The French Revolution - OverSimplified (Part 2)

Aug 9, 2023

The French Revolution - OverSimplified (Part 2)

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-------------- ATTRIBUTIONS --------------
Music (licensed under a Creative Commons license):

From Epidemic Sound:
Kikoru – Are You Sure
Vieveri – Shape Shifter
Kikoru – Honesty Matters
Kikoru – Night Owls
Kikoru – Ghost Ship Story
Kikoru – Regrets Are For Others
The Waiting World – Slide On Over
Issac Gregor – The Prince Portrait
Kikoru – Dusty Wheels
Stationary Sign – My Car Is My Castle
Stationary Sign – Confused Mind
Trabant 33 – Bridges Of Paris
Vieveri – Ostinato

From Artlist:
Maik Thomas – Bonus Track
Stanley Gurvich – At First
Max Herve – Follow The Wild Path
Alon Ohana – Childrens Of Mystery
Otis - Celebration

By Kevin MacCleod:
Marty Gots A Plan
I Knew A Guy
Covert Affair
Accralate
Dama May
Invariance
Digya
Enter The Maze
Invariance
Investigations
Outfoxing The Fox

THANKS FOR WATCHING!

Content

2.7 -> - [Narrator] King Louie and his family

4.14 -> were now in the Tuileries Palace in Paris,

6.33 -> where for the next couple of years,

7.92 -> he watched as the revolutionary government

9.63 -> began to strip away his power

11.58 -> and fearing for his safety,

13.11 -> he had to stay on their good side.

14.64 -> Hey, look who it is.

16.08 -> It's my favorite revolutionaries.

17.67 -> Yep, I'm your number one fan.

19.65 -> What can I do for you?

20.88 -> Hey, King Louie.

21.713 -> So we've made a few decisions.

23.1 -> First, all of your friends in the nobility

24.9 -> are gonna have to pay taxes the same as everyone else.

27.57 -> Great idea.

28.74 -> I love it.

29.573 -> And as a side note,

30.6 -> the tax money can no longer pay for all your lavish parties.

33.18 -> Great, I hate those parties.

35.25 -> They're so awkward.

36.39 -> And also we're taking away your Porsche.

38.19 -> Ah, come on.

39.81 -> I mean,

41.4 -> Yay.

42.233 -> The king continually found demand after demand

44.79 -> being made of him

45.623 -> to prove his support for the revolution.

47.4 -> On one occasion,

48.36 -> a mob would invade the palace

49.71 -> and demand he wear the revolutionary bonnet.

51.81 -> This is the face of a man who is definitely

54.51 -> pretending he wants to wear that bonnet.

56.58 -> Now around here,

57.413 -> I wanna mention that one thing King Louie had a problem with

59.58 -> was people constantly raiding his palace,

61.65 -> but one thing he didn't have a problem with

63.33 -> was raiding noobs

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90.6 -> click on the special links

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97.56 -> to start your journey.

98.97 -> Good luck and I'll see you there.

101.64 -> Now, where was I?

103.47 -> Oh yeah.

104.303 -> Seeing the situation rapidly turning against him,

106.65 -> the king decided it might be a good idea to leave France

109.53 -> and mount a campaign to retake his country from abroad.

112.23 -> Luckily for him,

113.4 -> he was married to an Austrian.

114.93 -> So on the night of June 20th, 1791,

117.57 -> the king in his family disguised themselves as servants

120.21 -> and attempted to flee to the Austrian Netherlands.

122.91 -> The royal carriage made a stop in the town of Varennes

125.37 -> and the postmaster there was like,

126.847 -> "hey guys, what's up?

128.13 -> Where are you off to?"

129.06 -> We are but a collection

129.96 -> of inconspicuous servants heading for the border

131.97 -> for no particular reason at all.

133.89 -> Say, you, the fat one.

137.04 -> You look kind of familiar.

138.75 -> Aren't you the king?

140.07 -> Nope.

140.91 -> Let me see your passport.

142.92 -> It says here, you're King Louis the 16th.

147.81 -> Nope, not me.

