[譯] 法國大革命的真實與虛構

來源：History.com
作者：Sarah Pruitt
繙譯：煢煢白兔

　　也許您現在已經知道，法王路易十六那個被處死的墮落妻子瑪麗·安東妮，她其實從未說過「何不食蛋糕」這句與法國大革命息息相關的名言。這句話有許多不同版本，可能是貴族對法國廣大貧苦民衆抱持冷酷態度的縮影，這些話也被安置在1600年代不同的統治者身上，遠遠在瑪麗·安東妮出現之前。為了紀念法國國慶，我們來仔細看看其他一些常見的法國大革命故事，同時也看看這些故事究竟是偏向謠傳，還是趨於事實。


策畫法國大革命的主要集會，是在網球場裏聚行？

　　完全事實。1789年5月，在普遍不滿與財務危機中，法國貴族、教士、平民的諸位代表，齊聚凡爾賽宮。由於前二個特權階級在投票上總是占着優勢，使得第三階級（由多數法國人民所組成）感到厭倦，因而自行宣布成立國民會議，其運作不受王權監督。針對這樣的叛亂舉動，法王路易十六終止了三級會議，也把議員開會的大廳關閉。新成立的會議腦筋動得很快，他們於6月20日，直接在凡爾賽一間名為「Jeu de paume」的室內網球場裏集會起誓，除非法國制定新憲，否則他們絕不解散。

　　在著名的「網球場誓言」一星期之後，國王被迫讓步，准許前二個階級參與國民會議。路易十六不甘受此大辱，在臣子的挑唆下，開始召集軍隊（包括許多外籍傭兵）到巴黎與凡爾賽附近。6月12日，他把備受歡迎的財務大臣尼克爾（Jacques Necker）免職。即將襲擊第三階級的謠言四起。7月14日，一羣武裝的巴黎民衆攻占巴士底獄。這座位於巴黎東側的中古世紀城砦，此時已成為君主絕對權力的象徵。法國大革命就此展開。


法國大革命是法國窮人的起義？

　　與狄更斯在《雙城記》中所創作的法國大革命版本相反，法國窮人在這場叛亂中的重要性相對較小。在1789年現身挑戰國王，以及成立國民會議的領袖，都是些律師、醫師、報人、作家等專業人材與知識分子，有些甚至還是貴族成員，其中包括米拉波伯爵（Mirabeau）、康道塞侯爵（Condorcet）、拉法葉侯爵（Lafayette，美國獨立戰爭的英雄）等。而攻占巴士底獄的羣衆，大多是技工、售貨員，以及大部分好鬥的「無套褲漢」（sans-culottes，取名自他們穿着長褲，而不是貴族所愛的絲質及膝短褲），他們宣稱代表貧窮階級，但卻都是商人、工匠、職員。


羣衆攻占巴士底獄，是為了釋放關在裏頭的政治犯？

　　這也是個謠言。從十七世紀開始，法國王室所認定的擣亂者，包括作家等，都被囚禁在這座原為中古世紀城砦的監獄中，這個情況也一直持續到整個十八世紀。以叛亂名義被囚禁在巴士底獄的作家之中，最有名的或許就是伏爾泰了。他對法國政治與宗教的嘲諷，讓他在1717年蒙受了將近一年的牢獄之災。然而，在法國大革命爆發期間，這種情況已經不再。1789年7月14日當天，巴士底獄裏面只有七名囚犯，其中包括四名偽幣製造者，二名精神異常者，以及一名伯爵，他因為變態性行為而被家族遣送入獄。（順帶一提，薩德侯爵（Sade）是在1784年被關入巴士底獄，一直到羣衆攻占巴士底的前一日，他對着窗外大喊「他們在屠殺囚犯！你們必須前來釋放他們！」，之後便被轉送到精神療養院。）

　　革命羣衆知道巴士底獄裏存有武器彈藥，而他們想要取得這些東西。監獄衛兵在射殺了大約一百名暴民後被迫投降，因為被喚來協防的救援隊反而向革命者倒戈，把砲口轉向巴士底獄。典獄長勞奈（Bernard-Jordan de Launay）高舉白旗投降。結果，革命暴民把他殺了之後，用矛插着他的頭遊街。羣衆在取得武器彈藥後，便在同一日晚上開始拆除巴士底獄。


