarded the Subvention Territoriale and another tax, the Edit du Timbre, or Stamp Act, based on the American model, for registration. Parlement refused, an act, demanding accounting statements, or States. It was the Kings turn to refuse, the members of the Parlement began to jest that they required either the accounting States or the Estates General
20.
Estates of the realm
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The estates of the realm were the broad orders of social hierarchy used in Christendom from the medieval period to early modern Europe. Different systems for dividing society members into estates developed and evolved over time, the best known system is the French Ancien Régime, a three-estate system used until the French Revolution. Monarchy was for the king and the queen and this system was made up of clergy, nobles, furthermore, the non-landowning poor could be left outside the estates, leaving them without political rights. In England, a system evolved that combined nobility and bishops into one lordly estate with commons as the second estate. This system produced the two houses of parliament, the House of Commons and the House of Lords, in southern Germany, a three-estate system of nobility, ritters, and burghers was used. Today the term Fourth Estate usually refers to forces outside the power structure. Historically, in Northern and Eastern Europe, the Fourth Estate meant rural commoners, during the Middle Ages individuals were born into their class and change in social position was difficult. The medieval Church was the institution where social mobility was most likely up to a certain level, typically, however, only nobility were appointed to the highest church positions, although low nobility could aspire to the highest church positions. Another possible way to rise in position was due to exceptional military or commercial success. Such families were rare and their rise to nobility required royal patronage at some point, medieval political speculation is imbued to the marrow with the idea of a structure of society based upon distinct orders, Johan Huizinga observes. There are, first of all, the estates of the realm, but there are also the trades, the state of matrimony and that of virginity, at court there are the four estates of the body and mouth, bread-masters, cup-bearers, carvers, and cooks. In the Church there are orders and monastic orders. Finally there are the different orders of chivalry and this static view of society was predicated on inherited positions. Commoners were universally considered the lowest order, a persons estate and position within it were usually inherited from the father and his occupation, similar to a caste within that system. In many regions and realms there also existed population groups born outside these specifically defined resident estates, legislative bodies or advisory bodies to a monarch were traditionally grouped along lines of these estates, with the monarch above all three estates. Meetings of the estates of the realm became early legislative and judicial parliaments, monarchs often sought to legitimize their power by requiring oaths of fealty from the estates. Today, in most countries, the estates have lost all their legal privileges, one of the earliest political pamphlets to address these ideas was called What Is the Third Estate. It was written by Abbé Emmanuel Joseph Sieyès in January 1789, the struggle over investiture and the reform movement also legitimized all secular authorities, partly on the grounds of their obligation to enforce discipline
21.
National Assembly (French Revolution)
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The Estates-General had been called on Dec 4,1789 to deal with Frances financial crisis, but promptly fell to squabbling over its own structure. Its members had elected to represent the estates of the realm, the 1st Estate, the 2nd Estate. They refused this and proceeded to meet separately, on June 13, this group began to call itself the National Assembly. This newly created assembly immediately attached itself onto the capitalists — the sources of the credit needed to fund the national debt — and to the common people. They consolidated the public debt and declared all existing taxes to have been illegally imposed and this restored the confidence of the capitalists and gave them a strong interest in keeping the Assembly in session. As for the people, the Assembly established a committee of subsistence to deal with food shortages. Jacques Necker, finance minister to Louis XVI, had proposed that the king hold a Séance Royale in an attempt to reconcile the divided Estates. The king agreed, but none of the three orders were formally notified of the decision to hold a Royal Session, all debates were to be put on hold until the séance royale took place. Events soon overtook Neckers complex scheme of giving in to the Communes on some points while holding firm on others. On June 19, he ordered the Salle des États, the hall where the National Assembly met, closed, when, on June 23, in accord with his plan, the king finally addressed the representatives of all three estates, he encountered a stony silence. He concluded by ordering all to disperse, the nobles and clergy obeyed, the deputies of the common people remained seated in a silence finally broken by Mirabeau, whose short speech culminated, A military force surrounds the assembly. Where are the enemies of the nation, I demand, investing yourselves with your dignity, with your legislative power, you inclose yourselves within the religion of your oath. It does not permit you to separate till you have formed a constitution, Necker, conspicuous by his absence from the royal party on that day, found himself in disgrace with Louis, but back in the good graces of the National Assembly. The French military began to arrive in numbers around Paris. This move failed, soon part of the deputies of the nobles who still stood apart joined the National Assembly at the request of the king. Louis offered to move the assembly to Noyon or Soissons, that is to say, public outrage over this troop presence precipitated the Storming of the Bastille, beginning the Revolution. This article incorporates text from the public domain History of the French Revolution from 1789 to 1814, by François Mignet and this article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain, Chisholm, Hugh, ed. French Revolution. Http, //www. assemblee-nationale. fr/english/8am. asp History of the National Assembly http, //www. saylor. org/site/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/National-Assembly-French-Revolution. pdf National Assembly
22.
