What caused the French Revolution? - Tom Mullaney

翻译人员: Juo-Han Michelle Kuo 校对人员: Cissy Yun

What rights do people have, and where do they come from?

人们有哪些权利， 而权利又从何而来？

Who gets to make decisions for others and on what authority?

谁为其他人做决定， 而又是基于何种授权？

And how can we organize society to meet people's needs?

我们又要如何组建社会 以满足人们的需求？

These questions challenged an entire nation

这些问题 在法国大革命崛起时

during the upheaval of the French Revolution.

激荡着全国上下

By the end of the 18th century,

在十八世纪后期，

Europe had undergone a profound intellectual and cultural shift

欧洲历经了 重大的知识及文化转变，

known as the Enlightenment.

称之为“启蒙运动”

Philosophers and artists promoted reason and human freedom

哲学家及艺术家 提升了理性及人之自由，

over tradition and religion.

使其超越传统及信仰。

The rise of a middle class and printed materials

中产阶级和印刷术的崛起

encouraged political awareness,

激发了政治觉醒，

and the American Revolution had turned a former English colony

而美国独立战争 也将早期的英国殖民地，

into an independent republic.

转化成为 一个独立的共和政权

Yet France, one of the largest and richest countries in Europe

然而法国，作为欧洲 其中一个最强大最富有的国家，

was still governed by an ancient regime of three rigid social classes

却仍然以旧制度实行统治， 这是由古板的三个社会阶级组成，

called Estates.

叫作“阶级制度”

The monarch King Louis XVI based his authority on divine right

国王路易十六 利用君权神授稳固统治权，

and granted special privileges to the First and Second Estates,

并赋予特权给 第一和第二阶级，

the Catholic clergy, and the nobles.

分別是 天主教神职人员以及贵族。

The Third Estate, middle class merchants and craftsmen,

第三j阶级， 包含中产阶级、工匠，

as well as over 20 million peasants, had far less power

以及超过两千万的农民 他们拥有非常少的权利，

and they were the only ones who paid taxes,

而且他们是唯一 需要缴税的族群，

not just to the king, but to the other Estates as well.

不只纳税给国王， 还要缴纳给其他阶级

In bad harvest years,

收成不好的时候，

taxation could leave peasants with almost nothing

纳税几乎让农民所剩无几，

while the king and nobles lived lavishly on their extracted wealth.

而国王和贵族却利用 这些榨取来的财富极尽奢侈

But as France sank into debt due to its support of the American Revolution

不过由于支持美国独立战争 使得法国负债累累，

and its long-running war with England,

加上其与英国的长期争战，

change was needed.

现况亟须改变

King Louis appointed finance minister Jacques Necker,

路易国王任命 雅克·内克尔为财务大臣，

who pushed for tax reforms

他奋力争取税务改革，

and won public support by openly publishing the government's finances.

并借由公布政府的财政走向 来赢得大众的支持。

But the king's advisors strongly opposed these initiatives.

然而国王的顾问 却强烈地反对这些措施。

Desperate for a solution, the king called a meeting of the Estates-General,

苦求解决之道， 国王于是召集了三级会议，

an assembly of representatives from the Three Estates,

这个会议是由 三个阶级代表所组成，

for the first time in 175 years.

睽违了175年后首次举行。

Although the Third Estate represented 98% of the French population,

虽然第三阶级 代表多达98%的法国人民，

its vote was equal to each of the other Estates.

但他们和其他庄园 拥有的投票数是一样的。

And unsurprisingly, both of the upper classes favored keeping their privileges.

不意外，两个上层阶级 都倾向保留他们的特权。

Realizing they couldn't get fair representation,

意识到无法 获得平等的代表效力，

the Third Estate broke off,

第三阶级瓦解了，

declared themselves the National Assembly,

并宣示自己为“国民议会”，

and pledged to draft a new constitution with or without the other Estates.

并誓言起草新的宪法， 其中包含或不包含其他阶级。

King Louis ordered the First and Second Estates

路易国王命令 第一和第二阶级

to meet with the National Assembly,

与国民议会会面，

but he also dismissed Necker, his popular finance minister.

