In the American Revolutionary War, Lafayette, a French nobleman, was highly regarded by Washington and played a very important role in winning the victory. He cleverly introduced the British army led by Charles Cornwallis into the ambush in Yorktown. The encirclement of Washington and Earl Rochambeau forced the British to surrender, and Lafayette was regarded by the American people as a permanent friend. However, no one would have thought that this hero of the new world would drive high and low in the revolution of his own country. He was once the leader of the constitutional monarchy with a high reputation, but in the end he lost the trust of the king and the support of the people, and was even radicalized. The Jacobin sent a decent and inexhaustible criticism, and ended in a bleak departure. This in the end is why? Perhaps we can find the answer from his contradictory political philosophy and ideology.
Revolutionary youth born in a noble family
Lafayette’s family belongs to the traditional French aristocracy, and their origins are said to be traced back to ancient Rome During the Caesar period of the empire, Lafayette belonged to the collateral branch of this line, and the bloodline was not too noble. When news of the "Declaration of Independence" spread across the streets of France, the flames of freedom were burning in the heart of 19-year-old Lafayette. There was no force at all to stop this passionate youth from going to the United States to join the revolution. He hoped Can take this opportunity to realize their own life value. So he violated the Louis XVI prohibition, got rid of the pursuit of two British warships by the Clippers, and survived the turbulence of the waves to North America. So what was Lafayette's motivation for being so obsessed with the North American Revolution? First of all, his father used to be an army officer, and he died gloriously in the battle with the British army. Lafayette and them had feuds. Secondly, he was influenced by the enlightenment thought since he was young, and regarded democracy, freedom and equality as his life creed and political philosophy. The combination of two factors prompted him to take this adventure.
A free-thinking loyal man
The literary precursor of French romanticism, Mrs. Starr once said: "All are sent to North America After returning to China, French soldiers under the command of Washington had a passion for freedom, which prevented them from immersing themselves in the court life of Versailles. They wanted nothing but glory and wealth." This said very well. Transparency, the victory of the North American war convinced the nobles who received enlightenment ideological education from an early age that freedom will eventually defeat tyranny and become the human standard of the new era. At this time, Lafayette once fought side by side with Washington to return to the country and publicly promoted the freedom of belief and the new ideas of abolishing the slave trade. This move was praised by the liberal aristocracy, and soon Lafayette became Up their leader. When Louis XVI instructed the guards of Versailles to expel the third-ranked MPs headed by Mirabeau, Lafayette led the liberal nobles to draw their swords at the king’s guards and sealed the entrance. When questioning the king, he firmly said: "Let them stay."
But one thing needs to be explained is that although Lafayette praised the American republic system on the surface, but He is not a republican. In fact, he is a Voltaire, eager to fight for freedom but cannot dethrone the monarch. It may be more appropriate to describe him as a "loyal monarch with free thinking". After the people of Paris captured the Bastille on July 14, 1789, Louis XVI came to the National Assembly to express that he was one with the people and had ordered the army to withdraw from Paris and Versailles. At this time, all the parliamentarians and the people were excited. And expressed gratitude to the king. It didn’t take long, because of the outstanding performance in the North American War of Independence (Because Britain and France have hundreds of years of "feuding", fighting the British was regarded as a patriotic act by the French society at that time) 拉Fayette was appointed commander-in-chief of the National Guard. On July 27th, Lafayette led the National Self-Defense Forces on the road together with the municipal staff led by the Mayor of Paris, Bayi and many "sleeveless men", happily welcoming the king to Paris. Undoubtedly, Lafayette is very satisfied with this result, he thinksLouis XVI was a kind and wise monarch, and the realization of his political ideals is just around the corner. August 1789 may be Lafayette’s most glorious moment during the French Revolution. On the 27th, he was influenced by the US "Declaration of Independence". He proposed to formulate the "Declaration of Human Rights". This idea has been received by many young people in the National Assembly. The support of the nobles, including the third-rank leader Mirabeau. With the efforts of the Constituent Assembly, this programmatic document combined with the philosophical theories of enlightenment thinkers was born. It embodies the universal values of natural human rights, freedom and equality, denies the feudal hierarchy, and has a great impact on later European constitutional thoughts. Development has had a profound impact.
Working hard between the king and the people
Louis XVI may be a kind person, but he is definitely not a wise man monarch. This is probably something that Lafayette did not expect. In fact, the compromise made by the king was just a stopgap measure, because soon he returned to Versailles and used the flanders brigade and dragoons as an excuse to prevent the Paris riots, and brought the queen high-profile. An extraordinary banquet was held here, and they refused to ratify the Declaration of Human Rights. This action caused riots among the people of Paris. On October 5, 1789, they gathered together and shouted "Go to Versailles!" and marched towards the king's residence. Upon hearing this letter, Lafayette immediately rushed to the scene to try to stop the riots that occurred in front of him, but it turns out that he overestimated his reputation. Although he has plenty of energy, he spent seven hours persuading the public. , But the latter does not buy it. So with the approval of the city hall, he led 15,000 self-defense forces to the king's palace at 7 o'clock in the evening. In fact, Lafayette's trip also has the purpose of killing two birds with one stone. He can lead the National Self-Defense Army to prevent the riots from spreading to a more serious degree, and can also use this to "beat" Louis XVI who is insecure. The king enthusiastically received Lafayette. He hoped that the latter would protect the safety of the royal family and aristocracy, but Lafayette chose to form an alliance with Neke of the constitutional monarchy and persuaded Louis XVI to accept the demands of the people of Paris. Frankly speaking, these requirements are not excessive, nothing more than hope that the king will solve the hunger problem and return to Paris with them.
