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On this day, October 21 1790, the National Assembly formally adopts the Tricolor flag
On October 21, 1790, the National Assembly moved to adopt the tricolor flag as the official emblem of France, replacing the white flag adorned with the fleur-de-lys that symbolized the monarchy. The tricolor consisted of the colours of Paris (blue and red) and the monarchy (white). Although adopted in late 1790, it had already been an unofficial revolutionary symbol for more than a year.
The debate in the Assembly was highly controversial, and the decree required the forceful support of Mirabeau. At one point, opponents highlighted the cost of replacing the French flag as a reason to oppose the measure (France was experiencing a financial crisis at the time). The exact design of the flag (for naval vessels) was delegated to a committee. The original flag for warships (top) was in the opposite order we know today, while another variant for civilian vessels was predominantly white. It wasn’t until 1794, during the Republic, that the tricolour was formalised as “blue on the mast” (left side). Today, the tricolour flag remains one of the most recognizable symbols of France and the revolution.
16:40 UTC
Napoleon Bonaparte Part 2: What Comes Up, Must Come Down (Even the Royals)
12:30 UTC
Napoléon Bonaparte, Part 1: Started from the Bottom (Even the Royals)
13:17 UTC
Considering Henri Navarre was a career veteran in intel, how come he wasn't able to do accurate forecasting for the planning of Dien Bien Phu?
To this day this absolutely dumbfounds me.
In World War 1 Navarre served in Cavalry often in scouting roles. In World War 2, he was involved in the intel and planning espionage roles for Free France when he wasn't out leading armored divisions. In fact before the war he even drafted a plan to assassinate Hitler back when his main job was in the German intel of French general staff!
So as someone so affiliated with intel-gathering for much of his military career, why the heck couldn't he spot the defects of fighting in a location like Dien Bien Phu? I simply cannot believe the kind of mistakes made in the battle esp during preparation months before fighting considering the resume he had!
02:07 UTC
Alternate History: Roundel of the Gaulish Air Force
13:19 UTC
The affair of poisons
When I first read about the affair of poisons, I didn't imagine that it has such many deep layers of human "wickedness". Lust for power is something that you can truly feel when reading about these stories. Plotting for murder, poisoning, black masses and child sacrifice, this story has it all. It made me see the world for how it always is.
10:54 UTC
Can you recommend a book or podcast about Alsace history?
I’m looking for a history book or podcast that covers Alsatian history, but there are so few out there it seems. Can you recommend some? I’d be interested in anything, textbooks, novels etc.
Perhaps good books about French or German history that include interesting sections that cover all or parts of Alsatian history as well.
Thank you so much
21:43 UTC
How would you rank the French Monarchs that came before Napoleon I, based on the following factors?
- Putting the Kingdom first in matters both foreign and domestic instead of furthering their own personal glory and wealth. And they were also willing at times to put aside their personal beliefs, and biases for the good of the Kingdom.
- They also ensured a stable line of succession to avoid a crisis and they made sure to teach their successor as best they can, so they are up to the task.
03:06 UTC
Film Suggestions, storming of Versailles?
Hello history enthusiasts! I was listening to a podcast with a very vivid description of the event of the women storming the Versailles, and Marie Antoinette running thru the palace’s secret passageways to find her husband, the king. It stimulated my imagination so much I was wondering where can I watch a really good re-enactment of this event, either English or French film?
Thanks for your suggestions
16:34 UTC
Best book on De Gaulle
What are the recommendations on a great book on De Gaulle?
23:31 UTC
Dom Pérignon is believed to have invented champagne on this date in 1693. Though that has found to have been more of a myth, he actually perfected the existing techniques of wine making in the Champagne region from which it gets it's name.
The Champagne region in France, was famous for it's vineyards from the Roman era. There was a long time rivalry with the Burgundian region to make better wines. However the rather cold climate of Champagne posed a big challenge.
With in bottle refermentation proving to be a major issue, Perignon came up with the concept of producing wine only from pinot noir(red grape variety), and also to prune vines so that they can produce a smaller crop. Also harvest should be done in cool, damp conditions.
11:24 UTC
"last thing Talleyrand wants is for France to get Versaillle'd once this whole thing is over"
"last thing Talleyrand wants is for France to get Versaillle'd once this whole thing is over"
6:25 in this video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A5pW6IwVZs0&lc=Ugyw6nuw9RG2D7ye2kp4AaABAg&ab_channel=JackRackam
Could someone please clarify what is meant here?
