History Notes. The 5 Republics of France

(The first in perhaps a series of notes. )

The 5 Republics of France

First Republic 

1792 - 1805. Began with THE French Revolution (of which there were actually 3)
Ended when Napoleon declared himself Emperor.
Markers: the Tennis court Convention; the Terror; and Robespierre

Napoleon (1769 - 1821)

Robespierre (1758-1794)

Second Republic
1848 - 1851
Began with the 1848 Revolution
Ended with Napoleon III declared himself Emperor
Markers: emergence of the moto Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité

Napoleon III (1808 - 1873)

Third Republic
1870 - 1940
Began with the fall of the Emporer after being defeated in the Franco-Prussian War
Ended with the defeat of France by German and establishement of Vichy France
Markers: the Paris Commune

Fourth Republic1946 - 1959

Began with liberation of France after WWII

Collapsed as a result of the Algiers crisis

Markers: Charles DeGaulle

Fifth Republic
1958 - present
Began with new constitution, formally ratified in 1958
Markers: strong president serving 7 year terms

Gobble Gobble Hey

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Fun site

This is here just to preserve the link:

Theuseless web.com

Be sure to listen with the sound on.

Hey, FrenchKate!

Notre Dame, 1842

And, who's that at the top?  (Hint: Is that a ruler in his hand?)

 Feel free to borrow these.

Listening to Now: Billy Bragg

Always loved this song...the raw guitar behind a strident protest song:

Listening to now: Walking Blues

THE classic blues song

Of course Clapton covered it!

A technical introduction:

And Muddy Waters:

And a horrible cover by the Grateful Dead:

Listening to Now: Chicago blues

One of the music blogs I follow posted this picture.  It was too special not to pass on.

So here's Muddy Waters performing a song entitled "Country Blues"

Which, curiously, is a variation on a much earlier song by Son House entitled variously "Death Letter" or "Walking Blues":

And to round things out, here's Howlin Wolf performing a classic Chicago song: "The Killing Floor".  (The killing floor was the slaughter house in the Chicago stockyards).

Listening to Now: Tom Waits, Chocolate Jesus

"A song for those of you having trouble getting up on Sunday morning and going to church."

Walking (and learning)

I found an excellent iPhone pedometer app (Pedometer Ultimate GPS+).  The screen captures may not be entirely readable, but the  app records paces, distance, time, and the route.  Data is also recorded on the iPhone, with numeric and graphic summaries.

After about six weeks of daily walks (with only 2 non-walking days) , I have some pretty solid averages:
2.1 miles per day,
1930 paces/mile,
2.7 mph.

The learning part:  John Merriman's lectures on Modern European History, available from Open Yale.  The lectures are not systematic -- more like illustrations of the textbook - but extremely engaging nevertheless.  I'm just about finished with it set, and have several other options queued up.