A New History of the French Revolution

[Judas Maccabeus]

[NOTE: Thanks to Eochaid who recommended I bring this over. Since this is already finished, I won't be able to take advice on what to do.
This will be posted in two parts, by the way. And it's quite short.]

Introduction

Much was involved directly in the great political upheavals of the late 18th century in France. But the roots of this stretch much further. The Wars of Religion, the statesmanship of Richelieu, and the extravagant expenses and costly wars of Louis XVI had nearly ruined the economy of France. This is the story of what this strange time brought: equality, but not without some pain first. We shall go, year by year, through a period in history when the world seemed to turn upside down.


1773

On 23 January 1773, Louis XV mysteriously fired his comptroller general, Robert Jacques Turgot, who had held that post for only 3 hours. He replaced him with Jacques Necker, who chose to keep things as they were--for the moment. In fact, he wanted to create a system of taxation that was more fair to those with less money. It took him little time at all to try to lower the power of the aristocracy. Amazingly, he succeeded. This would greatly influence events to come. But why did King Louis do this? The answer seems to be simple: he wanted to lower the power of the aristocracy, using the rise of a lower class to cripple them. But such things are not always so simple. Louis was afraid. The people were starting to show unrest at Louis' extravagance and favoritism. Even if he would never end his extravagance, he would get rid of favoritism.

Even stranger was an action by Poland in March 1773. They officially declared war upon Courland, which was their own vassal! Denmark soon joined the war on Courland's side, thus deterring Poland from taking any action. The war ended four years later, with no changes made, except Courland became completely independent.

Two months after the beginning of the Baltic War involving Poland, Courland, and Denmark, Louis made another unusual move in dissolving the alliance it had signed with the king of Spain. It turns out that Louis wished to reconcile the differences between France and Great Britain. Not only did he want to reconcile, but he wanted to join their alliance, and couldn't do that while he was allied with Spain. Perhaps he felt safer with the strong British navy on his side for a change.

During May, 1773, Italy burst into flames (figuratively). First, a Neapolitan army invaded the Papal states, bringing their ally Modena into the mix. Next came Genoa's declaration of war upon Modena. Naturally, the Papal States joined in.

In June, Austria declared war upon the German kingdom of Bavaria. This would be of little importance, had Russia and Prussia, Austria's allies, not chosen to dishonor the alliance they had signed earlier. Even worse, Russia joined in an alliance with Venice, which would bring Russia into one of the largest wars of the period. Later, Naples, Cologne, Würzburg, and Würtemburg, among others, would join in. Perhaps the reason for the Tsar's decision to dishonor the alliance was the fact that they were then at war with the Ottoman Empire. This took up much of their manpower.

In July, he ended the part of the war with Crimea, vassal to the Ottoman Sultan, and reduced them to a small sliver of land around Kaffa on the Black Sea. Of course, the war with the rest of Turkey continued.

In August, Louis sent le Armée Royale to Brittany in order to prevent any attempt at invasion by the English (in case they didn't go along with his idea at an alliance).

On 1 September, an alliance of native tribes burned the French colony of Cayenne in French Guyana and killed all those inside. Louis pledged to wipe out all natives involved in the slaughter and immediately began to send his Detachement de Caribbe to deal with them.

Also in September, Louis began his plan to reconcile with the English. First, he sent a gift of a flag, bearing the coat of arms of France (a gold fleur-de-lis on blue) and the English King (three gold lions on red), quartered. This was a useless gesture, however. This wasn't the only gift King George III received. On 9 September, the people of Boston sent him an expensive statue of St. George slaying a dragon. This gift was enough to allow King George to begin peace talks in Paris (as a sign of what little goodwill he bore towards the French King, he allowed him to arbitrate) on the temporary measures they would go to avoid another war.

Louis came up with this compromise. The United States would be allowed to claim the lands of the Iroquois, Creek, and Cherokee. If, however, the United States tried to claim the lands of the Shawnee or any other native tribes under the protection of the British King, then that would be considered an act of war by King George. The Treaty of Paris was signed on 28 October 1773. King George had the statue installed in London the next day. The people of Boston celebrated their independence by drinking great amounts of tea. The Boston Tea Party, as it came to be known, has become a symbol of the short time the colonies were independent.

On November 20, Louis had his chance to revenge the burning of Cayenne. The Detachement de Caribbe unloaded off ships and began hunting down all natives in the area. It was tough work, but eventually succeeded.

