Top 10 Dark Moments In The French Monarchy

To start, I have no significant qualms about constitutional monarchies. Truthfully, I find some value in giving a population a figurehead to rally around as well as in the benefits of training someone throughout his or her life to become such a leader. Absolute monarchies, by contrast, are much more problematic. In French history, while a constitutional monarchy could have served to benefit the French people in the manner of say the modern Australian, British, Canadian, etc. systems of government, various incidents involving the French monarchy in some way or other helped to alienate certain segments of the population, expose tensions among various organs of government, reveal the dishonesty of particular members of the court, or showcase problems inherent in appointments not based on merit. Now, of course, the French Republic has its shameful moments as well (cough, “Reign of Terror,” cough), which is why I suppose one can see positives and negatives for any form of government. This list, however, emphasizes arguably the most astonishingly terrifying incidents that played a role in weakening the Bourbon monarchy. I do not claim that these are all the main causes of the revolutions of 1789 and 1830, although some clearly played a role in influencing these revolutions.

The incidents recounted below nevertheless did not exactly help endear the masses to the monarchy and can be considered among various other occurrences that brought about the series of revolutions that thus far has caused France to indeed remain a republic. There are lessons monarchs can learn from these incidents: do not persecute those with different religious beliefs, do not execute people in over the top manners, do not make a big deal claiming your representatives accomplished some heroic feat as slaying a beast prematurely, and do not make people captains of ships with limited naval experience, among other lessons. On a final note, France is one of my favorite countries to visit. I have a number of French friends and greatly admire many people and works of art from their history. So trust me that despite this list’s emphasis on several terrifying moments from French history, the country has many more lists worth of admirable achievements and has many breath-taking sites to see for anyone interested in visiting this remarkable country!

Top 10 Dark Moments In The French Monarchy

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