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Dover (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore | Wed Nov-02-11 03:56 PM Original message |
Storming the Bastille |
Ironic that this French revolution was, at least in part, a result of the economic burdens caused by their support of the American Revolution (as well as their regressive tax system). The Bastille was an imposing midieval fortress used as a prison in Paris. It had become a symbol for the abuse of power, and the suppression and starvation of the people by the French royalty under King Louis XVI. Upon learning that the Bastille had been taken, King Louis XVI, who was residing at Versailles, was reported to have asked an informer: "Is this a revolt?" and La Rochefoucauld-Liancourt said, "No, Sire, it is a revolution." ---------------------------------------------------- The storming of the Bastille occurred in Paris on the morning of 14 July 1789. The medieval fortress and prison in Paris known as the Bastille represented royal authority in the centre of Paris. While the prison only contained seven inmates at the time of its storming, its fall was the flashpoint of the French Revolution. In France, Le quatorze juillet (14 July) is a public holiday, formally known as the Fête de la Fédération (Federation Holiday). It is usually called Bastille Day in English. During the reign of Louis XVI, France faced a major economic crisis, initiated by the cost of intervening in the American Revolution (and particularly never-consummated efforts to invade Britain), and exacerbated by a regressive system of taxation. On 5 May 1789 the Estates-General of 1789 convened to deal with this issue, but were held back by archaic protocols and the conservatism of the Second Estate, consisting of the nobility and amounting to only 2% of France's population at the time. On 17 June 1789 the Third Estate, with its representatives drawn from the middle class, or bourgeoisie, reconstituted themselves as the National Assembly, a body whose purpose was the creation of a French constitution. The king initially opposed this development, but was forced to acknowledge the authority of the assembly, which subsequently renamed itself the National Constituent Assembly on 9 July. The storming of the Bastille and the subsequent Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen* was the third event of this opening stage of the revolution. The first had been the revolt of the nobility, refusing to aid King Louis XVI through the payment of taxes. The second had been the formation of the National Assembly and the Tennis Court Oath. cont'd http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Storming_of_the_Bastille *The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen (French: Déclaration des droits de l'Homme et du Citoyen) is a fundamental document of the French Revolution, defining the individual and collective rights of all the estates of the realm as universal. Influenced by the doctrine of natural right, the rights of man are universal: valid at all times and in every place, pertaining to human nature itself. Although it establishes fundamental rights for French citizens and "all the members of the social Body", it addresses neither the status of women nor slavery; despite that, it is a precursor document to international human rights instruments. The concepts in the Declaration come from the philosophical and political principles of the Age of Enlightenment, such as individualism, the social contract as theorized by the French philosopher Rousseau, and the separation of powers espoused by the Baron de Montesquieu. As can be seen in the texts, the French declaration is heavily influenced by the political philosophy of the Enlightenment, and by Enlightenment principles of human rights, some of which it shares with the U.S. Declaration of Independence which preceded it (4 July 1776). Thomas Jefferson, primary author of the U.S. Declaration of Independence, was at the time in France as a U.S. diplomat, and was in correspondence with members of the French National Constituent Assembly. James Madison's proposal for a U.S. Bill of Rights was adopted by the U.S. House of Representatives on 21 August 1789. The declaration is in the spirit of what has come to be called natural law, which does not base itself on religious doctrine or authority. The declaration defines a single set of individual and collective rights for all men. Influenced by the doctrine of natural rights, these rights are held to be universal and valid in all times and places. For example, "Men are born and remain free and equal in rights. Social distinctions may be founded only upon the general good."<8> They have certain natural rights to property, to liberty and to life. According to this theory the role of government is to recognize and secure these rights. Furthermore government should be carried on by elected representatives.<9> cont'd http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Declaration_of_the_Rights_of_Man_and_of_the_Citizen |
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Dover (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore | Wed Nov-02-11 05:49 PM Response to Original message |
1. There were also volcanic eruptions in Iceland in the 1780's. |
Edited on Wed Nov-02-11 05:51 PM by Dover
Such as simultaneous eruptions of Vesuvius and Etna. This was followed by extreme cold snaps.
