Tag: French Revolution
Kant and the French Revolution – Culture
For Immanuel Kant, the French Revolution was an “event of our time that proves the moral tendency of the human race.” He formulated this judgment in his work “Dispute of…
Bundeswehr: Why conscription was suspended in 2011 – Politics
The first German President, Theodor Heuss (FDP), once described conscription as a “legitimate child of democracy”. And this child is now sorely missed by quite a few federal politicians. Conscription…
Friedrich Christian Laukhard: “My campaign in France” – culture
He was a learned man, but necessity brought him into the foot soldiers of the Prussian army. After studying theology, he was unable to obtain a pastorate and his academic…
The imposter Alessandro Cagliostro: a star of the 18th century – Society
A mystery surrounds his origins in Palermo or Malta as well as his death in the papal dungeon in the fortress of San Leo near San Marino, which is hardly…
“Gloomy, suffering, glowing”: Nicolas Chamfort’s complete aphorisms. – Culture
The witty, sociable eighteenth century also produced a few naysayers, naysayers and misanthropes in Paris. One of them was Sébastien-Roch Nicolas Chamfort. Presumably born in 1740 as the son of…
Michael Köhlmeier’s novel “Matou” – Culture
Cats are good. They do not have complex responsibilities like humans, they are not condemned to a crawlingly dependent existence like the dog, they do not have to fight for…
French Revolution: Marie-Antoinette’s love letters deciphered – knowledge
For almost 150 years, illegible passages in the correspondence between the French Queen Marie-Antoinette and the Swedish Count Axel von Fersen have puzzled historians. The censored passages had often given…