Predictive History - The Story of "Civilization", "Secret History", "Game Theory" and more - Civilization #47 - The Passion of Robespierre

Episode Date: October 7, 2025

Civilization #47 - The Passion of Robespierre

So we continue the French Revolution today. And last class, we looked at Jean-Jacques Rousseau and how he is the philosopher poet of the revolution. He provided the dream, okay, for the revolution. He told the French that there was a promised land of reason, where if you use your reason, which is God's gift to us, you could build a new society, a utopia, kingdom on earth.

In today's class, we will look at Roeb's Pier, Maximum Roes Pier, who is a prophet, who will take his people into the promised land. So he is the main instigator, the main leader of the French Revolution. And I'm going to make a very strange argument today about Roeb's Pier that no one has made before. So it's going to be very controversial, it's going to be very strange. So I will do this very slowly, okay? Basically, I'm going to make the argument to you that Rose Pierre saw himself as the second coming of Jesus.

And because he did so, he sacrificed himself in order to save the French Revolution, okay? So that's my argument to you today. Again, it's going to be a very controversial, provocative argument, so I will work very slowly to explain it. All right. Okay. So let's go over some, let's review some information we discussed last class. That's very important. Okay.

So as we discussed last class, traditionally in Europe, there have been two major groups of people. Okay. There are the peasants and the poor and the slaves. So basically the lower class, the underclass. And then at the top are the nobility and clergy. Now, there's always been talents people. There's always been merchants and artisans and craftspeople, but they're the minority.

But because of the gunpower revolution, as Europe begins to industrialize, these people are going in number and in influence and empower. And we call these people today, the middle class and the middle class it's an extremely diverse group of people and you can simplify the middle class into three major categories okay there is the bourgeoisie the bourgeoisie member are the elite of the town so these are bankers, lawyers, doctors, factory owners, industrialists,

merchants okay so they are the elite of a town then you have what will what we call later the Politiate okay the Politiate are the lower class of a town they include artisans workers okay they're often the majority and then in between are what we call the petite or Z or the petty middle class and these are just people who are just stuck in between these two major categories and they include school teachers journalists small lawyers okay notaries small business owners okay so this is extremely diverse group of people okay

Now, and as we discussed last class, what often happens in revolution is that, is that the Portuguese will often become the counter elites. The counter elites are just those who need the people to revolt against the elites. The politariat will be the muscle or the army. Okay? And now, Port-Show Z are in a very unstable position because at first, they will often support revolutions because they want more political power. But over time, they

will become reactionaries. Or they will try to control the revolution or even kill the revolution because the revolution is threatening their economic interests. Okay? So this is the pattern that we see in human history. Okay, so let's go over some terms that we will need in order to understand the France Revolution. Okay, so what happens is this. The middle class is growing in France throughout the 17th and 18th century. In fact, they become the main economic engine for France. At this time, France is the most populous, the wealthiest nation. in all of Europe, but it is an absolute monarchy.

An absolute monarchy is one in which the king makes all the decisions. He decides whether or not to go to war. He decides who has the power. He decides who has to pay taxes, okay? He has absolute power, an absolute monarchy. The absolute monarchy leads France into a series of disastrous wars in the 18th century. The most prominent, the most important is something called the Seven Years War, fought between France and England, primarily.

There are other participants as well. And this is a World War, okay? This is really the first World War. You can actually call this World War Zero. It's fought all around the world in North America, in Europe, in Asia, it's fought everywhere. And France loses this war. When you lose the war, you incur a lot of debt. But not only that, right after seven years war, France sponsors the American Revolution.

So France becomes the main economic, political, and military sponsor of the Americans in their revolution against the British. And of course, the Americans win this war. And the Americans refuse to pay back the debt that they owe to the French. So these are two major wars that have now left France in very war. in very dire economic straits. In fact, their treasury, it's empty. The government has no more money.

Food prices are off the charts. People don't have enough to eat. There's no bread. The economy is in tatters. So what the king needs to do now is he needs to call an assembly of the people. And this is what's called the estate general. The estate general.

This happens in the year 1789, and this marks the beginning of the French Revolution. And the purpose of this estate general, it's very simple. All the king wants to do is get these people, the nobility, the clergy, and the middle class of bourgeoisie to agree to give them more money, to pay more taxes, to replenish the treasury. Of course, the middle class, everyone in the middle class is like this is a bad deal for us we are the main economic engine for France we pay the most taxes we do the most work but we have no political power therefore we should have some political power in fact we should check the power of the

king to declare war and to raise taxes okay so they want a constitutional monarchy no other time in history no one is saying that they should depose the king and declare a republic no one is saying that all they want is a more a greater diffusion of power all right less power for the king more power for the people that makes sense okay but of course the king and the elite don't really like this idea and the king this idea And the king, this is Louis XVIth, and he's very indecisive, okay? He wants to maintain the absolute monarchy, but he lacks the cutthroat mentality

that he would need to achieve his power. So he should have set in the military to kill everyone, but he didn't want to do that. He goes back and forth, okay? And so what happens is now the estate general breaks off. In the estate general, there are three estates, okay? Three major groups. There's the, the first estate is called the clergy, the Catholic Church. The second estate is the nobility.

The third estate is everyone else, the commoners. So what happens is the third estate breaks off, and they form something called the National Assembly. And they use National Assembly as a mechanism to press for more rights. And the National Assembly, because it's made up of most of the members of the middle class, you have different groups, the Politariat, the Petit Bourgeoisie, the bourgeoisie, the bourgeoisie, they argue amongst themselves as well. So what's happening now is that within the National Assembly, these political groups,

political clubs are forming in order to devise strategy and to consolidate ideology amongst themselves. And the most famous of these clubs are called the, you guys remember, the Jacobins, right? Have you guys studied this history? Okay, the Jacobins. Oh, anyway, the Jacobins. The Jackabins club. And this is just a meeting place for revolutioners to come together and discuss ideology. How do we best proceed?

Now over time, as a revolution develops, the Jacobins will split off into other groups. Okay? And the reason why they split off is because the economic interests, the political, economic, social interests of these different groups do not align with each other. All right? So from the Jacobins, you will emerge the full lens. The full lens represent the bourgeoisie. They don't want any economic change. They want political change.

