French Revolution and Its Universal Appeal: History Iii

FRENCH REVOLUTION AND ITS UNIVERSAL APPEAL
HISTORY III
Submitted By-
AGNIVA DAS
UID: SM0118003
B.A. LL.B. 2nd Year, 3rd Semester
Faculty In Charge
Ms. Upasana Devi
NATIONAL LAW UNIVERSITY, ASSAM
GUWAHATI
1 NOVEMBER, 2019
TABLE OF CONTENTS
CONTENTS PAGE NO.
1. Introduction 2
1.1 Overview
1.2 Literature Review
1.3 Research Question
1.4 Scope and Objective
1.5 Research Methodology
2. CAUSES OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 6
3. BEGINNING OF THE REVOLUTION 11
4. THE MODERATE REVOLUTION 14
5. THE RADICAL REVOLUTION 15
6. UNIVERSAL APPEAL 19
7. CONCLUSION 24
Bibliography
1
CHAPTER - 1
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Overview
The French Revolution of 1789 had far-reaching effects on the social and political life of people.
The revolutionary principles of Liberty, Equality and Fraternity generated a new political force,
namely, dynamic nationalism, which first swept France and was responsible for the overthrow of
absolute monarchy and the privileges of the feudal lords. In its wake it brought new ideas and
conceptions which made drastic changes in realm of politics, law and government. The
revolution shook France between 1787 and 1799 and reached its first climax there in 1789.
During this period, French citizens razed and redesigned their country‟s political landscape,
uprooting centuries old institutions such as absolute monarchy and feudal system. The disruption
was caused by widespread discontent with the French monarchy and the poor economic policies
of Louis XVI, who met his death by guillotine as did his wife Marie Antoinette.
The revolution that destroyed the ancient régime in France is considered by many as the first of
the modern revolutions. It is one of the great turning points of the modern era because never
before had the society of a powerful country been transformed to give political representation to
its entire population on the basis of the principle of popular sovereignty. France was one of the
most powerful states in 18th-century Europe and influenced European economic, political and
cultural development. French was not only spoken at the court of Versailles, but across the courts
of Europe.1 French culture, including arts and literature, was emulated by the European elites.
The ruler of France, Louis XVI, was not a despotic tyrant, but a monarch pursuing an active
reform agenda2
1
Heather Schwartz, THE FRENCH REVOLUTION: TERROR AND TRIUMPH, , Published by: Teacher Created Materials
(Huntington Beach CA)
2
Georges Lefebvre, THE COMING OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION, Published by: Princeton University Press (2005)
2
In the 1780s, the financial situation of the French monarchy was the key reason for the monarchy
seeking a new national consensus with the summoning of the Estates-General. The meeting of
this representative institution, the first in more than 150 years, set in motion a chain of events
that challenged the very foundations of absolute monarchy. Many underlying tensions in
France‟s institutions made a revolution, if not inevitable, at least conceivable. Louis XVI‟s
reform agenda was overtaken by revolution, as ideas became action.
The year 1789 marked the transition of France from a kingdom ruled by a divinely ordained ruler
to a constitutional monarchy, and the Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen heralded
the birth of the new order. The establishment of the new society was marked by division and
idealism, which turned into extremism. Religion, position of the king and the definition of who
could be considered a citizen each proved to be contentious. A series of political and economic
crises forced the revolution onto the path of emergency measures and war. In 1793, terror
became the „order of the day‟ as France‟s new republican government became more
authoritarian. 3
The revolution cannot be summed up in simplistic terms as the confrontation between feudalism
and capitalism, or a bourgeois clash with nobles and the monarchy. It progressed in a complex
and unpredictable way, often contradicting the revolutionary ideas of universal rights of man.
