Lebel Fusil Modele 1886

 

In the Great War the standard arm for the French in the early years was the 8mm Lebel rifle. When it was introduced in the late 19th Century, the Lebel was the most advanced military shoulder arm in general use. It was the first small bore, high velocity, smokeless powder, repeater to be accepted by a major power. But for combat use it had a major flaw, it was tube loaded. This was a slow process as the loader had to be careful loading the center fire cartridges to avoid an unfortunate explosive incident. A further complaint was made about the sight being both too short and too small for combat use. By 1914, the Lebel was out classed by most of the standard rifles of the major powers. The French Poilus took this in stride as they rose to the need to defend France from the invaders. Poor equipment would be a hinderance but would be overcome by the soldier's bravery and tenacity.

French Foreign Legionnaires armed with Lebel Fusil Model 1886 advance against the Germans in August 1914. These are metal 28mm pieces I painted for the "Great War" Centennial.

The Beauty of Bronze

From the Renaissance to modern times, bronze has been a popular metal for both for the work of artists and craftsmen. Paris is a perfect city to find both types of works outdoors, for wherever you look in Paris, you find bronze in all its glory:

From a giant elephant (at the d' Orsay)

to a life size rhinoceros (at the d' Orsay)

and the workman's companion (also at the d'Orsay).

Fountains galore-here a memorial to Delacroix in the Luxembourg Gardens.

Detail of the doors at the Pantheon show the craftsmanship of the 18th century bronze masters.

The cannon of the King with the royal Fleur de Lys (Invalides collection)

Louvre masterpieces.

Maillol's Art Deco 1925 monument to Cezanne (near the carousel).

Balconies like this one on the Louvre (Lion Pavilion), and

streetlights (at the Garnier) to

simple door handles, bronze beauty is everywhere in Paris.

Age of Victoria Part Three- Industrial Revolution/Inventions 1800-1865

Colored pencil version of Much's 1898 Job cigarette paper ad.

19th Century Inventions/Patents 1800-1865

1800 I/P Volta-Battery, Jacquard-Silk Loom
1804 I/P Winzer-Gas Light (coal gas)
1806 I/P "French Press" Coffee Pot-inventor is disputed
1807 I/P Forsyth Caplock System for Firearms
1809 I/P Davy-Arc Lamp
1810 I/P Durard-Tin Can
1814 I/P Stephenson-Steam Locomotion, Fraunhofer-Spectroschope & Niepce-1st Photograph (camera obscura)
1815 Davy-Miners Lamp 
1817 Baron von Drais-Velocipede (pre--bicycle)

1819 I/P Laennec-Stethoscope
1824 I/P Faraday Toy Balloons & Aspdin Portland Cement

1825 Erie Canal. I/P Sturgeon-Electromagnet
1827 I/P Walker-Safety Matches & Wheatstone-Microphone

1828 I/P 1st US Railroad-B & O. 
1829 I/P Braille-Printing for the blind
1831 I/P McCormick-Reaper & Sturgeon-Electric Dynamo
1833 I/P Morse-Telegraph 
1835 I/P Merrick-Wrench & Babbage-Mechanical Calculator

1836 I/P Colt-Revolver & Ericsson & F.P. Smith-Propeller 
1837- I/P Hill-Postage Stamp

1839 Poe: "Fall of the House of Usher." I/P Goodyear-Vulcanized Rubber, Daguerreotype-Photography & Grove-Hydrogen Fuel Cell
1840 I/P Herschel-Blueprint
1841 I/P Slocum-Stapler

1843 I/P Perkins-Ice Maker-Refrigeration

1845 I/P Morton-Anesthesia, Howe-Sewing Machine & Thompson-Pneumatic Rubber Tire
1947 Marx and Engels: "The Communist Manifesto(Text)" I/P Dr. Ignaz Semmelweis-Antiseptics & “germ” theory of infection

1849 Henry David Thoreau: "On the Duty of Civil Disobedience" 

1850 I/P Hunt-Safety Pin 

1852 I/P Foucault-Gyroscope & Singer-Sewing Machine
1853 I/P Cayley-Glider
1854 I/P Tyndall-Principles of Fiber Optics

1856  I/P Cayley-Glider Pasteur-Pasteurization & Bessemer-Steel Process

1857 I/P Pullman Sleeping Car
1858 I/P H.Smith-Washing Machine & Lenoir-Coal Gas Internal Combustion Engine

1859 "The Origin of Species" by Charles Darwin is published and promotes the theory of "natural selection."  I/P 1st Steam Powered Ironclad "Glori," Imperial French Navy

1860  I/P Silliman, Jr. Cracking(distillation)

1861  I/P Otis-Elevator & Yale-Cylinder Lock

1862 I/P Gatling-Machine Gun, Parkes 1st Man Made Plastic & USS Monitor, 1st Turreted Ironclad Warship
1863 I/P French "Boneshaker" Pedal Bicycle possibly by Lallement

1865 Lewis Carroll: "Alice in Wonderland(Text)"

Eleanor of Aquitaine-Wife of Kings Mother of Kings most Powerful Woman of the Middle Ages

Duchess of Aquitaine (1137-1204), Queen Consort of Louis VII of France (1137-1152), Queen Consort of Henry II of England and Duke of Normandy (1154-1189).  Born circa 1122 died 1204.

