Bastille Day

[Raistlin]

On 5 May 1789, Louis XVI convened the Estates-General to hear their grievances. The deputies of the Third Estate representing the common people (the two others were the Catholic Church and nobility) decided to break away and form a National Assembly. On 20 June the deputies of the Third Estate took the Tennis Court Oath, swearing not to separate until a constitution had been established. They were gradually joined by delegates of the other estates; Louis started to recognise their validity on 27 June. The assembly re-named itself the National Constituent Assembly on 9 July, and began to function as a legislature and to draft a constitution.

In the wake of the 11 July dismissal of Jacques Necker, the people of Paris, fearful that they and their representatives would be attacked by the royal military, and seeking to gain ammunition and gunpowder for the general populace, stormed the Bastille, a fortress-prison in Paris which had often held people jailed on the basis of lettres de cachet, arbitrary royal indictments that could not be appealed. Besides holding a large cache of ammunition and gunpowder, the Bastille had been known for holding political prisoners whose writings had displeased the royal government, and was thus a symbol of the absolutism of the monarchy. As it happened, at the time of the siege in July 1789 there were only seven inmates, none of great political significance.

When the crowd—eventually reinforced by mutinous gardes françaises—proved a fair match for the fort's defenders, Governor de Launay, the commander of the Bastille, capitulated and opened the gates to avoid a mutual massacre. However, possibly because of a misunderstanding, fighting resumed. Ninety-eight attackers and just one defender died in the actual fighting, but in the aftermath, de Launay and seven other defenders were killed, as was the 'prévôt des marchands' (roughly, mayor) Jacques de Flesselles.

The storming of the Bastille was more important as a rallying point and symbolic act of rebellion than a practical act of defiance.

Shortly after the storming of the Bastille, on 4 August feudalism was abolished and on 26 August, the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen proclaimed.

On the one-year anniversary of the fall of the Bastille, delegates from every region of France proclaimed their allegiance to a single national community during the Fête de la Fédération in Paris - the first time in history that a people had claimed their right to self-determination.

The French Revolution had numerous causes which are greatly simplified and summarised here:

1.Parliament wanted the king to share his absolute powers with an oligarchic parliament.

2.Priests and other low-level religious figures wanted more money.

3.Nobles also wanted to share some of the king's power.

4.The middle class wanted the right to own land and to vote.

5.The lower class were hostile toward everyone and farmers were angry about tithes and feudal rights.

6.Some historians claim that the revolutionaries were opposed to Catholicism more than to the king or the upper classes.

[bokkie]

The best thing France did was to get rid of their monarchy. In the ensuing struggle that followed it was proven again, that in any successful revolution the first people you should eliminate are the revolutionary leaders. France gave us cognac and excellent cheese. They should, in theory, be able to teach England how to play soccer. In theory...

[Bizarra]

The best thing France did was to get rid of their monarchy. In the ensuing struggle that followed it was proven again, that in any successful revolution the first people you should eliminate are the revolutionary leaders. France gave us cognac and excellent cheese. They should, in theory, be able to teach England how to play soccer. In theory...

Yes! If you can't use your feet, then use your hands :censor: when the Ref isn't looking, or the linesman , either :ffs:

[Raistlin]

The French...

We have a wall for that :D

[Bizarra]

The French...

We have a wall for that :D

Not much of a one, judging from the World Cup

[Raistlin]

But you weren't there, No invite due to.... ah yes, LOSING

[Bizarra]

But you weren't there, No invite due to.... ah yes, LOSING

I can think of some who were invited.............. & still LOST :( without putting up much of a fight. I won't mention names, to spare the blushes, & they had only a disallowed goal to moan about <_<

[Raistlin]

But you have to be in it to win it or a least attempt it,

No matter how inept the performance...

[Bizarra]

But you have to be in it to win it or a least attempt it,

No matter have inept the performance...

It was "NO Contest" FIFA love money & France would draw more supporters & put more Bums on seats, so the Ref turned a blind eye :censor: :ffs:

[Bizarra]

Hah ! I got the last word for once

Raist is a lightweight & went Beddy Byes before he got to the last current post

OOOh! I'm not getting up in the morning coz I'll suffer for that :lol2:

[Bizarra]

Bump !

[Raistlin]

I just treated it with the contempt it deserved

[Bizarra]

I am completely squashed & deflated

[Raistlin]

You'll be OK,

As you have an inflated opinion of yourself your ego will soon be overblown...

[Bizarra]

You'll be OK,

As you have an inflated opinion of yourself your ego will soon be overblown...

Is it truly possible to be "overblown"? What a way to go!

I'd risk it for a biscuit

[Raistlin]

Sick Minds

[Bizarra]

Sick Minds

Condemnation from the Expert in the field ?

[Raistlin]

As long as you are willing to learn from the Master

[Bizarra]

As long as you are willing to learn from the Master

oooh! Black Magic, Secret rites involving sex [i'll go for that as my main subject ]How to bewitch Maidens, How to inflict plagues of warts & Boils,Place curses on folk, etc, etc ?

Yes please! Where do I sign? Do I have to use my own blood? I'd rather use yours

[Raistlin]

You know too much already