The process of change exacted a high human cost. The violence of the Terror and the imperial
ambitions of Napoleon were examples of the compromise of the revolutionary ideals that first
proclaimed „men are born and remain free and equal in rights‟. One of the most significant
outcomes of the revolution is the endurance of the principles of popular
3
3
1.2 Literature Review
1. The Coming of the French Revolution, Georges Lefebvre, Published by:

Princeton University Press (2005)
This book is an essential reading for anyone interested in the origins of this great
turning point in the formation of the modern world. First published in 1939, on the
eve of the Second World War, and suppressed by the Vichy government, this
classic work explains what happened in France in 1789, the first year of the French
Revolution. Georges Lefebvre wrote history "from below"--a Marxist approach.
Here, he places the peasantry at the center of his analysis, emphasizing the class
struggles in France and the significant role they played in the coming of the
revolution
2. The French Revolution: Terror and Triumph, Heather Schwartz, Published by:
Teacher Created Materials (Huntington Beach CA)
From King Louis XVI to Napoleon Bonaparte, readers will discover the incredible
people, ideas, and battles that lived and occurred during the French Revolution.
Through captivating photos, images, supportive text, and compelling facts, this
book provides an exciting reading experience as children learn about the events
that led to the storming of the Bastille, the Declaration of the Rights of Man and
Citizens, Robespierre, and King Louis XVI's wife, Marie Antoinette. This book
also includes text features like a table of contents, glossary, and index, as well as
an in-class writing activity to further students' understanding of the storming of
Bastille
4
1.3 Research Questions
1. What was the reason and cause behind the French Revolution?
2. What are the major incidents which took place in the French Revolution?
3. What are the major impacts of the French Revolution?
1.4 Scope and Objective

 Scope
The scope of this project is limited to the in depth study of the causes and
happenings of the French Revolution, how and why it started and later on what
was the impact that the French revolution had on the New World.
 Objective
1. To study the causes of the French Revolution
2. To study the happenings of the French Revolution
3. To study the impact of the French Revolution in the new world.
1.5 Research Methodology:

 Approach to Research: In this project doctrinal research was involved. Doctrinal
Research is a research in which secondary sources are used and materials are
collected from libraries, archives, etc. Books, journals, articles were used while
making this project.
 Types of Research:Explanatory type of research was used in this project, because
the project topic was not relatively new and unheard of and also because various
concepts were needed to be explained.
 Sources of Data collection: Secondarysource of data collection was used which
involves in collection of data from books, articles, websites, etc. No surveys or
case studies were conducted.
5
CHAPTER – 2
CAUSES OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION
The French Revolution is one of the most significant and famous events of world history. Lasting
from 1789 to 1799, it resulted, among other things, in overthrowing the monarchy in France.
There were various reasons which brought about the Revolution. These include intellectual
reasons like the ideas put forward by the philosophers of the Age of Enlightenment; cultural
reasons like the rise of the bourgeoisie class; political reasons like the ineffective leadership
of French monarch Louis XVI; social reasons like the unjust Estates System; financial
reasons like French involvement in expensive wars; and economic reasons like the rise in price
of bread. Here are the 10 major causes of the French Revolution.
2.1 SOCIAL INEQUALITY IN FRANCE DUE TO THE ESTATES SYSTEM
In the 1780s, the population of France was around 24 million and 700 thousand and it was
divided into three estates. The First Estate was the Roman Catholic clergy, which numbered
about 100,000. The Second Estate consisted of the French nobility, which numbered
about 400,000. Everyone else in France; including merchants, lawyers, laborers and peasants;
belonged to the Third Estate, which comprised around 98% of the French population.4 The Third
Estate was excluded from positions of honor and political power; and was looked down upon by
the other estates. It was thus angered and resented its position in French society. This led to them
coming together to launch the French Revolution in 1789.
4
6
2.2 TAX BURDEN ON THE THIRD ESTATE
The First Estate in France, or the clergy, owned 10% of the land though it comprised less than
0.5% of the population. It was very wealthy and paid no taxes. It had many privileges, including
the collection of tithes. Tithes was one-tenth of annual produce or earnings taken as a tax for the
support of the Church.5 The Second Estate, or the nobles, owned about 25% of the land. They
were exempted from paying many taxes and were allowed to collect dues from peasants. In
contrast, the Third Estate was forced to pay heavy taxes while the other two were exempted.