151.92 -> Take him away, boys.

152.94 -> The King was promptly returned to Paris,

154.98 -> but now the jig was up.

156.72 -> His lack of support for the revolution

158.49 -> was clear to all

159.96 -> and many considered him a straight up traitor

162.21 -> who tried to abandon his people.

164.1 -> As a result,

164.933 -> the new Constitution of 1791 completely reduced his powers

168.3 -> to that of a simple figurehead,

169.8 -> a constitutional monarch.

171.63 -> However radicals,

173.07 -> such as those in the Jacobin Club,

174.72 -> were outraged that the king wasn't to be removed entirely.

177.81 -> So a month later,

178.71 -> these radicals staged a protest

180.24 -> on the Champ de Mars calling for the king's removal.

183.09 -> The government of Paris feared an insurrection was mounting

185.85 -> and they sent the military to disperse the crowd.

188.16 -> The confrontation escalated

189.69 -> and resulted in the revolutionary National Guard

192 -> firing on a crowd of revolutionaries.

194.7 -> It was a massacre.

196.47 -> The incident exposed a deep division

198.75 -> within the brotherhood of the revolution.

200.88 -> On one side,

201.713 -> the moderates who wanted to keep the King

203.22 -> as a figurehead,

204.27 -> on the other radicals who wanted to see the king deposed

207.24 -> and heads roll.

208.38 -> In the wake of the massacre,

209.85 -> these radicals received a wave of support.

212.85 -> And speaking of rolling heads,

214.38 -> one form of equality of the revolution introduced

216.75 -> was a quality in execution.

218.58 -> This meant no more torturous drawing and quartering,

220.74 -> no more inhumane hanging.

222.09 -> They wanted all criminals,

223.44 -> regardless of economic status to receive the same penalty.

226.74 -> A quick and painless one.

228.27 -> Luckily, a man by the name of Dr. Joseph Guillotine

231.03 -> had an idea.

232.11 -> A heavy blade that falls like thunder.

234 -> The head flies off, blood spurts,

235.98 -> and the man is no more.

237.27 -> The guillotine, otherwise known as the National Razor.

240.09 -> The guillotine made its debut in 1791

242.61 -> as the new form of execution.

244.56 -> The writings of Marat

245.64 -> and others continued to call for the execution

247.83 -> of anyone suspected of working

249.33 -> against the revolution.

250.74 -> For him,

251.573 -> this included some members of the clergy and nobility

253.83 -> who had previously benefited

255 -> from the cruel system of inequality

256.71 -> that existed before the revolution.

258.66 -> In many parts of the countryside,

260.19 -> local lords had found themselves become a target.

262.59 -> Sire, the peasants, they're revolting.

265.08 -> Oh, come on.

265.913 -> That's a bit harsh.

266.746 -> Sure, they smell a bit,

267.579 -> but I wouldn't say they're revolting.

269.94 -> Oh, yes, I see what you mean.

271.53 -> Increasingly, these French aristocrats

273.36 -> began fleeing France to find solitude

275.25 -> in other parts of Europe.

276.51 -> And once again,

277.44 -> fear began to take hold.

279.09 -> The privileged classes of these foreign nations

281.31 -> didn't like what they were seeing

282.42 -> because they feared revolutionary ideas

284.22 -> may spread to their own lands.

285.81 -> The National Assembly,

287.01 -> actually now the Legislative Assembly

288.99 -> feared that these nations may decide to attack.

291.78 -> Then why don't we attack them first?

293.82 -> No, you idiots.

294.653 -> We are definitely not ready for war yet.

298.44 -> Did somebody say something?

299.34 -> France declared war in Austria in April, 1792

302.73 -> and immediately got pummeled.

304.2 -> It also didn't help that Austria's ally, Prussia,

306.6 -> joined in the fighting.

307.59 -> The Prussian Duke of Brunswick

308.76 -> posted a letter warning the revolutionaries

310.74 -> that if anything happened to the King,

312.45 -> he would burn Paris to the ground.

