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A final word about (and lessons from) each of the revolutions.

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By 1797, the second Directory already had a bad reputation and was mistrusted. It was viewed as corrupt and needed the military to support its continued existence.  The public had turned against the Directory.  In desperation, a coup d’état was planned. Its main author a fellow by the name of Abbe Sieyes.  In collaboration with Napoleon Bonaparte, the military, and others, the Coup of Brumaire in 1799, ousted the existing French government and installed a provisional government run by a Napoleon Bonaparte led consulate.  Thus ended the French Revolution that had begun ten years earlier. 

By 1975, Zhou Enlai was politically ruined and finished.  He was also dying from a terminal disease.  In Zhou Enlai’s absence, Madam Mao and her Gang of Four tried to take advantage of the situation and gain power.  They were thwarted, however, by Chairman Mao and Deng Xiaoping.  Mao eventually installed Hua Guofeng to replace Zhou Enlai.  Both Zhou Enlai and Mao Zedong died in 1976.  Thus ended the Chinese Culture Revolution that had begun ten years earlier.  The Gang of Four were blamed for much of the revolution’s disasters.  They all would be convicted and sent to prison. 

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The Jacobins unsuccessfully stage a coup d’état in a final attempt to restore their political power in France.  By the late 1790’s, France was ready to move away from their radical message.   A new government was elected.  A new Directory took its seat.  The European wars ground on.  Napoleon Bonaparte, now an accomplished and famous figure, proposed to invade Egypt to economically damage their English adversaries in retaliation for England’s blockade of France. 

China’s educational system was a wreck after nearly ten years of the culture revolution.  Black markets throughout China thrived in such things as western books, transistor radios, and foreign radio broadcasts.  Wang Hongwen was chosen as the new vice chair or premier replacing the deceased Lin Biao.  Mao Zedong traduced his longtime ally, Zhou Enlai, fearing his perceived lack of commitment to the communist cause.

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By the fall of 1794, the Reign of Terror was ending.  France had turned anti-Jacobin.  The terror and tyranny offered by them was no longer seen as productive.  In 1795, the new French Constitution was adopted and the new government seated.  The new legislature was bi-cameral.  The executive functions of the nation to be run by a Directory.  The land war in Europe had once again turned in favor of France.  The English naval blockade, however, was working effectively.  Shortages began to appear. 

By 1973, the economic conditions in China had turned bad.  Poverty and famine were beginning to assert themselves.  The State planned economy, as well as the communist idea in China, was failing.   By 1974, shortages and deficiencies in medical care were obvious.  Disease spread.  Facilities that had existed to combat some of these diseases had long ago disappeared.  To help alleviate the medical care shortages, China encouraged the training and use of “barefoot doctors”.  Their lack of education, training, and experience, and in many cases incompetence, made conditions worse.

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By 1793, The War of (or in) the Vendee region (in France) exploded into a major counter revolution/insurrection against the French Revolution.  With the European war also going bad, the Committee of Public Safety took drastic measures to stop the insurrections.  In the fall of 1793, the former Queen Marie Antoinette  met the same fate as her husband had nine months earlier.  Public opinion of the Jacobins began to turn against them and by the summer of 1794, one of its chief architects and voices, Maximilien Robespierre, was executed by the guillotine.  These same few years are also noted for the infamous Reign of Terror. 

President Richard Nixon visited China in February 1972.  The first American President to visit the Peoples Republic of China.  His meetings with Mao Zedong led to the Shanghai Communique.  That document, among many things, created the One China Policy concept.  Nixon also tried unsuccessfully to gain concessions or agreements with Chairman Mao on the Vietnam War. By 1973, the culture revolution had permeated every level of the nation.  Apathy and indifference set in causing, at least partially, shortages and rationing of critical items.

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By early 1793, parts of France were beginning to heat up with counter-revolutions opposing the conditions many faced.  In rural France the opposition continued to grow and would later escalate into the War of the Vendee.  Partially in response, the National Assembly, now firmly under the control of the radical Jacobin Party, created the Committee of Public Safety.  The Committee would soon be ushering in the Reign of Terror. Meanwhile, France continued to prosecute the war in Europe.  The thrust and parry of France’s military progress typical for this war.  England, Spain, and Russia got involved in the war.  Within six months following the King’s execution in early 1793, the whole of Europe was aligned against France. 