This burdened the Third Estate leading to their questioning this unjust Estates
System and planning to overthrow it.
2.3 THE RISE OF THE BOURGEOISIE
The bourgeoisie were the rich men and women of the Third Estate who started to become
influential in the years leading to the revolution. They evolved into a new caste with its own
agenda and political aspiration. The bourgeoisie resented the position of the First and the Second
Estate, which they believed was derived from their efforts. Moreover, they aspired to attain
political equality with the other two estates.6 The desire of the bourgeoisie to rid themselves of
feudal and royal encroachments on their personal liberty, commercial prospects and ownership
of property was one of the reasons which led to the French Revolution.
5
6
Simon Schama, CITIZENS: A CHRONICLE OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION, Published by: Vintage Books (1990)
7
2.4 IDEAS PUT FORWARD BY ENLIGHTENMENT PHILOSOPHERS
The Age of Enlightenment was an intellectual and philosophical movement that dominated the
world of ideas in Europe during the 18th century. Enlightenment philosophers like John Locke,
Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Baron de Montesquieu questioned the traditional absolute authority
of the monarch and divisions of society like the Estates System. For example, Locke argued that
a leader may only govern a society if he had the consent of those he governed; Rousseau was
against all class divisions; and Montesquieu advocated for a system of government based on
separation of powers. The writings of Enlightenment thinkers were discussed in France more
than anywhere else and they greatly influenced the revolutionaries.7
2.5 FINANCIAL CRISIS CAUSED DUE TO COSTLY WARS
Throughout the 18th century, France participated in a series of expensive wars primarily against
its long-term rival Great Britain. Louis XV, who ruled over France from 1715 to 1774, lost
the Seven Years‟ War against Britain. He then drew up a plan to avenge the loss by building a
larger navy and an anti-British coalition of allies. However, this only resulted in a mountain of
debt. Louis XVI, grandson of Louis XV who succeeded him in 1774, then involved France in
the American War of Independence against Britain. Though U.S. won the war, France gained
little from it.8 French support for the war was expensive costing 1.066 million French livres, a
huge sum at the time. This worsened the economic crisis in the nation and pushed it toward
bankruptcy.
7
8
8
2.6 DRASTIC WEATHER AND POOR HARVESTS IN THE PRECEDING YEARS
In June 1783, Laki volcano in Iceland erupted sending volcanic ash high into the atmosphere in
Europe. This led to a severe winter in Europe in 1784 and the following summers included
extreme droughts that caused poor harvests and famine. France then experienced another series
of poor harvests in 1787 and 1788 with extreme winters. A decade of extreme weather conditions
and poor harvests took a toll on the poor peasants of France, who were struggling to survive day
to day. The frustration of the peasants angered them to revolt.
2.7 THE RISE IN THE COST OF BREAD
The situation in France worsened when poor harvests caused the price of flour to increase
dramatically, which in turn raised the price of bread. Bread was the staple food for most French
citizens and it has been estimated by historians that the working class of France was spending
upwards of 90% of their daily income on just bread. Louis XVI implemented deregulation of the
grain market but it resulted in further increasing the bread prices. The rise in the cost of bread
severely affected the common French citizens who resented the monarch for his not being able to
solve the food crisis.9
2.8 INEFFECTIVE LEADERSHIP OF LOUIS XV AND LOUIS XVI

In France, as in most other European nations, the monarch ruled on the basis of the divine right
of kings. He was thus not answerable to his subjects. However, the philosophies of
Enlightenment thinkers made the public think differently. Louis XV failed to overcome the
financial problems facing France. He was not able to harmonize the conflicting parties at court to
arrive at coherent economic policies. Louis XVI then tried to bring about radical reforms but
failed miserably. 10 The poor economic condition of the nation angered the masses and they
became critical of their king. Moreover, both Louis XV and his grandson were aware of anti-
monarchist forces that were threatening their family‟s rule but they were unable to stop them.
