Just heard something interesting about the French Revolution

[coalition_unwilling]

4. Not true. Of course, it depends on what you consider the "start" of the

French Revolution. (And some historians like Alfred Cobban question whether there even was a "revolution," properly speaking.) Generally, the French Revolution began when members of the Third Estate (the bourgeoisie, not the upper classes) convened on the Tennis Court and declared themselves the National Assembly. (See "Tennis Court Oath" for more.)

The Revolution had early sympathisers among the First Estate (the aristocracy), but aristocrats most assuredly did not start the French Revolution, no matter how one defines its start. (Well, maybe metaphorically, one could argue that the aristocracy during the Enlightenment sowed the intellectual seeds for the Revolution. But that's stretching ingenuity to its limits.)

I msut admit when I first saw the Occupy Los Angeles camp, I had visions of our own 'Tennis Court Oath.' Alas, it was not to be (at least not yet