#bailly

Lazar Hoche

Bailly facecard or whatever

Hébert little shit

Allegory of the Birth of the King of Rome, 1811

Ernest Joseph Bailly

|| ➼ hq boys meeting you after a long time of your breakup

characters: kuroo, kita, & akaashi

warning: swearing, she/her notiably in kita's and possibly kuroo's(?), kuroo's is angst and cheating !!, kinda long

a/n: i couldn't help but make one angsty! but i hope you enjoy, they're a bit lengthy

kuroo

nerves flooded your veins as you noticed a familiar pudding-head standing against the wall. drink in hand, you nervously walk towards him, cautiously looking around for his partner in crime. while you were very excited to see all your former classmates at this high school reunion, you knew you had a couple people to face. he smiled warmly at you, nodding his head at your presence.

"hey kenma- how are you?" "glad to see you y/n, i'm doing pretty alright." "i heard your business took off! i've been meaning to reach out but..."

you trailed off slightly before searching the floor again for someone in particular.

“Paris quand même, c’est-à-dire, Paris encore, Paris malgré tout, comme une ville qui, en se souvenant d’elle même, via son bâti, ses passants et ses combats, résiste aux logiques d’alignement et à la patrimonialisation forcée. (...) la moindre promenade un peu flottante permettant de vérifier qu’une vivacité est toujours là, et sous une forme spécifique, locale, incarnée, renouvelée.”

Your back is aching, your muscles ache. The past days, no, weeks, you have helped to level the Champ de Mars, you have helped to fill up the puddles, to raise tribunes - all that hard labour for this day. The 14th of July 1790. To the day one year prior you were amongst the crowd that stormed the Bastille. Today is the anniversary of your Revolution. Thousands upon thousands of people have gathered today to celebrate. Not just from Paris but from all over France. Every Department and every Province has send its people, has send representatives and soldiers - their banners fly in the breeze. You here the people shout and roar “Vive le roi! Vive la reine!” and you join in in the jubilation as does your beloved right next to you. “Vive le roi! Vive la reine!” The members of the National Assembly stand together on the Champ the Mars, the King is there as well with his family, an altar had been erected in the middle of the field. General La Fayette rides in on his white stallion. He is the Hero of Two Worlds, the knight of the Revolution, the champion of the people - or so you fought then.

It is a hot and sunny day in July once again - but a whole year has passed. It is the 17th of July, a Sunday, a holy day. People have gathered on the Champ de Mars and this time it is not in celebration. The people are angry, they feel betrayed. This year, in 1791, thousands upon thousands have gathered to sign a petition, a petition to put the king on trial for the crimes he had committed against his people. Everything seemed orderly enough at first but then the people spotted two men hiding under the altar that still stood there from the celebration of 1790. The crowed fought there were spies and so they decapitated them and put their heads on spikes. Everything went downhill from there on. Troops of the National Guard arrived, the mayor of Paris, Monsieur Bailly arrives, martial law is declared, the soldiers are firing at the crowed and miss, the crowed throw stones at the troops, the soldiers fire again - they hit their targets this time, You see people fall, women, and man and children - god, they are firing at the children too! The crowed dispenses, all is confusion and hurry now, your beloved is no longer by your side as you start to run. There is shouting about a cannon that is supposedly about to be fired. More people fall. As you hurry to safety, you turn around one last time and see General La Fayette standing by his National Guard as they fire into the crowed. Is that what has become of the peoples hero?

Within little more than a year La Fayette went from the zenith of his influence and popularity to a record low. In 1790, during the Fête de la Federation, his carefully put together image had been approved by the people of France. In 1791 however, with the Champ de Mars Massacre, his image began to suffer severely and he had in great parts lost the love of the people. Right when it happened, the events of July 17, 1791 were used for propaganda from ever party and every side. It was played-down, blown out of proportions, made into something it was not, numbers and details were changed to make one group look more or less guilty. What remained though was the fact that La Fayette was at the centre of the events. His exact role in the massacre as well as everything that happened that day is often hard to determine, exactly because the massacre was so heavily used for political and propaganda purposes at the beginning. So here is a little overview about the things we know or at least thing we know.