National Constituent Assembly (France)
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The National Constituent Assembly was formed from the National Assembly on 9 July 1789 during the first stages of the French Revolution. It dissolved on 30 September 1791 and was succeeded by the Legislative Assembly, the Estates-General of 1789, made up of representatives of the three estates, which had not been convoked since 1614, convened on 5 May 1789. The Estates-General reached a deadlock in its deliberations by 6 May, the representatives of the Third Estate attempted to make the whole body more effective and so met separately from 11 May as the Communes. On 12 June, the Communes invited the other Estates to join them, on 17 June 1789, the Communes approved the motion made by Sieyès that declared themselves the National Assembly by a vote of 490 to 90. The Third Estate now believed themselves to be an authority equal to that of the King. A legislative and political agenda unfolded, there were soon attempts by King Louis XVI and the Second Estate to prevent the delegates from meeting, as well as misunderstandings on both sides about each others intentions. Failing to disperse the delegates, Louis started to recognize their validity on 27 June, the Assembly renamed itself the National Constituent Assembly on 9 July and began to function as a governing body and a constitution-drafter. However, it is common to refer to the body even after then as the National Assembly or the Constituent Assembly, following the storming of the Bastille on 14 July, the National Constituent Assembly became the effective government of France. In the words of historian François Mignet, The assembly had acquired the power, the corporations depended on it. The royal power, though existing of right, was in a suspended, since it was not obeyed. The number of the Estates-General increased significantly during the election period, according to Timothy Tackett, there were a total of 1,177 deputies in the Assembly by mid-July 1789. Among them,278 belonged to the nobility,295 to the clergy, for the entire duration of the Assembly, a total of 1,315 deputies were certified,330 clerics,322 nobles, and 663 deputies of the Third Estate. Tackett noted that the majority of the Second Estate had a background. In the early period, its most notable leaders included Honoré Mirabeau, the Marquis de Lafayette, lameths brother Charles also belonged to this group. For a partial list of members of the National Constituent Assembly, in the summer of 1791, the National Constituent Assembly decided that the king needed to be restored to the throne if he accepted the constitution. The decision was made after the failed attempt to flee to Varennes. That decision enraged many Parisians into protesting, and one major protest devolved into the Champ de Mars Massacre, after surviving the vicissitudes of a revolutionary two years, the National Constituent Assembly dissolved itself on 30 September 1791. The following day, the Constitution of 1791 went into effect and this article incorporates text from the public domain History of the French Revolution from 1789 to 1814, by François Mignet, as made available by Project Gutenberg
23.
National Guard (France)
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The National Guard was originally a French militia which existed from 1789 until 1872, including a period of official disbandment from 1827 to 1830. It was separate from the French Army and existed both for policing and as a military reserve, for most of its history the National Guard, particularly its officers, were widely viewed as loyal to middle-class interests. This had rapidly spread anger and violence throughout Paris, the National Assembly declared the formation of a Bourgeois Militia on 13 July. In the early morning of the day, the search for weapons for this new militia led to the storming of the Hotel des Invalides. Lafayette was elected to the post of commander in chief of the Bourgeois Militia on 15 July, similar bodies were spontaneously created in the towns and rural districts of France in response to widespread fears of chaos or counter-revolution. When the French Guards mutinied and were disbanded during the same month, the officers of the National Guard were elected. Under the law of 14 October 1791, all active citizens and their role was the maintenance of law and order and, if necessary, the defence of the territory. Following a nationwide scheme decided on in September 1791, the National Guard was organised on the basis of district or canton companies, five of these neighbourhood units made up a battalion. Eight to ten battalions comprised a legion, districts might also provide companies of veterans and young citizens, respectively drawn from volunteers of over 60 or under 18. Where possible, there was provision for mounted detachments and artillerymen, the citizens kept their weapons and their uniforms at home, and set forth with them when required. This combination of colours matched those of the revolutionary tricolour, the former Guet royal had held responsibility for the maintenance of law and order in Paris from 1254 to 1791, when the National Guard took over this role. In fact, the last commander of the Guet royal, de La Rothière, was elected to head the National Guard in 1791, in the summer of 1792, the fundamental character of the guard changed. After 9 Thermidor, year II, the new government of the Thermidorian Reaction placed the National Guard under the control of conservative leadership. The Paris National Guard thereafter ceased to play a significant political role, napoleon did not believe that the middle-class National Guard would be able to maintain order and suppress riots. Therefore, he created a Municipal Guard of Paris, a full-time gendarmerie which was strongly militarised, however, he did not abolish the National Guard, but was content to partially disarm it. He kept the force in reserve and mobilised it for the defence of French territory in 1809 and 1814, between 1811 and 1812 the National Guard, was organized in cohorts to distinguish it from the regular army, and for home defence only. By a skilful appeal to patriotism, and judicious pressure applied through the prefects, with the invasion of France by allied Austrian, Prussian, Russian and British armies in 1814, the National Guard was suddenly called on to provide support for regular Imperial forces. Existing National Guard units, such as those of Paris, were deployed as defence corps in their areas of recruitment, mass conscription was extended to age groups previously exempt from military service, to provide more manpower for the expanded National Guard
24.