Unusual for her day, Eleanor was actively involved in politics from her youth to her death.  Be it ruling the largest Duchy in France, advising her royal husbands, arranging advantageous noble weddings, influencing her royal children or organizing military revolts against her second husband King Henry II, Eleanor was no man's tool.  Actually, she was very adept at making otherwise powerful men into her tools to forward her political agenda.  She was a unique woman of her age, politically astute, strong willed and immensely intelligent.

 

Mother of three kings of England: Henry the Young King (1170-1183), Richard I-Coeur de Lion (1189-1199) and John-Lackland (1199-1216)

Mother of two queens:  Eleanor Queen of Castile (1177-1214), and Joan Queen of Sicily (1177-1189)

For more details on her remarkable life check:

http://ehistory.osu.edu/world/PeopleView.cfm?PID=394
http://www.womeninworldhistory.com/heroine2.html

Napoleon's Queen of the Battlefield

Batteries (normally six cannon and two howitzers plus caissons and crews) of Light (a relative term as this piece weighs just under 2000 lbs.) field pieces like this 12 pdr Foot Artillery cannon were the Queens of the battlefield to a master of artillery like Napoleon.

Firing a 12 pd ball or the deadly grapeshot (a mass of smaller iron balls that in action made the cannon a giant shotgun), field artillery was used to deadly effect throughout the 17th to 19th centuries. 

Howitzers such as this 5.7-inch (muzzle diameter) example were used to lob shells in a high arc over intervening terrain, fortifications and friendly troops.  Howitzers were used in smaller numbers than field cannons but were no less deadly when place under the command of an expert such at Napoleon.

The Arch of Victory

 

Since the age of Rome, great triumphal arches have been built to glorify the conquests of a great leader.  One of the oldest known was the 29 BCE Arch of Augustus that once graced the road by the Temple of Vesta in Rome.  The arch commemorated the victory of Augustus over Marcus Antonius at Actium.  The arch no longer exists and only coins of the era give any idea as to its design. 

Around 1806, Napoleon ordered the construction of the 19m tall by 23m wide, L'arc de Ttriomphe du Carousel.

The L'arc de Triomphe du Carousel was built to honor the great French victories of the previous year.  It was modeled after the 23m tall by 25m wide, 203 C.E. victory arch of Roman Emperor Septimius Severus.

For his greatest arch, in 1806, Napoleon decided to create the gigantic-Arc de Triomphe, one of the largest arch's ever built (the 1982, triumph arch in Pyongyang is 10 m higher) to honor military victories. Based on the 1st century 15m tall Arch of Titus, the Arc is a massive 50m tall and 45m wide and took over 30 (although construction was halted for nine years due to regime changes) years to complete.

Cardinal Richelieu Master of 17th Century European Politics

Armand Jean du Plessis, Cardinal-Duc de Richelieu et de Fronsac (1584-1642), Chief Minister of France -1624-1642. An expert at Machiavellian Politics and intrigue... " I have made the King (Louis XIII) the most powerful monarch in Europe...while I am the most powerful man in France" Chooses Nationalism over religion during the Thirty Years War when he supported the Protestant factions over the Catholic Hapsburg Alliance. Thus were the major ideological wars of religion replaced by wars for the national interest. The Age of Enlightenment was at hand.

Louis XIII (1601-1643), King of France 1610-1643. A weak king under the constant influence of others, first his mother, Marie de Medici and later the powerful Cardinal- Richelieu.

The Hundred Years War (the 117 Years War just doesn't sound right)

For more than a century (circa 1336-1453) England and France fought a ruinous series of conflicts (it was never one constant war-nor was there any true periods of total peace) over control of the land of France and the French crown.

Throughout the period the English and Welsh longbowmen were one of the key weapons in the English arsenal. With a range of up to 400 yards and the ability to fire up to six aimed shots a minute, the longbow was a fearsome weapon for the French to face.

In several battles (Crecy, Poitiers and Agincourt being the most famous) the smaller English army was able to overcome greater French numbers through superior tactics and the massive firepower of the longbow.