但他同时也解雇了 受人爱戴的财务大臣内克尔。

In response, thousands of outraged Parisians

因此， 几千名愤怒的巴黎人民

joined with sympathetic soldiers to storm the Bastille prison,

加入了同样不满的士兵， 席卷了巴士底监狱，

a symbol of royal power and a large storehouse of weapons.

那里是皇室权力的象征， 也是相当大的军火库。

The Revolution had begun.

于是大革命便展开了。

As rebellion spread throughout the country,

当叛变蔓延至全国，

the feudal system was abolished.

封建制度就被废除了。

The Assembly's Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen

国民议会的 《人权和公民权宣言》

proclaimed a radical idea for the time --

主张的想法 在当时相当前卫——

that individual rights and freedoms were fundamental to human nature

个人的权利和自由 是人性之根本，

and government existed only to protect them.

而政府的存在 正是去保护这些。

Their privileges gone, many nobles fled abroad,

他们的特权没了， 许多贵族逃到国外，

begging foreign rulers to invade France and restore order.

乞求国外的统治者 侵略法国并重建秩序。

And while Louis remained as the figurehead of the constitutional monarchy,

路易王作为 君主立宪制的虚位元首，

he feared for his future.

他开始害怕的他的未来。

In 1791, he tried to flee the country but was caught.

1791年，他试图逃亡， 但最后被抓了。

The attempted escape shattered people's faith in the king.

尝试逃走的行为 使人民对国王的信任瓦解，

The royal family was arrested and the king charged with treason.

皇室家族因而被逮， 国王则被判叛国罪。

After a trial,

审判确立后，

the once-revered king was publicly beheaded,

曾受敬重的国王 被当众斩首，

signaling the end of one thousand years of monarchy

象征着长达千年的 王权统治的结束，

and finalizing the September 21st declaration of the first French republic,

並在9月21日宣告 建立了法国第一个共和政体，

governed by the motto "liberté, égalité, fraternité."

以“自由、平等、博爱”为其格言。

Nine months later,

九個月後，

Queen Marie Antoinette,

皇后玛丽·安东尼

a foreigner long-mocked as "Madame Déficit"

是个外国人，因奢侈无度

for her extravagant reputation,

而被讥讽为“赤字夫人”，

was executed as well.

她也被处决了。

But the Revolution would not end there.

但大革命并没有就此结束。

Some leaders, not content with just changing the government,

一些首领不满于 仅仅是改换政府，

他们寻求 彻底改变法国的社会——

sought to completely transform French society --

its religion, its street names,

宗教信仰、

街道名称、

even its calendar.

甚至是历法。

As multiple factions formed,

当众多歧见形成，

the extremist Jacobins lead by Maximilien Robespierre

以马克西米连·罗伯斯庇尔为首的 极端分子雅各宾派，

launched a Reign of Terror

展开了恐怖统治，

to suppress the slightest dissent,

连最轻微的异议都要镇压。 在雅各宾垮台前，

executing over 20,000 people

before the Jacobin's own downfall.

处决了超过两万人。

Meanwhile, France found itself at war with neighboring monarchs

同时，法国也因邻国君王 试图遏止大革命的扩散，

seeking to strangle the Revolution before it spread.

和邻国展开了战争。

Amidst the chaos, a general named Napoleon Bonaparte took charge,

战乱之中， 拿破仑·波拿巴将军主持战事，

becoming Emperor as he claimed to defend the Revolution's democratic values.

在他主张捍卫大革命的 民主价值之时，当上了皇帝。

All in all, the Revolution saw three constitutions

總而言之，法國大革命 僅僅在十年之內，

and five governments within ten years,

見證了三部憲法 和五個政權，

followed by decades alternating between monarchy and revolt

接着的几十年 不断在君主政治及叛变间更迭，

before the next Republic formed in 1871.

直到1871年 建立了下一个共和政权。

And while we celebrate the French Revolution's ideals,

而当我们在庆祝 法国大革命的理念时，

we still struggle with many of the same basic questions

我们仍旧挣扎于 许多两世纪前就存在的

同样的根本问题。

raised over two centuries ago.