Cockade
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A cockade is a knot of ribbons, or other circular- or oval-shaped symbol of distinctive colors which is usually worn on a hat. In the 18th and 19th centuries, coloured cockades were used in Europe to show the allegiance of their wearers to some political faction, their rank, military uniforms would use cockades as well. A cockade was pinned on the side of a mans tricorne or cocked hat, women could also wear it on their hat or in their hair. In pre-revolutionary France, the cockade of the Bourbon dynasty was all white, in the Kingdom of Great Britain supporters of a Jacobite restoration wore white cockades, while the recently established Hanoverian monarchy used a black cockade. During the 1780 Gordon Riots in London the blue became a symbol of anti-government feelings and was worn by most of the rioters. Before long however, the Continental Army reverted to wearing the black cockade they inherited from the British, the black-and-white cockade thus became known as the Union Cockade. Instead revolutionaries would wear cockades with the colours of the arms of Paris, red. Later the Bourbon white was added to this cockade - thus producing the original Tricolore cockade, later, distinctive colours and styles of cockade would indicate the wearers faction—although the meanings of the various styles were not entirely consistent, and varied somewhat by region and period. From the 15th century various European monarchy realms used cockades to denote the nationalities of their military and their origin reverts to the distinctive colored band or ribbon worn by late medieval armies or jousting knights on their arms or headgear to distinguish friend from foe in the field of battle. During the Napoleonic wars, the armies of France and Russia, had the imperial French cockade or the larger cockade of St. George pinned on the front of their shakos. The Second German Empire used two cockades on each army headgear, one for the empire, the other for one of the monarchies the empire was composed of, which had used their own colors long before. The only exceptions were the Kingdoms of Bavaria and Württemberg, having preserved the right to keep their own armed forces which were not integrated in the Imperial Army and their only cockades were either white and blue or black and yellow. The Weimar Republic removed these, as they might promote separatism which would lead to the dissolution of the German nation-state into regional countries again and these colours represented the biggest and the smallest countries of the Reich, Prussia and the Hanseatic City States of Hamburg, Bremen and Lübeck. France began the first Air Service in 1909 and soon picked the traditional French cockade as the first national emblem, now termed a roundel. During World War I, other countries adopted national cockades and used these coloured emblems as roundels on their military aircraft and these designs often bear an additional central device or emblem to further identify national aircraft, those from the French navy bearing a black anchor within the French cockade. Hungarian revolutionaries wore cockades during the Hungarian revolution of 1848 and during the 1956 revolution, because of this, Hungarians traditionally wear cockades on 15 March
25.
Flag of France
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The national flag of France is a tricolour flag featuring three vertical bands coloured blue, white, and red. It is known to English speakers as the French Tricolour or simply the Tricolour, the royal government used many flags, the best known being a blue shield and gold fleur-de-lis on a white background, or state flag. Early in the French Revolution, the Paris militia, which played a prominent role in the storming of the Bastille, wore a cockade of blue and red, the citys traditional colours. According to Lafayette, white, the ancient French colour, was added to the militia cockade to create a tricolour, or national and this cockade became part of the uniform of the National Guard, which succeeded the militia and was commanded by Lafayette. The colours and design of the cockade are the basis of the Tricolour flag, the only difference was that the 1790 flags colours were reversed. A modified design by Jacques-Louis David was adopted in 1794, the royal white flag was used during the Bourbon restoration from 1815 to 1830, the tricolour was brought back after the July Revolution and has been used ever since 1830. The colours adopted by Valéry Giscard dEstaing, which replaced a version of the flag. Currently, the flag is one and a half times wider than its height and, initially, the three stripes of the flag were not equally wide, being in the proportions 30,33 and 37. Blue and red are the colours of Paris, used on the citys coat of arms. Blue is identified with Saint Martin, red with Saint Denis, at the storming of the Bastille in 1789, the Paris militia wore blue and red cockades on their hats. White had long featured prominently on French flags and is described as the ancient French colour by Lafayette, white was added to the revolutionary colours of the militia cockade to nationalise the design, thus creating the tricolour cockade. Although Lafayette identified the white stripe with the nation, other accounts identify it with the monarchy, Lafayette denied that the flag contains any reference to the red-and-white livery of the Duc dOrléans. Despite this, Orléanists adopted the tricolour as their own, blue and red are associated with the Virgin Mary, the patroness of France, and were the colours of the oriflamme. The colours of the French flag may represent the three main estates of the Ancien Régime. Blue, as the symbol of class, comes first and red, representing the nobility, both extreme colours are situated on each side of white referring to a superior order. Lafayettes tricolour cockade was adopted in July 1789, a moment of unity that soon faded. Royalists began wearing white cockades and flying flags, while the Jacobins. The tricolour, which combines royalist white with red, came to be seen as a symbol of moderation
26.
