If the words “French Revolution” seem daunting to you, then you’re not alone.
It would take a whole series of podcast episodes to truly understand it all – and luckily for us – podcaster Mike Duncan has done exactly that. His Revolutions Podcast is world renowned.
In this episode of The Earful Tower, he breaks down the French Revolution to its simplest essence. You could call it “The French Revolution For Idiots”, where I, your humble host, play the part of the idiot and ask all the questions you are too shy to ask.
As for Mike, a self-confessed “complete history geek”, you can find more of his work via his Twitter page here.
The Earful Tower podcast
Listen below or wherever you find your podcasts.
This episode was first aired on The Earful Tower in 2019, but given it’s about events from 200+ years ago, that doesn’t matter so much 🙂
The five key dates leading to the French Revolution
It’s impossible to condense such a major event into a simple blogpost, but we’ll give you the key dates, as highlighted by Mike Duncan, surrounding the French revolution. Listen to the podcast for a more complete picture.
End of the 1600s – Louis 14th comes into power and decides to move out of the Louvre Palace to build up his father’s hunting lodge: Versailles, creating an opulent centralised monarchy.
1786 – There is a financial crisis within the French monarchy due to its overspending of almost a century. They spend three years trying to solve it by reforming their tax system.
1787 – 1789: In addition to the financial crisis, for two consecutive years, there is a series of horrible harvests and therefore food shortages in France.
1789 – The people of France eventually wised up and realised they were the ones paying almost all of the taxes. They decide it’s time to overthrow the monarchy and rebuild France as a republic.
14 July 1789 – The revolutionaries stormed the Bastille prison, a symbol of political oppression in France. Revolutionaries breached it both symbolically to challenge monarchy and practically to acquire gunpowder for the ongoing revolution.
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The Earful Tower podcast episode
Once again, here’s The Earful Tower’s podcast episode in case you missed it.
This episode was brought to you by Cook’n With Class, click here to book a class with them. I did the sauce-making class.
Their English-speaking cooking classes are a delightful blend of fun, education, and gastronomy. Designed for culinary enthusiasts of all levels, they offer a unique opportunity to explore French cuisine through hands-on experiences in a welcoming atmosphere.
Another great show! Your idiot questions weren’t idiotic at all, and his explanations were spot on!
Loved this episode and learned a lot about the French Revolution. I can’t wait for Mike’s book about Lafayette to come out. Incidentally, I just went to the restaurant Lafayette in the 8th arrondissement that is located in the Marquis’ house. It is pretty darn beautiful and the food was good, too! The menu includes a lot of Cajun food which you don’t find much of in Paris! I highly recommend it!