The Siècle history podcast
@thesiecle.com
A history podcast by @dhmontgomery.com covering France's overlooked century between Napoleon and World War I. Annotated transcripts at thesiecle.com!
Thoughts on the best way to translate the phrase "Quel beau mouvement" into English? It's someone enthusiastically describing the July Revolution. Dictionaries I've consulted have suggested something like "beautiful/wonderful movement" but I wonder if that loses something in English.
@mikeduncan.bsky.social Is your show bibliography online anywhere? It used to be at thehistoryofrome.typepad.com/revolutions_... but that's now offline.
Enjoying FRENCH WEIRD, an excellent new podcast from my pal @rwilliamsparis.bsky.social, interrogating the lesser explored underside of French culture that you'll not get from watching Emily In Paris. There's a first full episode here on Michel Houellebecq which is unmissable frenchweird.com 👈
No, John, I assure you, I'm very aware of what my podcast needs to grow, and it's more episodes on a consistent schedule. A me problem, not a you problem.
Even more inescapable than barricades if you're going to have a French revolution? The Marquis de Lafayette.
The Siècle history podcast@thesiecle.com · last yr.Meanwhile, opposition deputies are gathered to hear from the revolutionary hero Lafayette. Lafayette says he's been offered command of the Paris National Guard — which is a little weird, since Charles disbanded the Guard in 1827.
Charles ends the debate, because it's 11 a.m., and 11 a.m. is when he goes to Mass — revolution or no revolution. In Paris, as Charles prays, his reign collapses. #julyrevlive
My live-tweeting of France's July Revolution continues, and things aren't going too well for the French army...
The Siècle history podcast@thesiecle.com · last yr.On Thursday, July 29, 1830, the hunters became the hunted. For two days, King Charles's army had hurled itself against the people of Paris. Now, exhausted, the soldiers hunkered down in the royal palace. On the streets, Parisians gathered menacingly. #julyrevlive
Marshal Marmont was dealt a pretty bad hand when he was ordered to suppress the July Revolution, with no advance notice and inadequate sources. But even given that, this is generally seen as a pretty bad plan on Marmont's part:
The Siècle history podcast@thesiecle.com · last yr.Fearing for his troops' loyalty, Marmont orders an immediate attack. Instead of splitting into small squads like Tuesday, Marmont now forms his men into 3 big assault columns: to retake the Hôtel de Ville, clear the Paris boulevards, & maintain comms between the two #julyrevlive
If this is a Parisian revolution, you gotta have some barricades. (But fun fact: the July Revolution of 1830 was when barricades became A THING.)
The Siècle history podcast@thesiecle.com · last yr.The Parisians are not quelled. Instead of fleeing before the soldiers, they begin tearing up paving-stones and overturning carts. Under attack, the people of Paris have introduced an instantly iconic defense: the street barricade. #julyrevlive
On the morning of July 27, 1830, French prime minister Jules de Polignac had gone for a walk through central Paris and was pleased to see how quiet the streets were after disturbances the night before. “I *was* more fearful than I am now!” he declared. As they say, things escalated quickly.
The Siècle history podcast@thesiecle.com · last yr.Outside, mobs begin to form around police stations. “We are attacked. We need help without delay," one policeman writes in an 8:30 dispatch. Another station falls, and is lit on fire. #julyrevlive
On July 27, 1830, King Charles X of France's attempted coup led to street protests, which gradually escalated into rioting — and finally into open insurrection after soldiers opened fire on a crowd. My live-tweeting of France's July Revolution is below:
The Siècle history podcast@thesiecle.com · last yr.Parisians flee before the advancing soldiers. But they carry with them the bodies of their comrades, parading them through the streets. Instead of "Down with the ministers," the chant is now "Death to the ministers." #julyrevlive
My take on "The Odyssey" is that I wish Ridley Scott's "Napoleon" had been a good enough movie that the discussion was about its accuracy.
On this day in 1830, things were about to pop off in Paris:
The Siècle history podcast@thesiecle.com · last yr.Tuesday, July 27, 1830 starts hot & is getting hotter. It's 76º F by 9 am. Parisians who don't have somewhere to be get out of their stifling apartments & mingle on the streets or relax at cafes. This is normal for a hot summer day. But nothing else is normal today. #julyrevlive
On this day in 1830, France's King Charles X launched a coup against the liberal opposition. Follow my live-tweets of how it went down from last year:
The Siècle history podcast@thesiecle.com · last yr.It's morning on Monday, July 26, 1830, and the Duchesse de Gontaut, royal governess, brings King Charles X his grandchildren. He asks if she's read today's Moniteur. "No, Sire, it is stupid, & no one gets anything out of it." "I fancy it will not bore you today!" #julyrevlive
It is 11 a.m. on this day 195 years ago: Sunday, July 25, 1830. At the Château de Saint-Cloud, six miles west of central Paris, King Charles X of France is attending a private Mass, as he does every day. In an antechamber, his court waits nervously. Something is up. #julyrevlive
It's July 14, Bastille Day. But you wouldn't want to be caught waving a tricolor flag in France's Bourbon Restoration (1814-1830) — it was banned, and people went to jail after being caught with illicit tricolors. Find out more on The Siècle: thesiecle.com/supplemental8/
"The two years immediately following the July Revolution – 1831 and 1832 – stand out as one of history’s most distinctive and striking moments. Between the years that precede them and those that follow, these two years are like two mountains." — Victor Hugo, "Les Misérables," 4.1.1
No background needed for the latest episode of my history podcast, which actually falls into the “three guys shooting the breeze on camera” definition that people now mean when they say “podcast.”
The Siècle history podcast@thesiecle.com · last mo.NEW EPISODE: @ageofnapoleon.bsky.social, Will from Grey History and I sit down *on camera* to talk about connections between France and the early American Republic:
NEW EPISODE: @ageofnapoleon.bsky.social, Will from Grey History and I sit down *on camera* to talk about connections between France and the early American Republic:
What France should have learned from the United States
YouTube video by The Siècle
youtu.be
You know how sometimes you have to wait months between Siècle episodes? Well, sometimes you just have to wait a week. Merry Sièclemas, everyone.
Political divisions in France's July Monarchy can often come down to what people thought 1830's "July Revolution" actually was. Find out more in Episode 50 of The Siècle: thesiecle.com/episode50/
NEW EPISODE! France's July Revolution has chased out the old king and crowned a new one. But is the work of the revolution still ongoing — or is it high time to get back to normalcy? It's the million-franc question that splits France into two camps: Movement and Resistance.
Episode 50: Movement and Resistance
With unrest still bubbling on the streets of Paris, the center-left Party of Movement and the center-right Party of Movement struggle for control of the new ...
thesiecle.com
A fun @askhistorians.bsky.social answer about the folk belief that existed in some countries that if you built a house from scratch in a single night — even on someone else's land — you acquired legal claim to the house:
From the AskHistorians community on Reddit
Explore this post and more from the AskHistorians community
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Do any French speakers know if there's a pun here that I'm missing, as Jacques Laffitte — son of a carpenter, father of a princess — calls himself a "prince du rabot"? Literally rabot refers to a carpenter's plane, but is this a play on words?