Palais-Royal
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The Palais-Royal, originally called the Palais-Cardinal, is a palace located in the 1st arrondissement of Paris. The screened entrance court faces the Place du Palais-Royal, opposite the Louvre, the larger inner courtyard, the Cour dHonneur, has since 1986 contained Daniel Burens site-specific art piece Les Deux Plateaux, known as Les Colonnes de Buren. In 1830 the Cour dHonneur was enclosed to the north by what was probably the most famous of Pariss covered arcades, demolished in the 1930s, its flanking rows of columns still stand between the Cour dHonneur and the popular Palais-Royal Gardens. Originally called the Palais-Cardinal, the palace was the residence of Cardinal Richelieu. The architect Jacques Lemercier began his design in 1629, construction commenced in 1633 and was completed in 1639, upon Richelieus death in 1642 the palace became the property of the King and acquired the new name Palais-Royal. After Louis XIII died the year, it became the home of the Queen Mother Anne of Austria and her young sons Louis XIV and Philippe, duc dAnjou. From 1649, the palace was the residence of the exiled Henrietta Maria and Henrietta Anne Stuart, wife, the two had escaped England in the midst of the English Civil War and were sheltered by Henrietta Marias nephew, King Louis XIV. Henrietta Anne was later married to Louis younger brother, Philippe de France, the following year the new duchesse dOrléans gave birth to a daughter, Marie Louise dOrléans, inside the palace. After their marriage, the became the main residence of the House of Orléans. The Duchess created the gardens of the palace, which were said to be among the most beautiful in Paris. Under the new couple, the Palais-Royal would become the social center of the capital. The court gatherings at the Palais-Royal were famed all around the capital as well as all of France and it was at these parties that the crème de la crème of French society came to see and be seen. Guests included the members of the royal family like the Queen Mother, Anne of Austria, the duchesse de Montpensier, the Princes de Condé. Philippes favourites were also frequent visitors, the palace was redecorated and new apartments were created for the maids and staff of the Duchess. After Henrietta Anne died in 1670 the Duke took a wife, the Princess Palatine. Saint-Cloud thus became the residence of her eldest son and the heir to the House of Orléans. For the convenience of the bride, new apartments were built and it was at this time that Philippe commissioned the gallery for his famous Orleans Collection of paintings, which was easily accessible to the public. The architect was Jules Hardouin-Mansart, and the cost of reconstruction was totaled to be 400,000 livres
27.
Prison de l'Abbaye
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The prison de l’Abbaye was a Paris prison in use from 1522 to 1854. The final building was built by Gamard in 1631 and made up of three floors, flanked by two turrets and an échauguette and it was the scene of one of the bloodiest episodes of the French Revolution. Madame Roland, wife of the Girondin Minister of the Interior Jean-Marie Roland, was interned here on her first arrest in 1793 before being transferred to Sainte Pélagie and it occupied part of the current site of boulevard Saint-Germain in the corner of the enclosire of Abbey of Saint-Germain-des-Prés. Its basilica became known as Saint-Denis of the Merovingians, since it contained the tombs of Childebert I, the prison de l’Abbaye was later transformed into a military prison and was finally demolished in 1854 for the construction of boulevard Saint-Germain
28.
Grenadier
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A grenadier was originally a specialized soldier, first established as a distinct role in the mid-to-late 17th century, for the throwing of grenades and sometimes assault operations. At that time grenadiers were chosen from the strongest and largest soldiers, certain countries such as France and Argentina established units of Horse Grenadiers and for a time the British Army had Horse Grenadier Guards. Like their infantry counterparts, these horse-mounted soldiers were chosen for their size. These soldiers operate as part of a fireteam, the concept of throwing grenades may go back to the Ming China, when Chinese soldiers on the Great Wall were reported to be using this weapon. The earliest references to these soldiers in Western armies come from Austria. References also appear in England during the English Civil War, however, it was King Louis XIV of France who made the grenadier an official type of soldier and company during his army reforms late in the 17th century. According to René Chartrand, Lt. Col. Jean Martinet introduced the idea of having men detailed to throw grenades in the Régiment du Roi in 1667 and their clothing being likewise piebald, yellow and red. The first grenades were small iron spheres filled with gunpowder fused with a length of slow-match, understandably, such requirements led to grenadiers being regarded as an elite fighting force. The wide hats with broad brims characteristic of infantry during the late 17th century were discarded and replaced with caps and this was originally to allow the grenadier to sling his musket over his back with greater ease while throwing grenades. Additionally, a brimless hat permitted the greater ease in throwing the grenade overhand. By 1700, grenadiers in the English and other armies had adopted a cap in the shape of a bishops mitre, in addition to grenades, they were equipped with contemporary longarms. The uniform included a tube that held the match for lighting the fuse. Grenade usage declined significantly in the early 18th century, a fact that can be attributed to the effectiveness of massive infantry line tactics. However, the need for assault troops remained, and the existing grenadier companies were used for this purpose. As noted, above average physical size had been considered important for the grenadiers and, in principle, height. In the British regiments of foot during the 18th century the preference was, however, the traditional criterion of size was only resorted to when newly raised regiments required a quick sorting of a mass of new recruits. Transferral to a company generally meant both enhanced status and an increase in subsistence pay. Whether for reasons of appearance or reputation, grenadiers tended to be the showpiece troops of their respective armies, when a regiment was in line formation the grenadiers were always the company which formed on the right flank
29.