They don't want to have a more equal society. They just want more power over the king. Okay? So these are conservatives. But then you will also emerge the Gerondins. The Germans are lower Portiazzi. These are merchants, these are tradespeople. And what they want is war.

They want French to declare war against their enemies, Austria, Prussia, basically. And the reason why is if there's war, they make money off war. Okay, because these are merchants, these are tradespeople, these are industrialists. So they see war as an opportunity to enrich themselves, they're speculators basically. And these are called the Daronians. And then you will also merge the Cordilliers.

And the Cordilliers represent a more extreme faction of the Jacobins who want universal suffrage. They want the Politariat to have more rights. Okay, at this point, the Politariat is called the San Quollat. The San Quollats, okay? These are very important people because they provide the muscle for the revolution. Saint-Colot is French meaning without breaches. So the custom at that time is that if you are a middle-class person, you wear like silk socks, okay? But they're expensive.

So the lower class, the Politiate, they cannot have. afford these socks therefore they're called the san colats okay the san colat and the collaterals want to galvanize these people to create a full revolution where the complete social economic political and religious order is overfrown okay then you have people call the herbertus and what they want to do is overflow the Catholic Church okay so throughout this revolution over time you have different groups emerging with different political interests within the middle class. Does that make sense?

But at the same time, you have threats to the revolution. So the main threat is the king, because the king is a bourbon, and his brother is king of Spain, he has relatives all over Europe. So he writes to Austria-pressure to ask for aid. You come in, send your army, and crush this revolution for me, because my army is not listening to me, okay? So the king is conspiring against the revolution. There are these invasions from Austria and Prussia, okay? And then England also sees the revolution as a threat as well.

Because remember, every nation has a new class, and they're afraid that the middle class in their nations will rise up against them as well. So you have these external threats coming in, and then you also have, internal threats, okay? You have counter-revolutionaries, the nobility who try to raise their own armies to crush the revolution. You also have economic collapse going on, okay? So the revolution at this point in the year 1990, 1991, it seems threatened. So what happens is that someone emerges from this chaos to lead the revolution. And his name is Maximilian Robespierre. Maximilian Robs Pierre. And Robs Pierre, he is just a provincial lawyer. Okay? He is not from Paris. He is from Arras, a province in France. He's a lawyer, and he's part of the Petit Bourgeoisie. And he's not imposing. He's not huge. He's not powerful. He doesn't have a faction behind him. And he's not extremely charismatic. He's almost like a nerd. But the The thing about Ropes Pierre is that he is completely convinced that the revolution must win,

and it will win if he works hard enough. He works 18 hours a day. The moment he gets up, he works. He gives speeches. He gives over 500 speeches in the National Assembly over his career. He is extremely virtuous. He comes to Paris with no money, and he leads Paris with no money. His entire career as a lawyer back at his hometown, he spent defending the poor and the weak against the powerful.

And he has very clear ideas about how to proceed with the revolution based on John Jack Rousseau. He sees himself as a disciple of Jean-Jacques Rousseau. Remember last class we looked at Rousseau's ideas and how to implement a kingdom of reason. Ropes Pierre, because he is the most virtuous, he is the most conviction, he becomes the de facto leader of the revolution. He becomes head of something called the Committee for Public Safety.

And it's not a dictatorship, okay? He's not a dictator, but he's head of a committee that advises National Assembly on how to proceed. to proceed and because he is the most forceful he has the most ideas his ideas usually win out okay and what and over time as he accumulates more more power he makes more radical proposals his most radical proposal is called the reign of terror the reign of terror is a time of mass mass execution okay the guillotine in Paris to in order to solidify the revolution in order to

advance the revolution robs fear says we must instill terror in our enemies we must investigate our enemies and execute them if they are plotting with the king against us if they are plotting with enemies against us if they are conspiring against us if they are engaged in economic speculation if they're hoarding food These are all enemies. They're trying to sabotage the revolution. Therefore, we must kill them. So over a few years, three or four years,

the Ring of Terror will kill at least 40,000 people within Paris alone, okay? We don't know in the provinces how many people are killed. The Ring of Terror will also execute the king and queen. So they will kill the king and queen as well. All right? So historians have been debating for a long time

if the ring of terror was necessary because obviously it's a terrible thing to kill tens of thousands of people for holding opposing political opinions. And a lot of these people were, in fact, just political enemies of rope. peer okay so how can we best understand the ring of terror well if you think about it in this class we we've actually studied the reign of terror before okay

it's the idea of human sacrifice and we discussed this before all societies engage in war pre-modern times practice human sacrifice so Romans did it like the Vikings did it the Aztecs did it okay the Aztecs were famous for for doing it so why would you do human sacrifice if you're engaged in war okay well they're different reasons and there are three main reasons the first reason is you want to unify and energize the people okay when people observe or they watch human sacrifice when they when they engage in a spectacle they become much more excited they have bloodlust okay we call this bloodlust war lust they want to kill now

They get excited to kill. Okay, that's one purpose. Second purpose, of course, is to terrorize your enemy. To put fear in your enemy, okay, that's obvious. And then there's a third reason, which is the most important. The third reason is to break taboo. Okay, the break the taboo. When you break a taboo, you're signaling that you are crossing a boundary.

You've crossed a line, and you can never go back. You can no longer compromise. You can only move forward. So the taboo they broke in the French Revolution is they kill the king and queen of France. That meant that now all of Europe would unite against the French. They would come and exact a bloody vengeance on the people of France. The enemies of France, which include England, the Netherlands, Prussia, Austria, Austria, Russia, the five most powerful nations in all of Europe,

they will now come and they will not stop until they have avenged the dead king and queen, okay? Because the French people have broken this taboo. And the monarchs cannot allow the French people to get away with this, okay? Because if they did, then this would encourage their people to rise up against them as well.

