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In 1789, the French monarchy collapsed under the weight of its own contradictions, unleashing a decade of radical upheaval that reshaped Europe and the world. Lucas and Luna guide listeners...
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In 1789, the French monarchy collapsed under the weight of its own contradictions, unleashing a decade of radical upheaval that reshaped Europe and the world. Lucas and Luna guide listeners through the storm: from the glittering halls of Versailles under Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette, to the breadlines of Paris and the storming of the Bastille. They trace the rise of the Third Estate, the Tennis Court Oath, and the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen. The narrative follows the radicalization of the Revolution — the Reign of Terror under Robespierre and the Committee of Public Safety, the execution of the king and queen, the Vendée uprising, and the Thermidorian Reaction. The series concludes with the Directory, the rise of Napoleon Bonaparte, and the legacy of revolutionary ideals: liberty, equality, fraternity. Along the way, Lucas and Luna examine key figures like Mirabeau, Danton, Marat, and Saint-Just, and explore pressing questions: why did a moderate revolution turn violent? How did the sans-culottes shape events? And what does the Revolution's promise of universal rights mean today, in an age of democratic backsliding? This show is not a dry recitation of dates — it is a deep, humane exploration of how ordinary people and extraordinary leaders together remade a nation. The guillotine may be the Revolution's most enduring symbol, but its true legacy is the birth of modern politics.
#FrenchRevolution #LouisXVI #MarieAntoinette #Robespierre #ReignOfTerror #Bastille #ThirdEstate #TennisCourtOath #RightsOfMan #SansCulottes #Vendee #Thermidor #Napoleon #Directory #Guillotine #Tricolore #History #FexingoHistory
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#FrenchRevolution #LouisXVI #MarieAntoinette #Robespierre #ReignOfTerror #Bastille #ThirdEstate #TennisCourtOath #RightsOfMan #SansCulottes #Vendee #Thermidor #Napoleon #Directory #Guillotine #Tricolore #History #FexingoHistory
The French Revolution: The Collapse of Royal Power — Fexingo History
The French Revolution: The Collapse of Royal Power — Fexingo History
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13 MAY 2026 · After the fall of the monarchy and the rise of the Mountain, the Girondins — once the most powerful faction in the French Revolution — found themselves hunted. In this episode, Lucas and Luna trace the story of the Girondin deputies who fled Paris in 1793, hoping to raise a federalist revolt against the Convention. We follow their desperate journey from the capital to the provinces, the battles at Caen and Bordeaux, and the brutal suppression that followed. Figures like Vergniaud, Brissot, and Madame Roland come to life as their ideals of a moderate republic clash with the radical tide. The episode explores the Girondins' last stand, the fate of those who escaped, and the legacy of a movement that tried to stop the Terror before it consumed everyone.
#Girondins #FrenchRevolution #FederalistRevolt #Vergniaud #Brissot #MadameRoland #Caen #Bordeaux #Montagnards #Terror #ConventionNationale #1793 #RevolutionaryTribunal #GirondinExile #Moderates #History #FexingoHistory #Europe #LouisXVI #MarieAntoinette Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-french-revolution-the-collapse-of-royal-power-fexingo-history--6985295/support.
12 MAY 2026 · The Hôtel de Ville in Paris was more than a building—it was the nerve center of revolutionary power. In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore how the Paris Commune operated from its halls, the day-to-day struggles of managing a city in revolt, and the fateful night of 9 Thermidor when Robespierre made his last stand. We meet the key figures of the Commune—Pierre-Gaspard Chaumette, Jacques Hébert, and the little-known mayor Jean-Nicolas Pache—and untangle the web of committees, sections, and sans-culotte militias that controlled Paris. How did a municipal government seize national power? And why did the Commune collapse when Robespierre fell? This is the inside story of the engine room of the French Revolution, from bread shortages to the guillotine.
#ParisCommune #HotelDeVille #Robespierre #Chaumette #HBert #Pache #9Thermidor #SansCulottes #FrenchRevolution #NationalGuard #RevolutionaryGovernment #BreadRiots #Jacobin #Cordeliers #History #FexingoHistory #EuropeanHistory #18thCentury #LouisXVI #MarieAntoinette Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-french-revolution-the-collapse-of-royal-power-fexingo-history--6985295/support.
