Queen Victoria

Queen Victoria was the longest reigning monarch of Great Britain, only after the present Queen Elizabeth II, having ruled for 64 years from 1837 to 1901. She was the daughter of Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld and Prince Edward, Duke of Kent. She lost her parents at a very young age. She was fifth in the line of succession and ascended the throne at the age of 18, when her brothers before her died without heirs.

 

Three years after becoming queen, Victoria married Prince Albert of Germany. Their nine children married the children of various nobles and royal families, including Russia, thus dubbing her the “Grandmother of Europe”.

She is associated with what is known to-day as the Queen Victoria Proclamation. This was issued on 01 January 1858, regarding the the Revolt of 1857 in most parts of northern and Deccan India. She received the title “Empress of India” in the year 1876.

Queen Victoria has also been credited with starting the tradition of white weddings and white bridal gowns when she selected a white gown for her wedding to Prince Albert. This was quickly carried on by wealthy brides and continues to this day.

Queen Victoria was a carrier of haemophilia. Haemophilia is a disease that prevents the clotting of blood even in the smallest of wounds. The queen, as a carrier, was not affected, but eventually, her future great-grandson, Alexei, heir to the throne of the Russian Empire, and the youngest son of the last Tsar Nicholas II, was haemophilic. Most often, it is women who carry this disease, so a male affected by it would be as a result of his mother being the carrier. In Alexei’s case, it was his mother, Tsarina Alexandra (granddaughter of Queen Victoria), who was the carrier.

Queen Victoria was so committed to her husband that, when Albert died in 1861, she became very depressed and reclusive, to the point of nearly abandoning her subjects. Nonetheless, she eventually managed to pull through and rule for the next 40 years. She was a such an influence in the British society that the period of reign is referred to as the “Victorian era“. Women and girls looked up to her for a lot of things. An entire set of social mannerisms has been attributed to her by historians to-day.

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Images from History Extra and Town & Country Magazine. 

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Facts Galore: The French Revolution

What is a revolution? 

Perhaps readers with Science background would reply that the course of the Earth around the Sun is called a revolution. However, in History, the term takes on a whole different meaning. The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines a revolution as “a sudden, radical, or complete change” and “a fundamental change in political organization”. Throughout the course of history, there have been incidents of these sudden changes. An avid student of History would list the two most famous of them all—that is, the French Revolution and the Russian Revolution.

This article is going to deal with some facts regarding the French Revolution. It occurred in the year 1789. It successfully overthrew a regime that had reduced itself to lavish partying and spending extravagantly on luxurious wealth, while the common man suffered with a heavy tax burden on his head. The following are some of the lesser-known facts about the Revolution and the Bourbon dynasty (the name of the ruling dynasty that was overthrown):

1. France was the most powerful kingdom in Europe. Under the Bourbon kings, it was the most populous, the wealthiest, and thus, the most powerful. Louis XIV and Louis XV, the predecessors of the last Bourbon king, had an iron fist over his subjects. They were the ones who brought in the concept of divine rule and divine law in France. In other words, the king’s words were the law and defying him would be like defying god, which was unthinkable at the time.

2. The French population was divided into three estates. The king was equivalent to the divine entity and under him were the rest of the population of France. The First Estate consisted of the Church and the clergy, the Second Estate consisted of the nobles, and the Third Estate consisted of the common people. Naturally, the Third Estate was the largest.

3. The French Revolution was the first in the history of the world to have impacted every nation on a wide scale. In fact, every nationalist leader based most of their ideology on the ideas of the French Revolution. The impact was so vast that it was remembered and passed on for generations after the end of the Revolution. In the 19^th Century, Indian nationalist leaders, like Raja Ram Mohan Roy, were greatly influenced by it. It also fuelled the Russian Revolution in 1917.