Okay, so by, with the Ring of Terror, rope spear breaks the taboo and when you break the taboo then you are now all in you are fully committed to the revolution there's no more compromise there's no more surrender there's no more going back into the past you are now in the promised land you are now in a new world you must fight to the death for this world okay does that make sense okay but what happens next and it's very strange is rope's pierre has accumulated all the power in France he's not dictator doesn't have the powers of a dictator but he's de facto dictator and at this point in his life he's only like in his mid-30s he could

choose to become king right he could be like you know what for the revolution to fully succeed I need to become the dictator and the people the San Colotte love him the Zachalans love him he would win okay but at this particular stage in the revolution he decides to just set at home he goes into seclusion he kind of gives up and this allows this gives time for his enemies to conspire against him and he has a lot of enemies because this is the ring of terror Robs-Pierre is virtuous and no one can be as virtuous as Robespierre and his enemies think this guy is crazy he's gonna kill everyone who is not as virtuous as

he is and therefore we're all going to be killed at some point okay so they try to they decide to act first so the National Assembly conspire to vote for his kind of nation they vote for his death and he does not The most he does is he goes to National Assembly and he gives a speech cursing them all. Okay? But then afterwards they send soldiers to arrest him and he doesn't really resist. And then he's sent off to the guillotine and then he's killed. And that's the end of Ropespeer.

And this is a mystery, a paradox to historians. Like, why did Ropespeer fall? Why didn't he resist? Why did he just give up? Okay? All right. So to answer this question, I'm going to provide you with a new idea. Okay?

And this is a hard idea, so please feel free to challenge me or ask questions. Make sure you're clear, okay? All right. So the thing you need to understand is this. In a time of revolution, when people reject authority, when people say, I no longer believe in God, I refuse to listen to my priests. The nobility is evil. I refuse to submit to the king.

The question then is, what takes charge? What guides society now? And the answer is mythologies. Mythologies are the subconscious operating system of society. Does that make sense? So what mythology does everyone in France know? Well, the story of Jesus, right?

What's the story of Jesus? Jesus is persecuted for telling the truth, for trying to bring about a more equal, more just world. In fact, he is murdered. He's crucified, okay? It's crucification. And the moment he's crucified, people discover that he's truly the son of God.

And then after he dies, he ascends to heaven where he waits a day when he has to return. And he does return in something called the Second Coming. And the Second Coming, Jesus will become the God of war, the Messiah. And he will lead his people into victory against the entire world. And once he defeats the entire world, he will be able to be a whole. entire world, he will build a kingdom of heaven, a thousand years of peace. And then after a thousand years of peace, heaven will come onto earth. We will all become immortal. And those who have been good will live in heaven. Those who have been bad will burn in hell, okay, the

final judgment. Okay? So that's a story, the mythology, that everyone understands, that everyone knows in France. And so even though the French Revolution was a revolution of reason, when they're trying to reject the Christian faith the mythology is still implanted in their brains and this mythology becomes the operating system of the French Revolution okay so using this mythology let's now ask yourselves what happened when Roebbeer died okay three things happened when Roebbeer died the first one that happened is Rose Pier became a scapegoat. A scapegoat is someone who takes a blame for all the crimes of the community.

So the Ring of Terror is when the Parisians killed 40,000 people, and some of them were innocent. And when Roos Pier died, he took the blame for the Ring of Terror, right? They killed him because they call him a tyrant. He's the one responsible for those 40,000 deaths. And he said, sure, I'll take the blame, okay? He becomes a scapegoat. That's the first thing that happens. happens second thing that happens is he becomes a martyr for the revolution he

died in order to save the revolution rose here said to the people if you need me to die in order to cleanse you of your sins then I will do so I will do so because what matters is that my life but the revolution okay he becomes a martyr and when he became a martyr what he did was he made people feel guilty for having persecuted and killed him okay and so the third thing he becomes is a role model or a peregon a hero he's telling the French people listen I could have become king at all the power in the world but I chose to sacrifice myself because what mattered most was the revolution if you feel

guilty for having killed me then you have an obligation to the revolution to sacrifice necessary in order to save the revolution okay so this is what happened the moment he killed himself he became a scapegoat a martyr and a paragon of virtue a hero to the people people will feel guilty for having killed him and now they will transfer this guilt into promoting and saving the revolution and so In other words, the moment that he died, Rospier became Jesus.

He became in the minds of the French people second coming of Jesus. Doesn't make sense. So that's my argument to you today. And so over the rest of the class, we will look at the evidence. And actually, the best evidence is how Rosteer died. Okay?

So let's compare the death of the death of Jesus and the death of Rose Pier. And you will see they match up. They line up perfectly. So let's look at the death of Jesus. And then we'll look at Rose Pier, his death. Jesus spends his life preaching the truth to the people and trying to build a more just and equal world.

But he knows that eventually he must die in order complete his mission okay so at the last supper he tells his followers the disciples one of you will betray me okay betrayal and of course this person name is Julius Escarat who betrays Jesus to the high priest of Jerusalem okay so the first thing is betrayal but after the dinner everyone goes to sleep and Jesus goes to a quiet place okay He isolates himself. Why?

Because he knows that the soldiers are coming to arrest him and to put him to death. The servants of the high priest are going to come and arrest him. The servants do come to arrest Jesus, and Jesus submits, okay? Submission. He does not resist. But one of his disciples, Peter,

he sees what's happening and he rushes to try to save Jesus. And Peter cuts off the ear of one of the servants of the high priest. And Jesus tells him, no, no, no, Peter, go home. This is what I must do by myself. I must go to the high priest. He goes to the high priest who then presents him to the Roman governor, Pontius Pilate. And Pontius Pilate says, Jesus, you've been accused of crimes against your people,

of defying the laws of your God. what do you have to say in your defense? And Jesus says, nothing. Jesus does not defend himself, okay? So submission, okay? And then Pontus Pius says, fine. If you refuse to defend yourself, then I can only condemn you to death.

So Jesus, he has to bear a cross, okay? And he's bringing the cross. The Jews line up and see him, and they jeer him. Okay? They curse him, they spit at him, they fill stones at him. And all this while, there's someone, a soldier, a centurion, following him and whipping him, okay? This is called a passion. He is punished.

And then he is, of course, crucified. And he's crucified. It's the worst way to die, right? People, thousand people come and watch him get crucified and then die. Okay? That's the story of Jesus. Guess what, guys? This story becomes the death of Ropespeer too.

So Ropespeer is betrayed. He is betrayed by his political allies and friends. He helped these people amass power. And once they amass power and Ropespeer gets rid of all the other enemies, they see Ropespeer as the ultimate threat, so they can spy against him, okay? So it's a betrayal. Robs Pier is asked to speak to the assembly.