斷頭臺是因法國大革命而催生？

　　大部分是流言。著名的法國斷頭臺，可能已成為法國大革命與其後恐怖統治（1793-94年，有高達一萬六千人被處死）的主要象徵。然而，其實在中古世紀時期，就已經有類似的死刑刑具，包括幾乎一模一樣的英國刑具哈利法克斯斷頭臺（Halifax Gibbet），以及惡名昭彰的「蘇格蘭少女」（Scottish Maiden），它在十六到十八世紀間，約處死了一百廿人。除此之外，法國斷頭臺（guillotine）的起名者吉約丹（Joseph-Ignace Guillotin），他甚至不是斷頭臺的發明者，真正的發明者其實是安東尼·路易醫生（Antoine Louis）。吉約丹是法國物理學家，也是國民會議的成員，他試圖改革醫學界，同時他本人也反對死刑。當他體認到死刑幾乎不可能廢除時，就開始尋找快而無痛的行刑方法，而不是像劍斧斬首那樣容易失敗的方式。也由於吉約丹在國民會議前主張路易醫生的刑具（原本稱為「路易生」（Louison）或「路易瑟特」（Louisette））是比較人道的行刑方式，他與斷頭臺的關係因而密不可分。在恐怖統治期間，斷頭臺的使用達到顛峯。吉約丹醫生在1794年被關之後，自己差一點就成了斷頭臺下的亡魂。


法國人民慶祝巴士底日？

　　在某種程度上算是正確的。您現在若遇見一個法國人，可千萬別祝他巴士底日快樂，因為這個名稱通常只限用於英語系國家。自從法國在十九世紀末葉把7月14日作為國慶日來慶祝開始，他們就以「la Fête nationale」（國慶日）來作為這一日的正式稱呼，另一個更常使用的簡單稱呼則是「le quatorze juillet」（七月十四日）。這個節日是用來紀念1789年7月14日攻占巴士底獄，以及法國大革命的開展，同時也紀念發生於翌年那個較為和平的事件。在1790年7月14日聯盟節（Fête de la Fédération）當天，一連串自發性的慶祝活動在法蘭西全國各地展開，因為這個國家擁抱了它嶄新的自由與團結。當今的國慶日慶祝活動，有行經香榭麗舍大道的閱兵大典，法國總統與其他政治領袖都會出席參加；另外還有一些在全國各地城鎮所舉辦的小遊行、煙火、舞蹈等慶祝活動。

By now you probably know that Marie Antoinette, the decadent, doomed wife of King Louis XVI, never actually uttered the most famous remark linked to the French Revolution: “Let them eat cake.” Versions of the same remark, which supposedly encapsulated the nobility’s callous attitude towards the poor masses of French citizens, were attributed to various rulers back in the 1600s, well before Marie Antoinette arrived on the scene. In honor of France’s national holiday, take a closer look at other frequently repeated stories about the French Revolution and see whether they’re closer to myth or reality.

The key meeting to plan the French Revolution took place on a tennis court.

Fact or Fiction: This one’s all true. In May 1789, amid widespread discontent and financial crisis, representatives of France’s nobility, clergy and commoners met at the Palace of Versailles. Tired of being outvoted by the two more privileged estates, deputies of the Third Estate—which made up the vast majority of France’s population—declared itself a National Assembly, which would operate outside the monarchy’s supervision. In response to this act of rebellion, King Louis XVI shut down the Estates-General, and closed the hall in which the deputies were meeting. Thinking fast, the newly created assembly met on June 20 on an indoor tennis court at Versailles called the “jeu de paume,” where they pledged not to disband until France adopted a new written constitution.

A week after the famous Tennis Court Oath, the king was forced to give in and allow the first two estates to join the National Assembly. Humiliated by this defeat and spurred on by his advisers, Louis began assembling army troops (including many foreign mercenaries) around Paris and Versailles, and on July 12 he dismissed his popular finance minister, Jacques Necker. Rumors spread of an impending attack on the Third Estate, and on July 14 a crowd of armed Parisians stormed the Bastille, the medieval fortress on the eastern side of Paris that had become a symbol of the monarchy’s absolute power. The French Revolution had begun.

