The French Revolution of 1789 was based on the ideological philosophy of the Enlightenment summarized in the famous trilogy, “Liberty, Equality, Fraternity.” By imposing full equality on society, the advocates of this philosophy sought to bring about complete freedom and an idyllic brotherhood among men. The Guillotine’s “Fraternity” As is well known, the immediate effects of that equality were the execution of King Louis XVI, his sister Princess Elizabeth and Queen Marie Antoinette; thousands of nobles were guillotined; clergy were persecuted and massacred or had to go underground. The peasants of the Vendee who rose up in defense of altar...