He does, but he knows the assembly has already condemned him to death. There's no point in him arguing. So what he does is, after his speech, he goes to a building, a town hall, and he goes to the second floor, and he is isolated from everyone, okay? He knows his fate. He knows he's going to come and kill him, and he just stands there. His friends, his most loyal followers, say to him, Ropes Pier,

They're coming to kill you. Let's rally the people. Let's go to the sections, the Saint-Colot. We have thousands, tens of thousands of loyal followers. Let's rally them. Let's inspire them to revolt. Let's race in the army and kill the entire National Assembly. And Robespier refuses.

Then you have the Paris Commune. Leaders from the Paris Commune, they've heard what happened to Ropes Pier. So they sent a delegation to the section and say, Hey guys, we need to defend our hero. And so you have this huge crowd moving towards the National Assembly. And they're waiting for Robsbyr to appear before them and say, fight, fight, fight. Okay? Defend the revolution. Save the revolution.

Save Robs Pier. They're winning for the hero to come out and lead them. Robespier refuses to say a word. He just sits there. And then he's begging Robespier, please, Robs Pier, please, we have to do something. And Rope's fear just, he stares off in the space, okay? He's like Jesus at this point. He knows his fate.

He knows his destiny. He refuses to fight his destiny. He submits, okay? Submission. The soldiers come, and his followers, they get into a fight. Some people die. But a soldier shoots a pistol into the jaw of Rospire, okay? And now he's covered in blood.

And he's trying to wipe off the blood. but he's in pain okay and even though he's in pain they still take him to the guillotine so the passion of Rose Pier and he's being driven on a horse card with his father's and there's about hundred of them to the guillotine they'll be all massacred at once okay and thousand people line up on the streets to to shout down the tyrant down the tyrant okay they hate wolf's pier these are people who lost friends family in the Ring of Terror. So they want to see this guy dead. And ultimately then,

Ropes Pier then is guillotine. And that's the end of Ropes Pier. Okay? Do you see how these stories line up perfectly? It is almost as if Ropes Pier is trying to act out the story of Jesus for the French people. That is his intention. That is his legacy. He wants people to understand that it was Jesus who appeared before them and Jesus made the ultimate sacrifice because he loved his people in order to rally his people to save the revolution and fight off the enemies of France okay these stories line up too well now we know that this story is basically just mythology okay but I keep on telling you guys in history for us humans, mythology ideas are real.

So Rose Pierre, remember this mythology, or subconsciously knows this mythology, and he acted it out for the French people in order to inspire them, in order to fully realize the revolution. So in other words, the French Revolution was essentially a religious mythology. in which Robs Pier volunteered to play the part of Jesus. Right? To be Jesus, you need to make the ultimate sacrifice. You need to sacrifice yourself in front of people, and that's what he did. Okay? And after his death, people now see that he's Jesus, and now people are inspired to believe that there will be a second coming of Roep's Pier.

Someone will come who will be Roep's Pier, and who will leave him. and who will lead them to final victory against all their enemies. And this person's name is, who? Who? Who comes after Robespierre? Napoleon. Do you understand? So Napoleon takes advantage of all this mythology, and he uses it in order to become the king of France. Robsby refused to become king, but Napoleon will become king.

And we'll discuss Napoleon next class. And this will end our French Revolution truly. All right, so right, so this is the main argument, okay? So I provide basically the basic story, but what's important for us is now to look at the evidence. Okay, so we're going to look at the speeches of Ropes PR in the context of French revolutionary history, all right? To understand his mentality. Right now what's really important is for us to understand his psychology and ask yourselves, if if Roebs here really believes, World's here really believed he was Jesus or a prophet, then do his speeches, do his words

actually provide evidence for this? Okay? And I will show you that in fact there is evidence that he does, in fact, see himself as a prophet. But before I start the evidence, are you guys clear about this argument? Are you clear about the story I'm telling you? All right. Are you guys clear? All right, good.

So let's look at the evidence. Okay. Yep. That is a great question. Does Roots here know that people will know? He doesn't, right? He can't know. And in fact, if you look at the Bible, the Bible was very clear.

Jesus himself was full of doubt. He was not completely sure that people will remember him, okay? But that's the problem of faith. If you truly believe in the people, you will have faith in the people. You understand? So it was an act of faith, right? Roaks here never at any point said, hey, I am the prophet.

I need to sacrifice myself in order to save the revolution, okay? He hints at that, but he never really says it outright. And so he himself is an extremely conflicted person. There's a part of him that is pulling him towards his destiny, but there's also not part of him that resist against, this okay do you understand we humans are extremely complicated Robespierre was a human being okay okay does that make sense he can never be confident that this will work out in the end but because he took that label of faith it radically changed

human history okay because because because I believe okay and I will argue this if he actually didn't do this if actually just became king right if he seized the crown like Napoleon did the French Revolution would have failed and we really would remember the French Revolution And it really wouldn't change the course of human history. What I will show you next class is, because he did so, because he sacrificed himself, it allowed Napoleon to defeat all of Europe. Without real spirit sacrifice, Napoleon could not have become Napoleon.

So does it make sense? No prophet ever truly believes he's the prophet. There's always a part of him that is doubtful, that is skeptical. Okay. But he persists, nonetheless, and not what makes him heroic, okay? And this is true for all profits. Does that make sense? All right.

French Revolution. Maximum Roep's Pier. Okay, so some basic biographical details about Robs Pier. Okay? He was born in a town called Aura, which is a province of France. And his family there for a few generations was Bourgeoisie, they were all lawyers. His grandfather was a lawyer, his father was a lawyer.

But his mother, Robespier's mother, died giving birth to a younger brother. They both died. And then Robespier's father left the family and died a few years later in Belgium or somewhere. So Robespierre went from Bourgeoisie to Petit Bourgeoisie. His family is still wealthy, but not as wealthy as before. Robespierre becomes at a very early age,

maybe seven or eight, he becomes the man of a family, okay? He's responsible for taking care of his younger brother and his younger sister. His grandparents are still pretty wealthy, they send him to a Jesuit school where he excels academically, okay? His ambition is really to be Jean-Jacques Rousseau. He wants to be a philosopher.