1774

The new year dawned relatively calm. Not until 11 January did anything of note happen. In fact, two different events occured. First, Wallachia, vassal of the Ottoman Sultan, declared war upon Moldavia, who was also the Sultan's vassal. Mustafâ III, who officially ruled the Ottoman Empire (and much more capably than the earlier sultans), rode to Bucharest to try to stop the fighting. He was assassinated by a Wallachian soldier ten days later. Second, Louis dispatched another gift to England: a well-bred hunting dog from the royal kennels. King George accepted it, but never thanked Louis, officially or unoffically. Louis ignored this, not wanting to start a war.

On 11 April, Jacques Necker sent to the royal court at Versailles a statue of Joan of Arc during her wounding at Orleans, injured but defiant, and ultimately victorious. It was more than an attempt to gain the king's favor; it had symbolic value as well. Joan represented France at the time, as Necker saw it. Though they had been defeated badly during the Seven Years' War, losing all of their posessions in North America to the British, Necker believed that they should strike and defeat them, regaining what the British had taken. Already they had recieved Louisiana from the Spanish; could not Canada be reconquered as well? Louis thought no, thanked Necker, and placed the statue in a remote corner of the palace. Six days later, the United States took advantage of the clause in the Treaty of Paris that allowed them to attack certain Indian tribes. On that day, the Cherokee were surprised to find Continental soldiers invading their lands. They would fight back ferociously, but eventually lose.

3 May saw Louis sending a letter asking King George how he liked his new hound. George never replied. Believing that George hated him irrecovably (which was perhaps true), Louis' heath worsened.

On 11 May 1774, while talking to Jacques Necker on a matter of finances, King Louis XV suffered a heart attack and immediately died. Along with the rest of the nation, his son, now King Louis XVI, mourned his death for months. The English were still wary of this new Bourbon King, but gave him a chance. They soon would be rewarded greatly for their open-mindedness. But that would still be many years. First, there were events in eastern Europe and the Americas to attend to. The Emperor in Austria concluded a peace with Bavaria, officially annexing the northern half of that kingdom. Also, the Continental Congress of the United States decided to raise a professional army for defence of the country and invasion of nearby Indian tribes.

On 2 September, Louis XIV sent a letter to King George, calling himself and France "friends of the English." King George actually responded to this. He said, in a letter to Louis, "I need actions to back up these words. Words are useless. Come to me when you have done something of note and effect for me and my people." Louis intended to do just that.

1775

King Louis XIV, following the letter that George had sent more closely than the British monarch had likely intended, sent fine foods and wines to the
Duke of Cornwall, with instructions that they should be shared with the people of Exeter. Cornwall was only happy to oblige him. In a feast, he
invited not only rich people in the community, but some of those who barely were in the middle class. King George was surprised, but not pleasantly. He sent another letter, saying, "That was fine, but not what I intended. Unless you have enough wine and other delicacies for the whole of England,
Scotland, and Wales, try something a little more political." Other monarchs seemed to think of Louis as naïve in many matters. Later events would show he was not.

On 19 April, Austria declared war upon the small republic of Venice. This would have been a quick Austrian victory had Venice not intelligently allied with the immense empire of Russia. Austria would be crushed under the Russians' might, despite help from their allies.

The most important event of the year came on 1 June. King Louis XIV invited King George III, and the Dukes of Cornwall, Lancaster, and Essex to a banquet at Versailles. There, among foods and wines much greater than those Louis could have ever imagined sending to England, he unveiled his great plan for western Europe. France and England would ally against all who dared oppose them. The mighty British Navy would crush all enemy fleets, and the well-trained and well-led French armies would brush aside any opposition and utterly ruin France and Britain's enemies. The Duke of Cornwall said, "This is a golden opportunity. Seize it! With France at our side the rest of the world could try to crush us, but it would be in vain!"

But York, who never liked any Louis, said, "This is trickery. When first they station troops in our country to 'defend against invasion,' they shall turn on us. Do you, my King, wish to see French soldiers ransacking York or London? Do you, Cornwall, wish to see the people of Exeter run in fear from Louis' troops? Do you, Lancaster, want to be forced to besiege your own stronghold because it has been taken over by French treachery?"

