After the capture of the Bastille, rumors spread throughout Paris that the king was furious and would soon mobilize a large army to suppress the people of Paris. It is said that the enraged king ordered that in the city of Paris, "the trees shall be put to the fire, the stones shall be put to the sword, and the people shall be changed". So, the whole of Paris was on edge, and the streets were filled with people building barricades. Some people, in fear, tore down their houses (of course, most of the time, it was the houses of the "tyrant's lackeys", and how many of them there were depended on how much material was needed to build the barricades) to build a barricade.
Almost overnight, all the hired carriage drivers in the whole of Paris were out of work because all the streets were covered with roadblocks and barricades. Some inexperienced guys build roadblocks and barricades without even thinking about leaving a way in and out.
In order to defend themselves against a possible attack, all the militias of Paris felt that they should unite and fight under the same banner. So, the militia representatives of the various neighborhoods gathered to discuss the unification of command.
The militia in each neighborhood had a sincere desire to unite, which is actually the instinct of human beings as herd animals in times of crisis. Yet unity requires a command structure, a commander. However, the militia immediately realized they would have difficulty identifying such a person.
Because most of the militia didn't know each other, and also most of the militia, were aware of their lack of military skills, the circumstances of the Battle of the Bastille made them realize how far they were from the regular army. Although each of them did not take the Kingdom's army along the Montmartre hill in their mouths, each of them actually trembled with fear in their hearts, and some of them dreamed of the guillotine or the gallows when they were dreaming.
Under these circumstances, a "good nobleman", who did not attend the Assembly at all, but who was considered to be "upright, good-natured, a lover of the people and well versed in military matters", was elected by the majority of the delegates to be the Commander-in-Chief of this unified militia. The "good nobleman" was naturally the Marquis de La Fayette.
It is said that the name of another "good nobleman", the Duke of Orleans, was also mentioned during the meeting. The other delegates, however, said that His Royal Highness, the Duke of Orleans, was indeed a good nobleman, "honorable, kind, and fond of the people," and that he had the advantage of being "more generous" than the Marquis de La Fayette (since the Duke of Orleans was much richer than the Marquis de La Fayette), but that the Duke of Orleans had no knowledge of military affairs at all. If he's allowed to command, it'll hurt everyone.
Some of the delegates even went so far as to say that during the siege of the Bastille, the sacrifices resulting from the well-intentioned help of His Royal Highness, the Duke of Orleans, were even greater than those brought about by the guns of the tyrant.
"In short, the Duke of Orleans is a good and trustworthy man. But something like military command is beyond him." This statement became the general consensus.
After the election of the Marquis de La Fayette, everyone sent for the Marquis de La Fayette to take office. This is somewhat similar to a certain uprising in the Eastern Great Eating Country in later times, after which the leader of the insurgent army pushed Li Yuanhong, who hadn't participated in the uprising at all, into the position of the governor. The representatives of the Parisian militia did not break into the house of the Marquis de La Fayette with their guns but only went to the door of La Fayette's house and had the invitation handed in; the Marquis de La Fayette, instead of hiding under the bed and shouting, "Don't do me harm, don't do me harm," as did Li Yuanhong, he graciously accepted the invitation to become the commander-in-chief of the Parisian militia.
As soon as he took office, the Marquis de La Fayette immediately began to reorganize the militia of Paris, which he intended, first of all, to integrate all the militia of Paris into the National Guard.
To this end, he immediately brought out the uniform designed for the National Guard - a uniform with blue pants - and he also brought out the insignia and flag of the National Guard - both of which consisted of red, white, and blue. Of these, red and blue are the colors of the coat of arms of the city of Paris, while white is the representative color of the Bourbon dynasty.
Such coats of arms and flags clearly demonstrate the political leanings of the Marquis de La Fayette, who was a constitutional monarchist. But to be honest, don't look at the civilians in Paris at this point and say "tyrant" or whatever. But they are actually very much in favor of such flags and insignia at this time.
The sans-culottes in Paris hadn't even thought of overthrowing the king yet. They were actually very fearful of the king's possible punishment after they had fought their way down to the Bastille. They had endorsed the Marquis de La Fayette as the Commander-in-Chief, and one of the reasons for that was that they thought he would be able to help them speak in the king's presence.
