Épisodes

  • The White Terror: The French Revolution's Bloody Aftermath — Fexingo History

    The White Terror: The French Revolution's Bloody Aftermath — Fexingo History
    Apr 27 2026
    In the wake of Robespierre's fall and the Thermidorian Reaction, a wave of violent reprisals swept through southern France known as the White Terror. This episode of The French Revolution: The Collapse of Royal Power examines the brutal attacks by royalist and conservative vigilantes against Jacobins, former revolutionaries, and Protestants. Lucas and Luna explore the origins of the term 'White Terror', the role of the jeunesse dorée (gilded youth), and the massacre at Fort Saint-Jean in Lyon in 1795. They discuss the persecution of Joseph Fouché and the arrest of Gracchus Babeuf, as well as the regime of the Directory's response. The episode also covers the murder of Jacobin prisoners at the Pont de la Guillotière and the assassination of Jean-Baptiste Carrier. This chapter in revolutionary history reveals the deep divisions and cycles of violence that plagued France long after the guillotine stopped falling.

    #WhiteTerror #FrenchRevolution #ThermidorianReaction #JeunessedorE #Jacobins #Lyon #FortSaintJean #GracchusBabeuf #JosephFouch #JeanBaptisteCarrier #Directoire #PontdelaGuillotiRe #Reprisals #1795 #France #History #FexingoHistory #RevolutionaryViolence #LouisXVI #MarieAntoinette

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    7 min
  • The Directory: France's Last Gasp at Republican Order — Fexingo History

    The Directory: France's Last Gasp at Republican Order — Fexingo History
    Apr 26 2026
    With Robespierre dead and the Terror over, France faced a political vacuum. In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore the Directory, the five-man executive that tried to steer a middle course between royalists and Jacobins. They examine the Constitution of Year III, the rise of Paul Barras, the bloody Vendémiaire uprising, and the shadowy Club de Clichy. The episode traces how economic collapse and military ambition led to the coup of 18 Fructidor, and ultimately set the stage for a young general named Napoleon Bonaparte to seize power in 1799. Along the way, they meet figures like François-Noël Babeuf, whose Conspiracy of Equals offered an early vision of communism, and Lazare Carnot, the 'Organizer of Victory' who struggled to keep the Republic solvent. It's a story of fragile institutions, cynical politicians, and a people exhausted by revolution.

    #Directory #FrenchRevolution #ConstitutionOfYearIII #PaulBarras #VendMiaire #ClubDeClichy #18Fructidor #FranOisNoLBabeuf #ConspiracyOfEquals #LazareCarnot #Napoleon #CoupOf18Brumaire #ThermidorianReaction #History #FexingoHistory #Europe #18thCentury #Revolution #LouisXVI #MarieAntoinette

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    8 min
  • The Vendée Uprising: France’s Civil War Within a Revolution — Fexingo History

    The Vendée Uprising: France’s Civil War Within a Revolution — Fexingo History
    Apr 26 2026
    In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore the Vendée uprising of 1793—a bloody counter-revolutionary revolt in western France that pitted peasants and nobles against the Republic. They trace the roots of the conflict: the Civil Constitution of the Clergy, the conscription levy of 300,000 men, and the brutal repression that followed. Listeners will meet figures like François Charette and Henri de La Rochejaquelein, hear about the infernal columns of General Turreau, and learn about the guerrilla tactics and massacres that foreshadowed modern civil wars. The conversation also touches on the controversy over whether the Republic’s actions constituted genocide, and how the memory of the Vendée still haunts French politics today. This is a story of faith, local loyalty, and the dark side of revolutionary idealism.

    #VendE #FrenchRevolution #CounterRevolution #CivilWar #Charette #LaRochejaquelein #Turreau #InfernalColumns #Conscription #CivilConstitutionOfTheClergy #Nantes #Genocide #PeasantRevolt #Republic #Catholicism #History #FexingoHistory #Europe #LouisXVI #MarieAntoinette

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    5 min
  • Robespierre and the Festival of the Supreme Being — Fexingo History

    Robespierre and the Festival of the Supreme Being — Fexingo History
    Apr 25 2026
    In the spring of 1794, Maximilien Robespierre, the Incorruptible, stood at the apex of his power. The Revolution, having devoured the king and the Girondins, now turned inward. In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore Robespierre's vision of a virtuous republic, his invention of the Cult of the Supreme Being, and the grand Festival of the Supreme Being on June 8, 1794, in Paris. They delve into the political theology behind the festival, Robespierre's attempt to supplant Catholicism with a civic religion, and the elaborate ceremony designed by the artist Jacques-Louis David. The episode examines how the festival was a calculated move to consolidate Robespierre's authority and promote deism, but also how it backfired, alienating both atheists and devout Catholics. Lucas discusses the symbolism of the mountain, the statue of Atheism, and the torch of Truth. He explains how the festival marked the peak of Robespierre's influence, just weeks before his downfall and execution in Thermidor. The conversation ends with the irony of Robespierre's vision—a republic of virtue enforced by terror—and the festival's legacy as a fleeting moment of revolutionary pageantry. This episode touches on dechristianization, the Committee of Public Safety, the Law of 22 Prairial, and the Thermidorian Reaction.