Louis' plans were summed up better in Cornwall's speech. But King George didn't know that. Having heard both sides, he remained unconviced either way. "I shall give you my answer sometime within the next year. Decisions as important as this take time. Thank you Louis, I believe many past wrongs between our country have been forgiven. But not all." The four Englishmen discussed the matter for hours, then returned to Britain. No decision was made at the time.

Native uprisings in Louisiana, plus a corruption scandal involving the prince of Condé distracted France for quite some time. Meanwhile, the United States completely defeated the Cherokee and made it a full part of the nation. Thus ended 1775.

1776

The Count Palatine, Karl IV Theodor, ruled over a nation whose religion was quite different than his own. However, just as the new year of 1776 dawned, he chose to change his beliefs to those of his people. Prussia, who had always wanted the Palatinate of the Rhine to do their bidding under their religion (which Karl had forsaken), broke all diplomatic ties with the country, including an alliance they had signed.

Meanwhile, a Scotsman named Adam Smith published a book on economics called An Inquiry into The Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations. In it, he advocated a "hands-off" approach to the economy. According to him, an economic system, when left alone, controlled itself through competition.

That same day, King Louis XIV sent to George III his finest selection of grapes ready to be made into wine (he wanted the British King to have them made according to George's preference). With them, he sent a note, to be read only by the king: "Do not forget what I said when we last met." Nobody knows for certain what happened to the note, but a servant to King George claimed to have seen a paper marked with a fleur-de-lis three months later. This report has never been confirmed.

On 6 March, the United States continued their expansion by attacking the Creek and Iroquois tribes. Both defended themselves fiercely, but would ultimately succumb to the might of the States. One day later, King George III of England formally reopened trade with France. It is believed that that the Louis' constant gifts had some impact upon his decision.

1 April saw another change in religion. Württemberg, whose rulers had stayed Catholic but people had not, finally became fully Protestant. Nearby Austria was not pleased. Louis, encouraged by King George's lifting of the trade embargo against France, proposed an agreement between the two countries that their merchants would work with and not against each other. King George refused, citing an attempt to increase competition. This was likely due to his interpretation of The Wealth of Nations.

On 7 August, Russia finally ended their war against the Ottoman Empire by gaining a few random outposts in the Sudan and Arabia. Many Russians believe that they were promised much more, but a scan of documents at the time show that Russia got what they asked for (which wasn't much). Two young nobles, the Comte de Épinal and the Baron de Remiremont, had been at odds for decades over fishing rights in the Moselle River. This had turned into an outright feud. However, a third noble, the Baron de Luxeuil, discovered a way to allow both to fish without affecting the other's profits. In order to encourage such deals, King Louis sent a gift to all of them on 9 September.

Unfortunately, this good news was tempered with some bad. King George finally had made his decision on Louis proposal for an alliance (the Banquet Alliance, it came to be called). The Duke of Cornwall was the one asked to send it. Dismay was clearly shown on his face as he delivered the news that George had refused. Cornwall was immediately sent away and soon returned to England.

1777

The last of the Wittlesbach kings of Bavaria, Maximillian III, died on 3 January 1777. Joseph II of Austria (against the wishes of Maria Theresia, made claims upon the country, along with Karl IV of the Palatinate. Frederick II of Prussia (now known as "der Grosse" or "the Great"), although given a good chance to defend Bavaria against these claims, refused to do so. This is, probably, fortunate. As it was, a settlement was agreed to, in which Austria would be allowed to keep what part of Bavaria it had already conquered. Who knows what a War of Bavarian Succession might have brought? More misery to the German people?

An even more dangerous situation erupted in Portugal. The Marquis de Pombal, advisor to the late King Don José I, was despised by the nobility. Realizing that his life was in danger, he fled the country. With de Pombal gone, all the reforms that he had worked so hard for were reversed, and Portugal became the backwater of Europe. On 1 February, the rulers of Moldavia and Wallachia ended their 3-year-long feud. Though an Ottoman sultan had died trying to stop the war, nothing had really happened.

26 February saw the United States conquering the last part of the territory promised to them by the Treaty of Paris. Now, however, they seemed to be threatening the Shawnee, protected by the treaty. Would war break out again between England and the United States? An event on 7 May would affect the outcome of any such war. For on that day, King Louis XIV finally had his dream of a Anglo-French alliance realized. This was an alliance to last, and they both knew it. 1 June saw the end of the Italian Wars. They were a draw; no territorial or monetary concessions were necessary. Four days later, another Italian city-state, Genoa, declared themselves fully independent of the French crown, of whom they had been vassals. King Louis never condemned this action. Some nobles began to think that he was a weak and indecisive ruler...