Thank you.
23:35 UTC
This day in history, July 28
--- 1794: During the French Revolution, Maximilien Robespierre was beheaded in the guillotine in Paris. Robespierre had been the leader of the "Reign of Terror". That was a 10 month period (1793 to 1794) during the French Revolution when the Committee of Public Safety executed somewhere between 30,000 and 50,000 people. The guillotine was located in the Place de la Concorde, in central Paris. Today the Obelisk of Luxor (over 3,000 years old) stands where the guillotine was located during the French Revolution.
--- Please listen to my podcast, History Analyzed, on all podcast apps.
--- link to Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6yoHz9s9JPV51WxsQMWz0d
--- link to Apple podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/history-analyzed/id1632161929
05:30 UTC
What was the term for French (mostly nobles?) leaving or "turning away" from King Louis-Philipe in 1830s?
I remember reading about this in a book a little while back - some French elites who believed Louis-Philippe was too bourgeois in character or otherwise inadequate were described as somewhat passively "turning away" from him by refusing to engage and/or going into temporary exile, without any active resistance, confrontation, etc. I'm struggling to remember where I read this or what the term was (although the phrasing "turning away" keeps popping into my mind, so maybe it's a translation of that?). Or maybe I'm getting confused between Louis-Philippe and Louis Napoleon. If anyone has any clues, that would be great!
EDIT: Misspelled the name in the question. Oops.
20:15 UTC
If General Jean de Lattre de Tassigny didn't die, would a catastrophe at the scale of Dien Bien Phu never have taken place?
Seeing someone now just make a post about artillery and Dien Bien Phu a another subreddit, I think the Warcollege one, I'm now wondering about something I frequently see. One of the pretty much unknown points about the French war in Vietnam (which is actually part of a much larger war called the Indochina War and encompassed the whole of French colonies in Southeast Asia, not just Vietnam) to people haven't taken the time to read it was the brief period when General Jean de Lattre de Tassigny was commander. One of France's greatest decorated heroes from the World Wars (yes he didn't just serve in French Resistance, he was in the trenches of 1914), de Lattre was asked to serve in Vietnam because the revolutions in Indochina was going downhill and the French government was panicking at a defeat in the area that will expel all French citizens from Indochina completely. Literally when he assumed the job of governer-general, the VietMinh was going all out in a full offensive to take the capital of the French administration Saigon and entire divisions of their infantry were marching full speed to French territory. Attacks were already taking place when he landed in Vietnam.
De Lattre shocked both the VietMin and the French by doing a fluid series of simultaneous mobile counterattacks and fortifications in the style of Dien Bien Phu that mauled the VietMinh so bad they didn't just retreat with gigantic casualties that took over a year to recover even after de Lattre's tenure ended upon his death at the end of the year of his arrival, they hesitated to do major open operations again while he was alive and even the covert and insurgent-style actions that was their MO had to be modified and at times scaled down because de Lattre was just that good at countering them.
It wasn't just his prowess as a general that impacted the situation but de Lattre was a man of charisma and the epitome of led by example. When one of the major forts was being besieged, he personally flew to the location so he can be there on the spot to command the troops and analyze the ongoing siege by himself and the demoralized French companies there recovered morale high enough they fought with commitment despite haphazard resupplies and casualties from the prolonged siege. Which should clue into you how much his charisma and leadership personality completely changed the mood of the French psychology at that point in the war.
If I were to continue writing on and on it'd be a whole book so I'll do the TLDR ersion for the rest of what he did. He was taking actions to develop a government that would grant independence to Vietnam for self-governance by Vietnamese people. He called for international meetings simultaneously where he vouched for America and the rest of the world to get involved with Vietnam in a coalition focused on SouthEast Asia so that a proposed free Vietnam could have to means of defending herself from the CCP and USSR to remain independent of not just communism but be its own real sovereign nation ruled by the Vietnamese people rather than as a lackey puppet state (despite his end goals being in France's interests as a loyal soldier).