In early 1970, the latest effort, the one strike and three antis’ campaign, was launched to root out and remove the perceived counter revolutionaries within China.  To counter and isolate the Soviet Union and to change the world’s perception of China, Chairman Mao, using the Chinese table tennis team, invited the United States to China for diplomatic relations.  In 1971, President Nixon’s administration sent Henry Kissinger to China to begin the preparatory work for diplomatic relations and an eventual visit from the American President.  By then Mao Zedong had grown weary and distrustful of his Vice Chair, Lin Biao.  Lin Biao, fearing for his life, attempted to flee China by airplane in the dark of night.  The plane crashed in Mongolia in September 1971, allegedly taking the life of Lin Biao and some of his family members.    

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The warnings given to the French in 1791 and 1792 by the other European powers were seen as a declaration of war.  The radical National Assembly declared war on Austria.  Prussia soon joined with Austria.  In 1792, the allied forces invaded France.  Despite the French military force’s early setbacks in the invasion, they did manage a large victory in the fall of 1792, and stopped the invaders at the Battle of Varmy, France.   By then the Jacobins had joined with other radical factions, such as the sans-culottes, and controlled the nation.  In December of 1792, King Louis XVI was indicted by the radical government for treason and other related crimes.   He was convicted of all the charges in January 1793, and sentenced to death.  He was executed in Paris on January 21, 1793, by the guillotine.

In the Spring of 1969, the Chinese and Soviet Union military forces clashed over a disputed island (Zhenbao Island) located in the Ussuri River that separated China and the Soviet Union.  The incident caused both nations to prepare for war.  In retaliation in August 1969, the Soviets attacked into Xinjiang Province, China and seized some of the area.  Both nations narrowly averted a larger war and settled their differences.   Martial law was declared in China and more political purges occurred.   After his arrest, former Vice Chair, Liu Shaoqi, died in solitary confinement in November 1969.  His successor, Lin Biao, had been appointed only a few months before.

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The French King and his family attempt to flee France but are quickly discovered and returned to Paris.  Concern for their safety led to the Declaration of Pillnitz in 1791.  It urged European powers to intervene in France on behalf of the beleaguered King and Royal Family.  The French took it as a declaration of war.  The summer of 1791, saw the Massacre of Champ de Mars in Paris.  In the fall of 1791, the National Assembly finally adopted and push out the first French Constitution. During this period of time political factions appear in the National Assembly.  Most notably, the Jacobins, a radical left group, begin their rise to power.

 By the end of 1968, China was at war with itself and the foreigners that inhabited China, and anyone associated with foreigners. Revolutionary Committees had replaced the Red Guards and the Culture Revolution Group.  More fear, mayhem, and death. Chairman Mao changes tact and orders that students and Red Guards be sent to the countryside for indoctrination and to gain control over the chaos.  The countryside movement did not get off to an auspicious start.  Before the countryside movement was over, tens of millions of students and their families would be permanently affected.

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France confiscates church property in an effort to help pay for the nation's expenses and debt.  The National Assembly forces the clergy to sign loyalty oaths, and imposes additional church reforms.  These cause a schism in the church and with the the nation.   The National Assembly continues to assiduously work toward a National Constitution.  Meanwhile, the nation's fiscal affairs continue to deteriorate.  The period of 1790 thru 1791, sees the rise of political clubs and factions within the National Assembly on the future direction of the revolution and the nation. 

The presence of armed red guards throughout China creates a tidal wave of fear, death, and destruction.    The revolution takes a xenophobic turn, and there is open hostility to all foreigners.   The revolution spins out of control forcing Chairman Mao, with the help of the military, to disarm the rebels.  By 1969, China resembles a military dictatorship.  Despite these events the Cult of Mao rises. 

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From the earliest moments of the revolution, France radically changed, and there was no going back.  The summer of 1789, brought the Great Fear and marked a particularly violent, dramatic, and notable period.  These events led to the August decrees promulgated by the National Assembly.  In a whirlwind session, the Assembly adopted a series of documents that would define the revolution.  The Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen, the abolition of feudalism, and ending aristocratic and religious privilege were some of the more famous work products from the decrees. The Women’s March on Versailles in October 1789, would permanently relocate the King, the Royal Family, and the National Assembly to Paris.

The early Culture Revolution period ripped through China.  The nation would never be the same.  The cult of Mao begins.  His little red book becomes popular.  Student Red Guards, with near absolute immunity, wrecked nearly everything. No part of China was spared.  By 1967, the Chinese army, or the Peoples Liberation Army, also got involved in the mayhem.  Chairman Mao again changed the course. Red Guards were now the enemy and a new rebel guard came into existence.  This time they would be armed.  Bloody civil wars in Wuhan and Shanghai proved the revolution was spinning out of control.

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