Chapter 1:
"Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall,
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall
And all the Count's Armies and all the Duke's Men
Fought over who should put him together again"
- English Nursery Rhyme
1
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From "A History of the World: 1492-1827" from MondeCo Education
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In Late Summer 1789, the National Assembly commissioned a Constitutional Committee to draft a full Constitution for a new Liberal French Kingdom. Immediately the Committee faced division on what course to take with the Constitution. Some, like the Marquis de Lafayette, favored a two house system like in the United States. However when the Committee recommended this to the National Assembly it was rejected in favor of a single body. Likewise the National Assembly denied the King Absolute Veto powers. Soon the issue turned to suffrage and who exactly had it. After the Women's March on Versailles the Committee settled on a division between voting "Active" Citizens (Tax Paying Makes over 25) and "Passive" Citizens who couldn't vote. By late 1790 the general framework had been established. A new Committee of Revisions now was tasked with sorting out what was in the Constitution versus what was simply law. It was long, hard work for the committee particularly as it's largely moderate membership found itself being pushed and pulled by Radicals and ultra-royalists.
Heading the moderates was the popular Comte de Mirabeau. Charismatic yet pragmatic Mirabeau was the face of moderate Royalism along with Lafayette. Though he maintained a correspondence with the royals trying to keep some power with them this was not discovered until after his death and so did not affect his career. But for all his charisma the revolution was growing more and more radical. Some in his own Jacobin Club
2 were calling for a Republic while the Paris mob chanted for blood. On the other side were the nobles who had fled to Austria readying for war and men ready to die for their King's power.
And stuck in the middle were the moderates, who just hoped to avoid civil war, and were getting sucked away by the momentum of the Revolution. King Louis acted as he always did and waffled between a Royalists stance and a Reformist one, depending on who had his ear at the time. The nation was being whipped apart at its seems, devoured by the flames of its own revolution.
As even further crisis loomed the Politicians in Paris knew that something had to happen. Something had to shift and end the gridlock. Anything would do, it just had to set the country of a course towards…something. Any course would do, but it had to exist.
Something had to give.
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March 8th 1791, The Tuileries Palace, Paris, France.
King Louis XVI hated pacing. He didn't want to pace, but he was nervous so he did. The reforms, dare he call it a revolution? Were getting out of hand. First the Estates-General, then the "National Assembly", then Bastille. And now this new constitution they were trying to get him adopt. Now the radicals were gaining more and more power, his country was getting out of control. What to do? What to do?
Mirabeau, Lafayette and his Cousins from Orleans wished for him to accept Constitutional rule. "It's the only way you'll keep yourself with any power" they said to him. They insisted that not listening to the people would rip France apart. He trusted Mirabeau, and he hoped to avoid bloodshed. As long has he had enough influence to be respected and to keep Europe off of France's back there wouldn't be any trouble. But he was a Bourbon, and Bourbons wanted power. He wished to avoid bloodshed but maintain his power, not that his brothers were helping on that front. His brothers…
His brothers argued the exact opposite of the moderates. He was they rightful King, he would adored if he took back what was his, at least that's what they said. Louis and Charles argued that there were many noblemen abroad who would return with an Austrian Army. The Emperor was Marie's brother, surely he'd help them. Charles had long since left the country and was lobbying with the crowned heads of Europe for a war. But such a thing would surely spill rivers of blood France, and tear his country apart. He sincerely hoped to avoid it. But he would not stand having him and his family locked up like Lions in the Colosseum.
But what should he do? Was there another path besides reaction or compromise? Louis did not think so, and he wavered. It had always been a weakness of his, he could simply not decide. He resolved to discuss the issue with some more people and come to a conclusion.
It was not to be.
As the King had paced through the palace he had wandered perilously close to a large staircase. He was so deep in thought that he had not realized it. As he turned to go he slipped on the top stair and down he went.
His face plowed into an masterfully carved railing as he fell, then the back of his head hit hard marble. He tumbled down the stairs quickly, but these were the stairs of the Bourbons and so they were long. By the time he reached the bottom he was beaten and bloody. By the time he was found he was dead.
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From "The Bourbons: A History" by Maximilian Harris, Oxford University.
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In French tradition if the King was too young to assume his duties, as was the case with Louis XVII, then the King's mother would act as regent. However this had not been the case for Louis XV, and it would certainly not be the case for Louis XVII.
Obviously this was due to the fact that his mother, Marie Antoinette, was nearly universally despised. The court disliked her for being Austrian and not producing an heir for many years. To the radicals she symbolized everything "decedent" about the Bourbon Monarchy. Her parties, hairstyle and general lavishness were the subject of great envy amongst the common people and so she was despised by the Paris mob. Even the Arch-Traditionalists knew that she would simply be an unacceptable reagent.