He wants to be like a poet philosopher, like John Jacques-Rousseau. He writes a lot, he dreams of a better world. He's very idealistic. He becomes a lawyer, and as a lawyer, as I mentioned, He spends all his time defending the poor and the weak. He's a champion of the oppressed. The state's general is organized,

and he goes and becomes a representative. And as I said, over the next few years, he rises to the very top. So the question we're looking at today is, how did Robs Pier fall? Okay, so as I mentioned, before, the state general is called France is in a is facing economic financial collapse and so King Louis the 16th appoint Jack Necker to become the finance minister the

thing about Necker is that he understands that listen if you people if you want people to pay more taxes you need to give them more political representation okay so Necker becomes a champion of the middle class and he's worshipped by the middle class Louis XVI doesn't really like what he has to say, and so they have this back and forth for many years, where Louis XVI fires him, the people revolt, Louis XVI hires him back, then fires him again. So this goes on for quite some time. Nekker will also become... Okay.

Around this time, as the State General is being called in order to raise more taxes from the people, the Abbe Sceye, who's a clergyman, He writes a very influential pamphlet called What is the Third Estate? Because the First, Second, and Third Estates are being called. The First and Second Estates have all the power. The Third Estate has no power. So he writes a very influential pamphlet. Asking the question, what is the Third Estate?

And his answer is everything, okay? The third estate is everyone in France. 99.99%. What has it been until now in the political order? Nothing. What does it demand to be? something okay so during this time pamphlets are like the internet internet of today it's how most people get their news and the pamphlets become extremely

violent and call for radical change May 5th 1789 the three estates meet King of the 16th refuses to acknowledge the third estate you refuse to meet with them it refuses to heed their demands so what happens is the third estate form their own national assembly okay and these people are radical this is everyone in the middle class the bourgeoisie the petite morozy the Saint-Colot they want more political power they want more political representation in government while this is happening people's mood is becoming more and more radical and violent okay so the people Paris they don't have any bread they're

hungry they're unemployed they feel hopeless they feel the king is aloof so a group of people they storm the Bastille the storming of the Bastille happens on July 14th 1789 this is important because the National Day of France today is July 14th why because on July 14th the people rose up and stormed the fortress of the Bastille in order to get gunpowder in order to have their own army okay but not only that but But they kill the governor of the pastel and parade his head in front of everyone. So people's mood is extremely violent. And this violence is happening all around France.

It's been decades of economic stagnation, poverty, military defeat. People want a revolution. August 27, 79, the National Assembly declares a new constitution. This new constitution is something called the Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen. And it becomes a basis for most constitutions in the world. This marks the beginning of a new age in human history. So let's look at a few passages from the Declaration of Rights of Men. For these reasons, the National Assembly do recognize,

clear in the presence of the supreme being the supreme being is a god of reason and with the hope of his blessing in favor the following sacred rights of men and of citizens okay do you understand these rights were not given to you by the government they were given to you by god and these rights can never be taken away from you okay first men are born and always continue free and equal in respect of their rights several distinctions therefore can be found only on public utility okay this is a radical statement everyone is equal in the eyes of God and therefore in the eyes of the law if there's nobility there's a clergy it's only because we agree to give them this distinction based on their utility okay based on the

fact that they do public good for us right so that's a radical statement second the end of all political associations it's a preservation of a natural and in prescriptible rights of man and these rights are liberty property security and resistance of oppression okay these are a fundamental human rights all government all laws all society must be based on these fundamental principles liberty property security and oppression resistance of oppression okay third the nation is essentially the source of all sovereignty nor can any individual or anybody of man be in

entitled to any authority which is not expressly derived from it so what this is saying is now is that we have a new God it's a nation state France becomes a first nation state and all authority derives from the idea of the nation okay and no power can supersede the power of the nation okay does that make sense guys okay this is beginning of modernity right for political liberty consists in the power of doing whatever does not injure another you know what you want as long as you don't harm someone else the exercise of the natural rights of every man has no other limits than those which are necessary to

secure to every other man the free exercise of the same rights and these limits are determined only by the law five the law ought to prohibit only actions hurtful society what is not prohibited but the law should not be hindered nor should anyone be compelled to that which the law does not require okay so this is a new idea of freedom negative freedom okay before it's positive freedom where you have to do certain things to become a citizen now it's like if you're citizen you know you can do whatever you want as long as you are not hurting someone else you're not bringing the law and

so this is the where the modern idea of freedom comes from all right six the law is an expression of the will of the community also does have a right to concur either personally or by the representatives in its formation it should be the same to all whether it protects or punishes and all being equal in its site are equally eligible to all honors places and employment according to different abilities about any other distinction than not created by their virtues and talents not only is the government now responsive to the needs and demands of the people the people can at any time become the government okay so the people

are above the government okay so the hierarchy now is at the very top is the nation and then below the nation now it's the people right and then below the people now is the government the government only exists in order to protect the rights of the people so the government only exists at the behest and concurrence of the people all right number 10 no men ought to be molested on account of his opinions, not even on account of his religious opinions, provided it has a vow of them does not disturb the public order established by law. So this is now the separation of church and state. You are free to believe whatever you want. 11. The unrestrained communication of thoughts and opinions being one of the most precious rights of man, every citizen may speak, write, and publish freely provided he is responsible for the abuse of this liberty in case determined by law.

You are free to say whatever you want. This is the freedom of expression. So the Declaration of Rights of Man basically defines the new liberal order. Last is 17. The right to property being invaluable and sacred, no one ought to be deprived of it except in case of evident public necessity, legally ascertained, and on condition of a previous just indemnity. So property is also a sacred right. If you have property, it is yours by the law.

it is yours by the will of God. Obviously, Rope's fear does not like this idea. So Ropespeer gives a speech arguing against this idea. And he proposes an amendment to this idea. In the last session, this Ropespeer speaking before the National Assembly, okay? In the last session, I took the floor in order to make a few important additions to the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen. It was my intention to expand your declarations of the theory of

by the addition of a few articles. Let the word property fronting no one. Filthy souls who value only your money, I will not violate your treasures, even though I know how unclean the source from which they are, from which they come, okay? So, most you are saying to everyone, I know you guys are rich and you all want to protect your property,

I won't take away your property. But please remember, everyone of you stole this from someone else. This is how you became rich. through theft, through crimes. So, Rozier has a contempt for the wealthy. Ask any one of these traders in human flesh, what is property? How do people make money? For the slave trade, basically.