However, the development of the matter still exceeded Lafayette’s expectations. Originally, the king had already made concessions to the Paris delegation, but the next morning, several of them got up to compare. The early Parisians clashed with the King’s Guards. Soldiers shot and wounded one of the people. So the Parisians gathered again to surround the King’s palace. The frightened queen didn’t even put on her clothes. Came to the king's side. After receiving the news, Lafayette immediately rushed to the palace with self-defense forces to disperse the crowd, protecting the Janissaries from reprisals by the Parisians, but there were still many people gathered under the palace balcony and demanded Louis XVI. Return to Paris. In order to allow the royal family to reach a reconciliation with the people, Lafayette personally accompanied the beautiful Marie Antoinette to the balcony, respectfully kissed her hand, and immediately put on his tri-color cap badge. The guards put on their hats and embraced him enthusiastically, which extinguished the anger of the people. They shouted "Long live the Guards", expecting the king to lead them back to Paris. Although Lafayette calmed down the riots with his own wisdom, the people did not completely lose confidence in the constitutional monarchy, but the riots have foreshadows that he wants to merge the political ideals of monarchy and freedom. It's Jinghuashuiyue.
Political advances and retreats
Someone once said that Lafayette was an ambitious revolutionary and he wanted to become "The Washington of France", but according to the existing historical records, Lafayette never thought about how to rule a country. At best, he just wanted to be the mediator between the king, the parliament and the people. However, it was this kind of thinking that made him politically frustrated, and it also laid the groundwork for his sad departure. On August 31, 1790, the King's Swiss mercenary regiment in Nancy was in arrears and was unbearableEndure the exploitation of officials and cause mutiny. Some of the rebels were shot and killed on the spot by the National Guard, and the rest of the captured soldiers were hanged or sent to do rowing labor. After the news of the "Nancy Massacre" spread, tens of thousands of Parisians flocked to the palace to express their anger. They protested to the king, attacked Lafayette and demanded that the minister step down. Neke, a representative of the constitutional monarchy, was forced to resign from all government positions and took his wife and children to live in seclusion on Lake Geneva. Lafayette asked Louis XVI to accept the constitution to stabilize the situation in Paris. However, Marie Antoinette unabashedly expressed disgust towards the liberal nobleman, and she suspected that Lafayette was plotting to replace the king. In the face of this situation, Lafayette could only pin Mirabeo's hope of saving the monarchy, and he hurriedly left the palace.
The King’s escape incident on June 20, 1791 made the constitutional monarchs completely passive. Although they tried to pass the customs under the pretext of "the king was abducted", so that the new law could reserve more for him. Many powers, but the Jacobins headed by Robespierre took the opportunity to agitate the masses to demand the deposing of the throne of Louis XVI, On July 17th, a rally of 50,000 people broke out in Mars Square, 6,000 people The crowd signed the king's abdication. Lafayette initially rejected the decision of the National Assembly to disperse the rioters. However, some rioters smashed the National Guard with rocks. Angry soldiers shot and shot. A total of 50 men and women were shot dead in the conflict. Known as the "Vulcan Field Massacre", , and this violent incident also destroyed the reputation of Lafayette, who had been given high expectations by the people at the beginning of the Great Revolution.
had to bow to fate
To make matters worse, the condemnation of the masses and the attacks of political enemies made Lafayette and Bayi separate Resigned from the post of commander-in-chief of the National Self-Defense Army and the mayor of Paris. The constitutionalists originally planned to let Lafayette replace Bayi as the mayor of Paris. However, the representative of the court sent all the votes to Gillen The candidate for the mission, Petion, so far Lafayette has not only lost the command of the army, but also failed to occupy a place in the government, completely losing the initiative in politics. Later, he supported France in declaring war on Austria in early 1792, hoping to become the commander-in-chief of the army and contribute to the country, thus once again winning the trust of the parliament and the king. On April 20th, he assumed the command of the Central Route Army and led his division into the Austrian Netherlands, but was forced to retreat due to the defeat of the North Route Army, and his wishful thinking failed again. The failure of the Austrian military operation caused the people of Paris to vent their grievances on Louis XVI. On June 20, they rushed into the parliament and palace to accuse the king of colluding with foreign monarchs and frustrating the Republic’s army on the front lines.