    #Robespierre #SupremeBeing #FrenchRevolution #Festival #JacquesLouisDavid #Deism #CultoftheSupremeBeing #Paris #1794 #Terror #CommitteeofPublicSafety #ThermidorianReaction #LawOf22Prairial #Dechristianization #History #FexingoHistory #Europe #RevolutionaryCulture #LouisXVI #MarieAntoinette

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    4 min
  • The Execution of Louis XVI: A King's Last Day — Fexingo History

    The Execution of Louis XVI: A King's Last Day — Fexingo History
    Apr 25 2026
    In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore the final months of King Louis XVI, from his trial before the National Convention to his execution by guillotine on January 21, 1793. They discuss the political maneuvering of the Girondins and Montagnards, the king's dignified bearing during his last hours, and the enduring debate over whether his death was a necessity or a tragedy. Specific details include the vote on the king's guilt, the role of Robespierre and Saint-Just, the king's farewell to his family, and the aftermath of the regicide. This episode also touches on the revolutionary calendar and the fate of the royal family.

    #LouisXVI #Execution #Regicide #NationalConvention #Girondins #Montagnards #Robespierre #SaintJust #Guillotine #RevolutionaryCalendar #MarieAntoinette #TemplePrison #January21 #FrenchRevolution #Trial #Monarchy #History #FexingoHistory #ReignOfTerror #Bastille

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    7 min
  • The September Massacres: Paris in Flames — Fexingo History

    The September Massacres: Paris in Flames — Fexingo History
    Apr 24 2026
    This episode dives into the September Massacres of 1792, a brutal five-day period when Parisian mobs slaughtered over a thousand prisoners, including priests, nobles, and common criminals. We explore the panicked atmosphere as Prussian and Austrian armies marched on Paris, the role of journalist Jean-Paul Marat in inciting violence, and the makeshift tribunals that preceded the killings. We also examine the political fallout: how the massacres radicalised the Revolution, deepened the rift between the Girondins and the Montagnards, and set the stage for the Reign of Terror. Key figures include Georges Danton, who as Minister of Justice may have orchestrated or permitted the massacres; the Princesse de Lamballe, Marie Antoinette's confidante, whose brutal death shocked Europe; and the sans-culottes who led the slaughter. We discuss the contested historical interpretations: were the massacres a spontaneous outburst of fear, a calculated political purge, or both? The episode also touches on the Prison de l'Abbaye and the Carmes prison as primary sites of violence. No prior episode has covered this pivotal moment, which transformed the Revolution from a political struggle into a social war.

    #SeptemberMassacres #FrenchRevolution #Paris1792 #GeorgesDanton #JeanPaulMarat #PrincesseDeLamballe #PrisonDeLAbbaye #CarmesPrison #SansCulottes #Girondins #Montagnards #ReignOfTerror #Radicalization #Verdun #BrunswickManifesto #History #FexingoHistory #EuropeanHistory #LouisXVI #MarieAntoinette

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    7 min
  • The Flight to Varennes: Louis XVI's Fatal Gamble — Fexingo History

    The Flight to Varennes: Louis XVI's Fatal Gamble — Fexingo History
    Apr 24 2026
    In June 1791, King Louis XVI of France attempted to flee Paris with his family, hoping to reach royalist strongholds and launch a counter-revolution. His flight was meticulously planned, involving a disguised berline, forged passports, and the help of foreign allies. But a series of missteps—including a delay at a relay station, a fateful sighting by a postmaster, and a dramatic arrest in the small town of Varennes—ended the king's escape. This episode of The French Revolution: The Collapse of Royal Power traces the journey step by step, from the Tuileries Palace to the border. Lucas and Luna explore the motives behind the flight, the roles of key figures like Count Axel von Fersen and the Marquis de Bouillé, and the shocking aftermath: the king's humiliation, the radicalization of the Revolution, and the first open calls for a republic. How did a single failed escape change everything? Tune in for a story of secrets, betrayal, and the crumbling of royal authority.

    #FlightToVarennes #LouisXVI #FrenchRevolution #MarieAntoinette #CountVonFersen #MarquisDeBouill #Varennes #NationalAssembly #TuileriesPalace #Berline #Assignat #MontmDy #JacquesPierreBrissot #MaximilienRobespierre #Republicanism #CounterRevolution #History #FexingoHistory #Robespierre #ReignOfTerror

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    5 min
  • July 14 1789 The Fall of the Bastille — Fexingo History

    July 14 1789 The Fall of the Bastille — Fexingo History
    Apr 23 2026
    We open on a sweltering Paris morning in July 1789. A crowd gathers outside the medieval fortress-prison of the Bastille, not for bread—but for gunpowder. Lucas and Luna explore the tinderbox that was pre-revolutionary France: a kingdom bankrupted by war and lavish court spending, a rigid social order of three Estates where the clergy and nobility paid no taxes while peasants starved, and the fateful decision by Louis XVI to summon the Estates-General for the first time in 175 years. They unpack the Tennis Court Oath, the storming of the Bastille, and the wave of peasant uprisings known as the Great Fear that swept the countryside. Along the way, they meet key figures like the Abbé Sieyès, whose pamphlet 'What Is the Third Estate?' electrified the nation, and the Marquis de Lafayette, who presented a draft of the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen. But the episode ends on a sobering note: the revolution's early promise masked deeper conflicts between urban sans-culottes, provincial peasants, and a king who could not decide whether to lead or resist. Future episodes will trace how that fracture led to the Terror, the guillotine, and the rise of Napoleon.

    #FrenchRevolution #Bastille #LouisXVI #TennisCourtOath #ThirdEstate #AbbSieyS #MarquisdeLafayette #DeclarationOfTheRightsOfMan #GreatFear #EstatesGeneral #MarieAntoinette #SansCulottes #Versailles #Necker #1789 #History #FexingoHistory #EuropeanHistory #Robespierre #ReignOfTerror

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    10 min