He will show you the long coffin called a ship in which men are packed together and chain, men who seem yet alive, and he will tell you, look at my property, I have bought it head for head. It's a known fact that at this time in history, a lot of people are getting rich off the slave trade okay question this noble man who has goods and subjects and who believes that the world will come to an end now that he no longer possesses them and he will expound similar ideas on

property to you okay rich people love their land they love their wealth question the members of the Capacian dynasty and they will tell you that the most sacred property is the right of inheritance that they have the ancient right of oppression the 25 million persons now populating the territory of France, of destroying them, of treating them legally and monarchically according to their own world will. So what we're saying is that property cannot be a secret right, because property requires the oppression of others, right?

How do you make money off land? By getting people to farm them, right? You're oppressing people. You're explaining people. Therefore, this is a contradiction. If you're saying that property is sacred right, then you're saying like God gave people this right. But God would never give you the power to oppress others. That makes no sense.

You have increased the number of articles in order to afford the largest possible latitude, the right to one's property. And yet you have not added a word in limitation of this right with the result that the declaration might make the impression of having been credit, not for the poor, but for the rich, the speculators, for their stock exchange, strawberry. to remedy these defects I propose the following additions okay so he's saying at this point in the revolution the entire middle class including the Borger Z are participating in this revolution but he's also saying that you the

bourgeois Z have written this Constitution for your benefit and not for the benefit of everyone for the people okay so we need to make changes first property is that right held by each citizen does it dispose freely of that portion of the general goods guaranteed him by the laws so it's society that gives people property not God who gives people property okay there's a difference second the right to property like all other rights is limited by the obligation to regard the rights of others all right so when you speak you you can do whatever you want as long as you don't

you know harm others well he what Rozier is saying is like that's also part of property you can own property as long as you are doing so in a way that does not exploit others and the third is property may not cause any detriment to our security or to our liberty or existence or to the property of our neighbor okay owning property should also not harm the national interest as well so he's putting severe limitations on the idea of property because what world sphere wants is society based on equality of all okay now as this revolution is happening There's a man named Joseph Ignat's Gilitan who will create something called the guillotine.

He's a doctor and he wants to create a more humane way of executing people. The guillotine will become the main mechanism of terror during the French Revolution. So if you are an enemy of the state, they will guillotine you. As all this happening, the king is trying to work with the National Assembly. So the king is also conspiring against the National Assembly by trying to write to his family and friends overseas to raise armies against the revolution. And on June 20 to 21, 1792, the king and queen actually tried to flee France, but they're recognized and they're captured and sent back to Paris.

A month later, August 10th, the people actually storm the king's residence. and basically massacre his Swiss guard, the mercenaries who are paid to protect him. Finally, they decide to kill this guy because he's threatening the revolution. King Louis is always trying to conspire against a revolution, so they break the taboo. Because remember, many people believe that the king is a son of God, and they kill him. And Robs Pier is explaining why. And it's very simple, okay? Louis may die in order that the revolution may live.

It's that simple. What matters first and foremost is a revolution. In order to advance a revolution, everyone is expandable, including Robs Pier. Robs Pier is only the profit of revolution. He is not the revolution itself. As is happening, there is now counter-revolutionaries. So in the Venday, which is in West France, peasants are rebelling against the French Revolution. Why? Because French Revolution is calling for a secular state.

It's calling for a negation of religion. And the thing about peasants is they love their religion. So the peasants are now rising up against the French Revolution, and it is a brutal war of genocide. There are massacres and atrocities on both sides. On May 31st, Rose Pier takes command of the National Assembly. This is something called the Montanacou, because he's in charge of a faction called the Mountain. This is French for Mountain. And of course, he then begins the Ring of Terror.

And we discuss why he starts the Ring of Terror. He needs to unite the energies of people to commit them fully to the revolution, okay? We can't go back. no coming back after this ring of terror we have too many enemies now the thing about the ring of terror is he doesn't he kills his enemies but more importantly he's also killing his political allies okay the people on the left he's also killing as well because they also threaten the revolution so this is George Denton and he's one of the leaders of

of the courtiers, which as I mentioned, is a very left-wing political group calling for universal suffrage, for property rights for the San Calotte. And he's seen as a threat to the revolution. And like Rose Pier, he's also fanatical. He's a fanatical prophet. So the National Assembly votes to condemn him to death, and he says, I have said, and I shall repeat,

my home will soon be in oblivion, and my name in a pantheon. Here is my head. It will answer for everything. My life is a burden to me. I shall be glad to be rid of it. He's like, screw you all. I don't care. I have done God's work. If I must rest, I shall rest. And then he's guillotine. Jacques Herbert is the leader of the herbertist. He's a journalist. And he's calling for the complete abolishment of the Catholic Church. And of course the peasants don't like that. The peasants would all unite against you.

So he's seen as a threat to the revolution, even though he is a close ally of Roebbeer. And Robs Pier also has him killed. Okay? So Robs Pier is not just killing his enemies, but he's also killing his friends as well. And it's all in order to advance the revolution. So now Robs Pier needs to explain why this is happening.

Okay? And he presents a vision of the revolution, which tells us that he's a vision. He sees himself as a prophet. He's trying to build a new world. Right now there's a war between good and evil, and good must triumph, no matter what the cost. All right, so his speech before the National Assembly to explain the ring of terror.

To judge by the power and the will of a Republican soldiers, it will be easy to feed the English and the traders. But we have another task of no less importance, but unfortunately of greater difficulty. This task is a task of frustrating by an uninterrupted access of energy. So the Ring of Terror is to energize the people, right? The eternal intrigues of all enemies of freedom within the country, and of paving the way for the victory of the principles on which the general well depends. So our true enemies are not the English, the Austrians, the Prussians,

our true enemies are those traders within us. They're the ones who most threaten the revolution. This is another speech, okay? What's the goal toward which we are heading? Why are we doing this? Why the Ring of Terror? The peaceful enjoyment of liberty and equality. Kingdom on earth.

Utopia. Paradise. Justice and equality. The ring of that eternal justice who laws have been inscribed not in marble and stone, but in the hearts of all men, even in that of the slave who forgets them, and in that of the tyrant who denies them. This law, this justice, this equality is what God promised us, because it's implanted in our hearts.

We all yearn for this world when we're all equal, when justice prevails. We are fighting for the freedom and liberation of all humanity from oppression. That's why we're fighting. We seek an order of things in which all the base and cruel passions are in chain. Okay, so last class we discussed John Rousseau. Remember, John Rousseau, his most famous line is, we are born free, but we are all in chains. So this is rewriting of that idea.