9
10
9
2.9 PARLEMENTS’ SUCCESSFUL OPPOSITION TO REFORMS
Several French ministers, including Anne Robert Jacques Turgot and Jacques Necker, proposed
revisions to the French tax system so as to include the nobles as taxpayers. This may have
reduced the financial crisis in the nation and would have lessened the anger of the poor as the tax
system would have become more just. A parlement in France was a provincial appellate court.
They were not legislative bodies but consisted of appellate judges. The parlements were the
spearheads of the nobility‟s resistance to royal reforms and they prevented any reform in taxation
which would include the nobility.11
2.10 THE EXTRAVAGANT LIFESTYLE OF THE FRENCH MONARCHY
The extravagant expenditure on luxuries, first by Louis XV and then by Louis XVI, compounded
the economic crisis facing the nation and was one of the primary reasons behind the revolution.
For example, the construction and remodeling of the Palace of Versailles throughout the 17th
and 18th centuries incurred a huge cost to the country. These large expenditures by the French
monarchy caused dissatisfaction among the people who began to view its leaders as wasteful
while they suffered due to the poor economic state of the nation. This in turn led to national
unrest and ultimately the Revolution.
11
10
CHAPTER – 3
BEGINNING OF THE REVOLUTION
Almost immediately contention arose regarding voting procedures in the upcoming Estates-
General. In its last meeting, voting had been organized by estate, with each of the three estates
meeting separately and each having one vote. In this way the privileged classes had combined to
outvote the third estate, which constituted more than 90 percent of the population. In registering
the edict to convene the Estates-General, the Parlement of Paris, which had been reinstated by
the monarchy on September 23, 1788, ruled in favor of keeping this form of voting. The
Parlement probably did this more to prevent the monarchy from potentially exploiting any new
voting system to its advantage than to preserve noble privilege.
However, many observers read this decision as a betrayal of the third estate. As a result, a flood
of pamphlets appeared demanding a vote by head at the Estates-General—that is, a procedure
whereby each deputy was to cast one vote in a single chamber composed of all three estates. This
method would give each estate a number of votes that more accurately represented its population
and would make it more difficult for the first two estates to routinely outvote the third. Now two
battles were being waged at the same time: one to protect the nation‟s liberty against royal
despotism, and the other over how the nation would be represented in the Estates-General.12
During the early months of 1789, the three estates prepared for the coming meeting by selecting
deputies and drawing up cahiers des doléances (lists of grievances). These lists reflected
overwhelming agreement in favor of limiting the power of the king and his administrators and
establishing a permanent legislative assembly. In an effort to satisfy the third estate, the
monarchy had agreed to double the number of their representatives but then took no firm stand
on whether the voting would proceed by estate or by head.
12
11
When the Estates-General assembled at Versailles in May 1789, the monarchy proposed no
specific financial plan for debate and left the voting issue unsettled. As a result, the estates spent
their time engaged in debate of the voting procedure, and little was accomplished.
3.1 NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
Five wasted weeks later, the third estate finally took the initiative by inviting the clergy and
nobility to join them in a single-chambered legislature where the voting would be by head. Some
individual members of the other estates did so, and on June 17, 1789, they together proclaimed
themselves to be the National Assembly (also later called the Constituent Assembly).
When officials locked their regular meeting place to prepare it for a royal address, members of
the National Assembly concluded their initiative was about to be crushed. Regrouping at a
nearby indoor tennis court on June 20, they swore not to disband until France had a constitution.
This pledge became known as the Tennis Court Oath.
3.2 STORMING OF THE BASTILLE
On June 23, 1789, Louis XVI belatedly proposed a major overhaul of the financial system,
agreed to seek the consent of the deputies for all new loans and taxes, and proposed other
important reforms. But he spoiled the effect by refusing to recognize the transformation of the
Estates-General into the National Assembly and by insisting upon voting by estate—already a
dying cause. Moreover, he inspired new fears by surrounding the meeting hall of the deputies
with a large number of soldiers.13
Faced with stiffening resistance by the third estate and increasing willingness of deputies from
the clergy and nobility to join the third estate in the National Assembly, the king suddenly
changed course and agreed to a vote by head on June 27.