At this time Lafayette has realized the crisis, he can fight for the freedom of the people, but this must be established under the premise that the kingship cannot be overthrown, the fall of Louis XVI means the complete constitutional monarchy Failure, in order to protect the interests of the class, he can only do a desperate fight. On June 28th, he handed over the army to the headquarters and left for Paris on his own. He arrived at the scene of the National Assembly on the same day. This surprised all the parliamentarians present. He demanded the parliament in the name of himself and the army. Disband the Jacobin Club and punish the perpetrators of the June 20 riots. However, the parliament at this time is no longer under the control of the constitutional monarchy. The parliament believes that Lafayette has left his post without authorization and has no right to issue orders to them and should be punished. However, some people, in order to take into account the face of the liberal nobleman, ultimately did not Investigate this matter. Lafayette, who had touched his nose in the parliament, tried to call on the former armed king of the National Self-Defense Army, but he had already lost his military spirit due to the "Vulcan Field Massacre" incident. He could not successfully review the army. More sympathy for the Jacobins, who are championed by the pantsless guys. Even the precarious queen said: “I know very well that Mr. Lafayette wants to save us, but who can save us from this gentleman?” On August 10, the people of Paris launched an uprising again. After overthrowing the monarchy, Lafayette detained the members appointed by the Jacobins in Sedan, planning to recruit the army to rebuild the constitutional order. But at that time, the Prussian and Austrian coalition forces were gathering at the border, threatening the security of France at any time. In the end, his patriotic feelingsOvercoming the determination to restore the constitutional government, he in despair took full responsibility for the military riots, not only left the army, but also left the political arena of the French Revolution . From this point of view, he is still worthy of admiration. Later, he tried to escape to the second hometown of the United States through the Netherlands, but was captured by the Austrian army in the middle. It was not until 1797 that Napoleon achieved a full victory in Italy, and he was released in accordance with the provisions of the "Campoformio Peace".
Family Statement: How to evaluate Lafayette?
Lafayette’s performance during the French Revolution truly reflects his political philosophy and ideology. The Jacobin Mara used to ridicule him as "a friend of the people in disguise" and a "cheap running dog of the court", but the French historian Migne highly regarded him as "pure integrity and noble integrity". In fact, we should still look at every historical figure dialectically. Perhaps only in this way can we explain why Lafayette, who made outstanding contributions in the North American War of Independence, fell into disarray during the French Revolution.
First of all, it needs to be affirmed that Lafayette's body is shining with the light of revolution. The American experience has won him a high reputation in the country. Even at the beginning of the revolution, he still made fanaticism uneasy. The people and the indecisive king are in a relatively balanced state. He was the first liberal aristocrat to cooperate with the third class. He proposed to formulate the "Declaration of Human Rights" and advocated the universal values of freedom and equality, which had a very positive effect on the development of the French Revolution at that time. He has neither Robespierre's bloody horror nor Napoleon's arbitrariness, and he can be regarded as an upright, courageous, and determined politician, not to mention a "hero of two worlds."
However, from the perspective of character analysis, Lafayette is a person full of fantasy and contradictions, even though he was once an aristocrat who tried to merge liberalism and pride Spirit, but in this special period of the French Revolution, the contradiction between the two is almost irreconcilable. At that time, no one could give the French people real freedom. Louis XVI could not, Robespierre could not, and Napoleon could not. In fact, what the French people really want is not absolute freedom, but to break the original class solidification and religious oppression, otherwise they would never accept a Napoleon who was more authoritarian than Louis XVI. But unfortunately, Lafayette did not notice this at that time. He wanted to fight for freedom and establish equality but was unwilling to abandon the monarchy. This self-contradictory mentality led to his lack of a clear political position. The king thought he Wanting to replace him, the people think that he is a defender of kingship, Therefore Robespierre will tell the pantsless man: "Only by hitting Lafayette, France can be saved."
Finally, let’s talk about the constitutional monarchy represented by Lafayette, Neke and others. Although took control of the situation in the early stage of the revolution and took the lead, the development of historical trends has long doomed their tragedy. The representatives of the constitutional monarchy are mostly composed of liberal aristocrats. They were originally weak. Because with the outbreak of the Great Revolution, a large number of aristocrats fled abroad for asylum in fear of persecution. They once enjoyed privileges and the aristocratic class that oppressed the people has long been lost The scenery of the past. On the other hand, the shortage of food caused by the economic crisis prompted the free expropriation of church property by secular power. Many priests also left France, and the remaining priests refused to show allegiance to the new government. At this time, the bourgeoisie has successfully replaced the aristocracy and clergy to become the strongest on the French political arena, while the Jacobins united the power of many trousers and became a force that cannot be underestimated in the parliament. ， They are eager to subvert the royal power to establish a republic, and they will inevitably part ways with the constitutional monarchy after they recognize the true face of the constitutional monarchy. In addition, the court faction regards the constitutional monarchy as a traitor, and it is even less possible to form an alliance with it. Under this situation, the constitutional monarchy is beset on all sides, with a lonely hand, and finally loses control of the power is a matter of course.
References:
"The People's View: 1789-1814 History of the French Revolution"
"The Story of Civilization 11: The Age of Napoleon"
"Penguin European History-Chasing Glory: 1648-1815"
"The Revolution and the Old System"
"Freedom" And destruction: French Revolution 1789-1799"
Text: Lantai Lingjun
Picture: Source network, infringement must be deleted
