The French Revolution and the Marquis De Lafayette

The French revolution created an abstract national identity that was somehow detached from place of birth or language or ethnicity. Your ability to secure a passport now rested on your ability to prove that you adhered to the most current patriotic dogma. The french see Lafayette as this vainglorious buffoon who lived in a fantasy world where he was the star of the show and when reality hit him full in the face that he wasn't, he to slink off the stage in disgrace. But i think the pot shots levelled at lafayette by the french are unfair, but not necessarily wrong.