I saw this on a random search on Yahoo Answers.
https://answers.yahoo.com/question/...HZ0aWQDBHNlYwNzYw--?qid=20150910144634AAhDa64
Indeed I was inspired to read not only Rose of versailles but also The Scarlet Pimpernel, and watch The Brotherhood of the Wolf, after the above links and got hooked enough to research the French Revolution. There is something notable in that Rose of Versaille's portrayal turned out to be the spot on deal as I learned that almost everything in the above question turned out to be accurate not only in the manga but also in the real life events.
On top of that even the various prequels and sequels to The Scarlet Pimpernel described the rabble armies of the Revolution as using musket rifles in their battles and engaging in melee with SWORDS, heavy axes, military knives, BAYONETS, and even shooting pistols in close quarter combat. Not the peasants weapons but the civilians riots were using military grade weapons when they clashed with soldiers in hand-to-hand. ON top of that the novels described many rioters having been in the militia or being war veterans and even untrained civilians came from hardy backgrounds that keep you in "fighting shape" for serving in the army.
But I notice that the popular view of the French Revolution is that is in whichout of shape starving malnourished peasants including women and children getting pitchforks and other farming tools and charging at well-trained French police and soldiers. As portray these civilians despite being untrained in fighting and soldiering, and working in nonviolent relatively easy occupations, are able to defeat rows of disciplined soldiers firing their rifles in formation and forming walls of bayonet. The Brotherhood of the Wolf has a scene at the end where peasants with torches and farming tools take out the an aristocrat out of his mansion and executes him at the movie's ending (although no scene is shown with peasant battling musket armed soldiers).
Almost all movies, TV show, comics, plays, and even most school history books outside of college level courses often repeat the portrayal in Les Miserables of angry poorly equipped rioters defeating the French army.
I am curious where did this popular view of the French Revolution being won by peasants wielding pitchforks and over-running the French military come from? I mean I was shocked how accurate Rose of Versailles was and I was not surprised when The Scarlet Pimpernel novels even pointed out many of the successful civilian riots without military aid tended to be executed by retied hard laborers with military backgrounds.
I mean its gotten to the point that the French Revolution is seen as the archetypal example of poorly armed rabble civilians without military arms winning just because they were so desperate from starving and were committed to their ideology of freedom. Every fictional portrayal of civilians succeeding in defeating a professional well-equipped army with just farming tools, baseball bats, crowbars, and other civilian tools is literally based on the famed scene from Les Miserables and the French Revolution is always touted by anarchists and ideologists as proof of how civilians don't need guns and other military tools for a revolt to succeed. Well in fact a quick reading on the subject shows not only did civilian rioters used the military armaments of the time but they even needed the army's help to succeed.