314.55 -> The Duke's letter proved to be a massive success

317.31 -> in inspiring the people of Paris

318.84 -> to do the exact opposite of what he intended.

321.33 -> They were enraged by the threat.

322.92 -> And on the 10th of August, 1792,

325.05 -> the tension in the city exploded

326.94 -> and a mob stormed the king's palace.

328.83 -> Fighting broke out between the revolutionaries

330.63 -> and the king's Swiss guard

332.13 -> with casualties in the 100s.

333.9 -> King Louis fled

334.733 -> and took refuge in the chamber of the legislative assembly

337.5 -> where Robespierre and his radical Jacobins

339.48 -> were gaining evermore power.

340.98 -> Given the developing situation,

342.63 -> the chamber decided to hold a vote.

344.46 -> And in what some considered to be a second revolution,

347.04 -> it was decided to suspend the monarchy entirely.

350.13 -> King Louis the 16th was now just plain old Louis

354 -> and he was sent to a prison cell

355.56 -> where an eye could be kept on him.

357.27 -> A month later,

358.103 -> the newly established national convention

360.06 -> officially declared the French Republic

362.19 -> and society underwent a massive change.

364.83 -> Enlightened ideas of democracy

366.51 -> and equality were being implemented.

368.34 -> But very quickly,

369.21 -> these ideas seemed to become secondary to fear,

372 -> paranoia and a thirst for blood.

374.4 -> The new republic began working to violently remove

376.71 -> any semblance of the old royalist regime.

379.05 -> The church became a prime target.

380.76 -> Priests who refused to take a oath to the revolution

382.98 -> were deported or arrested.

384.6 -> A new state-sponsored atheistic religion

386.91 -> named the Cult of Reason was created

388.47 -> as a replacement for the Catholic Church.

390.36 -> Notre Dam, along with many other churches,

392.58 -> had the religious treasures destroyed

394.44 -> and were converted to temples of reason.

396.48 -> Even the Christian calendar didn't survive,

398.52 -> as a brand new revolutionary calendar was soon introduced.

401.52 -> Hey honey, I'm home.

402.93 -> Yeah, whatever jerk.

404.28 -> Whoa, what's wrong with you?

405.63 -> You forgot.

406.98 -> Forgot what?

408.03 -> Everything.

408.863 -> This entire year,

410.28 -> my birthday was on the third of Germinal.

412.05 -> Our anniversary was the 12th of Thermidor

414.15 -> and you promised that in Frimaire,

415.86 -> we'd go on a romantic weekend trip to Venice.

417.93 -> No, I said would do that in December.

420.18 -> December hasn't been a thing for years.

423.45 -> The government of Paris

424.65 -> now under the control of the radical San-Culottes

427.02 -> began rounding up suspected enemies of the revolution

429.81 -> and sending them to prison in the 1000s.

432.24 -> Naturally, a large number of those arrested

434.25 -> were members of the clergy and aristocracy.

436.95 -> As Francis foreign enemies continued to close in,

439.53 -> panic spread.

440.58 -> Georges Danton made impassioned calls

442.44 -> for men to defend the republic

444 -> and tens of 1000s of troops

445.35 -> left Paris for the front lines.

447.12 -> However, in their absence,

448.74 -> Paris was left to its own devices.

450.9 -> As enemy troops arrived in Verdun,

452.73 -> the people of Paris feared that their crowded prisons

454.98 -> were becoming a breeding ground

456.24 -> for counterrevolutionary conspiracy.

458.7 -> What would happen if the Prussians reached Paris

460.92 -> and freed the aristocrats?

462.3 -> Marat believed he knew what would happen.

464.19 -> The aristocrats would enact their vengeance

466.35 -> on the people.

467.25 -> Fearing those they had already imprisoned,

469.32 -> mobs descended on Paris's prisons.

471.75 -> They broke in.

472.583 -> And during the brutal September massacres,

474.99 -> aristocrats, priests and others

477.51 -> were tried and executed on the spot.

480.51 -> Even women and children weren't spared.

483.18 -> With over 1,600 victims,

485.49 -> word of the massacre spread across Europe.

