Supreme Being and La Marseillaise: culture of Franch Revolution

La Marseillaise

As the represent of liberaty, La Marseillaise has been widely spread. It’s sentence reflected the people’s emotion in the early Revolutionary period. This song is full of desire to fight against the monarchy. “Our day of Glory has arrived. Against us stands tyranny, The bloody flag is raised, The bloody flag is raised.(first paragraph 2-4 sentences)” and “To arms, citizens!Form up your battalions  Let us march, Let us march!(second paragraph 1-3 sentences)” Those aggressive and blood burning words reflected the writer’s willing to fight with the tyranny until the end- without the fear of bleeding. For this song be widely accepted since it born, it seems in the late 18th century, the Franch society is well perpared for the revolution, people could not tolerate the ruling from the noblity one more seconds. Also, La Marseillaise shows a direct hatred towards the monarch. “They come right into our arms To cut the throats of your sons, your country. (first paragraph sentences 8-10)” and “That their impure blood
Should water our fields
(second paragraph sentences 4-5)” —No mercy, only blood can quiet down people’s anger. That might link with the following Jacobins’ terror period: too much people immersed in blood.

The Cult of Supreme Being

The Cult of Supreme Being seems is the effort of Jacobins to deny the old validity of monarch to rule in Catholicism. “Is it not He whose immortal hand, engraving on the heart of man the code of justice and equality, has written there the death sentence of tyrants? Is it not He who, from the beginning of time, decreed for all the ages and for all peoples liberty, good faith, and justice? (6th paragraph)” They linked liberty and justice with religious, to show the people their validity of the revolution and to kill the monarch. “He did not create kings to devour the human race. He did not create priests to harness us, like vile animals, to the chariots of kings and to give to the world examples of baseness, pride, perfidy, avarice, debauchery, and falsehood. He created the universe to proclaim His power. He created men to help each other, to love each other mutually, and to attain to happiness by the way of virtue.(7th paragraph) ” and denied the rights of noblity and kings to rule. It also showed some ideas from enlightenment as help each other, to love each other. However, perhaps it seems to radical as other policies from Jacobins, France has been influenced by Catholicism over a thousand of years and it’s hard to deny it totally. The Cult of Supreme Being didn’t left too much influence to France for today we even didn’t know it unless by history materials.

Conclusion

La Marseillaise and The Cult of Supreme Being all reflected the culture during Franch revolution: radical, no compromise, overturn everything left before. They showed the great spirit of Franch people to fight against monarchy both in physical and mental but also indicated that the atmosphere of revolution is too radical and caused too much unnecessary bleeding.