Jacques Necker
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Jacques Necker was a Swiss banker who became a French statesman and finance minister for Louis XVI. He was recalled to service just before the Revolution actually did start. His elder brother was the mathematician Louis Necker, Necker was born in Geneva, at that time an independent republic. His father, Karl Friedrich Necker, was a native of Küstrin in Neumark, after the publication of some works on international law, he was elected a professor of public law at Geneva, of which he became a citizen. Jacques Necker was sent to Paris in 1747 to become a clerk in the bank of Isaac Vernet, in 1762, he became a partner and by 1765, he had become very wealthy through successful financial speculations. Soon, he co-founded the bank of Thellusson, Necker et Compagnie with another Genevese, Thellusson superintended the bank in London, while Necker was managing partner in Paris. Both partners became very rich by means of loans to the French treasury, in 1763, Necker fell in love with Madame de Verménou, the widow of a French officer. But while on a visit to Geneva, Madame de Verménou met Suzanne Curchod, in 1764, Madame de Verménou brought Suzanne to Paris as her companion. There Necker, transferring his love from the widow to the poor Swiss girl. On 22 April 1766, they had a daughter, Anne Louise Germaine Necker, Madame Necker encouraged her husband to try to find himself a public position. After showing his ability in its management, Necker defended the companys autonomy in an able memoir against the attacks of Morellet in 1769. Meanwhile, he loans to the French government and was appointed resident at Paris by the republic of Geneva. In 1773, Necker won the prize of the Académie Française for a defense of state corporatism framed as a eulogy in honor of Louis XIVs minister Jean-Baptiste Colbert. In 1775, he published his Essai sur la législation et le commerce des grains and his wife now believed he could get into office as a great financier and made him give up his share in the bank, which he transferred to his brother Louis. In June 1777, Necker was made Director-General of Finance – he could not be named controller because of his Protestant faith and his greatest financial measures were his use of loans to help fund the French debt and his use of high interest rates rather than raising taxes. He also advocated loans to finance French involvement in the American Revolution, in 1781, France was suffering financially, and because Necker was Director-General, he was blamed for the rather high debt accrued from the American Revolution. While at court, Necker had made enemies because of his reforming policies. From 1777 to 1781, Necker was essentially in control of all of Frances wealth, near the end of this period, Necker published his most influential work, the Compte rendu au roi
30.
Louis Auguste Le Tonnelier de Breteuil
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Louis Charles Auguste le Tonnelier, baron de Breteuil, baron de Preuilly was a French aristocrat, diplomat, statesman and politician. He was the last Prime Minister of the Bourbon Monarchy, appointed by King Louis XVI only one hundred hours before the storming of the Bastille and he received an excellent education in Paris and later joined the army, where he fought in the Seven Years War. In 1758 he left the army and joined the French Foreign Ministry and he was quickly appointed French ambassador to the elector of Cologne, where he proved to have valuable diplomatic skills. In 1769 he was sent to Stockholm, and subsequently represented his government at Vienna in 1770, in 1773 Naples, in Sweden, he became a favourite friend of the young King Gustavus III, but Catherine the Great of Russia disliked him. Others saw Breteuil as a loud and impulsive fool, Joseph II, after he returned to France, Breteuil was appointed Minister of the Kings Household. In this capacity he introduced reforms in prison administration. He was a liberal and humanitarian minister, and succeeded in moderating the censorship laws and he believed passionately that the monarchy should encourage intellectuals, and not view them as enemies. In 1784 he was named to a position in the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres, Breteuils time as Household Minister corresponded with the infamous Affair of the Necklace, which pitted him against his enemy, the Cardinal de Rohan. Breteuils loyalty to Queen Marie Antoinette earned him her gratitude and trust at this difficult time, unfortunately, Breteuil underestimated the strength of public sympathy for those responsible, and his direct attack on Rohan left the Queen open to public humiliation. He presently came into collision with Charles Alexandre de Calonne, who demanded his dismissal in 1787, on 24 July 1788, Breteuil resigned, exhausted by the struggle for power in the Kings Council. He then asked to be allowed to say farewell to the queen, Marie-Antoinette did not resent him for his handling of the affair, and even promised to help him in future if she could. As France became increasingly unstable, Breteuil retired to his château in Dangu, though Breteuil was disgusted with French politics at the time, he remained absolutely loyal to the Monarchy, despite his liberal views on social culture. He complained that anybody who dares to stand up for the old ways is despised and claimed that we are rushing like madmen to our destruction, Breteuil was contacted by conservative members of the queens circle in 1789. He agreed to become Prime Minister once they had ousted Jacques Necker from the post, Necker was popular, but royalists saw him as a dangerous publicity-seeker and a radical. A carefully orchestrated plan was drawn-up by Breteuil, the duchesse de Polignac, however, unable to restrain his hatred for Necker, the comte dArtois rushed ahead with the plan too early. Necker was dismissed weeks before Breteuil believed he should be, Breteuil was appointed Prime Minister on 12 July 1789. Partly as a result of Neckers dismissal, the Bastille was stormed on 14 July, in such dangerous times, many prominent Royalists were forced to flee France. The duchesse de Polignac escaped to Switzerland, and Louis XVI sent the comte dArtois abroad to save him from assassination, Breteuil went first to a spa town in Imperial territory before journeying to Switzerland with the first party of émigrés
31.