487.8 -> One British newspaper wondered,

489.39 -> are these the rights of men?

490.83 -> Is this the liberty of human nature?

493.02 -> But there was still one man in particular

494.73 -> that Robespierre and his radicals

496.35 -> really wanted to see executed.

498.03 -> Austria and Prussia pledged that

499.8 -> after they defeated France,

501.24 -> they'd returned King Louis to the throne.

503.04 -> Well checkmate Austria and Prussia

504.75 -> because he can't return a man to the throne

506.7 -> if he's already dead.

507.78 -> Citizen Louis Capet was put on trial for treason.

510.84 -> Obviously he was found guilty,

512.43 -> but his punishment was less certain.

514.23 -> Many moderates wanted to simply deport him.

516.54 -> But Robespierre insisted the revolution could only live

519.48 -> if the king was dead.

521.28 -> A vote was held and by just one vote,

523.53 -> Louis was sentenced to the guillotine.

525.96 -> If you don't mind,

526.8 -> I'd like to say a few words first.

528.72 -> Gentlemen, I am innocent of everything

530.91 -> of which I am accused...

531.93 -> Wait, you're too loud.

533.16 -> They can't hear me.

534.06 -> Hang on, I haven't finished yet.

535.74 -> Wait, dude.

540.58 -> Uncool.

541.86 -> In her prison cell,

543.15 -> Marie Antoinette heard the guns fire

545.07 -> signaling her husband's death.

547.26 -> Before long,

548.43 -> she would meet the same fate.

550.89 -> Back on the war front,

552 -> France defied all expectations,

553.77 -> and actually managed to push the enemy back.

555.99 -> But then more countries joined the coalition

557.61 -> against France and it all went to pot again.

559.65 -> What do we do?

560.55 -> Conscript the masses.

562.2 -> The National Convention introduced a conscription law

564.78 -> with each regional department

566.01 -> having to meet a certain quota of men for the army.

568.53 -> However, not everyone was happy with this new law.

571.35 -> You see, while Paris was definitely a hotbed

573.72 -> for radical revolutionary fervor,

575.7 -> some of the regions outside of Paris

577.32 -> weren't quite so keen on the revolution.

579.42 -> Some were largely still conservative,

581.25 -> still supported the church

582.63 -> and just didn't suffer from that much inequality

584.85 -> before the revolution.

585.93 -> So as the revolution turned increasingly violent

588.15 -> and anti-Christian, many were outraged.

590.91 -> Now they were being conscripted to fight

593.01 -> for the new republic they hated.

595.05 -> That was the last straw.

597.15 -> Counterrevolutionary uprisings erupted

599.16 -> in a number of regions across France.

601.35 -> Some would last for years,

602.97 -> such as in the Northwest

604.32 -> where a large scale uprising was led by The Owls.

607.14 -> Why were they called The Owls?

608.76 -> Because their leader was named Jean Owl.

610.92 -> Why was he called John Owl?

612.36 -> Possibly because he could do

613.44 -> a really good impression of an owl.

615.33 -> Really?

616.163 -> That's what we're going with?

617.4 -> Owls?

618.233 -> Just because this guy can do an impression of one?

620.61 -> Hit him with it, Jean.

622.02 -> Hoot, hoot.

624.06 -> Yeah, okay.

624.893 -> That's pretty good.

628.17 -> The Chouanary uprising lasted all the way until 1800.

631.92 -> In the summer of 1793,

633.63 -> the southern city of Toulon invited the British Navy

636 -> over for some tea and crumpets.

637.8 -> And then they asked if they'd possibly like to stay

639.75 -> and occupy the city.

640.86 -> Being an important naval base,

642.33 -> this was a heavy blow to the republic

644.16 -> who sent a relatively unknown young captain

646.29 -> by the name of Napoleon Bonaparte

647.94 -> to help stage the siege of the city.

649.62 -> Toulon was recaptured by France in the winter

652.02 -> and for his service

653.22 -> Napoleon was promoted to the rank of brigadier general.

