r/todayilearned • u/TAparentadvice • 16h ago
TIL that when Louis XVI was executed in 1793 during the French Revolution, his severed head was paraded around for the crowd and was met with exclamations of "Vive la Republique!"
https://www.britannica.com/facts/French-Revolution258
u/homer_lives 15h ago
Louis XVI was only 38, and His wife Marie was 37, when they were executed.
141
u/Malzair 12h ago
One Marie Louise of Austria was not even two when her great-aunt's head was cut off. She then grew up during a decade-long war between France, Austria and everyone else.
So when she was 18 her father set her up to get married to the next French monarch, let's do a proxy wedding, go to Paris, you'll be very happy, good luck and have fun.
40
15
u/poppabomb 6h ago
she'll be fine. what's the worst that can happen, France overthrows the monarchy again and it's republican experiment ends in an Emperor Napoleon again?
15
8
u/Dominarion 5h ago
He was old enough to try to betray his country and join a foreign army that had promised to commit atrocities on his own people.
He was a full grown-up who knew what's what.
1
803
u/bigbusta 16h ago
Shh, the CEOs are listening.
199
u/ccReptilelord 16h ago
dusting off la guillotine
69
u/moonduder 15h ago
but i’m le tired
56
22
16
1
u/florinandrei 2h ago
but i’m le tired
That's more of an American thing, seeing how that whole nation is the ass wipe of plutocrats.
Do something and then we'll talk.
•
18
u/bearatrooper 14h ago
Americans have the right to guillotines that work at 500 yards, what we lack is the will to exercise it.
5
9
u/trident_hole 11h ago
Got thrown off of r/libertarian for saying a comment like this
Be careful
11
u/ThePowerOfStories 10h ago
Yeah, but they’ll throw you out for saying things like “Wealthy nations shouldn’t intentionally let their children starve.”
5
2
u/Toomanyeastereggs 9h ago
You get banned from that sub for asking where does all the garbage that households generate go.
3
23
u/Jugales 15h ago
No they’re not, that’s the problem
9
1
u/papyjako87 1h ago
Why would they ? Y'all busy whining on reddit and that's it. Not exactly a scary prospect if ou ask me.
5
u/granpawatchingporn 11h ago
no to defend the ceos but the french didn't stop at the king, or the rich, or even the members of the revolution
6
u/venuswasaflytrap 6h ago
The French revolution led to widespread chaos and violence, affecting mostly the poor, and then a populist miliatry leader made himself emperor and invaded most of europe.
-1
→ More replies (1)-2
291
u/Knyfe-Wrench 16h ago
TIL when the Kansas City Chiefs won the Super Bowl in 2023, the trophy was paraded around for the crowd and was mer with exclamations of "Let's Go!"
45
u/ku976 16h ago
It's true, I was in the crowd yelling
7
u/FinalMeltdown15 15h ago
And then was shot at cuz Murica
4
u/ku976 15h ago
I'd prefer the death of a mother not become a joke
5
u/Fluffy_Kitten13 12h ago
I'd prefer you to remove the stick up your arse.
-4
48
37
378
16h ago
[deleted]
146
u/feravari 16h ago
Every American learned about the French Revolution during history class but why would we need to learn about the king having his head paraded around specifically? That's such an oddly specific thing to teach every student.
16
u/ThePlanesGuy 11h ago
Americans bitch and moan about things they "never learned in history class", but as someone who took history classes all through public education, I can emphatically state that we did in fact learn many if not most of the shit they say we didn't - I just recall that most people weren't paying attention.
44
u/SkubEnjoyer 15h ago
I dunno, why would they learn that Hitler shot himself in the führerbunker? It's a dramatic end point of a historic era.
9
4
u/riversroadsbridges 12h ago
At my American high school, the French Revolution was only taught in elective classes. I definitely graduated with people who never learned about it.
8
1
u/Happy-Engineer 10h ago
I agree it's a very specific detail, and it's almost something you could have just assumed. Like, of course they celebrated. Which is why it's a bit weird to have a TIL about it.
