3.31- The Man of Blood Part Deux

In the summer of 1793 the Revolutionaries in Paris were besieged from all sides.

Direct Link: 3.31- The Man of Blood Part Deux

Comments

[John]

I guess the mass apathy mentioned earlier is why nobody really wanted to march on Paris, even though not doing so would doom them? Or was the idea of the Federalists basically the same as the Allies 'somebody else is going to overthrow the Revolution and we would rather not go through the effort?'

[Richard Gadsden]

c. 20 minutes in, "the final version of the convention approved by the convention" should presumably be "the final version of the constitution approved by the convention"

[Srdubree]

After an elaborate multi-day funeral ceremony choreographed by David, the body of Marat "was to have its repose in a rocky grotto, swiftly improvised by the architect Martin in the garden of the [Cordelier] club."—From Simon Schama's "Citizens: A Chronicle of the French Revolution" (I remember you had said Schama's history of Britain was a big influence on you, and Citizens was a huge influence on me. First rate narrative history, with a keen eye to the kind of personal touches that make your podcasts so special.)

[Mark M]

I have a question. Why if agents were sent to the front and directing missions did they not just take overall command of troops in the field and direct missions as they see fit on behalf of the revolution? Was this a tactic purely designed to weed out possible counter revolutionaries in their own midst? Also why did the convention go to all the trouble to make a new construction when it did if they were not going to give power to it and had no plan for a transition period?

[Mike D]

I think I mentioned this once before in the comments for a previous episode, but since this episode talks about David and Marat, I thought I'd post it again: Simon Schama's Power of Art doc on David's Death of Marat was fantastic (linked below). Speaking of Schama, I love how last week Mike Duncan mentioned Simon's influence on his podcasts. I was hooked about 10 years ago as well on his A History of Britain. Thanks again for all the great content, Mike!
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=zwdfNE4LqJI

[Omar Soberanis]

Mike I am starting to get confused among all the factions and what they are fighting for. Do you mind taking 2 to 3 minutes on the next episode to recapitulate on each party and what they stand for?

[Frank Mayo]

I really appreciated the opening part of this podcast, that acted as a quick recap and then a summary of what we will see in the near future, along with Charlotte Corday's actions! Made it very easy to understand and prepare for the next steps of the story. Thanks Mike