English King Henry V of the House of Plantagenet (1413-1422) was the most successful of the English kings in the war.  Through the Treaty of Troyes, he was even able to force French King Charles VI of the House Valois (1380-1422) to proclaim Henry the rightful heir to the throne (upon the death of Charles).  Unfortunately for the English, Henry died first (of dysentery) and the French voided the treaty.

In 1429, the teenage Maid of Orleans, Jeanne d'Arc (burned as a witch by the English in 1431), rallied the French Army and broke the English siege of Orleans. The Victory revised French spirits at a time when the English were politically divided.  The final phase of the war had now begun.

The final battles were more and more dominated by the latest in warfare weapons, gunpowder firearms and cannons. The days of heavily armored warriors were numbered as was English control of France. In the end, the two countries remained independent of each other, but the animosity of a century of war lead to more than a dozen major other wars between the two over the next four centuries, with the Seven Years, American Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars among the most important.

Louis XIV-"the Sun King"

The symbol of the often-Golden reign of one of the greatest monarchs of post Renaissance Europe-Louis XIV "the Sun King." He chose this title to illustrate that he was the radiant center of Europe, France and his Court.

Louis Bourbon (1638-1715), King of France from 1643-1715 as Louis XIV. Reigning for seventy-two years, Louis XIV was the longest ruling monarch in French history. In his reign France challenged the other powers of Europe for supreme mastery though a series of ever more costly wars. His early successes were tempered by the massive debt his government incurred through these conflicts.

This neoclassical painting of "the Sun King" and his family brings forth visions of the grander of the ancient empires and gods of old.  An absolute monarch, Louis thought of himself and the country as one, "L'État, c'est moi" ("I am the state").

One of the greatest and long-lasting accomplishments of Louis XIV was the grand Baroque Palace of Versailles. In addition to the beauty and luxury this massive palace complex afforded the king, Versailles was also built as an enticing "flame for the moths of nobility." Louis envisioned Versailles as a palace of such opulence that none of his troublesome nobles would ever wish to leave. This allowed the king to keep a close watch on those who might have challenged his authority.

The orange territories, including the valuable Alsace and Franche-Comte, were added to France by Louis XIV.  While his territorial gains were important, the cost in lives and money was immense. He recognized this as on his death bed when he was reported to say "I have love war to much" as advice for his heir.  When he died, he left France with as one of the great world powers, massive debt, and a government run by the aristocrats for the aristocrats-his great grandson Louis XVI and his people would pay the price of the seeds sown by the Sun King.

French and Dutch Explorations of the New World

Jacques Cartier claiming the land of Canada for France in 1534.

The explorations of Jacques Cartier.

By 1615, Samuel de Champlain had settled future Montreal, explored the Lake Huron, Lake Ontario and Lake Champlain. All the while solidifying the French claims to what would later be the American Northeast.

Fr. Jacques Marquette & Louis Joliet extended the claims of France through the Great Lakes to the northern half of the Mississippi River.

A missionary as well as an explorer, Fr. Jacques Marquette converted many to the Catholic faith.

Robert de La Salle completed the exploration of the Mississippi River and claimed the Louisiana Territory for France.

Ever the explorer, La Salle pushed his men to the limits trying to extend his countries claims to the vast midlands of the unknown North American continent. In the end his own men killed him so that they could at last return to France.

Henry Hudson

On his two North American explorations he discovered and named the Hudson River (claimed for his Dutch sponsors) and Hudson Bay (claimed for his English sponsors).

As with many explorers, he died searching the unknown-in his case he was abandoned by his crew and disappeared from history on the vast unknown seas of the New World.

New Empire-New Emperor-Charlemagne

The 1st great empire to be formed out of the wreckage of the Western Roman Empire was welded together under the long reign (768-814 CE) of Charlemagne (Charles the Great).

For more than half a century, Charlemagne led his armies to victories throughout Western Europe. His extended empire covered territories ranging from Spain to Germany and much of Italy.

The rule of Charlemagne, greatest of the Carolingian kings of the Franks, marked the end of the "Dark Ages" of Western Europe. From his time forward Western Europe began the long advance towards regaining the prominent position in the world that was lost with the Fall of Western Rome in the 5th Century.

In 800 CE, he was anointed Imperator Romanorum (Emperor of the Romans) by Pope Leo III. Charlemagne was the first Emperor to rule in the West since the Fall of Rome. His title signaled a new strength in government and social order in Europe. His promotion of education through new schools began a pattern of growth that would lead to the first great universities of the Middle Ages. Knowledge would now grow, slowly at first, but definitely grow, ending the centuries of loss known as the Dark Ages.

As with so many great leaders, his son and grandchildren could not live up to his legacy and his empire was soon divided into three warring states. But while his empire fell, the rest of Europe passed out of the dark and towards a brighter future.