Reflections on the Terror – French Revolution. Por Erik von Kuehnelt-Leddihn.
FOR MORE than a century, the French Revolution has been presented in an idealistic light, and in its earliest phase it did indeed have a somewhat elitist character. Rousseau’s sentimental foolishness, the anti-religious writings of Voltaire, as well as the perpetual strife between the Jansenists and the official Church had planted leftist notions in the minds of the uppermost social layers.
But the real character of the Revolution was soon revealed in the storming of the Bastille. This was in a way instigated by the Marquis de Sade, whose numerous and rather boring pornographicessays contain long philosophic, political, and anti-religious tirades. Upon his mother-inlaw’s request, Sade was imprisoned in the Bastille, where he wound up sharing a cell with a few card sharpers, money forgers, and similar crooks. Through a funnel that he used as a megaphone, he appealed through the grilled window for the liberation of “innocent prisoners.” The governor of the Bastille submitted a petition to the King, asking for the removal of this highly inconvenient prisoner, who was thereupon transferred, on July 4, 1789, to the hospital for the criminally insane in Charenton. Ten days after his removal from the Bastille his appeals bore fruit. The prison surrendered to the raging mob and a ghastly massacre followed.
The “storming” and its consequences highlight the Revolution’s moral breakdown. De Launay, the commander of the Bastille, had achieved a promise of safe conduct for the small garrison consisting of Swiss mercenaries and a few military pensioners. But as soon as these men left the fortress they were brutally killed. De Launay’s head did not come off easily and a butcher’s apprentice had to be found to finish the job; when he had done his work, the head was carried triumphantly through the streets of Paris.
There ensued a frantic attempt to transform the absolute monarchy into a constitutional one, but once the flood had started, it could not be stopped. Goethe was probably right when he wrote: “Had the kings been kings, they would still stand today.” The egalitarian passions were heading for a climax.
Pedro Sette-Câmara
André Azevedo Alves
Carlos Guimarães Pinto
Helder Ferreira
Bruno Garschagen
João Luís Pinto
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Bruno Alves
Miguel Botelho Moniz
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Miguel Noronha
Elizabete Dias
António Costa Amaral (AA)
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Rui Oliveira
BZ
dos ∫antos
André Abrantes Amaral
planca12
rui a.
Rodrigo Adão da Fonseca
Adolfo Mesquita Nunes
Michael Seufert
Luciano
Carlos M. Fernandes
Maria João Marques
jtcb
Nuno Branco
elisabetejoaquim
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Tomás Belchior
Bruno Gonçalves
Ricardo G. Francisco
Tiago Loureiro
Ricardo Campelo de Magalhães
Filipe Faria
Ricardo Arroja
Ricardo Lima
“Through a funnel that he used as a megaphone, he appealed through the grilled window for the liberation of “innocent prisoners.” The governor of the Bastille submitted a petition to the King, asking for the removal of this highly inconvenient prisoner, who was thereupon transferred, on July 4, 1789, to the hospital for the criminally insane in Charenton. Ten days after his removal from the Bastille his appeals bore fruit.”
Acho essa ligação pouco provável, já que a maior parte dos relatos (ou todos?) são no sentido de que a tomada da Bastilha foi para arranjar polvora, não para libertar presos
«There ensued a frantic attempt to transform the absolute monarchy into a constitutional one, but once the flood had started, it could not be stopped. Goethe was probably right when he wrote: “Had the kings been kings, they would still stand today.” »
Talvez seja verdade – no entanto, isso até vai de acordo com um teoria minha: a de que as vossas “democracias limitadas”, “governos mistos” e afins estão condenadas ao fracasso (só há duas formas de uma minoria governar a maioria: ou o povo tem medo dos governantes, ou com os governantes convencendo o povo de que é ele que governa)
Comentário por Miguel Madeira — Julho 15, 2008 @ 15:05