Armand Marc, comte de Montmorin
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Armand Marc, Count of Montmorin de Saint Herem was a French statesman. He was Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Navy under Louis XVI and he belonged to a junior branch of a noble family of Auvergne. He was gentleman-in-waiting to Louis XVI when dauphin, and was appointed ambassador to Madrid. From Madrid he was summoned to the governorship of Brittany. Montmorin was an admirer of Jacques Necker, whose influence at court he helped maintain. He retired when Necker was dismissed on 12 July 1789, but on Neckers recall after the storming of the Bastille again resumed his office, with the progress of the French Revolution, however, this attitude changed. The comte de la Marck was trying to bring Mirabeau into touch with the court, the two men were soon on the closest terms. While Montmorin continued as minister in name, Mirabeau became so in fact, Montmorin did not dare to come to a decision without consulting Mirabeau, but neither Mirabeau nor La Marck were under any illusions as to the his character. Mirabeau complained bitterly that Montmorin was slack and a poltroon, La Marck thought that Montmorins feebleness was occasionally useful in restraining Mirabeaus impetuosity. He was forced to resign office, but still continued to advise Louis, in June 1792 his papers were seized at the foreign office, without anything incriminating being discovered, in July he was denounced, and after 10 August was proscribed. He took refuge in the house of a washerwoman, but was discovered, taken before the Legislative Assembly, and imprisoned in the Abbaye, where he perished in the September massacres. His relative, Louis Victor Henri, marquis de Montmorin de Saint Herem, head of the branch of the family. This article incorporates text from a now in the public domain, Chisholm, Hugh
32.
Palace of Versailles
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The Palace of Versailles, Château de Versailles, or simply Versailles, is a royal château in Versailles in the Île-de-France region of France. Versailles is therefore not only as a building, but as a symbol of the system of absolute monarchy of the Ancien Régime. First built by Louis XIII in 1623, as a lodge of brick and stone. The first phase of the expansion was designed and supervised by the architect Louis Le Vau and it culminated in the addition of three new wings of stone, which surrounded Louis XIIIs original building on the north, south, and west. After Le Vaus death in 1670, the work was taken over and completed by his assistant, charles Le Brun designed and supervised the elaborate interior decoration, and André Le Nôtre landscaped the extensive Gardens of Versailles. Le Brun and Le Nôtre collaborated on the fountains, and Le Brun supervised the design. During the second phase of expansion, two enormous wings north and south of the wings flanking the Cour Royale were added by the architect Jules Hardouin-Mansart. He also replaced Le Vaus large terrace, facing the garden on the west, with became the most famous room of the palace. The Royal Chapel of Versailles, located at the end of the north wing, was begun by Mansart in 1688. One of the most baffling aspects to the study of Versailles is the cost – how much Louis XIV, owing to the nature of the construction of Versailles and the evolution of the role of the palace, construction costs were essentially a private matter. Initially, Versailles was planned to be a residence for Louis XIV and was referred to as the kings house. Once Louis XIV embarked on his campaigns, expenses for Versailles became more of a matter for public record. To counter the costs of Versailles during the years of Louis XIVs personal reign. Accordingly, all materials that went into the construction and decoration of Versailles were manufactured in France, even the mirrors used in the decoration of the Hall of Mirrors were made in France. While Venice in the 17th century had the monopoly on the manufacture of mirrors, to meet the demands for decorating and furnishing Versailles, Colbert nationalised the tapestry factory owned by the Gobelin family, to become the Manufacture royale des Gobelins. In 1667, the name of the enterprise was changed to the Manufacture royale des Meubles de la Couronne, the Comptes meticulously list the expenditures on the silver furniture – disbursements to artists, final payments, delivery – as well as descriptions and weight of items purchased. Entries for 1681 and 1682 concerning the silver used in the salon de Mercure serve as an example. 5 In anticipation, For the silver balustrade for the bedroom,90,000 livres II
33.