656.31 -> The most infamous counterrevolution, however,

658.53 -> occurred in the Vendee region.

660.21 -> Throughout 1793,

661.71 -> revolutionary forces clashed with the region's

663.96 -> Catholic and royal army.

665.73 -> The republic defeated the counterrevolution

667.59 -> through cruel pacification.

669.51 -> In particular,

670.44 -> general Jean Baptist Carrier

672.15 -> committed brutal atrocities.

674.34 -> In one instance,

675.39 -> he had 1000s of civilians, priests,

677.76 -> women and children tied to ships,

680.22 -> which were then sunk.

681.9 -> Carrier would later be found guilty of war crimes

684.72 -> and executed.

686.76 -> Back in Paris,

687.78 -> the government was still dominated by moderates.

690.33 -> With the war going badly,

691.59 -> revolts in the provinces and the economy getting worse,

694.53 -> it seemed the government just wasn't doing a very good job.

697.38 -> Radicals' fear for the safety of the revolution intensified

700.65 -> and Marat even began calling for the moderates

702.87 -> in the government to be executed.

704.91 -> In return,

705.743 -> the moderates called for the arrest of Marat.

707.85 -> This led to a chain of events

709.17 -> with the two sides in heated conflict.

711.15 -> Robespierre declared the Jacobins to be be an insurrection

714.06 -> and called on the people to arm themselves.

716.31 -> It all ended on the 31st of May, 1793

719.43 -> with the National Convention surrounded

721.05 -> by radical Sans-culottes

722.46 -> and 29 moderate Girondin politicians arrested.

726.09 -> From this moment on,

727.29 -> the moderate ceased to be a political force.

729.54 -> Robespierre and his radicals

731.28 -> would be an almost total control of the government.

734.04 -> And this brings us to the story

735.48 -> of a woman named Charlotte Corday.

737.31 -> Charlotte lived in the northwest city of Caen

739.8 -> and like many in the area

741.03 -> was horrified at the rapid radicalization

743.46 -> and increasing violence of the revolution.

745.71 -> And the man she blamed more than anyone

747.93 -> was Jean Paul Marat.

749.79 -> She wanted to bring peace back to France.

751.86 -> And so she did something drastic.

753.57 -> She traveled to Paris and told Marat

755.4 -> she had a list of enemies for him to publish in his paper.

758.25 -> Marat eagerly invited her in for a meeting.

760.71 -> So where's that list of enemies you promised me?

762.87 -> Here it is.

763.98 -> Wait a minute.

765.33 -> This isn't the list of enemies.

766.95 -> It just says "yippee ki yay mother..."

769.929 -> (Marat screams)

770.97 -> And just like that,

772.11 -> Marat was no more.

774.06 -> Charlotte was quickly arrested and sent to the guillotine.

776.97 -> Her dream of restoring peace, however, died with her.

780.21 -> Marat became a martyr.

781.56 -> In temples of reason,

782.58 -> symbols of the dead Marat

784.05 -> became the new crucifix.

785.67 -> In death,

786.503 -> he became an even more powerful inspiration

788.67 -> for the extreme levels of violence

790.32 -> that were about to rip throughout the new republic.

793.02 -> And that's right.

793.92 -> Here comes the reign of terror.

796.53 -> If you thought this revolution already

798.09 -> sounds pretty violent,

799.26 -> well you ain't seen nothing yet, son.

801.03 -> The radicals were now in control

802.8 -> and they believed

803.633 -> not only was France surrounded by foreign enemies,

805.74 -> but that within the masses,

807.09 -> there were also plenty of internal ones too.

809.61 -> Individuals not loyal to the revolution,

811.77 -> conspiring to bring about it's downfall.

814.14 -> Robespierre and the rest of the radical faction

816.57 -> were having none of it.

817.92 -> A new committee of public safety

819.36 -> was established with 12 members.

821.28 -> Its purpose was to protect the new French republic

823.29 -> from its enemies

824.22 -> and it basically became a 12 man dictatorship

826.53 -> with Robespierre as its leading voice.

828.9 -> The revolutionary tribunal was also reinstated.