Transcribed
12 MAY 2026 · Before the Revolution, a jewel heist brought down the French monarchy's reputation. In the 1780s, the Cardinal de Rohan, desperate for royal favor, was tricked into buying a diamond necklace worth 2 million livres for Marie Antoinette—who had never asked for it. The Affair of the Diamond Necklace (Affaire du Collier de la Reine) involved the cunning Countess de La Motte, a forged letter, and a prostitute impersonating the queen. When the fraud was exposed, the cardinal was arrested in the Hall of Mirrors at Versailles, but the scandal stuck to Marie Antoinette, cementing her image as a corrupt, spendthrift queen. This episode explores how a con artist's scheme, exploiting the public's willingness to believe the worst, fatally weakened the monarchy before the Estates-General ever convened. We discuss Jeanne de La Motte, Cardinal de Rohan, Cagliostro, and the trial that turned Paris against its queen.
#MarieAntoinette #DiamondNecklace #AffairOfTheNecklace #CardinalDeRohan #JeanneDeLaMotte #Cagliostro #Versailles #FrenchMonarchy #18thCenturyScandal #Prerevolution #LouisXVI #CountessDeLaMotte #Boehmer #Bassenge #HallOfMirrors #History #FexingoHistory #FrenchHistory #FrenchRevolution #Robespierre Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-french-revolution-the-collapse-of-royal-power-fexingo-history--6985295/support.
Transcribed
11 MAY 2026 · In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore the Fête de la Fédération, the grand celebration of the first anniversary of the storming of the Bastille on July 14, 1790. Held on the Champ de Mars in Paris, the festival was meant to symbolize national unity and the constitutional monarchy, with Louis XVI swearing an oath to the nation. But beneath the pageantry, tensions simmered: the king's role was ambiguous, the Church was under attack, and radical voices were already pushing for more. Lucas delves into how the festival was organized, the role of the National Guard under Lafayette, the Te Deum mass celebrated by Talleyrand, and the underlying political fractures that the celebration papered over. He also discusses the Fédérés—provincial militias who came to Paris—and their role in spreading revolutionary ideals. The episode ends with a reflection on how the Festival of Federation was a high point of revolutionary optimism, but also a prelude to deeper divisions and the eventual radicalization of the Revolution.
#FestivalOfFederation #FTeDeLaFDRation #ChampDeMars #BastilleDay #LouisXVI #Lafayette #Talleyrand #NationalGuard #FDRS #RevolutionaryFestivals #ConstitutionalMonarchy #1790 #TeDeum #FrenchRevolution #History #FexingoHistory #Paris #Unity #MarieAntoinette #Robespierre Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-french-revolution-the-collapse-of-royal-power-fexingo-history--6985295/support.
Transcribed
11 MAY 2026 · In the autumn of 1793, as the Terror intensified, a radical movement swept through Paris: the dechristianization campaign. This episode explores how revolutionaries, led by figures like Pierre-Gaspard Chaumette and Joseph Fouché, attempted to replace Christianity with a new civic religion centered on Reason. We visit the Notre-Dame cathedral, transformed into the Temple of Reason, and examine the Festival of Reason on November 10, 1793, where a goddess of Liberty was paraded before the crowd. The episode delves into the tensions between the dechristianizers and Robespierre, who opposed the movement as too extreme and divisive. We discuss the destruction of religious iconography, the forced abdications of priests, and the creation of the Republican Calendar, which sought to eliminate Sundays and saints' days. The episode also examines how the Cult of Reason set the stage for Robespierre's own Cult of the Supreme Being, and why the campaign ultimately failed, leaving a legacy of controversy about the role of religion in revolutionary France. Key figures include Chaumette, Hébert, Fouché, and Robespierre; key events include the Festival of Reason and the Convention's decree on freedom of worship.
#CultOfReason #Dechristianization #FrenchRevolution #FestivalOfReason #Robespierre #Chaumette #HBert #Fouch #NotreDame #RepublicanCalendar #Terror #Atheism #CultOfTheSupremeBeing #ParisCommune #Jacobin #History #FexingoHistory #Revolution #LouisXVI #MarieAntoinette Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-french-revolution-the-collapse-of-royal-power-fexingo-history--6985295/support.