4. A lot of women took part in the Revolution. History is replete with scores of women participating in the political arena one way or another, but they seem to be mentioned very rarely in the accounts. One woman that holds some prominence in the events immediately succeeding the French Revolution is Olympe de Gouges. The revolutionaries pressured King Louis XVI to form a constitution. It was drafted by the National Assembly in 1791 and it greatly limited the absolute power of the monarch. Alongside this, the Assembly also drafted the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen (freedom of speech, right to life, etc.). Olympe de Gouges was the one to protest against the latter, as they excluded the women from attaining basic rights that each human being was entitled to. Her actions later led to her execution in 1793.

5. King Louis XVI survived the Revolution. He and his Queen, Marie Antoinette, weren’t executed till after the revolution, when the Jacobins took over the French government. It was now converted into a republic with a constitution and the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen. The last King and Queen of France were executed in the year 1793, on different days.

Historical Personalities in Short: Queen Victoria

• Queen Victoria (1819-1901) was dubbed the “Grandmother of Europe“. She married Prince Albert of Germany. Their nine children married the children from various nobles and royal families, including
  

  Photograph by Alexander Bassano, 1882. Taken from Wikipedia.

  Russia.

• So far, Queen Victoria was the longest-reigning monarch, having ruled 64 years.
• She was so committed to her husband that, when Albert died, she became very depressed and reclusive, to the point of nearly abandoning her subjects.
• Queen Victoria is also known for starting the tradition of white weddings and white bridal gowns, by selecting a white gown for her wedding to Prince Albert. This was quickly carried on by wealthy brides and continues to this day.
• Queen Victoria was a carrier of Haemophilia, a disease that prevents the clotting of blood even in the smallest of wounds. The queen, as a carrier, was not affected, but eventually, her future great-grandson, the Tsarevitch Alexei, the
  

  Image taken from History Extra, BBC

  little heir to the throne of the Russian empire and the youngest son of the last Tsar Nicholas II, was haemophilic. Most often, it is women who carry this disease unaffected, so a male affected by it would be as a result of his mother being the carrier. In Alexei’s case, it was his mother, Tsarina Alexandra (granddaughter of Queen Victoria), who was the carrier.

 

 

The French Revolution – Part 1 | The Rebellious 18th Century #1

The French Revolution was one of the most prominent events known in the history of the world, particularly Europe. It had a profound impact in that continent specifically and also, the effects and impact spread over to every country outside, especially the Asian, the African, and the American colonies of European nation-states.

When we think of French Revolution, what usually comes to mind is Equality, Liberty, Fraternity.

The thing with France has been that there have been too many republics, in my opinion. And worse, in the pre-World War years, the country kept swinging from being an empire to a republic, something that is very fascinating for a person like me to note. All was well with France when the Bourbons came and became the ruling monarchs – and suddenly, Louis XVI, the weakest emperor ever, comes to the throne and bam! – people are clamouring for justice and equality. There had been revolutions in France before the Great one that occurred in 1789, which is the one we’re going to talk about here, but they were all easy to quell – I’ll tell you why soon.

Also, just as Britain is known for its Marys and Edwards and Georges, France is known for its Louises. I’m not even kidding–literally every king of the House of Bourbon except for the very first, is known as Louis [insert a number].

Europe in the Middle Ages was pretty brutal when it came to international relations. Although there were a lot of these new countries that popped up as a result of the fall of the Roman and the Byzantine Empires, there was a need to maintain a balance of power. This was especially due to the Thirty Years’ War that began as religious civil war between Bohemia and the Holy Roman Emperor but ended up including the rest of Europe. It’s a story for another day. This Thirty Years’ War came to an end with a series of peace treaties that were signed in the German province of Westphalia in 1648. This event is famously called the “Treaty of Westphalia”.

Now that we’ve got that figured out, let’s get right into the History of France in the 18th century.

France was at the peak of its power during the late 1600s and the beginning of the 1700s. It was the last years of King Louis XIV (then known as the Sun King), who seemed to have ruled the country with an iron-fist. It was he who introduced the divine mandate of rule in Europe – he said that he was chosen by god to rule the French Empire. Which made sense at the time of intricate and strong religious beliefs, and everyone believed him. You must understand that the 17th and the 18th centuries were times of the Renaissance and the Scientific Revolution, but not many stood by these principles and questioned the blind belief system they followed. It was very few intellectuals, such as Voltaire who questioned these beliefs and tried to prove them wrong, and they were arrested for spreading false information. You might remember in your Science classes that when Galileo Galilee stepped forth and said that the Earth was in fact revolving around the Sun and not the other way around, he was arrested for spreading false information – in other words, going against the Church. Time might sound silly to-day, but those were times when god meant everything to the people – he was the ultimate saviour–Jesus. Religion and god were very closely connected in the minds of the people and anything unnatural that happened would be associated with sinful acts, or acts against god.

