January 1786

1785 drew to a close on the precipice of revolution. When the National Assembly reconvened in January, after the Christmas break, they quickly got to work planning for what France would actually look like in the coming months. A special committee was put together to draft a constitution, and debates raged as to what the roles of the King, versus those of the National Assembly, would be.

First of all, the First and Third Estates both agreed on one thing: Feudal rights and privileges of the Nobility would be abolished.

Once this was out of the way, the National Assembly made several proclamations, of things the majority would agree on.

Freedom of Religious Opinions, Freedom of Speech, and the like were declared. After a day of proclamations, it soon became clear that a document, separate from the constitution, would be required to outline such things. Luckily, over the Winter Break, the Marquis de Lafayette had written such a document up, along with his close associates. Titled the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, this document was soon adopted wholesale, and it was decided upon that it would make an excellent preamble to the constitution.

• Article I – Men are born and remain free and equal in rights. Social distinctions can be founded only on the common good.

• Article II – The goal of any political association is the conservation of the natural and imprescriptible rights of man. These rights are liberty, property, safety and resistance against oppression.

• Article III – The principle of any sovereignty resides essentially in the Nation. No body, no individual can exert authority which does not emanate expressly from it.

• Article IV – Liberty consists of doing anything which does not harm others: thus, the exercise of the natural rights of each man has only those borders which assure other members of the society the fruition of these same rights. These borders can be determined only by the law.

• Article V – The law has the right to forbid only actions harmful to society. Anything which is not forbidden by the law cannot be impeded, and no one can be constrained to do what it does not order.

• Article VI – The law is the expression of the general will. All the citizens have the right of contributing personally or through their representatives to its formation. It must be the same for all, either that it protects, or that it punishes. All the citizens, being equal in its eyes, are equally admissible to all public dignities, places, and employments, according to their capacity and without distinction other than that of their virtues and of their talents.

• Article VII – No man can be accused, arrested nor detained but in the cases determined by the law, and according to the forms which it has prescribed. Those who solicit, dispatch, carry out or cause to be carried out arbitrary orders, must be punished; but any citizen called or seized under the terms of the law must obey at once; he renders himself culpable by resistance.

• Article VIII – The law should establish only penalties that are strictly and evidently necessary, and no one can be punished but under a law established and promulgated before the offense and legally applied.

• Article IX – Any man being presumed innocent until he is declared culpable if it is judged indispensable to arrest him, any rigor which would not be necessary for the securing of his person must be severely reprimanded by the law.

• Article X – No one may be disturbed for his opinions, even religious ones, provided that their manifestation does not trouble the public order established by the law.

• Article XI – The free communication of thoughts and of opinions is one of the most precious rights of man: any citizen thus may speak, write, print freely, except to respond to the abuse of this liberty, in the cases determined by the law.

• Article XII – The guarantee of the rights of man and of the citizen necessitates a public force: this force is thus instituted for the advantage of all and not for the particular utility of those in whom it is trusted.

• Article XIII – For the maintenance of the public force and for the expenditures of administration, a common contribution is indispensable; it must be equally distributed to all the citizens, according to their ability to pay.

• Article XIV – Each citizen has the right to ascertain, by himself or through his representatives, the need for a public tax, to consent to it freely, to know the uses to which it is put, and of determining the proportion, basis, collection, and duration.

• Article XV – The society has the right of requesting an account from any public agent of its administration.

• Article XVI – Any society in which the guarantee of rights is not assured, nor the separation of powers determined, has no Constitution.

• Article XVII – Property being an inviolable and sacred right, no one can be deprived of private usage, if it is not when the public necessity, legally noted, evidently requires it, and under the condition of a just and prior indemnity.

A PLAN IS HATCHED

"Have you heard news of Poland?" Jean Sylvain Bailly asked, without looking up from the latest pamphlet found from the streets of Paris. Lafayette allowed the question to hang in the air for a while, as he pensively gazed at his own pamphlet.