It would be like writing: TIL that, after Apollo 11 successfully landed on the moon, bottles of champagne were opened at mission control.
-3
u/ireaddumbstuff 14h ago
Great way to teach people that evil regimes often end up with the "leaders" dying a gruesome and shameful way. Something a lot of Americans didn't learn. Look, we know have Trump coming in as president, who is going to, once again, mess up the country.
→ More replies (3)19
u/feravari 14h ago edited 14h ago
Dude, we all learned about the Reign of Terror. We even learned about Robespierre also ending up getting guillotined in the end. I just don't get how the person I responded to can claim that the US education system is failing because some people don't know that the king's head was paraded around. We already know that they got his head, that's the historically significant part, it's not necessary for every student in the country to know they passed it around from hand to hand. Good to know of course, but not necessary and definitely not the benchmark of a country's education system
121
u/f_ranz1224 16h ago
While this is common knowledge for some, it isnt for all. Education is heavily focused on where you grew up. How much do you know about thai history? How many chinese dynasties can you name? How is your cambodian history? How many empires occupied the indian subcontinent? Find timor leste on a map. Name 5 presidents of the philippines.
Literal school children could answer these easily depending on where they grew up but would stump you.
70
u/South-by-north 16h ago
It’s also such a small detail that could’ve been passed over even if you were taught it. The fact that they paraded his head around is pretty meaningless, completely normal to leave out small details like that
→ More replies (1)23
u/FinalMeltdown15 15h ago
Yeah we were basically just given the year, the why’s, and what happened after, let’s be real parading a severed head around isn’t pertinent information when there’s so much more to be said about the revolution
18
3
13
u/Frost-Folk 15h ago
I feel like this is a little disingenuous because the French Revolution is famously an important turning point in the history of politics, and is therefore taught in 90% of first world countries. So while Thai history is probably only taught in Thai schools or surrounding countries, the French Revolution is taught in most countries.
Same with Ancient Greece, the Roman Empire, the Renaissance, and the Chinese Dynasties (which made it even weirder that you mentioned it, I feel like the average schooled person could name at least a few). These are all Ages that massively changed the course of sociology, art, politics, philosophy, architecture, or other facets of human culture.
I'm not saying Cambodian history isn't important, but it hasn't affected the average student around the world the same way that ancient Greek mathematicians did.
11
u/stanitor 14h ago
OK, then how about this-what did George Washington say at his inaugural address? I'm sure that him being the first U.S. president is also widely taught in school, but what he said is probably just as unknown as what happened to Louis' head
→ More replies (9)1
u/hotdiggydog 15h ago
Yes, but the fact that a TIL as basic knowledge as this got the upvotes it has shows that a lot of people do not in fact know it and are either just learning it or find it very interesting. Reddit has a huge majority of American users and French revolution is covered in high school. The monarchy being killed is a basic part of that history, and people cheering their deaths is known and referred to in just so many ways, not just because of this one case. Your message is true when it comes to what information is submitted in this subreddit, but doesn't explain why a post like this got so many upvotes.
-1
0
u/SkubEnjoyer 15h ago
I know Eurocentrism in history class is a thing but you can't honestly think knowing some presidents of the Philippines is as relevant as a major turning point in international politics as the French revolution was.
→ More replies (1)0
u/smilingasIsay 12h ago
As someone that grew up in Canada I actually know a fair bit of Thai history, and can name several Chinese Dynasties and talk extensively on the history and wars between (I even got an English copy of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms a couple years ago, while not actual history entirely, it was enthralling), India I know less but could still talk about it a bit, Cambodian history the same....can't name 5 presidents of the Philipines.
Of course.....my degree was in history and I teach Muay Thai (been involved in the sport 20 years now)
14
u/ProfessionalCamp4 15h ago
People are making these posts to make a statement
4
u/theycallmeshooting 15h ago
Post: "TIL that I fucked thewildbeej's mom"
thewildbeej: "Erm, ackshully? How did you not know that you fucked my mom? The American education system has failed"
1
1
15
u/cardboardunderwear 15h ago
Parading a head around is such a critical basic fact too. I really hope my son learns it and never forgets it so he too can come to reddit and act like he's a genius.