The list of natural phenomenon during that period seems as active and rocky as our current activities. ...Of key importance to the events examined here is the fact that in 1783, volcanic gases emitted by the eruption in Iceland were transported to Europe by the prevailing winds, where they caused considerable respiratory distress to susceptible people and damage to crops, trees and fish. Very detailed descriptions of severe acid damage to vegetation, insects, people and property have been left by a number of scientists, of which the recently rediscovered records of two Dutchmen, Brugmans (1787) and Van Swinden (1786), reveal the impacts of the Laki eruption during the summer of 1783. In mainland Europe the volcanic gases were described as a 'dry fog', an 'acid fog' or 'sulphurous fog'. For example, Brugmans (1787) noted: "On many days after the 24th June, in both the town of Groningen and countryside there was a strong, persistent fog...the fog was very dense and accompanied by a very strong smell of sulphur.., many people in the open air experienced an uncomfortable pressure, headaches and experienced a difficulty breathing…". This account is typical of many that were written at the time. Many crops withered because of the acid deposition but there are no reports on the continent of famine. This is different in northern Scotland where the population was facing hardship because of a harvest failure in 1782, a year before the eruption. The food situation was already poor when acid deposition and ash from the Laki eruption rained down and destroyed crops. Contemporary reports from northern Scotland suggest that many farmers and their families abandoned their farms and 'were forced to beg or perish'. This shows that the effects of the Laki eruption were not the direct cause for famine in Northern Scotland but the last straw which triggered the crisis. http://www.eh-resources.org/volcanoes.html LANDMARKS OF WORLD HISTORY A Chronology of Remarkable Natural Phenomena Eighteenth Century 1781-1790 http://www.phenomena.org.uk/page29/page41/page41.html 1781 February 12 England E. coast Gales Coasts strewn with wrecks & dead bodies 1781 February 15 Hampshire, England Aurora 'Strong aurora, very red' 1781 February 27 Hampshire, England Gale 3-hour storm; houses and trees blown down 1781 March 13 England Planet Herschel discovers Uranus 1781 June 20 English Channel Waterspout Whirlwind sank RN cutter 1781 September 25 Hampshire, England Aurora 'Surprising auroras, very red' 1781 October 25 (rep.) Hungary Heat Farmers worked at night. All snow on Carpathians melted 1782 May 1 (reported) Europe Late cold Severe frost, Vienna; great snowfalls, Italy 1782 May 15 Hungary Subsidence Chasm opened in storm; 53 houses swallowed 1782 May 22 Formosa & China Storm surge? Sea rose & drowned 'innumerable' people 1782 May 23 Brusjö Lake, Sweden Earthquake? Lake waters rose in flood after 'loud noise' 1782 May 23 Eastern USA Tornadoes In Vermont, Massachusetts, New Hampshire 1782 August 16 Ireland Flood Great rain flood in Dublin & neighbourhood 1782 September 16 Off Newfoundland Gale West Indian convoy wrecked; over 1,200 drowned 1782 October 15 India ‘Hurricane’ Many ships & boats lost 1782 November 11 St. Pons, France Glazed frost Great tree damage 1782 December Formosa Volcanoes 3 volcanoes erupted, many k. 'Exaggerated' 1782 December Hungary Earthquake Town of Comorn ‘entirely destroyed’ 1783 see here Eifel, Germany Volcano Possible ‘minor eruption’, Gliechberg 1783 January Iceland Volcano Submarine eruption off Cape Reikianes 1783 February Calabria, Italy Dry fog Dry fog spread over most of Europe 1783 February 5 Calabria, Italy Earthquake 181 towns wrecked, 30,000 k. 1783 March 26 Greece Earthquake St. Maura; buildings fell, many k. 1783 March 28 Calabria, Italy Earthquake 'Completed destruction'. Shocks till Sept. 1783 April 8 Hungary Earthquake Much building damage, Comorn. Again on April 22 1783 April 26-27 Hampshire, England Aurora “Vivid aurora’ 1783 May? Near Iceland Volcano Eruption