What is the Third Estate
Hello, and welcome to Revolutions. We left off last time with the de facto bankruptcy of the French monarchy in August 1788. The short term consequences of this bankruptcy was that it forced Principal Minister Brienne to suspend his attempts at financial and judicial reform, officially call for the convening of the Estates General, and […]
The Day of the Tiles
Hello, and welcome to Revolutions. Last week, we saw the Royal Ministry and the Paris Parlement battle over the big financial reform package that had been cooked up to save the Kingdom’s bacon. After accepting a few of the initial offerings, the Parlement’s then rejected the main pieces of the puzzle, leading to a series […]
The Séance Royale
Hello, and welcome to Revolutions. Last week, we stepped away from the final financial crisis that was busy rocking the Ancien Régime to take a look at the wider world of international politics, diplomacy, and war that the French Revolution was about to explode in the middle of. And as I kind of suspected would […]