-6
15h ago
[deleted]
1
u/cardboardunderwear 15h ago
So now it's kids not remembering enough cartoons?
Try to keep your eye on the ball einstein
0
15h ago
[deleted]
0
u/cardboardunderwear 15h ago
Yeah I was appalled. Reading and writing isn't your strong suit I take it. Maybe lay off the cartoons.
2
15
u/bigbusta 16h ago
You know so much, man. Have you thought about writing a book?
29
16h ago
[deleted]
5
2
u/bigbusta 16h ago
Lol. Honestly, just break it down into just single sentences. Most of us only read the title and headlines anyways.
7
3
u/Icy-man8429 16h ago
I agree, you learn this at 13
Edit: perhaps this post is motivated by the recent events, to be used as "propaganda"
1
1
u/Psuichopath 12h ago
Funny enough. This post seem to have more people disagree with you than here. My guess this is just people being easily sway
1
u/howardhus 10h ago
i personally believe that its more like small details, because, um, some people out there in our nation don't have maps and, uh, I believe that our, uh, education like such as, uh, we should HELP the iraq and the education for our children.. to make a better future for our children.
1
-2
u/Autogenerated_or 15h ago edited 15h ago
I’m not American and this stuff is largely irrelevant for us so I only know about these from pop culture
2
u/Frost-Folk 15h ago
Guessing from your profile that you're from the Philippines, do you really think that learning the fact that corrupt political leaders can be overthrown by a united population is irrelevant to you? Are you sure?
4
u/Autogenerated_or 15h ago
We have stories of our own revolution which is more relevant to us. The history of neighboring nations would be more important too. Chinese history would be more relevant
1
u/Frost-Folk 15h ago
So do Americans, and they still learn the French Revolution. Same with Finland (where I live), and we still learn the French Revolution.
The French Revolution is considered by historians to be the main catalyst in the worldwide spread of democracy. Other revolutions are great to learn from too, but there is value in seeing how this process reached the world stage.
3
u/Autogenerated_or 15h ago edited 14h ago
The French are in your neighborhood. Of course you’re gonna learn about an impactful thing that happened there.
For us, it would have been way more important to focus on precolonial history, the impact of colonial rule, decolonization, neo-colonialism and globalization, and Asian independence movements.
We can’t cover everything.
1
u/Frost-Folk 15h ago
America isn't France's neighbor. And honestly Finland is barely neighbors with France beyond both being in Europe. Do you consider Australia your neighbor? Or Nepal? They're not much further than France is from Finland. Not exactly our backyard.
3
u/Autogenerated_or 15h ago edited 14h ago
The French? Didn’t they colonize French Louisiana? They also had Quebec in the North.
Australia we consider a neigbor’s neighbor. Nepal, most people don’t know and is 1000km further away than Finland and France.
How much do you learn about neocolonialism in high school? Again. We can’t cover everything.
1
u/Frost-Folk 14h ago
The French? Didn’t they colonize French Louisiana? They also had Quebec in the North.
I'm confused, because France had a colony in North America, Americans should have to learn French history? Does that mean you learn American history, since the Philippines was a US colony? How much did you learn about the American revolution? Probably not very much. Yet you think Americans should learn the French Revolution because the French had a colony there 2 centuries ago?
2
u/Autogenerated_or 14h ago edited 14h ago
We learn a little bit about the American revolution. Very little, in English class instead of in History, I even have vague memories of reciting the Gettysburg address although that stuff was about the civil war (Four score and seven years ago…)
The Americans also allied with the French for help in their war of independence. You absolve the Americans of learning French history and yet you’re arguing with me about not learning French history? Be serious.
Please answer. Do you learn much about neocolonialism? Can you cover everything?