Transcribed
10 MAY 2026 · In Episode 35, Lucas and Luna explore the dramatic downfall of Maximilien Robespierre and the end of the Reign of Terror. The episode covers the events leading up to 9 Thermidor Year II (July 27, 1794), including Robespierre's isolating rhetoric, the conspiracy among members of the Committee of Public Safety, and the chaotic session at the National Convention. Lucas narrates the arrest, attempted suicide, and execution of Robespierre and his allies, while reflecting on the broader implications for the revolution. The conversation touches on key figures like Saint-Just, Couthon, Billaud-Varenne, and Collot d'Herbois, as well as the role of the Paris Commune and the sans-culottes. The aftermath, including the Thermidorian Reaction's rollback of Jacobin policies and the establishment of the Directory, is briefly considered. Listeners will gain a nuanced understanding of how revolutionary momentum can turn inward, consuming its own architects.
#ThermidorianReaction #Robespierre #FrenchRevolution #ReignOfTerror #9Thermidor #NationalConvention #CommitteeOfPublicSafety #SaintJust #Couthon #BillaudVarenne #CollotDHerbois #ParisCommune #SansCulottes #FouquierTinville #Directory #History #FexingoHistory #Europe #LouisXVI #MarieAntoinette Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-french-revolution-the-collapse-of-royal-power-fexingo-history--6985295/support.
Transcribed
10 MAY 2026 · By spring 1794, the French Revolution had already consumed the king, the Girondins, and Hébert's radical faction. But the fall of Georges Danton—the colossus of the Revolution, the voice of the Cordeliers, the man who had seemed untouchable—was something different. In this episode, Lucas and Luna trace Danton's final months: his ambiguous retreat from politics, the mounting suspicion of the Committee of Public Safety, the arrest on the night of 9–10 Germinal, the show trial before the Revolutionary Tribunal where Fouquier-Tinville stacked the jury, and the execution on 16 Germinal Year II (5 April 1794) that silenced the man who once rallied France to defend the patrie. They examine Danton's fatal refusal to flee, his cryptic courtroom defiance, and the famous prediction—'I drag Robespierre with me; Robespierre follows me to the tomb'—that proved tragically accurate only months later. Along the way, they discuss the Indulgents faction, the role of Saint-Just in drafting the charges, and how Danton's death marked the moment when the Terror truly began devouring its architects.
#GeorgesDanton #FrenchRevolution #ReignOfTerror #CommitteeOfPublicSafety #MaximilienRobespierre #LouisAntoineSaintJust #Indulgents #Dantonists #HBertists #RevolutionaryTribunal #FouquierTinville #Germinal #ThermidorianReaction #Cordeliers #RevolutionaryJustice #FrenchHistory #History #FexingoHistory #LouisXVI #MarieAntoinette Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-french-revolution-the-collapse-of-royal-power-fexingo-history--6985295/support.
Transcribed
9 MAY 2026 · In March 1793, the French Republic faced an existential threat not from foreign armies but from its own people. The peasant insurrection in the Vendée was a complex mix of religious piety, economic grievance, and royalist loyalty. This episode explores the uprising's origins—triggered by conscription and the Civil Constitution of the Clergy—and the brutal Republican response. We discuss key figures like Jacques Cathelineau, the charismatic leader who became the 'Saint of the Vendée', and General Turreau's infamous colonnes infernales. The conflict saw atrocities on both sides, with tens of thousands killed in what some historians call the first modern genocide. We examine the siege of Cholet, the crossing of the Loire, and the tragic mass drownings at Nantes. Ultimately, the Vendée scarred the French psyche and remains a contested memory in France today.
#VendE #FrenchRevolution #Royalists #CivilWar #Catholicism #JacquesCathelineau #Turreau #ColonnesInfernales #Cholet #Nantes #Drownings #Genocide #1793 #Republican #CounterRevolution #PeasantRevolt #History #FexingoHistory #LouisXVI #MarieAntoinette Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-french-revolution-the-collapse-of-royal-power-fexingo-history--6985295/support.
Transcribed
9 MAY 2026 · In September 1793, the French Revolution entered its most radical phase with the passage of the Law of Suspects. This episode dives deep into the legislation that defined the Terror: who was considered a 'suspect', how the revolutionary tribunals operated, and how ordinary citizens were swept up in the machinery of surveillance. We follow the law's architect, Philippe-Antoine Merlin de Douai, and trace its implementation through the eyes of a Parisian section, a rural commune, and the Revolutionary Tribunal itself. We explore the bureaucratic machinery—the watch committees, the denunciation letters, the lists of suspects—that turned neighbors into informants and citizens into prisoners. Drawing on specific cases, including the trial of the Girondins and the execution of Madame Roland, we examine how the Law of Suspects blurred the line between political opposition and mere apathy. By spring 1794, over 300,000 people had been arrested across France under this law, creating a system of state terror that consumed the Revolution itself. This is not a story about Robespierre alone—it's about the thousands of local revolutionary committees who made the Terror possible.