At the time that France joined in alliance with England, the latter was at war with Mysore, in India. King Louis gladly joined this war as part of their alliance obligations. On 12 June, their army met those of their enemies. A pitched battle resulted, with France the obvious loser. Now, Louis realized that he could leave the war with few or no repercussions. He did so, returning the border between Mysore and France to what they had been before.

On 23 December, it was found out that some nobles in Poitou had not been enforcing the King's ordinances. Although Louis was incensed by this, he realized that he could not berate the nobles involved without sparking a civil war (his ordinances, popular as they were with lower- and middle-class people, were hated among the nobility). This tenuous situation would eventually be resolved, however, and the stage was set for one of the most fateful years in history...

1778

On 1 February yet another country joined the yearly procession of those changing religion. Courland turned Protestant from the Catholic of their former Polish overlords. It was the final move to independence for the small country.

Louis XIV, now that he had some success in negotiations with England, tried to raise relations with the Archduke of Austria. The gifts were not received very well, and Louis kept well away from the Osterreich. 13 October 1778 is one of the most fateful days in history. For on that day, the Continental Congress of the United States officially declared war upon the Shawnee, against the stipulations of the Treaty of Paris. England joined in the war, and France, England's ally, joined also (along with Hessen, but Portugal, another ally, stayed out). Jacques Necker, realizing that his last gift was not received too well, sent to the king 200,000 gold ecus. The king received this with much joy and forgave him his earlier transgression.

On 13 December, 2 months after the beginning of the war, the Armee de Mississippi arrived in the modern state of Tennessee, besieging the fort there. But George Washington, commander of the Continental Army, had a better plan. He sent a small group of soldiers to the French island of Martinique in the Caribbean. They arrived on Christmas Day. Catching the reveling French by surprise, he was able to get a force around the fort and began to besiege it. That great feat was immortalized in this famous painting (slightly incorrect, because it shows ice floes)



Washington Unloading at Martinique. From the Royal Museum at the Louvre, Paris, France.

[Judas Maccabeus]

1779
The French Armee de Mississippi engaged forces of the Continental Army of the United States on 3 January near Ft. Franklin, Tennessee. The French were beaten back with moderate losses. In a series of small skirmishes that lasted 20 days, the French were beaten back to Louisiana and forced to start over.
7 January saw the end of the Austro-Russian War as Austria handed over Antwerpen and the Dalmatian Coast to Russia. These strategic outposts would be used to keep an eye on the Austrians. The Armee de Mississippi was reinforced by militias from the colonies in Louisiana. Soon they would again advance upon the United States...

It seemed that Louis' lack of action in Genoa made Savoy think the small country was an easy target. And indeed, it was. Savoy had Austria, Naples, Cologne, Würzburg, and the Palatinate on their side, which made the fight more lopsided. King Louis began to realize that he would need the full power of European France to defeat the Americans. He sent half of his main European forces, the Armee Royale, under Rochambeau, to Louisiana in order to reinforce the Armee de Mississippi. They embarked onto ships from Cherbourg, Normandie on 26 March 1779. Louis had sent his Detachement de Caribbe to destroy the small American force trying to capture Martinique. After forcing their way through a small fleet of American ships, they landed on Martinique on 9 April and forced the enemy armies out quickly. Unfortunately, Washington was already gone.

29 May marked the arrival of the Armee Royale, the first professional French army fighting in this war, in Nouvelle Orléans, Louisiana. This was the beginning of the end for the United States. Never again would they enjoy numerical superiority, and many of the French officers had been taught lessons from the French and Indian War and earlier wars in North America. They were prepared to fight.

On 6 July, the Armee de Mississippi, moving ahead of the Armee Royale, forced a small American army out of the French colony near the Yazoo river. It was a small skirmish, but allowed the main army, with its ponderous cannon, to get through.



The Charge of the Hussars. From the Royal Museum at the Louvre,
Paris, France.

These cannons began pounding the walls of Tuscaloosa on 6 August. Rochambeau ordered his forces to assault, and they did, taking the fort within a week with minimal losses. The Continental Congress quaked in fear. The French were on the move, and nothing, it seemed, would stop them. But, fortunately for them, the United States was able to get the main part of the Continental Army, under the orders of Benedict Arnold (Washington was away fighting Shawnee in the north) to the front. They seemed to be able to stop any advance. Though battles went back and forth, the borders remained largely the same for some time...