"Nothing other than the war. I do hope Kościuszko is alive and well."

"He was your Polish friend from the war in the New World?"

"We met once or twice. It is good to see that France isn't the only nation embracing modern values in Europe."

"It is, yes. It is a shame we can't help them."

Lafayette stood, placing his pamphlet on a side table next to his chair. "Maybe there is. The King was not against sending help to the Americans."

"And look where that got the Kingdom. Millions of Livres in debt, and his rule is questioned!"

"Well, the National Assembly is set to fix that."

"If we don't cut his head off, or vice-versa. Look, I love the King as much as the next man, but there is very little chance that he would allow the armies of France to go gallivanting across Europe so we may free a few Poles. If anything, we should be thankful that Poland is drawing the ire of the Germans at the moment, so that we may resolve our issues here in France."

"What if we were to propose the war as a way to resolve financial issues?"

"How on Earth are we to do that? Wars are rather expensive, you know. You weren't the one footing the bill for your escapades in the Americas. That was the King."

"Of course, my dear Bailly, of course. What I mean is that a strong, confident government that is reforming the economy at home, all the while winning great victories in the field, is a sure way to allow bankers to lend us money."

"So, you want us to go to war, so that we may go further into debt, intentionally?"

"I believe we must do what is right to assist our brothers of the Revolution. The spirit of the times demands it."

"I believe you're crazy, Lafayette."

"Say we were to absolutely trounce the Austrians. Just happenstance. We would take the Austrian Netherlands from them outright. That's a good amount of good land, available to be taxed and integrated into the French economy. It would be a great benefit to the nation."

"You're also forgetting the fact that the Habsburgs and Bourbons are currently allied."

"They were enemies in 1763. What's to say that 1786 isn't the year they return to being enemies."

"Somehow I feel like the King isn't going to fancy that idea."

"I suggest we use the proposed veto to pressure the King into accepting. War, or no Veto."

"Wars and Vetoes. You do have Poland on the brain."

31 JANUARY 1786

The National Assembly was set to propose allowing the King a veto in the new constitution. Such a veto would allow the King to temporarily delay bills for two weeks, without question. It was a controversial bill, as many on the more revolutionary side and more monarchist sides disagreed with it.

Those supporting a more extreme revolution did not like the idea of a King being able to veto a bill proposed by the People. Such was a betrayal of the entire concept of the revolution.

Those supporting absolutism, however, did not enjoy the fact that the King only had the ability to delay a bill for a few weeks.

Over the past few weeks, Lafayette had been talking to other members of the National Assembly, in private and on the floor. It was soon agreed upon that Poland was a friend in the Revolution, and Austria was an enemy. Austria had sent troops against Poland in cold blood, a nation which had just recently undergone a similar revolution to that going on in France at the moment.

Soon enough, support throughout the National Assembly existed for a Polish ally. The King, who was allied with the Habsburgs, was requested to send troops to Poland. That much was clear. The National Assembly was convened specifically so that they might fix the economy in order to pay for a war aiding them.

Many in the National Assembly, and in fact throughout France, hated the Austrians. They had been rivals to France for centuries, and it was only in the past few decades that the Bourbons and Habsburgs linked arms in the Stately Quadrille.

The proposal was finally presented on January 31st, and much of the National Assembly were not pleased with it in the slightest. Additionally, the proposal included a two-house parliament, modelled after the British Parliament.

The National Assembly reluctantly agree to the proposal, and set about preparing to present it to the King.

FEBRUARY 1786

The King was not pleased with such a proposal. He felt that it was his royal prerogative to veto a bill as he saw fit. He was King after all. Louis outright refused, when the National Assembly presented such a bill. Lafayette was taken aback, as now his entire 'War or no Veto' plan had been chucked out the window. Perhaps it wasn't the best plan in the first place.