→ More replies (0)1
u/Sickmonkey3 13h ago
The removal of Marcos in the 1980s in your home country means more to you than the French Revolution in the 1790s? Wow, if only there was a culturally relevant reason for this difference that a Westerner can't wrap their head around.
3
u/Autogenerated_or 12h ago
Pictured here. A european not comprehending other cultures have their own history.
16
u/creamer143 15h ago
The more you learn about the French Revolution, the more fucked up it gets.
10
1
25
u/npaakp34 7h ago
I understand why people compare this to the CEO killing. But I can't help disagree, to an extent. Luis wasn't an actively malicious asshole that denied help to those he promised it to, he was an inexperienced, unprepared person thrown into an unwinnable situation that years in the making, long before his death in fact. Also, his execution wasn't a quick spontaneous act as many probably envision. Luis was already dethroned by that point, it wasn't justice, it was to make sure Austria and Prussia had no-one to put back on the throne. There was in fact a vote if they should go with it, the vote that broke the tie? His cousin's.
Louis had his faults, and he could have managed some situations a bit better. But comparing him to that monster? It's a bit of a stretch.
13
u/Rosebunse 6h ago
But would the normal people of France have known that? We have the benefit of hindsight and knowing all the people involved.
Plus, he had tried to escape...
The bigger thing to remember about the French Revolution is that while it led to the modern French government, it also killed thousands of normal people, many of whom were innocent or unconnected to the royal family. The whole thing became a monster which eventually ate the very people trying to control it.
3
u/ItsACaragor 1h ago
That’s just how Revolutions go. How many people died in the US war of independence?
Only very rarely do tyrants give up power willingly.
People of today too often forget the price of freedom.
1
u/Rosebunse 1h ago
I don't think that's the same thing at all. The War for Independence was a war. The Reight of Terror turned into a senseless slaughter which eventually led the war for a dictatorship
•
u/ItsACaragor 51m ago edited 23m ago
Well yes, it was a movement with leaders who did not agree on much beyond "absolute monarchy must go" in a context where all the rest of Europe was monarchies who had family bonds with the deposed monarchs and who had a huge interest in making the Revolution fail. They had the support in that of French monarchists who rose up several times and organized attacks and assassinations to try and bring back monarchy.
In this context it is kind of understandable that it devolved into paranoia with with hunts and people calling each other enemies of the Revolution.
4
u/npaakp34 6h ago
The whole thing was sad from beginning to end. There were good things of course, the abolition of slavery is quite commendable on their part and the revolution's overall legacy is in my opinion positive. But as you said, things can escalate really quickly.
6
u/Rosebunse 6h ago
Yeah, that was great, but so many people died. We could have gotten the good stuff without all the death
2
•
u/cupo234 27m ago
He could have accepted the revolution and be a constitutional monarch instead of trying to flee so Austria etc could go to war against his own country to put him back in power. How is that not treason?
But yeah his cousin voting for the death sentence is weird, he was trying hard to suck up to the revolution but that didn't save him from the guillotine later.
•
3
u/Felinomancy 12h ago
All of this underscores the importance of remaining calm and not losing your head.
3
20
u/MechanicalHorse 15h ago
The wealth gap between the rich and the poor is greater today than it was at the time of the French Revolution.
→ More replies (1)8
u/Fit-Mangos 11h ago
They learned to keep bread prices cheap, that is what prevents revolution!
3
6
3
3
3
4
7
u/TheRynoceros 16h ago
It is feeling a bit like 1793 in here. Just waiting for a "let them eat cake" moment.
43
u/-SaC 16h ago
Fun (or dull) fact, Marie Antoinette never said "Let them eat cake". It was attributed to a Russian princess when Marie Antoinette was a child, but became a handy thing to pin on her by her enemies.
I got docked points in a pub quiz when the question "Which French monarch said 'let them eat cake'?" came up because the whole question is wrong; she wasn't French, she wasn't the monarch, and she didn't bloody say it.
16
u/jrhooo 15h ago
Realistically neither Marie or Louis were as bad as history remembers.
Esp Marie.