The next obvious candidate was Louis, Comte De Provence, the King's Uncle. He was the current heir to the French throne and popular with Ultra-royalists. He was well versed in royal politics and suitable Kingly figure. Indeed his name sat on regency legislation in the National Assembly that had been being drafted at the time of Louis XVI's death. However he was seen as too conservative by many radicals and was sympathetic to the exiled nobles. His conservative nature also made him unpopular with those who favored compromise with the radicals. His younger brother, Charles, was immediately ignored for A, Being even more reactionary then Louis and B, having fled the country after the storming of the Bastille.
Most moderate monarchists supported a second option, the Duc D'Orleans, Louis-Philippe. The House of Orleans was descended from the second son of Louis XIII and the most noble family outside the King's immediate household (see Appendix 3 for a family tree). In the event of the ruling Bourbons dying out the throne would revert to the House of Orleans. The Duc was a prominent Liberal Aristocrat and leant the use of his Parisian holding for use by clubs of radicals. Of the rational candidates for the Regency he had the most support from moderates and leftists. However he wasn't very acceptable to the right. The fact that the House of Orleans had a shaky relationship with the Bourbons piled onto his liberal deposition to make him a throughly unpalatable candidate for the Royalists.
Mirabeau, who at the time was the leading voice in the assembly, was divided. His loyalty to the Bourbons compelled him to side with the King's Uncle, and he had a personal distaste for Louis Philippe. However he feared more violence should erupt if the Comte de Provence should ascend the regency. Torn, Mirabeau turned to the past as a legacy and tentatively offered up the idea of a regency council. Based off of the council of 12 that had raised Louis XV he proposed a smaller version, just 3 members, made up of the Duc d'Orleans, the Comte de Provence and an as-of-yet-unnamed neutral person. A majority vote of two would have effect of a position of the monarch. The plan was begrudgingly accepted by both parties and the squabbling began over who the third party would be. Some wanted it to be a minor noble, others wanted it to be elected by the people. However the National Assembly asserted itself and declared that it would elect the third member of the council. Much to both Louis's and Mirabeau's dismay they selected Antoine Barnave. Barnave was a constitutional monarchist, a member of the Jacobin Club, and fell squarely into the liberal side of things. The Comte de Provence disliked his anti-absolutism, while Mirabeau disliked him on a personal level. However Barnave was eloquent and not a member of the National Assembly at the time and so managed to earn his seat. His election also threw a bone to Marie Antoinette, whom he was on good terms with, and he managed to convince the Assembly to allow her to remain with her son. Under strict supervision of course. Indeed Barnave was the only member of the so called "Triumvirate" to truly form a personal connection with King Louis. Both the Comte and the Duc were too concerned with the affairs of France to pay much attention to its future monarch.
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From "Kids Discover: Kings and Queens" from MondeCo
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France!
FUN FACT BOX! said:
Most of the time the Kings of France were crowned in the cathedral in Reims! However when Louis the 17th was crowned France decided to hold his coronation (the party where a King or Queen is crowned) in Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, That way all the people could see it! Isn't that cool?
France is a country in Western Europe and home to…
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From "On The Dominance of Nations" by Jean Duflout and Hans Gleichheit
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It is of course impossible to discuss the events of 1791 and the stagnation of the French Revolution without discussing the "fall" of the Triumvirate. Of course the future of the "Regency Council" was clear the moment that Barnave was selected as its final member. While Barnave was consolatory to the ultraroyalists on the issue of the King's own life he sided firmly with Louis-Philippe and his Grand Bourgeois on the affairs of the state and the semi-monarchist constitution. The two quickly shut out the reactionary Comte de Provence out of the discussion of the realm and began expediting Monarchist constitution's passage into law, by agreeing to many more radical ideas emerging from the National Assembly. Ironically it was the head of the second most powerful noble family in France who proved the most radical, agreeing to let the monarch's powers be chipped away at. But do not be fooled, the Duke of Orleans was still a high minded Patrician, intent on keeping the power centered in his class's hands. This is evidenced by his support of the "Active Citizen" voting system, which disenfranchised many Frenchmen unjustly because they were poor. Despite his obvious failings Louis-Philippe had out flanked the Comte. Louis was not even showing up at regency meetings anymore, while Barnave was simply agreeing to the Duc's suggestions. With the death of Mirabeau after a long illness in early April, Louis-Philippe gained control of the Grand Bourgeoisie of France. It was a classic example of how a Patrician becomes a sheep in wolfs clothing and manages to convince Pleblians that he has changed. Of course the Duke was not changed, he was still a Patrician. He still held his loyalties to the current system, and he would ensure that the revolution stagnated.
And he now was effectively king.
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[1]: Of course the rhyme itself is much older then the French Revolution, but its "main" form got shifted over time to this ITTL
[2]: The Jacobin Club was actually a fairly neutral (if leftist) club until mid 1791.
NEXT TIME: "Hector Protector"