So what keeps us in change are our emotions. So we want a world in which our reason prevails, and we are control of our emotions. then we truly liberated all the beneficent and generous passions are awakened by the laws where ambition becomes the desire to merit glory and to serve our country okay so your ambition is not to gain wealth at the expense of others your ambition is to help the community grow and and thrive where distinctions are born only of equality itself where the citizen is subject to the magistrate the magistrate to the people and the people

to justice, where our country assures the well-being of each individual and where each individual proudly enjoys our country's prosperity and glory, where every soul grows greater through the continual flow of Republican settlements and by the need of deserving the esteem of a great people. With the arts are the adornments of the liberty which ennobles them and calmered the source of public wealth rather than solely the monstrous opulence of a few families. Guys, he's talking about communism. He's talking on a world in which everyone is equal.

Everyone is free to do what he or she wants, and this will lead to the general prosperity, wealth, and happiness of the entire nation. Okay? So Rose-Pier is dreaming of a world in which everyone is equal. The great purity of the French Revolution's fundamental elements. The very salimity of its objective is precisely what creates our sociality. creates our strength and our weakness. Our idealism is what gives us power.

Our strength because it gives us the victory of truth over deception and the rights of public interest over private interests. Our weakness because it rallies against us all men who are vicious, all those who in their hearts plan to despoil the people, and all those who have despoiled them in what impunity. And those who reject liberty as a personal calamity,

and those who have embraced the revolution, as a livelihood and the republic as it were an object of prey. So we are fighting a war of good versus evil. Among us are men of good who want to build a better world, who care for others. But there are also speculators among us who use the revolution in order to advance his or her interests. That's why we're fighting this war. We're trying to rid the world of those who seek to exploit others, who prey on others, who enjoy being bad.

That's why we're finding this war. Hence the affection of so many ambitious or greedy men who since the beginning have abandoned us along the way, because they had not begun the voyage in order to reach the same goal. One could say that the two contrary geniuses that have been depicted, that competing for control of the realm of nature are fighting in this great epoch of human history to shape irrevocably the destiny of the world and that France is the theater of this mighty struggle okay this is the end of the world this is the end of the world this is good versus evil good must triumph it must so every sacrifice must be made without all the tyrants encircle you

within all the friends of tyranny conspire they will conspire until crime has been robbed of hope. We must smother the internal and external enemies of the Republic or perish in this situation. The first maximum of your policy ought to be to lead the people by reason and the people's enemy by terror. This reign of terror, it is about the ultimate victory against evil. We are killing our enemies because our enemies want to destroy all good in the world. If the main spring of popular government in peacetime is virtue, amidstrile, revolution, it is at the same time virtue and terror. Virtue about which terror is fatal, terror about which virtue is impotent. Terror is nothing but prompt severe and flexible justice.

It is therefore an emanation of virtue. It is less a special principle than a consequence of the general principle of democracy applied to our country's most pressing needs. We have to be as brutal as our enemies if you are truly to promote democracy. There's no other choice. All right. So the Ring of Terror is just one policy that Robs here adopts in order to save the revolution. But he also adopts a new religion called the the cult of the supreme being, okay? This is a new religion where God is the God of reason.

All right. So Robs here is adopting a lot of different policies. And again, he is working selflessly. selflessly in order to promote the revolution. But eventually he gets exhausted, okay? He just breaks down. He has a nervous breakdown because it's too hard. Like he wants people to be virtuous. He wants people to be reasonable. And everywhere he sees, like he sees everyone in front of him and everyone's in, everyone's plotting against him. Everyone's trying to exploit the revolution for his or her own benefit. Okay. And eventually

Obviously, Robespierre is brought down and he is guillotine. But let us look at his last speech to fully understand how he sees the revolution and his own death. This is his last speech before the National Assembly. This is two days before he is to be executed. This is July 26, 1794. The enemies of the Republic called me tyrant, okay? The National Assembly is now calling for his execution because he's a tyrant. Were I such, they would grovel at my feet.

I would gorge them with gold. I should grant them impunity for their crimes and they would be grateful. If I'm a tyrant, then I would make political alliances. I would bribe people. I would benefit people. But I don't do that. I am incorruptible. I'm virtuous.

Where as such, the kings we have vanquished, far from denouncing Robs Pier, would lend me their guilty support. Okay? So the kings of England, Netherlands, Austria, Prussia, Russia are all aligned against the French Revolution. Why? Because they're afraid of revolution at home. Right? So ropes are saying, listen, if I just became a king, they would marry their daughter to me and we'd all be one big happy family. Okay? They would not seem as a threat. There would be a covenant between them and me. Tyronee must have tools, but the enemies of tyranny whether does their path ten to the tomb and to immortality What tyrant is my protector to what faction do I belong yourselves? Everything I've done is for the people of friends and you know this

Since the beginning of the revolution has crushed and annihilate so many detected traders You the people or principles are that faction a faction to which I am devoted and against which are the scoundrelism of the day is banded okay it is because I rociere in the and the only virtuous person who has fought for the revolution now do you conspire against me the confirmation of the Republic has been my object and I know that the Republic can be established only on the internal basis of morality okay it only if we are virtuous can we win out in the end against evil against me against those who hold kindred principles the league is formed

My life, oh my life, I abandon without a regret. I have seen the past, and I foresee the future. I am the prophet. I have seen the past and I foresee the future. You will kill me. I accept my fate. What friend of his country would wish to survive the moment when he could no longer serve it? When he could no longer defend innocence against oppression.

You have taken away my powers? Fine, take away my life as well. Because I serve. I live only to serve. wherefore should I continue in an order of things where intrigue eternally triumphs over truth where justice is mocked where passions the most object or fears the most absurd over the sacred interests of humanity

the pollution has been polluted it is now corrupt if you take my life I'll be glad to give it to you question history and learn how always the offenders of liberty in all times have been overwhelmed by calamity okay all prophets in their time were prosecuted including Jesus and Socrates but their producers died also the good and the bad disappear alike from the earth but in very different conditions oh Frenchmen all my countrymen let not your enemies

with their desolating doctrines degrade your souls and innovate your virtues Now is the time to stand up and fight for the revolution. I may die, but the revolution must live. Death is not an internal sleep. Citizens, efface the tomb that motto, graven by sacrilegious hands which spreads over all nature of funeral crepe, takes from oppressed innocence, its support, and affronts the benefit the desperation of death. Inscribed rather, therefore, these words, death is the commencement of immortality.