#LawOfSuspects #ReignOfTerror #FrenchRevolution #MerlinDeDouai #RevolutionaryTribunal #FouquierTinville #MadameRoland #Girondins #Montagnards #ParisCommune #WatchCommittees #MaximilienRobespierre #NationalConvention #September1793 #France #History #FexingoHistory #RevolutionaryJustice #LouisXVI #MarieAntoinette Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-french-revolution-the-collapse-of-royal-power-fexingo-history--6985295/support.
Transcribed
8 MAY 2026 · In June 1794, at the height of the Terror, Maximilien Robespierre staged an elaborate festival on the Champ de Mars to inaugurate his new state religion: the Cult of the Supreme Being. This episode explores Robespierre's deistic vision, the festival's meticulously choreographed rituals, and the political calculations behind it. We examine Jacques-Louis David's role as artistic director, the mass participation of Parisians, and the festival's symbolic destruction of atheism and the Cult of Reason. But the event also exposed deep rifts within the Committee of Public Safety, as rivals like Collot d'Herbois and Fouché saw it as Robespierre's power grab. Just weeks later, Robespierre would fall on 9 Thermidor. How did a celebration of civic virtue become a prelude to his downfall? We delve into the festival's speeches, the opposition it provoked, and its place in the revolutionary search for a moral foundation.
#FrenchRevolution #MaximilienRobespierre #CultOfTheSupremeBeing #FestivalOfTheSupremeBeing #JacquesLouisDavid #ChampDeMars #Deism #Terror #Thermidor #CommitteeOfPublicSafety #CollotDHerbois #JosephFouche #CultOfReason #RevolutionaryReligion #FrenchHistory #Paris #18thCentury #FexingoHistory #LouisXVI #MarieAntoinette Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-french-revolution-the-collapse-of-royal-power-fexingo-history--6985295/support.
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In 1789, the French monarchy collapsed under the weight of its own contradictions, unleashing a decade of radical upheaval that reshaped Europe and the world. Lucas and Luna guide listeners...
show more
In 1789, the French monarchy collapsed under the weight of its own contradictions, unleashing a decade of radical upheaval that reshaped Europe and the world. Lucas and Luna guide listeners through the storm: from the glittering halls of Versailles under Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette, to the breadlines of Paris and the storming of the Bastille. They trace the rise of the Third Estate, the Tennis Court Oath, and the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen. The narrative follows the radicalization of the Revolution — the Reign of Terror under Robespierre and the Committee of Public Safety, the execution of the king and queen, the Vendée uprising, and the Thermidorian Reaction. The series concludes with the Directory, the rise of Napoleon Bonaparte, and the legacy of revolutionary ideals: liberty, equality, fraternity. Along the way, Lucas and Luna examine key figures like Mirabeau, Danton, Marat, and Saint-Just, and explore pressing questions: why did a moderate revolution turn violent? How did the sans-culottes shape events? And what does the Revolution's promise of universal rights mean today, in an age of democratic backsliding? This show is not a dry recitation of dates — it is a deep, humane exploration of how ordinary people and extraordinary leaders together remade a nation. The guillotine may be the Revolution's most enduring symbol, but its true legacy is the birth of modern politics.
#FrenchRevolution #LouisXVI #MarieAntoinette #Robespierre #ReignOfTerror #Bastille #ThirdEstate #TennisCourtOath #RightsOfMan #SansCulottes #Vendee #Thermidor #Napoleon #Directory #Guillotine #Tricolore #History #FexingoHistory
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#FrenchRevolution #LouisXVI #MarieAntoinette #Robespierre #ReignOfTerror #Bastille #ThirdEstate #TennisCourtOath #RightsOfMan #SansCulottes #Vendee #Thermidor #Napoleon #Directory #Guillotine #Tricolore #History #FexingoHistory
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| Author | Fexingo |
| Organization | Fexingo |
| Categories | History , Society & Culture , Education |
| Website | www.fexingo.com |
| podcasts@fexingo.com |
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