To the northeast of the Poles live the Lithuanians, whose country had been annexed to the Polish kingdom when their duke, who had married the daughter of the king of Poland, followed his father-in-law on the Polish throne.  Lithuania fell to Russia’s share in the division, so that its people only changed masters.  They are a distinct nation, however, possessing a language and literature of their own, and having no desire to be ruled by either Poles or Russians.  If they were to receive justice, they would form a country by themselves, lying between Poland and Russia proper.

The Downfall of the French Monarchy

[Illustration:  Courtier of time of Louis XIV]

In the meantime, a great change had come about in France.  There, for hundreds of years, the power of the king had been growing greater, until by the eighteenth century, there was no one in the country who could oppose him.  He had great fortresses and prisons where he sent those who had offended him, shutting them up without a trial and not even letting their families know where they had been taken.  The peasants and working classes had been ground down under taxes which grew heavier and heavier.  The king spent millions of dollars on his palaces, on his armies, on his courts.  Money was stolen by court officials.  Paris was the gayest capital in the world, the home of fashion, art, and frivolity and the poor peasants paid the bills.

[Illustration:  The Taking of The Bastille]

For years, there had been mutterings.  The people were ripe for a revolt, but they had no weapons, and there was no one to lead them.  At last, came a time when there was no money in the royal treasury.  After all the waste and corruption, nothing was left to pay the army and keep up the expenses of the government.  One minister of finance after another tried to devise some scheme whereby the country might meet its debts, but without success.  The costly wars and wasteful extravagances of the past hundred years were at last to bring a reckoning.  In desperation, the king summoned a meeting of representative men from all over the kingdom.  There were three classes represented, the nobles, the clergy, and what was called “the third estate,” which meant merchants, shopkeepers, and the poor gentlemen.  A great statesman appeared, a man named Mirabeau.  Under his leadership, the third estate defied the king, and the temper of the people was such that the king dared not force them to do his will.  In the midst of these exciting times, a mob attacked the great Paris prison, the Bastille.  They took it by storm, and tore it to the ground.  This happened on the fourteenth of July, 1789, a day which the French still celebrate as the birthday of their nation’s liberty.  All over France the common people rose in revolt.  The soldiers in the army would no longer obey their officers.  The king was closely watched, and when he attempted to flee to Germany was brought back and thrown into prison.  Many of the nobles, in terror, fled from the country.  Thus began what is known as the French Revolution.