831.63 -> A special court created to streamline

833.34 -> the process of trying suspected enemies

835.56 -> and handing out their death sentences.

837.39 -> With these two new institutions,

839.31 -> Robespierre wanted to scare Francis enemies straight.

842.22 -> In September, 1793,

844.11 -> it was announced that terror would be the order of the day.

847.26 -> In other words,

848.093 -> fear had become official government policy.

851.31 -> And from then onwards,

852.36 -> we entered to the period known as

854.13 -> the reign of terror.

855.51 -> Spies and secret police were everywhere

857.82 -> and watched the people closely.

859.35 -> France's public had to be extremely careful

861.33 -> what they said and how they behaved.

863.13 -> Obviously criticizing this new system

865.44 -> or the government would quickly have you

867.15 -> sent off to the guillotine.

868.56 -> But that's not all,

869.55 -> even the most minor offense

871.05 -> could have you tried before the Revolutionary Tribunal.

873.78 -> Hello, citizen Martin.

875.13 -> Hello, Monsieur DuBois.

876.48 -> Monsieur?

877.313 -> Did I just hear you say monsieur?

878.76 -> That's the old style of address, my friend.

880.62 -> To the guillotine.

881.58 -> You know what?

882.413 -> I didn't like him

883.246 -> but I do feel kind of bad for the King and his family.

885.42 -> Ooh, expressing sympathy for the royal family, are we?

888.23 -> To the guillotine.

889.32 -> 12 sous for a loaf of bread?

891.12 -> That's way overpriced.

892.44 -> To the guillotine.

893.34 -> Man, this bread line is taking forever.

895.41 -> To the guillotine.

897.27 -> And you,

898.29 -> you look like you're thinking anti-revolutionary thoughts.

902.219 -> To the guillotine.

903.052 -> Max, we're sending way too many people

904.44 -> to the guillotine.

905.273 -> To the guillotine.

906.24 -> Chop, chop, chop, chop, chop, chop, chop.

908.85 -> It was insane.

910.26 -> All across France,

911.34 -> about 40,000 people were killed

912.764 -> for suspected crimes against liberty.

915.69 -> Let's say

916.523 -> your neighbor won't stop mowing the lawn

917.46 -> at seven in the morning.

918.48 -> Well, then all you gotta do is tell the government

920.28 -> they've been talking smack about the revolution

922.38 -> and there's a good chance

923.28 -> they'll end up in front of the Revolutionary Tribunal.

925.68 -> Maybe they'll even be executed,

927.21 -> taking a metaphorical load off your shoulders

929.31 -> and a literal one off theirs.

931.2 -> The most prominent victim of the reign of terror

933.24 -> was a certain Marie Antoinette

935.19 -> who has finally tried and found guilty of treason in 1793.

939.39 -> She expected she'd be brought to the guillotine

941.28 -> in a royal carriage fit for a queen.

943.53 -> All the republic could provide for her, however,

945.84 -> was a wooden (indistinct).

947.13 -> At 37 years old,

948.6 -> the most hated woman in French history

951.09 -> met her end on the 16th of October, 1793.

955.95 -> Robespierre had saved the revolution through terror.

958.68 -> Internal dissent was being suppressed.

960.78 -> The food situation was no longer quite as bad.

963.12 -> Even the French military had got its act together again

965.58 -> and pummeled the allies

966.54 -> at the Battle of Fleurus.

967.83 -> For Danton and his followers,

969.27 -> the time was right to try to normalize the French Republic.

972.42 -> Hey, Robes P,

973.35 -> so we were thinking that

974.22 -> since things are finally going better,

975.69 -> maybe we should reign in the terror.

977.58 -> And while we're on it,

978.413 -> we could possibly start taking it easier on the church

980.58 -> and also try to end this costly war.

983.55 -> Hmm.

984.6 -> Oh crap.

986.4 -> As time went on,

987.42 -> Robespierre seemed to go,

988.86 -> for lack of a better term, a bit mental.

991.56 -> He was hellbent on creating

992.79 -> what he called a republic of virtue.

