At the age of 14 the princess and archduchess of Austria, Maria Antonia Josepha Joanna married the dauphin of France, Louis-Auguste. Born into a life of luxury, the one she married into, was to become synonymous with all that was wrong with French Nobility, and the driving force behind the resulting revolution. But how much of it was true? Life would not end well for this queen and it would all start with the French Revolution, more specifically the storming of the Bastille when she was said to have told the peasants begging her for food, “Let them eat cake”. This is probably the most famous mis-quote we will…

Dear Diary: December 5, 1793 The Revolution here in France has already been going on for 2 years but the worst seems to have started only recently. See, the revolution began as a response to the monarchy having complete power and taking advantage of the people in this country. France then did the next rational thing that could be thought of, abolish the monarchy and throw King Louis XVI and Queen Marie Antoinette from the throne. Why was it so important that monarchy be abolished? We wanted lower taxes, especially since it was only the population in the Third Estate that were paying taxes to the government. The First Estate…

It is of no surprise that the French Revolution was a turbulent time, not only for French history but for all the world. The events that occurred between 1789 (the revolutionary movements started earlier in 1787) and 1799 shaped the course history for the entire world. But it was not until 1792 that the French adopted a new way to measure time; the French Revolutionary Calendar or better known at the time as the French Republican Calendar. The first day of the first Republican year f [...]