The King now sat with his council, who were frantically trying to get him to calm down. If word got out that he was trampling on the National Assembly and their attempts to bring about a constitution, it could spell disaster.

"My liege, why not try appeasing them, just a bit? See what they want, and maybe it won't be so bad?"

The next day, Louis reconsidered and went over the proposal once more with the National Assembly. The King acquiesced, and allowed the proposal to pass. It was decided that the veto, however, would last for two sessions of the parliament.

The next day, the National Assembly gathered not to talk of France, but of Poland. News had been trickling out of the country as to the state of the Revolution there, and from the sounds of things, it was dire. The National Assembly then proposed sending a letter to the Austrians and Prussians, demanding that they cease hostilities with Poland for threat of French intervention.

This infuriated Louis. Helping the revolutionaries was one thing, but threatening an ally with war? This was too much.

The King used his veto.

With that, the National Assembly was, by and large, in uproar. A menagerie of insults, heckles, and jeers, were thrown about the room, not solely directed at the King. For the rest of the day, the National Assembly was not functional. The following morning, the Assembly, meeting without the King, asked Phillipe, Duc D'Orleans, to speak with the King, to convince him of otherwise. Given to him was a letter, of a proposed ultimatum to Austria as it was written by the National Assembly.

The King, sensing that he was not able to get out of this situation without conflict, reluctantly agreed to send the letter. He did, however, make it very clear that he was the only one in charge of declaring war. As such, he would not declare war on the Austrians unless provoked.

MARCH 1786

On the 1st of March, word got out of Versailles that the King was seen at a banquet, along with Marie Antoinette and the Dauphin, wearing the white Royalist cockade, and trampling on the tricolour cockade. When word of this reached Paris, much of the city was in uproar. Pamphlets and papers made scathing accusations towards the King, and some, including Jean-Paul Marat's L'Ami du peuple called for a demonstrative march to Versailles, to protest the disrespect of the Revolution by the King.

THE MARCH ON VERSAILLES

Agitated by the disrespect towards the tricolour cockade, liberal politicians began using this as a chance to rally the people to bring their wrath upon the King. By marching on Versailles, many hoped to remove the King's veto, and to force the King to be compliant towards the National Assembly. It would be the Assembly that ruled France, not the King.

On the morning of 5 March, the markets of Eastern Paris were filled with angry women, upset at the price of bread, and of course, the ever-present shortages. A young woman appeared on the edge of the swirling mass, striking a marching drum. A slow, sombre beat was struck, piercing the crowd. As she began to march, many of the women followed her through the streets, towards the nearest church. Surrounding the church, the marchers quickly managed to force the priests to ring the bells, as a call to arms.

Onwards and westwards, the crowd marched, growing ever larger as the bells throughout Paris began to toll. The crowd surged and swelled towards the Hôtel de Ville. Surrounding the City Hall, the crowd now had both men and women, and was easily ten thousand-strong. The crowd demanded two things: Bread, and Arms.

The National Guard surrendered the City Hall, and it was ransacked.

Stanislas-Marie Maillard, a member of the National Guard, picked up a marching drum of his own, and with a cry of "à Versailles!" began to march. The crowd soon followed eagerly, chanting.

When Lafayette received news of this, he quickly made his way to Paris, where he found his National Guardsmen assembling at the Place de Grève. Much of his men, however, were in favour of the march, and wanted Lafayette to lead the men to storm Versailles.

Lafayette first began trying to dissuade his men from actively rebelling against the King, but in the end was unsuccessful. He had no choice but to lead his men. Sending a trusted man to Versailles to warn the Palace of the impending crowd, Lafayette began preparations to lead the crowd.

The mob took six hours to reach Versailles. Among their makeshift and scrounged weaponry, they also carried with them several cannons, taken from the City Hall. As the crowd made their way to Versailles, more and more joined their ranks. Enthusiastically, they chatted amongst themselves about bringing the King 'back home' to Paris.