994.8 -> And for him this meant amping up the bloodshed even more.

998.01 -> Throughout the spring and summer of 1794,

1000.44 -> executions reached an unprecedented level

1002.96 -> during a period known as the great terror.

1005.6 -> Even those closest to him

1006.8 -> found their way to the guillotine

1008.18 -> if they dare to pose his ideas and actions.

1010.61 -> And he began alienating himself

1012.35 -> from the rest of the convention.

1014.03 -> He created a new deistic religion

1015.86 -> called the Cult of the supreme being

1017.78 -> along with the new annual festival of the supreme being.

1020.57 -> Man, I think Robespierre is really starting to lose it.

1023.21 -> He thinks he's a God or something.

1024.83 -> Nonsense.

1025.663 -> Sure, he's gone a little extreme,

1027.17 -> but he doesn't think he's a God.

1029.57 -> My children,

1030.59 -> bathe your immortal souls in the virtue of my republic.

1034.07 -> Okay, yeah.

1034.903 -> He's completely lost it.

1036.05 -> Robespierre's ultimate mistake, however,

1037.85 -> came on July 26th

1039.35 -> when he made a speech to the National Convention

1041.39 -> in which he said this,

1042.447 -> "I have in my hand a brand new list of enemies

1044.99 -> to be sent to the guillotine.

1046.19 -> And many of you are on this list

1048.32 -> but I'm not gonna tell you who yet.

1050.39 -> What do you think of that?"

1052.28 -> I think we should send Robespierre

1053.99 -> to the guillotine first.

1055.52 -> All in favor?

1058.76 -> Oh, no.

1060.38 -> Two days later, Robespierre became the final victim

1063.2 -> of the monstrous terror and paranoia

1065.63 -> he had created.

1067.43 -> Many historical accounts of the revolution end here

1070.13 -> with the death of Robespierre and his terror.

1072.59 -> But the revolution officially continued

1074.3 -> for another five years until 1799.

1077.09 -> So what happened between now and then?

1079.16 -> Well, after the fall of Robespierre,

1080.9 -> a more moderate political group called the Thermidorians

1083.24 -> took control of the convention.

1084.74 -> They wanted to restore stability to the government.

1087.05 -> Now Robespierre's allies

1088.82 -> and other radicals who had fueled the terror themselves

1091.64 -> became the target of political suppression.

1093.77 -> Bourgeois street fighters

1094.91 -> took on the radical San-Culottes

1096.47 -> in the streets during a period named the white terror.

1099.23 -> In 1795, the Thermidorians drafted a new constitution

1102.59 -> and created a government called The Directory

1104.54 -> with the purpose of preventing power

1106.22 -> from being able to fall into the hands

1107.72 -> of a single individual again.

1109.85 -> As this new government was being established,

1112.13 -> royalists who wanted to bring the monarchy back

1114.38 -> to France saw this moment as an opportunity to strike.

1117.83 -> They staged an insurrection in Paris

1119.51 -> and battled with the National Guard in the streets.

1121.97 -> Luckily, one Napoleon Bonaparte

1123.89 -> happened to be in Paris at the time,

1125.51 -> and he took control of the situation

1127.46 -> firing on the crowd and putting down the insurrection.

1130.34 -> From this moment on,

1131.36 -> the people of Paris would never again

1133.13 -> be able to stage a popular uprising

1134.99 -> and lost their control over the revolution.

1137.3 -> For his actions,

1138.26 -> Napoleon became a general

1140.03 -> and was sent to take control of the French armies in Italy.

1142.88 -> The new directory remained a fairly ineffective government

1145.52 -> for the remainder of the revolution.

1147.17 -> It was plagued with corruption

1148.61 -> and struggled to keep the economy afloat.

1150.44 -> And as a result wasn't very popular.

1152.75 -> For the people of France,

1153.98 -> with the strict social customs

1155.3 -> of both royalist France and the terror gone,

1157.58 -> they didn't really know what to do with themselves.