On 16 October, the Continental Congress called for each state to print paper money in large amounts. The rampant inflation this caused contributed to French victory, as became evident in the next year.

1780

On 1 January 1780, the Marquis de La Fayette took command of the Armee de Reserve in Strassbourg. Immediately, he began ordering his troops to Normandie without being told to do so by the King. Louis, however, never asked him to stop. He needed all the soldiers he had for the war with the United States. Perhaps he wouldn't be able to stop an attack in Europe, but he would have to take that chance.

As 20 January came along, the Armee Royale attacked the Continental Army in Tuscaloosa, in order to stop an attempt to retake the fort there. They were unsuccessful, and the fort was besieged. The Marquis de La Fayette boarded ships with his Armee de Reserve on 2 April 1780. Immediately, he began crossing the Atlantic to the United States. He was the last card Louis had in his hand, and he would be played now. Louis, in fact, sent with him plans for battle. These were kept very secret. Ships would carry the message to the other armies, with orders to throw the plans into the sea rather than have them captured. The United States invaded the French territory of Louisiana (in fact, the only part that Louis had been able to recover east of the Mississippi River) on 19 April. The fighting was fierce. Back and forth the armies fought, in skirmishes and small battles, until the Armee de Mississippi came across and finally struck the winning blow there. The Continental Army retreated back to American territroy.

However, the leader of cavalry for the Armee Royale, D'Aiguillon, was mortally wounded in the fighting. Two days after the fateful arrival of La Fayette on the soil of the United States, he died.

Yes, La Fayette was here, having landed his army in Savannah, Georgia on 8 August. Immediately, he moved his army to Alabama to await the plan of battle Louis had set out for him before he left Normandie. As soon as he arrived, he was told to begin moving again. The plan was moving faster than Louis had hoped.

Finally, the seed Louis had planted, sprouted and grew quickly. Early in the morning on 11 October, Rochambeau set his Armee Royale into place along a ridge, with both his flanks protected by the Warrior River. When Benedict Arnold sent his army into a better defensive position in front of him, Rochambeau prepared an attack. At 8:00 AM, his infantry moved forward. La Motte, the general commanding the reserve, was to help if Rochambeau got in trouble. And so he did. Half an hour after the French moved forward, Arnold sent two brigades of infantry crashing into the now unprotected French right flank. La Motte, observant as ever, sent most of the reserve against the attack and succeeded. But all of this was just a distraction for what was really happening.



Fig. 1: The Battle of Tuscaloosa.

Four hours after the battle began, a cry could be heard from the French lines: "La Fayette! La Fayette!" In response, an answer came from well behind American lines: "We are here! We are here!" La Fayette had arrived, and struck the rear of Arnold's line. But the Continentals were stubborn and well diciplined. It took two and a half hours to get them to realize that they were going to fail. Finally, the order came from within Arnold's lines: "Retreat! Retreat before we all perish!" The Continentals, still in good order, gave up the field and the battle to the French.

But for half the army, it was too late. Along with Arnold, they were surrounded by the two armies and immediately surrendered. Later, Arnold could be seen conversing with La Fayette. What they spoke of is not certain, but may have soon become evident.

Even without Arnold, the Continental army kept fighting. In minor skirmishes, they were beaten back by the French troops. They succeeded in killing Rochambeau and La Motte, but La Fayette was able to keep the army going. By bits and pieces, then in large groups, the American army dissolved and the soldiers fled back to their homes. This was the end to any major organized resistance in the United States. The beginning of the end had come. On the sea, the final major battle came on Christmas. As the French fleet lined up for battle, the Americans thought that they could dart in and out, using their speed to avoid getting hit badly. They were wrong. As they first tried to do so, French frigates, and lots of them, darted out from behind the cover of the French ships. The American fleet was completely destroyed.

1781 - 1788

Little organized resistance was left to stop the French. One time, the Continental Congress was able to field an army outside of New York. Leading it was George Washington. But, somehow, the French army got a hold of Washington’s battle plan. It is said that the plans were transported in the shoe of an English officer, Major John André. Whoever delivered it, it was well known that the man who sent it was Benedict Arnold, who had somehow worked his way back into the Congress’ confidence. Arnold then fled to England to avoid being lynched and lived the rest of his life in poverty and obscurity.This was the end of the United States as a truly independent entity.