When the crowd reached Versailles, they found themselves facing another crowd. The National Assembly had gathered to greet them. Inviting Maillard into the assembly hall, they found themselves regaled of a tale involving misery, hunger, and a wish for the King to represent the needs of the people. Tired of the Assembly's dallying, the crowd surged into the Assembly. Many of the deputies mingled warmly with the protestors, including a Deputy by the name of Maximillian Robespierre.

After a while, it was decided that the National Assembly would support the crowd in their petition for food, and the return of the King to Paris.

Making their way to the Palace, Mounier, the President of the Assembly, brought six women with him inside the palace to meet with the King. Most of the crowd, however, remained unpacified. Soon enough, rumours spread throughout the crowd of the delegation being duped, and captured. The crowd quickly turned from unpacified, to hostile.

Inside the Palace, however, the delegates were busy being charmed by the King, so much so, that one even fainted at his feet. Sympathetic, the King promised to help by disbursing food from the royal stores to Paris, and with more to come in the future.

Back outside, the crowd quickly surged towards the doors. The guards, who thought the ordeal was over, were mostly beginning to retire. Rushing back to try and stop the crowd, it was too late. What few guards remained were overwhelmed, and soon enough the palace was filled with swarming women.

The chaos continued, and soon enough guards heads were seen being hoisted above the crowd on pikes.

Lafayette quickly made his way to the palace, where he was able to inject his National Guard to calm the situation. After quelling the crowd, Lafayette disappeared into the Palace, then appeared on the balcony, joined by the King. The crowd unexpectedly began shouting "Vive le Roi!" as he raised his hands, as if to calm down an excited child. "Acceding to the love of my good and faithful subjects, I am willing to return to Paris."

Lafayette dramatically stoked the crowd's joy by pinning a tricolour cockade to the King.

After the King withdrew, the crowd demanded the same from the Queen. After a few minutes without the Queen appearing, the crowd began turning hostile. Lafayette soon brought out the Queen, and her children, in plain sight of the armed crowd.

The crowd ominously shouted for the children to be taken away. Lafayette did not like the sound of this. It sounded as if a regicide was being prepared. Reluctantly, the Queen agreed, and Lafayette urged the children inside.

The Queen stood, alone on the balcony, as the most hated woman in France. Her arms crossed, she stared down the crowd.

Muskets were levelled in her direction.

Lafayette looks in horror from inside, believing he was witnessing the death of the Queen.

The Queen stood firm, and the crowd did not fire upon her.

Lafayette, taking advantage of the frozen moment, quickly darted onto the balcony, knelt, and kissed the hand of the Queen.

"Vive la Reine!"

The King and his Family moved to Paris, accompanied by the crowd. The royal residence would become the Tuileries Palace, abandoned since the reign of Louis XIV. Yet, even as the crowd sang pleasantries about their "Good Papa", their violent mentality could not be misread; celebratory gunshots flew over the royal carriage and some marchers even carried pikes bearing the heads of the slaughtered Versailles guards. A sense of victory over the ancien régime was imbued in the parade, and it was understood by all that the king was now fully at the service of the people.

After arriving at the Palace, Louis was asked for his orders and he replied with diffidence, unusual to a man of his character, "Let everyone put himself where he pleases!" Then, with a sullen poignancy, he asked for a history of the deposed Charles I of England to be brought from the library.

Louis XVI was named, rather than King of France, King of the French, to reflect his new relationship with the nation.

SPRING 1786

The National Assembly met for the first time Paris, and the air was distinctly different. Deputies no longer resided with those whom they travelled with, or of the locale the originated, but instead began to reside with those they shared political beliefs with. The delegates met, and began deciding on more important matters.

Throughout the Spring, riots broke out across France, in protest of bread prices and the old ancien régime.

The National Assembly made several decisions in this time.

• The Assembly declares a state of martial law to prevent future uprisings.

• The Assembly votes to place property of the Church at the disposition of the Nation.

