Rousseau and Revolution by Will and Ariel Durant

Volume XI of the Durant's went down as enjoyably as any of I-X.  I love these books, the eloquent writing, the humor, the broad views and the deeper dives into the notables and quirky alike.  These are the best history books I've ever read or can really imagine.

Surprisingly the book ends at the beginning of the French Revolution, not the end.  Fortunately I noticed that before starting, so I knew the focus would be the causes of the Revolution rather than the decade-long struggle itself.

And on the causes, I'm deeply struck by the connection between the American Revolution and its French counterpart.  More than shared sentiments, ideologies or alliances, these two events are quite inextricably connected, much more than I ever imagined: The French Revolution began in 1789 because the state became bankrupt, causing great suffering among the people.

Why was the French state bankrupt?  Because of France's wholehearted support of the American colonies in our own revolution.  Arms, armies, supplies and cash loans were supplied in volumes that literally bankrupted the French Nation.

And that bankruptcy started the French Revolution that had been brewing for decades.

In the 21st century we talk of the United States' special relationship with Great Britain, and rightly so.  But our country is equally connected to France.  We need look no further than American leadership in World War II to rescue France from Nazi rule to see how this relationship has continued more than 160 years after the American Revolution.

On the other causes we look to Voltaire and Rousseau, the great French philosophes of the Enlightenment.  One touted Reason, the other envisioned emotion and romanticism as the bulwarks to counter the lack of power among the poor citizenry of France.

Their ideas, coupled with the proliferation of books, magazines and pamphlets to share their writings, taught the masses that they could do better.  Those ideas, coupled with the added poverty of the bankruptcy of the French state, brought down the Bastille, the King, the nobility and the Church.