formed Nyöe ('New Island'} 1783 May 4 England Lunar event? Herschel observes ‘red star’ in lunar crater Aristarchus 1783 May 7 Portugal Earthquakes Many houses thrown down, Oporto & Brague 1783 May 12 - 31 Hungary Earthquakes 19 shocks. Comorn damaged again 1783 May 20 (c.) Iceland Volcano ‘Column of fire’ in mountains N. of Sida 1783 June 1-11 Europe Dry fog ‘Electric fog’ spread over all Europe from Calabria 1783 June 8 Iceland Volcano Great Laki fissure eruption begins 1783 June 13 Cremnitz, Hungary Lightning City struck in 9 places & burnt down; 50 k. 1783 June 14 Iceland Volcano Laki eruption column visible 250 km. distant 1783 June 18 Iceland Volcano Skapta River blocked by Laki lava; great floods 1783 June 23 England, Wales Summer frost Trees & fruit suffered severely 1783 June 25 Iceland Volcano Laki eruption column 12 km. high. Fire-fountains over 1,000 m. high 1783 June 28 England, France Obscuration Sun dull red; 'hot fog' in Paris 1783 July 4 Bohemia & Hungary Lightning 34 persons k. by lightning 1783 July 6 Poland Lightning Houses set afire, Cracow; several k. 1783 July 20 Syria Earthquake Village crushed by rock fall. ‘Dry fog’ in Syria 1783 July 23 (reported) France Thunderstorms Hail destroyed harvest, Lausanne; 14 k, by lightning, Geneva 1783 July 29 Italy Earthquake 4 villages ruined, Calabria 1783 August 2 Canterbury, England Heat 92°F. at noon 1783 August 3 Iceland Volcano Laki lava filled River Hverfisfloit channel 1783 August 3 Orleans, France Thunderstorm Storm ruined crops & tore up trees. Tornado? 1783 August 5 Asama-yama, Japan Volcano Nuee ardente blast k. 1,162 1783 August 18 Europe Meteor Great meteor passed from Shetland to Rome 1783 August 30 England, Holland Thunderstorm Many wrecks on coasts; houses unroofed & people k. by lightning inland 1783 September 9 England Aurora? Cast shadow despite near full Moon 1783 September 29 (reported) Mediterranean Dry fog Thick ‘fog’ in N. Africa & Greek Archipelago 1783 October 25 Iceland Volcano Last major Laki eruptions 1783 November 29 New York, USA Earthquake 'Rather violent' shock, again on 30th 1783 December 9 Cambray, France Earthquake? Meteor explosion? Noise like ‘cannons’ heard, several villages. Chimneys fell 1784 December 14 Holland Fog Fatal accidents, Amsterdam; coaches fell into canals 1783 December 30 Eastern USA Snowstorm 20 inches of snow, New Jersey 1784 January 2 Scotland Blizzard “Hurricane’ of wind & snow, Aberdeen; drifts 18 feet deep 1784 January 9 Guanaxuato, Mexico Earth sounds 'Underground thunder' begins; no earthquake 1784 January 14 & 16 Iceland Earthquake 1,459 houses & 19 churches damaged. Landslides, fissures, rivers changed course 1784 January 18 England Snow ‘Vast snows’ in Cornwall 1784 January 27 USA Severe winter Temp. of minus 18° (F?)at Detroit. 'Long Winter' 1784 February 7 England Snow Snow ‘up to horses’ shoulders’, Norfolk 1784 February 10 USA Severe winter Temp. at Hartford, Connecticut, -12° (F?) or lower, 12 consecutive mornings 1784 March 20 Europe Earthquake Violent shock, Prague. ‘Mountain fell’ in Transylvania, 18th 1784 April 2 Norfolk, England Snow Snowed all afternoon, lying since 23 Dec., ’83 1784 May 8 South Carolina Hailstorm Storm 2 miles wide, stones 9 inches round. Several persons & many animals k. 1784 May 13 Peru Earthquake Cumana & Maquiqua devastated 1784 June 25 (c.) Austria Summer snow Snow fell & vines frozen 1784 July 23 Exinhian, Armenia Earthquake 5,000 k. 1784 July 30 West Indies Hurricane Much damage & many lives lost, Jamaica 1784 August 16 Olavsvik, Iceland Earthquake 30 large farms ruined 1784 August 19 Italy Earthquake ‘Earth agitated for an hour’, Calabria 1785 February 19 (OS) Moscow, Russia Halo complex Halo, parhelic circle, 5 parhelia, & arc 1785 February 19 Bavaria Meteorite 3 Kg stone fell at Eichstadt 1785 June 4 Hampshire, England Halo complex 'Several haloes & mock suns' 1785 October 15 Thuringia Bolide Meteor, explosion & earthquake 1785 October 16 Canada Obscuration Intense darkness & black rain 1785 November 