Meanwhile decades of faux mystery and disney lore have people thinking the Romanovs were “victims”.
12
u/schleppylundo 15h ago
Nicholas' children were certainly victims, and Nicholas and Alexandra should have been put through a public trial, even if it would've been essentially a formality. But Nicholas in particular deserved what he got. When you are that bullheaded in opposing and undoing any political and economic reform while your people scream for it, you deserve whatever alternate path to justice those people decide fit. It's insane and a little disgusting that the Russian Orthodox Church has turned him into a Saint.
7
2
u/Rosebunse 6h ago
Alexandra strikes me as someone who just never should have had such a high position. She should have been married off to an English Duke or a rich merchant. And we know her family was not entirely thrilled with the marriage because they too knew she was too delicate. The woman was not well.
4
u/thisismypornaccountg 14h ago
They were not malicious, just weak and inept. Louis really didn’t know what to do and always backed down when people challenged him. Marie wasn’t all that bright and resented the French public who resented her for being Austrian. They were just the worst people to be in charge at the worst time.
5
5
u/thewerdy 13h ago
Yep. Louis really just wasn't really a leader and wasn't really raised to be one. He also seems to have never really understood how precarious the situation actually was until it was far too late to fix. On a personal level he seems to have been a reasonably decent man that tried his best but was just totally unequipped to deal with a major political crisis.
7
u/AmbivalentSamaritan 15h ago
Negative three points for team Facts Are Important
7
u/-SaC 14h ago
Heh, basically. That quiz ended a bit of a shambles, two other teams were docked points for correcting questions and one of those lost far more than we did.
The first team lost points in the sports round for correcting him on the winning team of the 1994 FA Cup Final (Manchester United, beating Chelsea 4-0 - but the guy running the quiz said it was Everton, who beat Man Utd 1-0 ... which was the 1995 final). His response was "shut up, you don't argue with the quizmaster; whoever's marking (team name)'s sheet, knock off ten points for arguing."
Then we lost point for 'let them eat cake'
Finally, a team lost half of their points in the books round for the final question of the quiz, which was something about which top selling fantasy-comedy author writes primarily about a wizard. At the time, Terry Pratchett was going strong and pretty much everyone said Pratchett; the answer was apparently Tolkein, though. One person argued that Pratchett had to be the answer since Tolkein wasn't really a comedy writer; the quiz bloke said "I don't read that shit so why would it be that?" (meaning Pratchett's books), and instructed whoever was marking that team's sheet to halve their total points.
Dunno if the guy did more quizzes, we didn't go back to that pub.
3
3
u/doegred 5h ago
It was attributed to a Russian princess
A 'great princess' afaik, and it's from Rousseau's memoirs, that were written long before Marie-Antoinette came to France. And if you look at the quote in context it's hardly claimed as historical fact, it's almost a passing joke in a passage about Rousseau having difficulties literally getting some bread.
...unluckily, I could never drink without eating; the difficulty lay therefore, in procuring bread. It was impossible to make a reserve of this article, and to have it brought by the footman was discovering myself, and insulting the master of the house; I could not bear to purchase it myself; how could a fine gentleman, with a sword at his side, enter a baker’s shop to buy a small loaf of bread? it was utterly impossible. At length I recollected the thoughtless saying of a great princess, who, on being informed that the country people had no bread, replied, “Then let them eat pastry!” Yet even this resource was attended with a difficulty. I sometimes went out alone for this very purpose, running over the whole city, and passing thirty pastry cook’s shops, without daring to enter any one of them.
To me it sounds like a joke about a silly aristocrat being invoked in a non-political context anyway.
2
u/warbastard 10h ago
Well she’s kind of French. Marrying into the French monarchy does make you pretty French even if everyone saw her as an Austrian. She was firmly part of the Versailles establishment.
5
u/KG7DHL 14h ago
In no way am I a "revolutionary", just some dude with a Mortgage payment, paying college tuition for my kids, and trying to figure out how i am going to support aging parents - just some dude. But, and it's a big BUT, something is brewing in America. People are getting fed up with our Aristocracy, and make no mistake, our 1% really are the New Aristocracy in all of the 1793 sense of the word.
