Versailles, end of August 1789
Hmmm, it was a bad summer for my king. He was only trying to serve his country the best he could. Trying to get money for our beautiful nation. But unfortunately god did not favour his intentions. The First and Second Estate tried to block his plans, then the third Estate went completely mad and declared itself to be a National Assembly. What a sinful notion. But it seemd that the pressure of all sides tired out my king. He look very exhausted and he didn't eat much anymore. Not even the hunt could disperse his sorrowful thoughts. I can not understand how those criminals of the so called National Assembly could do this. They are destroying my most loved king and with him our beautiful nation. "O tempores, o mores!" I heard one of the kings advisers say. This evening I saw him crying for the first time. Though from rage or sorrow I could not tell.
And now the new laws of August 4 and this strange Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen: Do they really change the lives of the French?
Hmmm, it was a bad summer for my king. He was only trying to serve his country the best he could. Trying to get money for our beautiful nation. But unfortunately god did not favour his intentions. The First and Second Estate tried to block his plans, then the third Estate went completely mad and declared itself to be a National Assembly. What a sinful notion. But it seemd that the pressure of all sides tired out my king. He look very exhausted and he didn't eat much anymore. Not even the hunt could disperse his sorrowful thoughts. I can not understand how those criminals of the so called National Assembly could do this. They are destroying my most loved king and with him our beautiful nation. "O tempores, o mores!" I heard one of the kings advisers say. This evening I saw him crying for the first time. Though from rage or sorrow I could not tell.
And now the new laws of August 4 and this strange Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen: Do they really change the lives of the French?
I don’t understand the third Estate, they had a life that has been as good as they deserved it, but now they overthrow our whole (working) system. The Estates General was called for the taxation of the second Estate, what would be obviously a wrong decision, because the third Estate just has to pay more taxes, they paid too few taxes anyway… But now everything seems to be about to change, in a way God doesn’t want it. I pray every day for the king and our nation; I hope God will help all of us to take the right decision in these difficult days. I also hope everybody else can laugh as much as I did when they hear from the “Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen”, what a funny but useless idea from our “National Assembly”, the king would better build a government in which the church has more power, since we do everything in the name of God…
AntwortenLöschenPhoo! I am so exhausted. I had to get up early in the morning and I worked the whole day long. Recently, I have been working very hard anyway, even harder than I am used to. I do so despite of the fact that I cannot stand the vain faces of these close-fisted nobles who buy my lace. As if they were any better than me.
AntwortenLöschenWhen I hear about the kings “misery” I get really angry. All the trouble Mister Praslin is telling us about is the kings own reward. All the money he has to raise is exactly the one he spent on all his superfluous luxury and which he missed to collect as taxes from the First and Second Estate. I think France should not pay for the mistakes made by this man, who is absolutely incompetent to rule.
At least I am very happy for my sons that our country finally passed the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen. I think it will definitely change their lives and open them many new ways, ways I will never walk on.
I think it will have a great impact on the lives of the French people. This document declaring the rights of men is a giant leap in the right direction. Finally the people are standing up and working towards equality!
AntwortenLöschenI also believe that these rights here to stay, because this mentality is rapidly spreading all across the entire nation and even out here in the countryside the people are revolting against the noblemen and clergy and refusing to pay such high taxes to them. They are even destroying castles and documents in order not to have to pay those taxes.
Now the French people can finally start building a popular democracy and a classless society. God made everyone equal and I strongly hope and believe that this is starting to reflect in the French society. But that does not mean the fight is over, there is still a long road ahead of us to fully achieve these goals.
I do understand that our nation already had debts before King Louis XVI became King, but he did not do very much to change that until the very beginning of this year, when he called the Estates General for the taxation of the 1st & the 2nd Estate.
AntwortenLöschenWhen I first heard the news, I was astonished and really impressed about how brave all those men fought for their rights in Versailles. But when the feeling of euphoria was gone I suddenly felt useless. I was here in Lyon, trying to deal with some legal cases during all these great and important events. Therefore I started to write letters and talk to everybody I know about the recent developments, because many people still don’t know what’s happening right now and I want to change that.
The Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen is a very interesting subject for me as a scholar. I think that if we enforce these rights of Man and Citizen, the government would have less power and every man would have the same rights.
Dieser Kommentar wurde vom Autor entfernt.
AntwortenLöschenI know that the king wanted to prevent the bankruptcy of our country, but he took the wrong area to reduce the depts. The first and the second Estate shouldn't have to pay taxes. We are the ones who helped the king for many years. We are the well-educated people which are able to solve the problems of the French empire. If he had raised the taxes from the third estate instead of trying to downsize the privileges of the nobles, we wouldn't have got that angry and our country would be much more peaceful. But now the third Estate took notice that the king doesn't suport the visibility of the noble Estate. So they took their chance to get more rights. And I think that they will want more and more.
AntwortenLöschenAs far as I am concerned the king deserves all the difficulty he is experiencing now. He has let our nation suffer for too long and he has only himself to blame for the consequences he has to face now. He cannot expect everyone to stay quiet and just accept the situation as it is. He should have known that sooner or later we were bound to take action. Now, finally we are making progress. The Third Estate is growing more and more confident and the king is getting weaker. I really feel that we could make a change to our nation. Of course as a woman I don't have much of a say in all this, but I am counting on the men of our estate to fight for our rights as citizens of France.
AntwortenLöschenThe nobles think that what we are doing is completely ridiculous and that we are just causing more trouble. It is easy for them to say such selfish things because they have such privileged lives. If only they knew what we go through everyday they would understand...
I don't know what I should think about all that. On the one side, I've to say that I can understand the Third Estate.
AntwortenLöschenThe peasents and the normal workers had such a big lack of food and money, they just had to change something otherwise they would have all died and the Burgeouse they really had to pay way to much taxes for that they didn't even have a word to say in politics.