What Happened? - The Context:

The officials had expected large protests on the 14th of July, the anniversary of the Revolution but the 14th passed rather peaceful. On the 17th however, the atmosphere started to heat up. Barely a month before, from July 20 to July 21, the King, Louis XVI, the Queen, Marie Antoinette, their children and other immediate members of the Royal Family had tried to flee from Paris to Montmédy. The flight failed and they were recognised and stopped in Varennes-en-Argonnne and after that brought back to Paris. La Fayette and other government officials tried to present the events as an attempted kidnapping of the King - that was of course complete nonsense, there was no kidnapping whatsoever and everybody knew that. The flight to Varennes painted La Fayette in a particular bad light for two reasons. First, there had been rumours of a possible escape by the King long before the actual attempt was made. It was La Fayette, among others, who had time and time again sworn that the King would not attempt to flee. He had accepted the constitution, he had become a monarch under the constitution and would not betray the loyalty of the French people in such a fashion. Second, it was the National Guard under the command of La Fayette who was tasked with safeguarding the King - and making sure that he would not escape. Their failure shed a very bad light on La Fayette. At best his guard was undisciplined and he had not enough control over them. At worst, he was fully aware of the royal families’ plans and aided them by instructing the guardsmen to look the other way.

On July 17, a petition had been drafted and the people were called upon to assemble and to sign the petition. This endeavour was first backed by the Jacobins but leading members later withdraw the support of the Jacobins as they had been urged by Robespierre himself to so. It was too little and too late however, as many people in the crowd that day would have identified as Jacobins.

The undersigned Frenchmen, members of the sovereign people, considering that, in questions concerning the safety of the people, it is their right to express their will in order to enlighten and guide their deputies,

That no question has ever arisen more important than the King's desertion,

That the decree of 15 July contains no decision concerning Louis XVI,

That, in obeying this decree, it is necessary to decide promptly the future of this individual,

That his conduct must form the basis of this decision,

That Louis XVI, having accepted Royal functions, and sworn to defend the Constitution, has deserted the post entrusted to him; has protested against that very Constitution in a declaration written and signed in his own hand; has attempted, by his flight and his orders, to paralyze the executive power, and to upset the Constitution in complicity with men who are today awaiting trial for such an attempt,

That his perjury, his desertion, his protest, not to speak of all the other criminal acts which have proceeded, accompanied, and followed them, involve a formal abdication of the constitutional Crown entrusted to him,

That the National Assembly has so judged in assuming the executive power, suspending the Royal authority and holding him in a state of arrest,

That fresh promises from Louis XVI to observe the Constitution cannot offer the Nation a sufficient guarantee against a fresh perjury and a new conspiracy.

Considering finally that it would be as contrary to the majesty of the outraged Nation as it would be contrary to its interest to confide the reins of empire to a perjurer, a traitor, and a fugitive, [we] formally and specifically demand that the Assembly receive the abdication made on 21 June by Louis XVI of the crown which had been delegated to him, and provide for his successor in the constitutional manner, [and we] declare that the undersigned will never recognize Louis XVI as their King unless the majority of the Nation express a desire contrary to the present petition

What happened next could have come straight out of a comedy - were it not to trigger a bloodbath. The crowed that had assembled that day spotted two “suspicious man”. Now, we do not know who this men were or what they intended - in all likelihood they just sat there and tried to relax and sleep, maybe find some shade on such a hot day, maybe all they wanted was to get a peek under the skirts of the women who had assembled as well. They hide behind the altar that had been left from the Fête de la Federation and this behaviour prompted the crowd to assume that they were spies who wanted to denounce the people present. The crowed attacked the men, beheaded them and paraded their head around on spikes. The crowed, who had previously already worried the Parisian officials, now had committed two murders. It is from this point on, that things get a bit more tricky.

What Happened? - The actual Massacre:

We start this portion of the post with an excerpt from La Fayette’s Memoirs to form a basis.

The affair of the Champ de Mars has been misrepresented with an extraordinary degree of audacity ; it became the pretext for the sufferings to which the magnanimity of the virtuous Bailly was so long exposed in that capital to which he had devoted himself during the whole course of a very difficult magistracy, with an affectionate and enlightened zeal. (…)

The 14th of July the anniversary of the confederation was celebrated. All appeared tranquil. But the 17th of July, a meeting took place in the Champ de Mars, to sign the petition drawn up by Laclos, and corrected by Brissot.

Two invalids, who, from a feeling of idle curiosity, had concealed themselves under the altar of the country, were seized ; their heads were cut off, and placed on two pikes, to be exhibited through the streets of Paris. The commander-in-chief [La Fayette] hastened to the spot, with a detachment of national guards. The rioters, with some ringleaders at their head, formed a barricade around themselves with carts ; across one of these carts a man pointed a musket at the commander-in-chief, but it missed fire. The national guards, springing over the barricade seized the culprit, and dragged him towards the commander-in-chief, who ordered him to be set at liberty. It is well known that the jacobins imputed the deliverance of this assassin to a concerted scheme, until he came forward, himself to boast of his conduct at the bar of the convention. The people who surrounded the altar, and some of those who were in the Champ de Mars, promised the commander and two commissaries of the commons to separate, after having peaceably signed the petition, for no person had ever thought of opposing that signature.