Champ de Mars
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The Champ de Mars is a large public greenspace in Paris, France, located in the seventh arrondissement, between the Eiffel Tower to the northwest and the École Militaire to the southeast. The park is named after the Campus Martius in Rome, a tribute to the Latin name of the Roman God of war, the name also alludes to the fact that the lawns here were formerly used as drilling and marching grounds by the French military. The nearest Métro stations are La Motte-Picquet–Grenelle, École Militaire, and Champ de Mars-Tour Eiffel, a disused station, Champ de Mars is also nearby. Originally, the Champ de Mars was part of a flat open area called Grenelle. Citizens would claim small plots and exploit them by growing fruits, vegetables, however, the plain of Grenelle was not an especially fertile place for farming. The construction, in 1765, of the École Militaire designed by Ange-Jacques Gabriel, was the first step toward the Champ de Mars in its present form. Grounds for military drills were originally planned for an area south of the school, the choice to build an esplanade to the north of the school led to the erection of the noble facade which today encloses the Champ de Mars. The planners leveled the ground, surrounded it with a ditch and a long avenue of elms, and, as a final touch. The Isle of Swans, formerly a riverine islet at the location of the foot of the Eiffel Tower, was, for the sake of symmetry and pleasing perspectives. Jacques Charles and the Robert brothers launched the worlds first hydrogen-filled balloon from the Champ-de-Mars on 27 August 1783 and this place witnessed the spectacle and pageantry of some of the best-remembered festivals of the French Revolution. On 14 July 1790 the first Federation Day celebration, now known as Bastille Day, was held on the Champ de Mars, the following year, on 17 July 1791, the massacre on the Champ de Mars took place. Jean Sylvain Bailly, the first mayor of Paris, became a victim of his own revolution and was guillotined there on 12 November 1793, the Champ de Mars was also the site of the Festival of the Supreme Being on 8 June 1794. With a design by the painter Jacques-Louis David, a massive Altar of the Nation was built atop an artificial mountain, the festival is regarded as the most successful of its type in the Revolution. The Champ de Mars was the site of Expositions Universelles in 1867,1878,1889,1900, in 2012 the United Buddy Bears exhibit was held on the Champ de Mars, an international art exhibition with more than 140 two-meter-tall bears representing individual countries. They promote peace, love, tolerance and international understanding and are displayed across the planet and they stand at Champ de Mars in Paris, fronting the Eiffel Tower. List of worlds fairs Champ de Mars Massacre Fête de la Concorde
34.
Saint-Denis, Seine-Saint-Denis
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Saint-Denis is a commune in the northern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located 9.4 km from the centre of Paris, Saint-Denis is a subprefecture of the department of Seine-Saint-Denis, being the seat of the arrondissement of Saint-Denis. Saint-Denis is home to the necropolis of the Basilica of Saint Denis and was also the location of the associated abbey. It is also home to Frances national football and rugby stadium, Saint-Denis is a formerly industrial suburb currently changing its economic base. Inhabitants of Saint-Denis are called Dionysiens, until the 3rd century, Saint-Denis was a small settlement called Catolacus or Catulliacum, probably meaning estate of Catullius, a Gallo-Roman landowner. About 250 AD, the first bishop of Paris, Saint Denis, was martyred on Montmartre hill, shortly after 250 his grave became a shrine and a pilgrimage centre, with the building of the Abbey of Saint Denis, and the settlement was renamed Saint-Denis. In 1793, during the French Revolution, Saint-Denis was renamed Franciade in a gesture of rejection of religion, in 1803, however, under the Consulate of Napoléon Bonaparte, the city reverted to its former name of Saint-Denis. During its history, Saint-Denis has been associated with the French royal house. Starting from Dagobert I, almost every French king was buried in the Basilica, however, Saint-Denis is older than that. In the 2nd century, there was a Gallo-Roman village named Catolacus on the location that Saint-Denis occupies today, Saint Denis, the first bishop of Paris and patron saint of France, was martyred in about 250 and buried in the cemetery of Catolacus. Denis tomb quickly became a place of worship, around 475, Sainte Geneviève had a small chapel erected on Denis tomb, which by then had become a popular destination for pilgrims. It was this chapel that Dagobert I had rebuilt and turned into a royal monastery, during the Middle Ages, because of the privileges granted by Dagobert, Saint-Denis grew to become very important. Merchants from all over Europe came to visit its market, in 1140, Abbot Suger, counselor to the King, granted further privileges to the citizens of Saint-Denis. He also started the work of enlarging the Basilica of Saint Denis that still exists today, the new church was consecrated in 1144. Saint-Denis suffered heavily in the Hundred Years War, of its 10,000 citizens, during the French Wars of Religion, the Battle of Saint-Denis was fought between Catholics and Protestants on 10 November 1567. The Protestants were defeated, but the Catholic commander Anne de Montmorency was killed, in 1590, the city surrendered to Henry IV, who converted to Catholicism in 1593 in the abbey of Saint-Denis. King Louis XIV started several industries in Saint-Denis, weaving and spinning mills and dyehouses. His successor, Louis XV, whose daughter was a nun in the Carmelite convent, took a lively interest in the city, he added a chapel to the convent and also renovated the buildings of the royal abbey
35.