• The Assembly decrees that Protestants are eligible to hold public office; Jews are still excluded.

• The Assembly forbids the taking of religious vows and suppresses the contemplative religious orders.

• The Assembly requires curés (parish priests) in churches across France to read aloud the decrees of the Assembly.

• The Assembly abolishes the requirement that army officers be members of the nobility.

• The Assembly decides to continue the institution of slavery in French colonies, but permits the establishment of colonial assemblies.

• The Assembly approves the sale of the property of the church by municipalities

• The Assembly decides to divide France into departments, in place of the former provinces of France.

• The Assembly decides that it has sole authority for declaring war on foreign powers.

• The Assembly would adopt a new flag for France, based on the Tricolour Cockade. La Tricolore would carry the values of the Revolution into the future!

LA GUILLOTINE

Joseph-Ignace Guillotin, a French physician, proposed to the National Assembly that capital punishment should always take the form of decapitation "by means of a simple mechanism."

The National Assembly prohibited the use of the Breaking Wheel, and instead created a committee, with Guilltoin on it, to decide on a new method to execute people.

Inspired by things like the Scottish Maiden and the Halifax Gibbet, the committee eventually came up with the design for a machine to drop a simple blade onto a prisoner's neck, severing his head immediately.

The machine was quickly dubbed "Madame La Guillotine", or simply, La Guillotine.

THE ASSIGNAT

The National Assembly of France seized church property, declaring it property of the state. In order to resolve financial issues, the Assembly introduced a new paper currency to France, named the Assignat, that was not based on silver, but instead property. Backed by the value of properties formerly held by the Catholic Church, which were confiscated, and the crown lands. The initial issue was for 400 million francs, at an interest rate of 5%.

This currency would allow France to fund their war in support of Poland, at least temporarily.

THE BASTILLE

All throughout the Spring and Summer of 1786, riots had broken out throughout France. A symbol of Royalist oppression, the Bastille was used as a political prison, and was notorious for mistreatment of prisoners. True or not, the Bastille stood as a symbol of oppression, and, in the riots, was stormed.

The Bastille was also used as an armoury, and as such, many in Paris wished to 'liberate' its contents, in order to supply the National Guard. A crowd gathered outside the Bastille around mid-morning, calling for the surrender of the prison, the removal of the cannon and the release of the arms and gunpowder. wo representatives of the crowd outside were invited into the fortress and negotiations began, and another was admitted around noon with definite demands. The negotiations dragged on while the crowd grew and became impatient. Around 1:30, the crowd surged into the undefended outer courtyard. A small party climbed onto the roof of a building next to the gate to the inner courtyard and broke the chains on the drawbridge, crushing one vainqueur as it fell. Soldiers of the garrison called to the people to withdraw but in the noise and confusion these shouts were misinterpreted as encouragement to enter. Gunfire began, seemingly spontaneously, turning the crowd into a mob. The crowd felt that they had been intentionally drawn into a trap and the fighting became more violent and intense, while attempts by deputies to organise a cease-fire were ignored by the attackers. The fighting continued, and by 3:00 pm, the attackers were reinforced by mutinous National Guardsmen. With the arrival of the National Guard, a ceasefire was called, and a letter offering terms was handed out to the besiegers through a gap in the inner gate. Demands were refused, but nonetheless Governor de Launay capitulated, as he realised that with limited food stocks and no watter supply his troops would not hold for long. At 5:30, the Governor opened the gates, and ordered his men to stand down. The fortress was liberated.

Ninety-eight attackers and one defender had died in the fighting. De Launay was captured and dragged towards the Hôtel de Ville, being abused the entire time. Outside the City Hall, a discussion as to his fate began. Badly beaten and defeated, De Launay shouted "*Enough! Let me die!" Drawing knives, the crowd obliged, stabbing him to death. Ripping off his head, the victorious mob paraded his head, on a pike, about the streets of Paris, before the National Guard could restore order.