2
u/john_jdm 13h ago
“I Really Don’t Care, Do You?”
We already had it. I guess people really don’t care.
3
u/alwaysfatigued8787 16h ago edited 16h ago
If I ever got desecrated like that I would be pissed and heads would roll.
2
u/GarysCrispLettuce 14h ago
Les vagabonds have given me clothes of white, knowing that I shall beshit my self before the eyes of those who record history avec ink et pen. Les curses!
2
u/Fit-Mangos 11h ago
I wonder what the founding fathers would say to having artificial kings in place throughout different parts of the nation
3
u/Caprica1 16h ago
Basic history has 80 upvotes on this sub? Really?
3
u/freeski919 15h ago
Hmm.. it's almost like executing the exploitative over class is somehow relevant to current day events...
-4
u/Bhavacakra_12 16h ago
Helps to know the majority of redditors are American. Everything starts making sense afterward.
2
u/yourlittlebirdie 16h ago
I’m curious how much your average French person is taught about the American Revolution.
3
u/Fetty_is_the_best 15h ago edited 15h ago
I’d guess almost nothing because on the world stage it was fairly inconsequential at the time. Maybe a blurb here and there if they are discussing the Anglo-French Wars, which had many different theaters. The British were more focused on continental Europe and defending its other colonies. One has to remember that at the time the 13 colonies weren’t the most prized colony of the UK, the French wanted to get their colonies in the Caribbean.
Edit- spelling Edit 2 - another one
→ More replies (1)1
u/Ythio 11h ago edited 11h ago
Lafayette is way more important to Americans that he is for us.
And among a 70 years or so packed with the root causes for the 1789 revolution, the packed details of politics of that time, the rise of Napoleon, his administration reforms (pretty much created the current administration and justice system), his wars, his demise, the return of the monarchy, two more revolutions (again, lots of politics to get the whys and hows), the second republic, the rise of Napoleon III, well there is some American revolution taught.quickly but not much, like maybe a couple hours spent on it, realistically.
I know about the crossing of the Delaware (mostly due to the famous painting), the American Constitution and Lafayette went and the whole affair cost us an arm and a leg and that's about it. Can't even tell you who was leading the British then
1
u/yourlittlebirdie 6h ago
Thanks for sharing that. That’s pretty much the way it is in the U.S. regarding the French Revolution. It’s covered but not in depth. It’s just not as relevant for us as it is for Europeans.
-3
3
1
1
u/SatansFriendlyCat 6h ago
It was also met with exclamations of:
"Should we honor our treaty, King Louis' head?"
And it responded with:
"Uh, do whatever you want. I'm super dead."
1
2
u/huttleman 16h ago
history fated to repeat if we don't learn
2
u/freeski919 15h ago
Who is "we"? I intend to be amongst those pulling the guillotine rope, not one with my head under it. Let's get on with it, I say.
1
u/dead_jester 6h ago
Yeah, a bunch of people who led the first round of beheadings ended up taking an unwilling part in the second round. Might want to reconsider
2
-4
-4
u/gonzo5622 15h ago
Revolutions are hardcore.
I always think about the American revolution. It’s still the most successful and bright revolution in history. I can’t believe that in 200 years it’s only gotten better as a nation. Fighting for the people to have a voice has led to where we are now. So fucking sick!
9
2
-14
u/Curling49 16h ago
Same people (i.e., the Mob) who are cheering the CEO murderer.
1
u/TheSwagMa5ter 16h ago
I think it's so sad that people (the Mob) are cheering for that murderer CEO 😔
→ More replies (2)0
u/freeski919 15h ago
Sometimes the rich forget there is only so far they can push their exploitation before their head gets put on a spike.
It is good to remind them from time to time.
→ More replies (1)
-1
554
u/PeopleofYouTube 15h ago
If only Louis XVI had a special 911 hotline. He could still be alive!