History Accounts

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By June 1789, what was initially convened as the Estates General had recast itself as the National Assembly.   The King tried to prevent the Assembly Deputies  from meeting.  They defied the attempt and met in the King's Tennis Court.   There they all took the Tennis Court Oath vowing to continue and never disperse.   In July 1789, a Paris mob stormed and took the Bastille.

The Chinse Communist Party published the "16 Articles" in August 1966.  The Articles publicly explained the Culture Revolution's purpose and its implementation.  The first iteration of the Student Red Guards, emboldened and supported by Chairman  Mao,  came into existence.  The Red Guards became violent and destructive.

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It is difficult to pin down the moment or event the French Revolution began.  It may had been the King’s edict to convene the Estates General in May 1789.  Once the Estates General convened, it may had been the failure of that body to come to a consensus of how it would count votes on measures before it.  Nonetheless, the august Estates General finally convened to consider the crown’s tax and fiscal proposal.  The assembly of the Estates General would ultimately turn out unpredictable and go horribly wrong.  

The beginning of the Chinese Culture Revolution is not as difficult to identify.  It began with the Chinese Communist Party’s publication of the infamous May 16 Notification in 1966.  From there the students would begin the chaos, terror, and murder.   The Party used the chaos to purge itself of unwanted rightists, capitalists, and spies.

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Assisting the Americans in the War of Independence proved a costly decision for France.  The nation’s failure to adequately address the desperate and worsening financial situation led it to near bankruptcy.  The King reluctantly agreed to convene the Estates General to approve a sweeping tax proposal to raise revenues. 

Following in the heels of the disastrous Great Leap Forward, the Four Clean Ups Campaign is pushed out in another failed attempt to achieve a communist utopia. Desperately Mao Zedong searches for yet another movement that will propel China toward his goals of communism and ideological purity. 

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I begin telling the stories of the two revolutions.  All revolutions need a spark to begin. For France, the spark was the crushing poverty and starvation.  Mismanagement plunged France toward bankruptcy.  For China, the spark was the disaster of the Great Leap Forward.  China’s leader was troubled by the nation’s political and social direction.

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This new series is a parallel study of both the Chinese Culture Revolution and the French Revolution.  Both revolutions are presented side by side without comparison.  The revolutions’ chronological timelines are synchronized with the other.  This is something different and unique.  An entertaining way to learn about each of these two enormous historical events. 

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What began as a largely sectarian movement in northern China in the 1330s, became the massive, diverse, eventually violent and destructive Red Turban Rebellions.  Zhu Yuanzhang emerged as the central leader and chased the Mongols out of China in 1368, and ending the Yuan Dynasty.  Zhu Yuanzhang became the first emperor (Hongwu) of the Ming Dynasty.  The Yuan Emperor fled China. He died in 1370, in Mongolia.

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The history chronology continues.  The thirteen year old Toghon Temur is enthroned (in 1333) as Emperor Huizong of the Chinese Yuan Dynasty.  His reign the last and the longest of any of the Yuan emperors.  The Mongols faced many pressures in China.   His reign is noted for the local fiefdoms asserting themselves throughout China.  While the emperor had capable advisors, the fiscal and political pressures in China were overwhelming.  The Red Turban movements grew and would become a deciding factor in the continuation of the dynasty.

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The Yuan government and society was a unique experience for China.  The Mongols always promoted trade and continued to do so as the rulers of China.  China population estimates during the Yuan Dynasty are not firm.  The available numbers, however, if true, point to serious population declines during the dynasty.  The reasons for those declines raise speculation.   Finally, the Mongol legacy in China is complicated and difficult to quantify.

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The War of Restoration concludes.  Before it was over, one emperor disappeared, never heard from again, and another was assassinated.   The Mid Yuan period of the Yuan Dynasty also concludes with the ascension of the last emperor, Toghon Temur.  All told, nine emperors came and went during the thirty-nine year Mid Yuan period.  Six of the nine emperors came to power only after violent or disputed events.  

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As the history moves into the middle of the 14th century, the Dynasty enters into a volatile and dramatic period.  Before this episode is finished four Great Khans/Chinese Emperors come to power in a little over eight years.  This era is filled with regicide, coups d’état, betrayals, violent family clashes, and retribution.

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