On 11 January 1784, the Marquis de La Fayette, representing Louis XIV, and Benjamin Franklin, representing the Continental Congress, signed the Treaty of Nouvelle Orleans, which stated that the United States was to keep the Continental Congress and Articles of Confederation, but was to pay a special tax each year to Louis. Also, although the Congress was allowed to make foreign policy decisions, a person appointed by Louis himself was able to repeal these decisions as necessary. Some Americans began to see parallels to the British governors and taxes before the Revolutionary War.


In 1787, the Continental Congress convened to create a new Constitution. This called for a more centralized system. There would be a Congress, with two houses, one elected by the people and the other chosen by the states. A president (the first and only one was George Washington), elected by certain people from the states, made up another branch, and appointed the third, a Supreme Court that would rule on whether laws violated the Constitution. Louis, of course, made sure everything was satisfactory before allowing it to proceed. There was one passage he struck out: “No person holding any office of profit or trust under the United States shall, without the consent of Congress, accept any present, emolument, office, or title, of any kind whatever, from any king, prince, or foreign state.” Now there was peace—for a time. Soon, though, France would have to go through a vicious rebellion…

1789

Two years after the United States Constitution was proposed, and the year George Washington took office, King Louis convened the General Estates for the first time since 1614, on 6 May 1789. He called for sweeping economic reforms (Jacques Necker had just announced a severe budget deficit), but also for a French Constitution based on the United States one, but allowing for a monarch. The First Estate, the nobles, walked out and took an oath on a nearby tennis court to call for a government ruled by the nobles, and take any means necessary to secure one.

For two months and eight days the nobles planned, plotted, and bought mercenaries.

Finally, on 13 July 1789, the nobles marched into Paris and made a stronghold out of the Bastille, a prison in the city. Though they tried to assert their authority, the peasants quickly besieged them inside. The next day, with the King watching and his soldiers bolstering the peasants’ ranks, they attacked. With very few casualties, they either killed the nobles or took them prisoner. King Louis brought out a new device, the guillotine (named after Dr. Joseph Guillotin, who proposed it) to execute the nobles. Quick and painless, he decreed that it would be the only device used for execution in France, and ordered 10 more made for distribution throughout France.

That same day, the Two Estates (the nobility had either fled the country or were being led out of the Bastille) unanimously voted in favor of two documents: The Declaration of the Rights of Man, and the French Constitution, calling for a permanent General Estates elected by the people every five years. Many of King Louis’ powers were transferred to this body.

1790 – 1804

On 6 February 1794, over ten years after the end of the Second French and Indian War, the United States drafted a constitutional amendment (#11, the first ten being a bill of rights containing guarantees of freedom Congress had forgotten). This abolished the Congress and replaced it with a General Estates modeled on the French one, and made term of office for the President lifelong, and also made the office hereditary. This was to take effect on 4 November, the next election day. The only person to run was Louis XVI of France.

With this, the United States practically became a part of France. The French General Estates, wishing to keep the United States from rising up in massive revolt, gave them all French colonies in North America for free in order to placate them. This, however, did not stop all revolts. In one especially bloody one in Pennsylvania, a young Corsican named Napoleon Bonaparte made a name for himself by brilliantly outflanking the rebel army. He was quickly made commander of all the “President’s” armies in North America. By 1799, he had done so well that Louis made him archduke of Corsica. This was one of the new noble titles Louis had made. In fact, all earlier noble titles had been abolished and new ones made, so the old nobles could not claim them.

By 1804, the United States had quieted down. Now, France was only second in dominance to England. The time of upheaval was over. A time of stability came in. France and England would lead a time of peace in Europe until a newly formed German nation and an instance of Serbian nationalism would lead the world into the bloodbaths of World War I.

[Norgesvenn]

A shortish, interesting AAR. I've never played France up to the Revolution, so I don't know what will happen. But this was a very interesting AAR.

[Eochaid]

[NOTE: Thanks to Eochaid who recommended I bring this over. Since this is already finished, I won't be able to take advice on what to do.

Your are most welcome Monsieur! Isn't it my role as a bAARtender to see to the well-being of everybody around here?

Along with Norg and Rictus, I dedicate my life to making this place the best around (Music in the background "We are the World")

Glad to see that I could be of some use Judas! And as I already said in the Field of Honour thread: SOME GREAT WORK!

[Patric123]

finished, a nice quick aar