13
12
Despite much rejoicing, suspicions of the king‟s intentions ran high. Royal troops began to
thicken near Paris, and on July 11 the still-popular Necker was dismissed. To people at the time
and to many later on, these developments were clear signs that the king sought to undo the events
of the previous weeks.
Crowds began to roam Paris looking for arms to fight off a royal attack. On July 14 these crowds
assaulted the Bastille, a large fortress on the eastern edge of the city. They believed that it
contained munitions and many prisoners of despotism, but in fact, the fortress housed only seven
inmates at the time.14 The storming of the Bastille marked a turning point—attempts at reform
had become a full-scale revolution. Faced with this insurrection, the monarchy backed down.
The troops were withdrawn, and Necker was recalled.
14
13
CHAPTER – 4
THE MODERATE REVOLUTION
In the year leading up to the storming of the Bastille, the economic problems of many common
people had become steadily worse, largely because poor weather conditions had ruined the
harvest. As a result, the price of bread—the most important food of the poorer classes—
increased. Tensions and violence grew in both the cities and the countryside during the spring
and summer of 1789. While hungry artisans revolted in urban areas, starved peasants scoured the
provinces in search of food and work. These vagrants were rumored to be armed agents of
landlords hired to destroy crops and harass the common people. Many rural peasants were
gripped by a panic, known as the Great Fear. They attacked the residences of their landlords in
hopes of protecting local grain supplies and reducing rents on their land.15
Both afraid of and politically benefiting from this wave of popular violence, leaders of the
revolutionary movement in Paris began to massively restructure the state. On the night of August
4, 1789, one nobleman after another renounced his personal privileges. Before the night was
over, the National Assembly declared an end to the feudal system, the traditional system of rights
and obligations that had reinforced inherited inequality under the Old Regime. The exact
meaning of this resolution as it applied to specific privileges, especially economic ones, took
years to sort out. But it provided the legal foundation for gradually scaling back the feudal dues
peasants owed to landlords and for eliminating the last vestiges of serfdom, the system that
legally bound the peasants to live and work on the landlords‟ estates.
At the end of August, the National Assembly promulgated the Declaration of the Rights of Man
and of the Citizen. Conceived as the prologue to a new constitution that was not yet drafted, the
declaration was a short, concise document ensuring such basic personal rights as those of
property, free speech, and personal security. It left unresolved the rights of women and the limits
of individual rights in relation to the power of the newly emerging state. But by recognizing the
source of sovereignty in the people, it undermined the idea that the king ruled by divine right.
15
14
CHAPTER – 5
THE RADICAL REVOLUTION
The émigrés and their efforts to mobilize foreign powers against France created the pretext for
France‟s entry into war in April 1792. In reality, Austria and Prussia had shown little interest in
intervention on behalf of the French king. However, radical political figures, most notably
Jacques Pierre Brissot, persistently exaggerated the threat of an Austrian invasion of France and
the subversion of the revolutionary government by a conspiracy of Austrian sympathizers called
the Austrian Committee. Expecting that a conflict with Austria would weaken the king to their
political advantage, Brissot and his colleagues pressed for a declaration of war. Many of the
king‟s advisors, though at first not the king himself, also advocated the war option. They
believed a victory would strengthen royal power and a defeat would crush the Revolution.
Persuaded, the king appointed a ministry dominated by Brissot‟s associates on March 10, 1792,
and on April 20 the assembly declared war on Austria, which was soon joined by Prussia. Thus
began the series of conflicts known as the French Revolutionary Wars.16
5.1 END OF MONARCHY
The wars profoundly altered the course of the Revolution, leading to the end of the monarchy
and raising fears of reprisals against the revolutionaries in the event of a defeat. The French had
few successes on the battlefield. The French army was in the middle of a major reorganization
and was not prepared for war. In addition, Brissot‟s ministry proved incompetent and
disorganized. During the spring of 1792, the French army lurched from defeat to defeat.