But, all this started falling apart when weak rulers took the place of their strong ancestors.

When Louis XIV’s great-grandson, Louis XV, ascended the throne after him, he found that the economy of the empire was largely in debt. Of course, he didn’t personally realise it then, since he was a mere five-year old; his father, the Duke of Burgundy, died only ten months after his father’s death (of measles), so the throne went to him. Duke of Orleans, Philippe II, was regent in his place, until he was old enough to rule by himself. Louis XIV had a tight grip over his subjects and his empire and so, revolts and rebellions were crushed in their buds and not allowed to flourish. Scholars like Voltaire and Rousseau were writing books about liberty, equality, and fraternity, that slowly got the attention of the common people, but nobody could do anything about it. Louis XV was dubbed “The Well-Beloved King”, and he was best known for contributing to the decline of the French Empire, which, again, is a story for another day.

Right now, let’s talk about what came after Louis XV died.

Louis XVI inherited the throne after his grandfather died in the year 1774. His wife was Marie Antoinette of Austria, the daughter of the Holy Roman Emperor, Francis I, and Empress Maria Theresa. The two were married as a peace-making treaty between the two countries. This was smack in the middle of the Age of Discovery and only three centuries ago, the continent of America was rediscovered by Christopher Columbus and the Spaniards. Eventually, there was the American War of Independence that was fought between the settled Europeans and the colonial government of the thirteen colonies of America. At the time, because of a lot of circumstances, the British and the French were rivals (one reason was differing religious beliefs); so, the Americans sought the help of the French for money, arms, and ammunition to defeat Britain and gain their independence. [The phrase “my enemy’s enemy is my friend” come to mind.] And since France was all for taking that one more peg off the British pedestal, Louis XVI agreed to do so. As a result, America’s thirteen colonies got their independence in 1776, while French financial crisis escalated.

That dialogue we all heard Queen Marie Antoinette say, “If you don’t have bread, then eat cake” is not really proven to be made by her.

The financial crisis was increasing, people were starving, and the royalty was enjoying eating and sleeping and doing literally nothing else in the palace of Versailles. This was the perfect environment for an all-out civil war between the two parties.

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End of Part 1 of the French Revolution story. Part 2 coming up very soon!

 

For this article, I referred to the following sources for updated facts:

1. Wikipedia
2. BBC History
3. The picture was taken from Wikipedia, depicting the storming of the Bastille

The Rebellious 18th Century – Series Introduction

The 18th century had been a turning point for a lot of countries. A series of incidents and events occurred that changed the very history of the planet. Major events that one may have learnt in school, such as the French Revolution, the Battle of Plassey, and the independence of the Thirteen Colonies of America.

The 18th century witnessed the height of colonisation of the Europeans. Most of the world was under their reins, the leading country being the British Empire, which proved to be a great naval as well as land force during the time of Queen Elizabeth I. Close in the competition were the French and the Portuguese; the Spanish were, by this time, more or less destroyed, due to the destruction of their grand Armada by the British naval forces.

In “The Rebellious 18th century” series, we shall learn about these events and more that went by without too much significance, perhaps, but still played a vital role in the history of the world. Starting with the Great Northern War between Russia and Sweden, followed by the death of Aurangzeb and its consequences, and finally, the rise of Napoleon and the Anglo-French Wars in the Indian-subcontinent, I shall try to give as comprehensive lessons as possible, and try to link each event with another, so as not to confuse my readers. You can contact me anytime through the comments section to clarify something or add your own idea about the information in the articles, even correcting, if the need arises.

With this, I conclude the introduction.

See y’all in my next post! 😉