On June 2

1793, Jean-Paul Marat led the expulsion of 31 Girondists from the French National Convention. It was followed by the Reign of Terror that had 17,000 to 40,000 counter revolutionaries guillotined over the next year. Marat, Robespierre and Danton were the most important figures in this period.

Marat was stabbed to death in his bathtub in July of the same year by a Girondist sympathizer, Charlotte Corday.

The 'Death of Marat' by Jacques-Louis David (1748-1825) above.

Napoleon Bonaparte

On August 15, 1769 Napoleon Bonaparte was born (1769-1821). The legendary figure of the Romanticism and the carrier of the French Revolution, he dreamed of a United Europe under the leadership of France. A true cosmopolitan, Napoleon was too ambitious and too impatient for a natural development of history. The end justified the means to him and the use of force was a necessary by-product of realizing his dreams-- too far-fetched often. Yet, he was also a nationalistic figure, since he sought to subjugate all of Europe under the leadership of the French empire. Like Alexander the Great and Ceasar, Napoleon will remain a controversial figure. The dream to conquer the world historically always ended in a disaster... Pax Romana ended in the collapse of the Roman Empire and the attempts of expansionism brought the demise of the Soviet Union... Some people argue the unipolarism of today's world is a birth of Pax Americana... Hopefully, we have learned the lessons of history...

Liberty Leading the People

This painting by Eugene Delacroix (1798-1863) was created in 1830. A woman leading the people... The age of Romanticism in Europe was at its height and Napoleon's quest for United Europe under the flag of Liberte, Egalite, Fraternite created fire that could not be extinguished for a long time. It was indeed the age of Revolution that would change the whole face of Europe. The little boy in the painting is Gavroche of Victor Hugo's novel Les Miserables. Hugo like Delacroix was able to capture the conflagration of his times, only in writing... This woman in the painting is really France leading the rest of the world... The ideals of the French Revolution needed some time to establish after its bloodiness and excesses settled down... After all, the age of Robespierre, Marat and Danton was not the most democratic... As far as Napoleon, he was too ambitious to settle for less and so soon.