Someone, it seemed, was to blame; and the Brissot faction (called Brissotins) blamed the king,
who in turn fired the Brissotin ministers on June 13.
16
15
On August 10 a crowd again stormed the Tuilerie Palace in the Revolution‟s bloodiest eruption
to date. This time, however, the mob was not allied with the Brissotins, who still favored a
monarchy. Instead it supported the more radical Jacobins who, under the leadership of the lawyer
Maximilien Robespierre, now demanded the creation of a republic. 17
While the royal family hid in the Assembly hall, the mob hacked to death some 600 Swiss
guards, while itself suffering heavy losses. More than lives were lost; so was the monarchy. The
Legislative Assembly immediately suspended the king from his duties and voted to hold a
convention. The convention, to be elected by nearly universal manhood suffrage, was to write a
new, republican constitution.
5.2 FIRST FRENCH REPUBLIC
Between August 10, 1792, and the meeting of the convention on September 20, revolutionary
furor grew. Power shifted from the Legislative Assembly, now a lame duck, to the Paris
Commune. The Commune was a city assembly made up of representatives elected from 48
neighborhood districts
called sections. Because nearly universal male suffrage had taken effect on August 10, the
sections and the Commune became increasingly dominated by the sans-culottes, a group
composed mostly of artisans and shopkeepers fiercely devoted to the Revolution and direct
democracy.
In this unstable period, Georges Jacques Danton, who had probably helped organize the
massacre of August 10, became a dominating political figure. Danton, who was appointed
minister of justice by the assembly, encouraged fears that counter-revolutionary forces loyal to
the king were undermining the Revolution. He used these fears to promote further measures
against counter-revolutionaries. On August 17 a special court was created to try political
suspects, but it did not convict enough defendants to satisfy the sans-culottes.
17
16
Fearing military defeat and believing that counter-revolutionary prisoners were about to break
out and attack patriots like themselves, sans-culotte mobs attacked Parisian jails from September
2 to 7. They murdered and mutilated more than 1000 inmates—most of whom were guilty of
nothing more than having enjoyed some privilege or committing ordinary crimes. These
September Massacres were so gruesome that no revolutionary leader, not even those with bloody
agendas of their own, claimed responsibility for them.
5.3 REIGN OF TERROR
Following the king‟s execution, war with various European powers and intense divisions within
the National Convention ushered the French Revolution into its most violent and turbulent phase.
In this general crisis, revolutionary leaders began to turn on each other. The Girondins, who
favored federalism, fought a battle to the death with the Jacobins, who denounced the Girondins
for lacking revolutionary zeal and for aiding, intentionally or not, counter-revolutionary forces.
The Jacobins already dominated the convention, but on June 2, pressured by the sans-culottes,
they consolidated their power by arresting 22 Girondin leaders.
In June 1793, the Jacobins seized control of the National Convention from the more moderate
Girondins and instituted a series of radical measures, including the establishment of a new
calendar and the eradication of Christianity.18
They also unleashed the bloody Reign of Terror (la Terreur), a 10-month period in which
suspected enemies of the revolution were guillotined by the thousands. Many of the killings were
carried out under orders from Robespierre, who dominated the draconian Committee of Public
Safety until his own execution on July 28, 1794.
His death marked the beginning of the Thermidorian Reaction, a moderate phase in which the
French people revolted against the Reign of Terror‟s excesses.
18
David Andress, THE OXFORD HANDBOOK OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION, Published by: Oxford University Press
(2015
17
5.4 FRENCH REVOLUTION ENDS
On August 22, 1795, the National Convention, composed largely of Girondins who had survived
the Reign of Terror, approved a new constitution that created France‟s first bicameral legislature.
Executive power would lie in the hands of a five-member Directory (Directoire) appointed by
parliament. Royalists and Jacobins protested the new regime but were swiftly silenced by the
army, now led by a young and successful general named Napoleon Bonaparte.19
The Directory‟s four years in power were riddled with financial crises, popular discontent,
inefficiency and, above all, political corruption. By the late 1790s, the directors relied almost
entirely on the military to maintain their authority and had ceded much of their power to the
generals in the field.