In fact in a rather sad irony he unintentionally extended the length of the Indochina War because his tenure was so successful (and tragically futile because the French would get defeated in the end and leave and Vietnam would eventually be overtaken by communism when it finally won complete independence anyway). A lot of his intended planning like building a proper non-communist Vietnamese army consisting of locals whose allegiance are to fight for this hypothetical independent Vietnam not as a lackeys to French overlords but for the people of Vietnam were ultimately flushed down the toilet or modified so much to specifically serve the French interests solely (which is a good simplified summary of how South Vietnam got created).
So this brings up the next topic. One of the biggest what-ifs always discussed regarding the Vietnam Wars (not just the French War but the whole direction of the three wars of Independence of the Indochina region)........ If de Lattre didn't died, would Dien Bien Phu or some other disaster on the same ballpark have taken place? This is already made complicated by the fact that its believed the sickness that led to his death before the first Vietnam War concluded was caused in large part due to his grief caused by his son's death fighting in the fields of Vietnam. So a lot of discussions I seen in the past often remark his son remaining alive or not will be a major factor even if he didn't get stricken with the cancer that came from grief. So
1)de Lattre survives the whole war with his son's death and he does everything that happened irl but he never gets a fatal illness
2)de Lattre not only survives up until the last year of the Indochina War in nonfiction timeline chronology but his son also avoids being killed and is there for the final evacuation of France from Vietnam
So assuming these two hypothesized scenario, does Dien Bien Phu or something like it never takes place in either case? Or if a major battle still takes place that gets in a really bad position, does De Lattre's generalship prevent the complete utter defeat of French forces in both cases? Like say he was temporarily sent Vietnam and general Navarre assumes leadership and takes the same action that leads into Dien Bien Phu but de Lattre is sent last minute to lead once again by orders of a panicking French government, does Dien Bien Phu not turn into a defeat assuming scenario 1 and 2?
Honestly among students of the French Indochina War, this is really one of the most discussed what-ifs so I'm wondering what other people think? Whats the most likely outcome regarding a Dien Bien Phu like debacle if he lived long enough until the time Dien Bien Phu was being fought?
16:31 UTC
Pouvez-vous lire l’anglais avec un accent français ? Besoin d'aide!
Est-ce qu'un Français gentil serait capable de lire pour moi quelques lignes dans l'enregistreur vocal de son téléphone et de me les envoyer ensuite ? Je fais un podcast historique et j'ai besoin que quelqu'un lise quelques lignes d'un soldat français (il doit donc être en anglais mais avec un accent français !). Veuillez m'envoyer un message ici si vous pouvez m'aider. Merci!
13:52 UTC
Book recommendation on invasion of France
03:10 UTC
Rebuilding Reputation - Why France surrendered early in WW2 and why the memes have to stop...
The tragedy of France in World War Two was not being occupied. Well, maybe that as well.
But more so that Germany slowly, arrogantly, smugly ripped the peace of Versailles apart. A peace that cost four years of French son's blood. A victory earned in a hard fight that nearly led to it's collapse. After all, should all of that have been for nothing?
Yes. Germany pissed France right into it's Face. France biggest mistake in 1919 was, to let Germany continue in it's current form. But that train had already left.
Slowly but surely, month for month, Germany regained it's power, became a thread to France again. And the Brits, don't get them started! Always, every time France wanted to give a strong response to German action, they denied. And when the unfortunate day came, the Brits just left. Fled.
At this point, the French just didn't care anymore. The capital had fallen. Again. The armies of darkness had taken over the country that had used the last peace not in preparation, as Germany did, no, but in mindless overestimation. It gave itself in to the illusion of a permanent peace, blind to what they had left behind in Germany.
And now, that the tides had turned, there were two options left.
One: Fight on and be destroyed.
Or two: A pact with the devil.
After all, peace is never permanent, is it?
06:09 UTC
Happy Bastille Day, the notorious prison is stormed on this date in 1789 that would spark off the French Revolution. Though there were only 7 prisoners the Bastille was seen as a symbol of the much hated monarchy.
13:10 UTC
The Vichy Government comes into being in France in 1940, so called after the resort town where the Nazi collaborationist Govt was based out of, headed by Marshal Philippe Pétain, who established an authoritarian regime that did away with France's Liberal policies.
10:14 UTC
Rouen in the 1600s
I researched my family's ancestry, and it traces to a couple of people in Rouen in the early 1600s.
Does anyone have context about that era in Rouen? Any idea of sources I could read/watch/listen to to learn more? Thank you so much.
22:35 UTC