sultan's crescent

Chapter 58
As the dignified emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, he owns the crown handed down by Charlemagne, and is also the owner of the only crown in Europe after the fall of Byzantium.

Leopold II's speech is still very important, and he made a joint statement at Pillnitz Castle.

Roland, who was far away in Paris, followed his footsteps and announced that "the fate of France is in the hands of the French themselves."

Not only that, but Roland also sent General Dumouriez to station his troops on the border of France in a very rude manner, all he had to do was set up a flag saying "What the Sun King can do, so can France now".

(In September 1688, Louis XIV took advantage of the fact that the Habsburg dynasty had just defeated the Ottoman Empire in the east and invaded Germany with weak forces in the west, and launched a quick war plan against the Habsburg dynasty. The "Grand Alliance War" officially open.

The Habsburg emperor had no choice but to contain the Ottoman Empire with part of his troops in the east, and divided his troops on the western front to try his best to deal with France, so that the French army ravaged the west of Germany back and forth. )
As for why Dumouriez was sent instead of Napoleon.

Out of political considerations, Roland believed that the safety of Paris was more important, and he trusted the latter more than Dumouriez, who had just been voted under by former boss Brissot.

As for why Roland is so arrogant and dares to stand up to the top two in Europe.

This has to mention the current political environment in France and its military power.

For Roland, the threat from Leopold II was less important than his political threat.

Compared with Paris, other regions of France did not show a favorable situation for the revolution.

After the initial chaos, the Royalists continued across France in an attempt to begin to restore the king's rule.

Faced with this situation, Roland or the entire Girondist school of thought is - to launch a war.

They hoped to use the war as a catalyst to transform the then extremely turbulent French Revolution into a more solid and lasting form.

The news from Pillnitz further strengthened the determination of the Girondins to fight.

After all, France has always been the only one who took advantage of the internal discord of the Holy Roman Empire to rip off, and now Leopold II dared to play role swaps.

From Roland's point of view, it's—I've given you a face, it's time for two slaps.

The reason for Roland's self-confidence is very simple. It is not too much for the French army in this period to say that "Europe is first". The influence of the Sun King on the reform of the French army is not King Frederick II of Prussia II) comparable.

Since Louis XIV, the French army has been the strongest in Europe.

You may object with an example, saying that in the Seven Years' War, Frederick II beat the French army well.

But this is more of a gap between the commanders of the two sides. Compared with the death of Frederick II, the Prussian army's combat power has declined due to rigidity.

Under the call of a group of generals, the French army carried out strategic and tactical innovations and equipment replacements, thus maintaining a relatively good level of combat power.

With both political threat considerations and military strength as support, Roland has only one sentence for Leopold II's statement, well done.

By the way, Roland once again changed Louis XVI to a new home. Considering the king's bad behavior of running away, Roland deliberately moved him to the Temple Tower.

In fact, during the French Revolution, the Temple Tower built by the Knights Templar in the 13th century was still a magnificent fortress. It was said that it was a place of transfer, but it was actually a cell for Louis XVI.

The Temple Tower served as the European headquarters of the Knights Templar, and it contained a series of buildings: there was a church, and the large fortress with turrets called the Great Tower.

It is gorgeously decorated, with elegant interiors, and there are many cultural relics, manuscripts and books from the Middle Ages. To some extent, it may be more like a tourist attraction.

But the Temple Tower at this time is a prison after all, and it was chosen purely because it can be guarded strictly.

Here, the king would rise at 6am, pray for five minutes or more, and spend most of the rest of the morning, after a light breakfast, giving lessons to the crown prince.

Before dinner at 2 p.m., he and his family were allowed to take a short walk in the courtyard of the Temple Tower.

Then, much of the rest of the day he would read, as many as a dozen books a week, many of them by great Latin authors.

Louis XVI had entertainment, but for Marie Antoinette, who had little education, every day was long and difficult.

Although she is only 35 years old, she looks like she is at least 50 years old.

She mostly embroiders and knits to pass the time, and also tries to give lessons to her 12-year-old daughter Marie-Therese.

The little girl was well educated and probably knew a lot more than her mother.

No one knows how much the King's family knew of what was happening in France and the outside world while they were imprisoned in the Temple Tower.

But God does not intend to let go of the imprisoned king.

According to legend, Leopold II of Vienna was furious when he learned of the situation of his sister's family.

Or another possibility is that the noble emperor was actually provoked by a little-known little man.

Leopold II then ordered Felsen and the Duke of Brunswick to prepare a proclamation that amounted to an ultimatum.

In the declaration, if the revolutionaries in Paris do not repent, the coalition forces will soon invade France and restore the kingship, and if the king continues to suffer atrocities, the coalition forces will "raze the city of Paris to the ground."

This angered the French people and the revolutionaries. In their view, Louis XVI was not only trying to escape France but also colluding with foreign forces.

Imprisoning him in the Temple Tower was already the result of a group of people paying lenient punishment to Louis XVI out of respect for the centuries-old rule of the Bourbon family and pity for Louis XVI.

If it is said that Leopold II has filled the French people's passion for war, then the Pope has sentenced the future of Louis XVI to death.

As early as November 1789, the National Constituent Assembly declared that all church property was "at the disposal of the state".

Around the same time, the National Constituent Assembly further legislated to abolish the legality of monastic vows, and all religious orders were dissolved.Monks and nuns were required to disassociate themselves, marry and, if possible, have children.

The National Constituent Assembly then passed the first draft of the Clergy Civil Organization Bill, which effectively converted all remaining clergy into government employees.

The National Constituent Assembly also decreed that henceforth parish priests and bishops (whose numbers were now drastically reduced) should be elected by the parishes and dioceses to which they belonged, and that they should no longer recognize the authority of the Pope.

Finally, the National Constituent Assembly required that all clergy should take an oath of loyalty to the new constitution.A few priests complied, but the vast majority refused.The result was a disastrous division in France.

The schism was initially limited to the church, but soon spread to the lay people, and appeared in local groups and even families in France.

Poor Louis XVI was as indecisive and troubled as ever.

He is a very pious person, so he sent a letter to the Pope on this matter.

　Ask for a follow-up, Louis XVI is going to lose his head, don't you guys follow-up in time.

　　By the way, is the picture I picked for Anna beautiful, even though it was contributed by a book friend.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)