1159.65 -> Men no longer removed their hats when talking to women,

1162.17 -> different classes began intermingling

1164.18 -> and a publication began circulating

1165.98 -> that looked a lot like a modern dating app.

1168.08 -> It was social anarchy.

1169.79 -> Outside of France,

1170.78 -> the war continued.

1171.83 -> In 1795,

1173.06 -> France took the Netherlands

1174.35 -> where they set up a puppet state.

1175.91 -> Then they negotiated both Prussia and Spain out of the war.

1178.76 -> The British attempted to land French royalists

1180.68 -> in the West to reinforce rebellion.

1182.51 -> But that plan failed.

1183.65 -> In 1796, the French planned a three-pronged attack

1186.53 -> with the aim of marching on Vienna

1188.09 -> and knocking Austria out of the war.

1189.71 -> The two northern armies were defeated

1191.27 -> and forced to retreat.

1192.41 -> However, Napoleon in the South

1194.24 -> with groundbreaking military strategy,

1196.31 -> won battle after battle after battle.

1199.04 -> He pushed the Austrians out of Italy

1200.75 -> and began closing in on Vienna.

1202.82 -> The Austrians freaked out

1204.08 -> and Napoleon oversaw the signing of a peace treaty.

1206.93 -> He had almost single-handedly knocked Austria

1209.06 -> out of the war.

1209.893 -> And by the way, he was only 28.

1211.85 -> So maybe it's about time

1212.78 -> you moved outta your mom's basement.

1214.34 -> Napoleon became a famed hero among the French people

1217.19 -> but his aspirations were still higher.

1219.35 -> He briefly went off to Egypt

1220.76 -> and discovered a bunch of gnarly Egyptian stuff.

1222.74 -> But then the British destroyed his fleet

1224.51 -> and trapped his forces.

1225.71 -> Say, Napoleon, sir,

1226.91 -> you're not gonna leave us here stuck in Egypt

1228.59 -> and return to France, are you?

1229.88 -> Nonsense, my boy.

1231.02 -> I would never dream of abandoning my loyal soldiers.

1233.51 -> Wow, what's that over there?

1236.96 -> On his return to Paris,

1238.01 -> Napoleon found himself to be extremely popular

1240.47 -> and the government extremely unpopular.

1242.6 -> And he started getting some power-hungry ideas.

1245 -> Conveniently, a politician named Emmanuel Joseph Sieyes

1248.24 -> approached Napoleon and said,

1249.477 -> "hey man, since you're so popular,

1251.3 -> do you wanna help me stage a coup?"

1252.86 -> Great idea.

1253.91 -> Let's stage a coup and then I'll coup you.

1257.21 -> What?

1258.043 -> Napoleon, with the help of his politician brother

1259.97 -> entered the government chamber,

1261.17 -> possibly got punched in the face

1262.79 -> and finally his troops intimidated the council

1264.83 -> to dissolve the government

1266.03 -> and create a new constitution

1267.44 -> that basically made Napoleon a dictator.

1269.96 -> So there you have it.

1271.25 -> The French Revolution,

1272.6 -> born with a great promise of liberty and equality.

1275.69 -> The common people dared challenge an oppressive system

1278.51 -> that had existed for centuries

1280.43 -> but before they knew it,

1281.51 -> they found liberty sidelined by terror.

1283.58 -> Equality that possibly didn't quite hit the mark

1286.37 -> and an absolute monarchy

1287.72 -> replaced by an absolute dictator.

1289.97 -> Napoleon began stabilizing French society.

1292.49 -> He restored the Catholic church

1293.9 -> and got rid of that crazy calendar among other things.

1296.6 -> But he remained ever ambitious.

1298.55 -> He was Francis's first consul,

1300.35 -> but he slept soundly at night

1301.55 -> dreaming of being something even bigger.

1303.86 -> Napoleon's expansionist aspirations

1306.41 -> combined with the ongoing conflict in Europe

1308.99 -> would eventually lead the continent into a huge conflict.

1312.02 -> Known today as...

1313.458 -> (dramatic music)

1318.009 -> (upbeat music)

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EQmjXM4VK2U