The Marquis de La Fayette is definitely the best for the job, in the opinion of the sans-culottes. And even then, he was the only one fit to do it. The other of the two great noblemen (the Duke of Orleans), who apparently favored the revolution, was clearly in a strained relationship with the king. (The Duke of Orleans has been so committed to discrediting the King and creating an image of himself as being at odds with the 'tyrant' that no one thinks of him when one needs a figure who can communicate with the King.)
The Marquis de La Fayette successfully exploited this mentality of theirs, and he assured them that he would, and he could, defend everyone if only they would support his leadership.
The feared massacre did not take place, and the king's army did not attack Paris. In fact, the king didn't trust the army at all, and those around him were trying very hard to show him that the army wasn't reliable.
For constitutionalists like the Marquis de La Fayette, the only way to force the king to accept a constitutional monarchy was to convince him that the army was only loyal to the state and not to the king personally. And for those conservative nobles, such as the Count of Artois and the like, the National Guard was never a good thing in the first place. What does the country need for a standing army? Shouldn't the armies all belong to the private individuals of the various nobles and be called up when the king has need of them? And in opposition to their political rival, the Marquis de La Fayette, they also endeavored to discredit the French army.
That said, at least on the issue of the unreliability of the military, conservatives, and constitutionalists are in rare agreement. And King Louis XVI, who was already a somewhat indecisive man, naturally believed it when everyone said so. So, the king did not even think about the bloodshed in Paris by the army at this time, even when the "mob" had broken out of the Bastille. The Count of Artois's men said that the army had actually taken part in the rebellion. The king was so frightened that he almost planned to flee to the provinces. In fact, just as the citizens of Paris were filled with fear of the king, so was the king filled with fear of the Parisian mob.
But all this was unknown to those civilians in the city of Paris. In their minds, it must be the Marquis de La Fayette's fault that the fabled massacre didn't happen. The radicals thought it was because he organized the National Guard to keep the king in the dark; the more moderate felt it was because the Lord Marquis suitably acted as a bridge between the citizens and the king.
The Marquis de La Fayette did act as this bridge as well. He came to Versailles a few days later with a group of national guards to meet King Louis XVI. It is said that the monarchs and ministers talked so much that Louis XVI put on his own hat the cap badge of the National Guard, which the Marquis de La Fayette had brought with him.
As things stood, the Marquis de La Fayette seemed to have won big. An English-style constitutional monarchy in France seems to be within reach.
Things seem to have calmed down, and the Marquis de La Fayette is said to be busily engaged in drawing up a very historic Declaration of State, with reference to the American Declaration of Independence, and in establishing a system of parliamentary and administrative institutions with reference to those of Great Britain and North America.
The situation has eased, but the École Militaire in Paris is not yet back to normal. So Joseph was able to stay home and watch the theater.
"If the revolution could end here, it might be a good thing for France." Joseph looked out the window. Outside the street, a group of National Guard troops were busy dismantling barricades.
"Is the revolution not over yet?" Louis said, "Joseph, I don't like revolutions at all. I can't go out on the streets, I can't go to school, I can't play with my classmates, and Aunt Sophie isn't coming, and Lucien wants me to do the housework ... I don't like the revolution at all!"
"You don't know how happy you were when you first heard that school was closed! Now that Joseph is home, you pretend to love learning!" Lucien straddled the chair, propped his chin on the high back of it, and squinted his eyes in contempt.
"And that's not because you're pushing all kinds of chores on me while Joseph's not home!"
"Willing to bet, I've let you have a knight and a bishop, and you still lost, so what's the point!"
So Louis was silent. It was Lucien who spoke up, "Joseph, as I heard you just now, do you think that the revolution is not yet over?"
"The end? How can it be?" Joseph sneered, "My brother, this is not the end, nor the beginning of the end, nor even the end of the beginning. How can this revolution end until those who are dissatisfied with today's reality are satisfied with it, and who think they have the power to do so, or run out of their own power? Besides, in today's arena, there may not be heroes who can accomplish great things, but there's definitely no shortage of the kind of people who can't get anything done if they're left to their own devices, but if they're left to mess things up for other people, they're at the top of their game. You guys just wait and watch."