1 Nottingham, England Tornado Became waterspout on R. Trent 1785 November 29 England Tornado Gloucester & Bath 1786 January 4 England Snow Deep snow, intense cold, high wind 1786 February 5 Corfu Earthquake Corfu town ruined, 120 k. 1786 February 7 E. Europe Earthquake Violent shocks, Silesia, Poland, Hungary, Moravia, Bohemia 1786 March 9 Sicily Earthquake Melazzo ruined 1786 July 31 Suffolk Tornado Trees felled, Saxham 1786 August 8 Mt. Blanc, France Mountain Balmat & Paccard make 1st ascent 1786 August 11 N.W. England Earthquake Damage at Whitehaven, Egremont, Workington 1786 September 2 England Ball lightning Fireball seen 40 mins. during 'hurricane' 1786 December 25 Italy Earthquake Rimini, Padua, Florence. Many buildings fell, Rimini 1787 January 7 Hampshire Aurora ‘Strong aurora’ 1787 March 14 Acapulco, Mexico Earthquake City ruined, sea retreated. Date April 18? 1787 May 24 Somerset Tornado Houses unroofed, trees uprooted, Wellington 1787 June 7 Hampshire, England Late frost Much crop damage 1787 August 15 Eastern USA Tornadoes 'Swath' 30 miles wide, 145 miles long 1787 August 19 Hampshire, England Aurora 'Vivid aurora' 1787 September Navarre, France Flood Poured from mountains; 2,000 k. 1787 September 11 Edinburgh, Scotland Meteor Fireball rose & burst behind clouds 1787 October 13 Hampshire, Norfolk Aurora 'Very red & aweful' 1787 November 1 Hampshire, Norfolk Aurora 'Broad, red fiery belt' 1787 December 15 Vesuvius & Etna Volcanoes In simultaneous eruption to 24th 1788 May 24-25 Dublin, Ireland Aurora Great aurora; seen in daylight, 25th 1788 June 12 Zamora, Spain Ball lightning? 2 fireballs ‘fought’ for 20 minutes; one then exploded 1788 June 22 Pt. Jackson, Australia Earthquake ‘1st recorded Australian earthquake' 1788 June 28 Suffolk Rain flood ‘Midsummer Flood’; ‘awful torrents’ for hours 1788 July 13 France Hailstorm Paris to Picardy. 1,039 villages damaged 1788 October 12 Lucia, West Indies Earthquake 900 k. 'False or exaggerated' 1788 November 11 Scotland Earthquake Ist Comrie earthquake. Over 1,000 shocks here, 1788-1921 1788 November 25 Paris, France Cold 1st of 50 consecutive frost days (but Dec. 25) 1788 December 18 Neufbrissac, France Cold Temp. of minus 22.4° F. 1788 December 21 Norfolk, England Cold 'Bitter cold with high wind & snow' 1788 December 31 Europe Severe winter -21° C in Paris. ‘One of longest & coldest winters ever known’ 1789 January 6 Nice, France Waterspout Off coast. Another on March 19 1789 January 9 London, England Cold Thames froze; frost fair 1789 January 13 Norfolk Cold ‘Bitter, bitter cold...hailed, rained & froze’ 1789 January 18 Orleans, France Flood Suburbs & vineyards flooded by Loire 1789 May 8 Denmark Ice Sledges cross frozen Denmark Sound from Bellevue to Copenhagen 1789 May 30 Pennsylvania, USA Tornado '4 miles wide' at Redstone 1789 June 10 Skaholt, Iceland Earthquake Houses thrown down, earth clefts, hot springs 1789 June 25 Northants, England Tornado Path 200 yards wide, 10 miles long 1789 July 27 Feltri, France Ball lightning Exploded in hall, 10 k. 1789 December Coringa, India Cyclone Storm surge k. 20,000 1790 January Pennsylvania, USA Warmth Frequent temps. of 70° F. 1790 March 31 Italy Landslide Mountain Scylla fell into sea; much agitated 1790 April 6 Eastern Europe Earthquake Bannat, Transylvania, etc. to Constantinople 1790 June 18 St. Petersburg, Russia Halo complex One of most complete ever recorded 1790 July 24 Southern France Bolide Meteor larger than Moon burst; meteorites fell. ‘Cottage crushed’; farmer k. 1790 October 8, 9 & 10 Spain & North Africa Earthquake Simultaneous shocks. Great damage, Oran; sea disturbed, Carthagena 1790 November Hawaii Volcano Kilauea erupts. Army of Keoua destroyed 1790 November 27 Lisbon, Portugal Earthquake Much building damage 1790 December 1 North Sea Gale 25 ships lost, 400 bodies washed up, Ostend-Boulogne 1790 December 23 Wales, England, France Storm Storm of lightning, hail & rain. Many houses unroofed |
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