I lead to the oppressors of the people a terrible incestimate, which I proclaim with the independence befitting one whose career is so nearly ended. It is the awful truth, thou shall die. Yes, today I die, but so will you. And when we all die, we must face our maker. We must all see God, and we must account for our lives. I go to God in full conscious. I am happy to go directly to God.

and await my fate. And these are his last words. Why should I where she live under system, where intrigue triumphs over truth, where justice is a lie, where the basis passions and the most ridiculous of terrorists supersede in man's heart the most sacred duties? Why should I regret to escape from the eternal torture

of seeing this horrible secession of traitors, who by concealing the turpitude of their souls under the veil of virtue and even of friendship will leave prosperity in the future in doubt which was the greater the cowardice or their crimes. You, members of the National Assembly, were elected to serve the people. You have only served yourself.

You have only fought for your own economic interests. And because you see me as a threat, you see Roebbeyer as a man of purity, of virtue, of reason, you conspire against me. And I am happy to be condemned to death because it will liberate me from this evil world that you have created. But upon my death, there shall come vengeance. Okay?

So that's it, guys. That's Ropes Pier. All right. So does this make sense? He sees himself as a prophet who must save the revolution. At first, he believes that he must kill his enemies, the enemies of the revolution in order to save the revolution, but then he recognizes that, no, no, no. This ring of terror, it's not really about energizing the people. It's really about

eliminating the enemies of his allies. It's really about political intrigue. And so he recognizes that if this revolution is to really triumph, then he must make the ultimate sacrifice. Rather than try to seize the crown, he must give his life for the revolution, to set an example for everyone, especially the oppressed and the weak. And after he dies, this will energize France. It will unite France. It becomes a hurricane. The French Revolution becomes a hurricane. And Napoleon will come. He will take this hurricane, and it will unleash it on the entire world, and it will conquer the entire world. And that's what we'll do in the next class. We'll look at Napoleon.

But does this make sense to you guys? Any questions? Yeah, go? Okay. So the question is, are people conscious of what Rose Superior is doing? And I know this is a hard argument. And I know this is hard to understand, but this is all happening subconsciously.

This is all happening about people being aware of it. Robe Spears are not aware of it, that people are not aware of it. Okay? So the argument goes like this. First of all, mythology is the collective subconscious. Okay? Mythology is the collective subconscious. That's the first idea.

Does that make sense to you? Second idea is this. When authority breaks down, the mythology takes a over okay do you understand okay the argument is this usually someone of authority orders people around right someone in authority whether it's a general or a priest or a teacher tells you what to do but when you deny this authority when you reject this authority what tells you what to do well mythology okay your collective subconscious okay you're guided by your

collective subconscious even though you don't know it. The third argument is that mythology is essentially a play. A mythology is a play. It's a story. And this play requires actors. So the leaders become now the actors. This play must take place.

because that's what people want now you need actors you need volunteers to come and be the actors in this play so whoever too who vote volunteers now must play that role and then people will follow that person okay so Rose Pierre played the role role of Jesus so people follow him even though people don't really know why they're following him okay does that make sense but they follow him because he's willing to play the role that's required of him in this play that's being acted out during the French Revolution. Okay? But, and this is really important,

this play only works if people play the role they're supposed to play. When they speak the lines, they're supposed to speak, right? That's really important. Because what happens is if people brick the role, and instead of people, listen, I was just acting, the entire play dies. Okay, the play dies. Why is this important?

Because in next class, we will look at Napoleon. In the beginning, Napoleon is playing his role, right? He's the Messiah come to earth to lead the French people to final victory against evil, to unite the world in good. He's playing that role. But then he does something that he should not do, and which breaks the play, and which is what? Do you guys know? know what does Napoleon do that rope's here doesn't do that's right he

declared himself emperor you're not supposed to do that okay if you're a ropeer you would never declare yourself emperor you can make yourself for citizen you can make yourself counsel dictator whatever but you cannot make yourself emperor because now you're like everyone else right and when he does that this is very important he destroys the French Revolution and after that France is now destroyed by their enemies Napoleon falls Okay? Doesn't make sense, guys.

So only if you are playing your role can this play work out. Once this play works out, people are energized to sacrifice their lives. The reason why Napoleon at first could defeat all his enemies is his soldiers were not afraid to die. Okay? They didn't care. They're like, well, you know, if we die, we're going to heaven. That's what Worcester did, but we'll discuss this next class.

Doesn't make sense. So it's a hard argument to make because I'm arguing like there is a subconscious operating system to society that we don't ever see. Okay, we don't ever talk about. But once we see this, okay, then it helps us explain the world we live in. It explains a lot of history to us. But you need to be able to see it first, and most people don't see it, okay? If you look at the traditional accounts of the French Revolution, it's always these economic, political, structural forces, okay?

And I'm presenting a different idea here. Does that make sense? Wait, any other questions? Yep. No, no. The reign of terror was a form of human sacrifice, okay? They literally took their enemies and they killed them in front of everyone, right? And that's no different from the Aztecs, no different from the Vikings.

things don't different from the Romans. These are all societies that practice human sacrifice in order to unite the people, to galvanize the people, energize them, create bloodlust, they terrorize your enemies, and to break taboo, to send a message that we will never go back. We are going towards total victory. We won't surrender, we won't compromise. It has nothing to do with Jesus.

In fact, Jesus, a story of Jesus is to tell us, we no longer need human sacrifice. because Jesus made the ultimate sacrifice. Does that make sense? But the Ring of Terror, what it did was unleash all this energy. And this energy, it's polluted energy, because it's based on violence, on vengeance, on hatred, right? So what Wolf's Fear decides to do, and it's very clever of him,

he needs now to purify this energy, right? And how do you purify this energy? by becoming a scapegoat, by sacrificing yourself, by telling the French people, the rank of terror was that your fault? It was my fault. Blame me. Sacrifice me.

Okay? For what happened. I will take the guilt for the nation. I will cleanse you of your sins so that you may move on. Okay? Does that make sense? Okay? Good.

Any more questions? Great questions, guys. Okay. All right. So this ends part two. of the Friends Revolution. Next class on Tuesday is Napoleon. This will end the Friends Revolution Trilogy. Okay.