The French Revolution was an uprising of France’s poorest citizens.

Fact or Fiction: Contrary to the version of the French Revolution made famous in such works as Charles Dickens’ “A Tale of Two Cities,” France’s poorest population played a relatively small role in the rebellion. The leaders who emerged in 1789 to defy the king and form the National Assembly were professionals and intellectuals—lawyers, doctors, journalists and writers—and even some members of the nobility, including the Comte de Mirabeau, the Marquis de Condorcet and the Marquis de Lafayette (hero of the American Revolution). The crowds who stormed the Bastille were largely made up of craftspeople and salesmen, and most of the militant “sans-culottes” (their name comes from the long trousers they wore instead of the silk knee breeches favored by the nobility), who claimed to act on behalf of the poorer classes, were merchants, artisans and clerks.

Crowds stormed the Bastille in order to free political prisoners being held there.

Fact or Fiction: This one’s also a myth. Beginning in the 17th century, the French monarchy put writers and other people they considered troublemakers behind bars at the former medieval fortress turned prison, and the practice continued throughout the 18th century as well. Perhaps the most famous writer imprisoned in the Bastille for sedition was the Voltaire, whose satirical attacks on French politics and religion earned him nearly a year behind bars in 1717. But by the time of the French Revolution, this wasn’t really happening anymore, and there were only seven prisoners in the Bastille on July 14, 1789: four counterfeiters, two mentally ill men and a count who had been delivered to the prison by his family for engaging in perverse sexual practices. (Incidentally, the Marquis de Sade was imprisoned in the Bastille from 1784 to just days before the crowds stormed the prison, when he was transferred to an insane asylum after shouting through his window “They are massacring the prisoners—you must come and free them!”)

The revolutionary crowds knew there was a cache of arms and gunpowder stored in the Bastille, and they wanted it. After firing on the mob and killing some 100 people, the men guarding the prison were forced to surrender after the rescue team called to secure the fortress joined the revolutionaries and aimed their cannons at the Bastille instead. Its military governor, Bernard-Jordan de Launay, flew the white flag of surrender; as a reward, the revolutionary mob killed him and paraded his head through the streets on a pike. After capturing the weapons and gunpowder, the crowd began dismantling the Bastille that same night.

The French Revolution gave birth to the guillotine.

Fact or Fiction: Mostly a myth. The famed guillotine became perhaps the foremost symbol of the French Revolution and the Reign of Terror that followed in 1793-94, during which as many as 16,000 people were executed. But similar devices had been used for executions going back to the Middle Ages, including a nearly identical English device known as the Halifax Gibbet, and the notorious “Scottish Maiden,” used in some 120 executions from the 16th to the 18th century. What’s more, the man who gave his name to the French device, Joseph-Ignace Guillotin, didn’t even invent it—that honor belongs to Dr. Antoine Louis. Guillotin, a French physician and member of the National Assembly, sought to reform the medical profession, and opposed the death penalty personally. As he was resigned to the fact that capital punishment could most likely not be abolished, he sought to make it as painless and quick as possible—unlike sword and axe beheadings, which were easily bungled. Because Guillotin argued in front of the Assembly that Dr. Louis’ device—originally nicknamed the “Louison” or “Louisette”—was a more humane means of execution, he would be forever associated with it. During the Reign of Terror, when use of the guillotine reached its height, Dr. Guillotin narrowly avoided becoming its victim himself, after he was imprisoned in 1794.

French people celebrate Bastille Day.

Fact or Fiction: This is true—sort of. If you see a French person today, just don’t wish them a happy Bastille Day, as that designation is mostly limited to English-speaking countries. While France has celebrated July 14 as its national holiday since the late 19th century, it’s officially known as “La Fête nationale,” and more often referred to simply as “le quatorze juillet” or the 14th of July. The holiday commemorates the storming of the Bastille—and the launch of the French Revolution—on July 14, 1789, as well as a more peaceful event that took place the following year. During the “Fête de la Fédération” on July 14, 1790, a series of spontaneous celebrations broke out throughout France as the country embraced its newfound liberty and unity. Today, celebrations held on the national holiday include a large military parade down the Champs-Élysées, attended by France’s president and other political leaders, and smaller parades, fireworks, dances and celebrations in towns throughout the country.