Bastille Day, The Beginning of Great Tragedy

July 14, 2012 - Today is Bastille Day, which marks the beginning of the French Revolution in 1789. You may hear a few ignorant people wish you a "Happy Bastille Day" today. Smile and know that they have no idea how tragic Bastille Day and all of that followed really was.

Unlike the American Revolution, the French Revolution led to hideous terror and mass slaughter, ultimately leading to dictatorships and finally to a France that is drowning in socialist debt. People died in the American Colonies's fight against England for independence, but a few years later (in 1793), the French emulated our revolution and made killing their own citizens a national sport.

"A real civil war took place in the French countryside, between the Vendeen and the republican guards. From March to September 1793, more than 100,000 people died from this opposition," Bastille-day.com reminds us.

That was just the beginning of "The Terror," and there is no analog to it in the history of the American Revolution. The Terror continued: After September, 1793 it spread all over France. "This was a cruel period when France was killing its people by hundreds in a frightening movement of rage and decadence. People were arrested and executed without trial if they were accused of being enemies of the revolution. It is estimated that about 40,000 people died during this 15 month period. Marie Antoinette, wife of Louis XVI, was beheaded in October, 1793. But that was merely the opening act....

"One of the darkest periods in French history soon ensued," says Bastille-day.com. "The Great Terror began in June 1794....Thousands of people who were suspected to be anti-revolutionists were executed savagely. A campaign of dechristianization took place all over the country....On May 8th, 1794 the Assembly introduced the "Culte de l'Être Supreme" (The cult of Supreme Being), as form of deism. On June 8th, 1794 Robespierre, the President of the Convention, participated in the "Fête de l'Etre Supreme" (Supreme Being celebration) in Paris."

There is a lot more than this simplified summary, of course. Napolean Bonaparte would eventually become the self-declared Emperor of the French in on December 2, 1804. (Isn't it funny that the French celebrate Bastille Day on July 14 but have no big fireworks shows on December 2?)

The bottom line: The French Revolution was an anti-Christian, anti-Establishment, barbaric orgy of class warfare that led to a brutal central government. While the French Revolution was slumping toward military dictatorship in 1800, it was an election year in the new United States of America.

The difference, I need not say, is stunning. Those who glorify the French Revolution have no idea what it was about or the tragedy it caused. (More about the anti-God savagery and the creation of a France dedicated to total warfare can be read at kwintessential.co.uk.)

Happy Bastille Day? There is very little about it that was happy, actually.