But I don't know if this radical kind of change, this whole revolutionary thinkging and acting is the right, the correct way.
I swore loyalty to the king, like every soldier did. And the Third Estate just has to know, that there is a big part of the military that still supports the king.
So I hope those revolutionary mood of the people disappears now as fast as it began, because people should never forget, the king is not just a normal person, he's still a king, even if there are some problems.
While I totally agree, this situation is not easy for the king, all the others aren't in a nice situation either. So not only the king that has to complain, everyone suffers here in France, me included. There was a hard, sleepless night yesterday, and unfortunately this was not the first night. The feeling of being attacked scares me and the problem that there is still no solution at all, that makes me feel very uncomfortable. Although I read the propaganda from the American revolutionaries, I do not feel prepared at all. In several meetings of our academic group we talked about how to get out of this "crisis" France is in at the moment. None of us could tell, but we found that the national assembly is something very essential and in my opinion, it is the first step for a fair government and the first constitution. Whenever the National Assembly needs my advice, I will be there, but I can't be a member of it, I won’t break my promises to the King. This circumstance is trickier than any physics calculation!...
AntwortenLöschenFinally we are getting somewhere! It took us decades to be able to get to the point were we intruduce the rights of the man… I am not happy about the thought that the king, our highest authority in the french nation, is crying in Paris. It makes me very devasted to know such things. But i guess the time has come were also the king has to admit that it is time to get to a point where all human beings get more equal in rights… The national assembly is just the beginning of an ending monarchy. That, I think, is the reason, why the king is crying in his castle. He knows it more and more, he is losing his power…
AntwortenLöschenAll these problems! I don't know what to do anymore. Everything is getting worse, the First and Second Estate don't want to cooperate with me and the Third Estate made its own “National Assembly” despite my attempts to stop them. How could my own people betray me like that? What happened to moral and loyalty? The people don’t seem to respect me and all I stand for. The pressure rests now even heavier on my shoulders. And then this Declaration of Rights of Man and the Citizen, the whole thing is pointless. What did the “National Assembly” think they were doing? This new system will never work, only the absolute monarchy can provide safety and protection.
AntwortenLöschenThat is just ridiculous. The king may have some problems to solve, but is he starving? No. Is he being told that he is basically worth nothing every day? No. At least he is respectet as a real human being. Every man always complains about not being enough respectet, or having a lot of problems, and although everyone is fighting against everybody else, there is one thing they all agree on: women are not smart enough to help us. But that is really not true. Women are exactly as smart as men are and often really interested in politics. So although the king may have had a stressful summer, it is not a reason to drive crazy. Just imagine being a woman and you will understand.
AntwortenLöschenYou were also talking about the Declaration of hte rights of Man and the Citizen. Of course it changes the lives of French (mostly for the Third Estate, I bet you do not understand why..), but only if you are a man. I think you see my point.
I hope very much that this will change the lives of us French citizens. Even though I am still poor and hungry, I couldn't be happier about all the changes that are happening. All men of the country should unite and fight with us! The second Estate and the King have oppressed us for too long. People like the Duchesse de Polignac deserve to be punished for their egoism and ignorance. The King isn’t poor and I do not pity him at all. In my opinion, he has no right no complain about the situation. It is us poor people starving on the streets who have the right to cry. The King's situation was entirely his own fault. He made debts throwing expensive parties and didn't listen to his nation calling for more food, for equality and for fairness. Change is about to happen, and the second Estate won't be able to hold us back. The National Assembly is growing stronger and finally the third Estate has a voice so loud that the king can't ignore us anymore I will support the National Assembly and any other group who will lead us out of this misery into a brighter future!
AntwortenLöschenI’m exhausted. Marie Thérèse Charlotte, the king’s eldest daughter, was only complaining today. When I told her to play a piano piece she didn’t want to because she didn’t like the composer and when we read a poem she said this was all nonsense. I was so glad when she finally wanted to leave and walked towards the door but suddenly she turned around and told me with an angelic but sneering voice that I was wearing the same dress as two weeks ago today. I was very embarrassed. I knew that I wore the same dress as two weeks ago but because of the financial problems I didn’t have enough money to buy new dresses. I had hoped nobody would notice. It was horrible, really horrible. And thinking about the National Assembly and this strange Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen doesn’t make my situation better. This new law is very ridiculous. It won’t change France in a better way. The Third Estate shouldn’t have more power, no, they should only pay more taxes so that the problems will be solved and I can buy new dresses so I won’t embarrass myself in front of Marie Thérèse Charlotte again.
AntwortenLöschenOhhh I cannot believe what is happening! I am so confused, why does not everything just stay how it used to be? And why is the 3rd estate suddenly be given more rights? They do not deserve these and I am so afraid they will at least steal so much of the king’s power that I will not be able to buy all my lovely clothes anymore. For me, fashion is everything! And in fact, I, and no one else is the Queen so I have deserved to be rich. I am afraid the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen will change the lives of everyone who lives in France, including me and my husband, the king. I definitely do not agree with what is happening but I am afraid the 3rd estate is getting too much power to stop it…
AntwortenLöschenYou say that the king is exhausted and that he doesn’t eat much anymore. Well many people in the city can’t even afford the food. I don’t have the problem of famine but I don’t like the way the nobles have all the power. You say that the third Estate went completely mad by calling themselves the national Assembly. But most people live in the third Estate so why aren’t we allowed to have political rights and call our self the national Assembly?
AntwortenLöschenThe only reason why the king is so desperate is, because he realizes that he can’t keep his absolute power. People start to think for themselves so why is he trying to stop us? All we want is to have the same rights as the second Estate and not to take over the country. So why is he so upset?