Camille Desmoulins
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Lucie Simplice Camille Benoît Desmoulins, a journalist and politician, played an important role in the French Revolution. He was a friend of Maximilien Robespierre and a close friend and political ally of Georges Danton. Desmoulins was tried and executed alongside Danton when the Committee of Public Safety reacted against Dantonist opposition, Desmoulins was born at Guise, Aisne, in Picardy. His father, Jean Benoît Nicolas Desmoulins, was a rural lawyer, through the efforts of a friend, he obtained a scholarship for the fourteen-year-old Camille to enter the Collège Louis-le-Grand in Paris. Desmoulins proved an exceptional student even among such notable contemporaries as Maximilien Robespierre and he excelled in the study of Classical literature and politics, and gained a particular affinity for Cicero, Tacitus and Livy. Thus stymied, he turned towards writing as an outlet for his talents. In March 1789, Jean Benoît Nicolas Desmoulins was nominated as deputy to the Estates-General from the bailliage of Guise, however, due to illness, he failed to take his seat. Camille Desmoulins, himself limited to the role of spectator at the procession of the Estates-General on 5 May 1789, wrote a response to the event, Ode aux Etats Generaux. Owing to his difficulties in establishing a career as a lawyer, Desmoulins position in Paris was a precarious one, however, he was greatly inspired and enthused by the current of political reform that surrounded the summoning of the Estates-General. The sudden dismissal of popular finance minister Jacques Necker by King Louis XVI on 11 July 1789 proved the spark that lit the fuse of Desmoulins fame. On 12 July, spurred by the news of this politically unsettling dismissal, Desmoulins leapt onto a table outside the Cafe du Foy and delivered an impassioned call to arms. The stationing of a number of troops in Paris, many foreign, had led Desmoulins. This was an idea that his audience also found plausible and threatening, the cockades worn by the crowd were initially green, a color associated with liberty, and made at first from the leaves of the trees that lined the Palais Royal. The forces semi-organized under this banner attacked the Hôtel des Invalides to gain arms and, on 14 July, in May and June 1789, Desmoulins had written a radical pamphlet entitled La France Libre, which his publisher at that time had refused to print. The rioting surrounding the storming of the Bastille, however, and especially Desmoulins personal and publicized involvement in it, on 18 July, Desmoulinss work was finally issued. The politics of the pamphlet ran considerably in advance of public opinion, in it, Desmoulins called explicitly for a republic, popular and democratic government is the only constitution which suits France, and all those who are worthy of the name of men. La France Libre also examined and criticized in detail the role and rights of kings, of the nobility, a famous Revolutionary song, the Ça ira, also immortalizes this lantern, in the lines, Les aristocrates à la lanterne. This hard-edged fervor found an audience in Paris, and Desmoulins, as a result of the pamphlet
36.
St. Bartholomew's Day massacre
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The St. Bartholomews Day massacre in 1572 was a targeted group of assassinations and a wave of Catholic mob violence, directed against the Huguenots during the French Wars of Religion. Many of the most wealthy and prominent Huguenots had gathered in largely Catholic Paris to attend the wedding, the massacre began in the night of 23–24 August 1572, two days after the attempted assassination of Admiral Gaspard de Coligny, the military and political leader of the Huguenots. The king ordered the killing of a group of Huguenot leaders, including Coligny, lasting several weeks, the massacre expanded outward to other urban centres and the countryside. Modern estimates for the number of dead across France vary widely, the massacre also marked a turning point in the French Wars of Religion. Though by no means unique, it was the worst of the religious massacres. Throughout Europe, it printed on Protestant minds the indelible conviction that Catholicism was a bloody, the Massacre of Saint Bartholomews Day was the culmination of a series of events, The Peace of Saint-Germain-en-Laye, which put an end to the third War of Religion on 8 August 1570. The marriage between Henry III of Navarre and Margaret of Valois on 18 August 1572, the failed assassination of Admiral de Coligny on 22 August 1572. The Peace of Saint-Germain put an end to three years of civil war between Catholics and Protestants. This peace, however, was precarious since the more intransigent Catholics refused to accept it, with the Guise family, who led this faction, out of favour at the French court, the Huguenot leader Admiral Gaspard de Coligny was readmitted into the kings council in September 1571. Staunch Catholics were shocked by the return of Protestants to the court and they were also conscious of the kingdoms financial difficulties, which led them to uphold the peace and remain on friendly terms with Coligny. The Huguenots were in a defensive position as they controlled the fortified towns of La Rochelle, La Charité-sur-Loire, Cognac. To cement the peace between the two parties, Catherine planned to marry her daughter Margaret to the Protestant prince Henry of Navarre. The royal marriage was arranged for 18 August 1572 and it was not accepted by traditionalist Catholics or by the Pope. Both the Pope and King Philip II of Spain strongly condemned Catherines policy, the impending marriage led to the gathering of a large number of well-born Protestants in Paris, who had come to escort their prince. But Paris was a violently anti-Huguenot city, and Parisians, who tended to be extreme Catholics, encouraged by Catholic preachers, they were horrified at the marriage of a princess of France with a Protestant. The Parlement of Paris itself decided to snub the marriage ceremony, compounding this bad feeling was the fact that the harvests had been poor and taxes had risen. The rise in prices and the luxury displayed on the occasion of the royal wedding increased tensions among the common people. A particular point of tension was a cross erected on the site of the house of Philippe de Gastines
French government
Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Bastille". Encyclopædia Britannica. 3 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 502.
Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "
