If There Had Been iPods on April 25, 1792
Posted in On This Day on April 24th, 2009 by Eugene Finerman – 2 CommentsAside from any moral qualms about strangling infants in their cradles, keep in mind this practical consideration. If you don’t succeed, that child might prove very vindictive.
In 1792, the monarchies of Europe invaded France to quash its constitutional monarchy and restore Bourbon absolutism in all its glorious incompetence. If the autopsy report of Louis XVI is any indication, the royalist invasion did not exactly succeed–although it certainly overthrew any French sentiment for a constitutional monarchy.
The new and very vindictive France instituted conscription, creating a massive army that vastly outnumbered the forces of the invaders. The regiments in Marseilles were eager for action but had yet to receive their marching orders. So, reflecting their revolutionary disregard for authority, they decided not to wait. They marched to Paris. As they entered the capital, those “southern” boys were singing a march by one of their officers.
The song, composed this day in 1792, apparently caught on.