Several hours thus passed ; a detachment of the national guard had been stationed outside the Champ de Mars to watch over any hostile movements that might occur, and it was thought at the Hotel de Ville that all would pass quietly, when some persons came to denounce to the assembly the real projects of the rioters against the assembly itself. They intended doing what has been done since, on the 10th August, 31st May, and 4th prairial.

The national assembly decreed that the mayor of Paris should take measures to secure their safety, that of the Tuileries, and of the capital. It was in consequence of the unanimous injunctions of that same assembly that the mayor of Paris and the council of the commune published martial law. M Bailly sallied forth at the head of a battalion of grenadiers, which performed duty each day at the Hotel de Ville, to proceed, as a reserve corps, to the place in which public order was most disturbed ; the commander-in-chief, to whom information of this step was given, joined them on the road.

They presented themselves before the entrance of the Champ de Mars, and were received with a shower of stones ; some fire-arms were also used ; a pistol was fired at the mayor whom the ball narrowly missed, when he was on the point of making his proclamation. During this attack, the national guard fired in the air to avoid wounding any one ; but the assailants, emboldened by this moderation redoubled their attack against the municipal officers and national guards, of whom some were wounded, and amongst the number an aide-de-camp ; two volunteer chasseurs were killed ; the national guard then fired in earnest. The loss that ensued on the part of the assailants has been most grossly exaggerated ; the rioters were dispersed principally by the cavalry, who did not use their arms.

 All the events that he describes, happened that way - it is however questionable if they happened exactly that way. What also comes to mind is La Fayette’s phrasing of the events: he wrote that the National Guard did certain things but never what his actual orders were. This vague language is quite crucial in understanding his part in the whole event. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves.

In short, while we can be reasonably sure that somebody did indeed shot at La Fayette, we can not be completely sure if that happened during the first or second encounter between the Guard and the crowed. La Fayette would not have gained much from placing the attack on him at an earlier hour so we are going to believe him with that. It is also unsure how much time exactly passed when La Fayette wrote “several hours”. But these details are rather minor and even if they were wrongly reported, do not change the outlook on the event as a whole. More interesting is the question about the declaration of Martial Law. La Fayette presents it as if he had nothing to do with it while other sources claim that he was among the men urging Mayor Bailly to do so.

On to the most interesting part. Who gave the order to fire and when was this order given?

La Fayette claims that the he and his guard were attacked with stones and that during this attack he ordered his men to fire warning shots into the air (in his memoirs he is not as clear about it as in earlier statements were he admitted that he ordered his men to fire into the air - but solely into the air). Other accounts say that the crowed only threw stones after the guardsmen had shot at them while again different sources claim that the soldiers never fired into the air but directly at the people. Whatever happened, at one point the Guard did indeed fire at the people. Now, La Fayette was eminent that he never gave that order - and I think I believe him. Such an action would not be typical for him. But who could have given the order? Some sources state that Bailly gave the order and because he was Mayor, the National Guard followed his order. Again, other reports state that nobody gave the order and that the soldiers just fired on their own.

I find all of these reports questionable. The most logical explanation would be that La Fayette, as commander-in-chief gave the command. But as I stated earlier, I have great trouble imaging that … maybe I am biased but I just can not see La Fayette giving such a command. I also do not believe that Bailly gave the order. I could imagine that the Guard shot on its own. Maybe one of the men was frightened and pulled the trigger, maybe even by accident or in an act of self-defence, and his comrades followed suite, thinking that there had been an order - then again, what are the probabilities of that happening?

Several sources mention that La Fayette tried to stop his troops as soon as he realised what had happened. One report even claimed that he physically put himself between the crowed and a cannon that was about to be fired. He did not however mention any of these actions in his Memoirs. If there was massacre on the civilian population and you tried to prevent or at least end this massacre, you would mention that in your Memories, would you not?

Where does of all of that leaves us? In the worst case, La Fayette actively ordered his guards to fire into a mostly unarmed civilian crowed. In the “best” case, La Fayette did not order the massacre himself but had too little control and influence over his own troops that he could not prevent the event from happening. Because, as Tom Chaffin put it in his book Revolutionary Brothers:

Whatever actually happened that day, the gunfire escalated into a lethal fusillade that left many demonstrators dead or wounded.

In any event, La Fayette was judged severely by the public.

The number of victims of the Champ de Mars massacre vary dramatically. Contemporary sources state that there were several thousand victims while modern scholars estimate the number of dead between 50 and 100 and the number of wounded between 100 and 1000. It is however next to impossible to ever be able to determine these numbers correctly.

The immediate public and political reactions on and after the 17th varied widely but were generally devastating for La Fayette. I may make an extra post about the reactions because otherwise this post would get too long. As a last thought, I want to quote from the Memoirs of La Fayette’s youngest daughter, Virginie, how she remembered that day.