On November 9, 1799, as frustration with their leadership reached a fever pitch, Bonaparte
staged a coup d‟état, abolishing the Directory and appointing himself France‟s “first consul.”
The event marked the end of the French Revolution and the beginning of the Napoleonic era, in
which France would come to dominate much of continental Europe.
19
18
CHAPTER – 6
UNIVERSAL APPEAL
The French Revolution had a major impact on Europe and the New World. Historians widely
regard the Revolution as one of the most important events in human history. In the short-term,
France lost thousands of its countrymen in the form of émigrés, or emigrants who wished to
escape political tensions and save their lives. A number of individuals settled in the neighboring
countries (chiefly Great Britain, Germany, Austria, and Prussia), however quite a few also went
to the United States. The displacement of these Frenchmen led to a spread of French culture,
policies regulating immigration, and a safe haven for Royalists and other counterrevolutionaries
to outlast the violence of the French Revolution. The long-term impact on France was profound,
shaping politics, society, religion and ideas, and polarizing politics for more than a century. The
closer other countries were, the greater and deeper was the French impact, bringing liberalism
and the end of many feudal or traditional laws and practices. However, there was also a
conservative counter-reaction that defeated Napoleon, reinstalled the Bourbon kings, and in
some ways reversed the new reforms.20
The changes in France were enormous; some were widely accepted and others were bitterly
contested into the late 20th century. Before the Revolution, the people had little power or voice.
The kings had so thoroughly centralized the system that most nobles spent their time at
Versailles, and played only a small direct role in their home districts.
The French Revolution fished widespread American support in its early phase, but when the king
was executed it polarized American opinion and played a major role in shaping American
politics. President George Washington declared neutrality in the European wars, but the
polarization shaped the First Party System. In 1793, the first "Democratic societies" were
formed. They supported the French Revolution in the wake of the execution of the king.
20
Joseph Klaits, Michael Haltzel, GLOBAL RAMIFICATIONS OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION, Published by: Cambridge
University Press (2002)
19
The impact of the French Revolution on the Middle East came in terms of the political and
military impact of Napoleon's invasion; and in the eventual influence of revolutionary and liberal
ideas and revolutionary movements or rebellions. In terms of Napoleon's invasion in 1798, the
response by Ottoman officials was highly negative. They warned that traditional religion would
be overthrown. Long-standing Ottoman friendship with France ended.
6.1 LOSS IN POWER OF THE FRENCH CATHOLIC CHURCH
An ideology may be defined as a doctrine about the best form of social and political
organization. The French Revolution gave birth to ideologies. In fact the term ideology was
coined during the Revolution. Prior to the French Revolution, people generally lived in the form
of government that had been in place for centuries and that form was monarchy in most places.
However, after the French Revolution, no government was accepted as legitimate without
justification 21 . The republicans challenge those who favor the monarchy. Even within
republicans, some advocated a government directed by the elite while others preferred a more
democratic structure. Several ideological alternatives arose due to the French Revolution
including nationalism, liberalism, socialism and eventually communism.
6.2 THE BIRTH OF IDEOLOGIES
An ideology may be defined as a doctrine about the best form of social and political
organization. The French Revolution gave birth to ideologies, In fact the term ideology was
coined during the Revolution. Prior to the French Revolution, people generally lived in the form
of government that had been in place for centuries and that form was monarchy in most places.
However, after the French Revolution, no government was occepted as legitimate without
justification. The republicans challenged those who favored the monarchy. Even within
republicans, some advocated a government directed by the elite while others preferred a more
democratic structure. Several Ideological alternatives arose due to the French Revolution
including nationalism, liberalism, socialism and eventually communism.
21
20
6.3 THE RISE OF MODERN NATIONALISM
Nationalism is an ideology that emphasizes loyalty, devotion or allegiance to a nation and places
these obligations above other individual or group interests. The French Revolution initiated the
movement toward the modern nation-state and played a key role in the birth of nationalism
across Europe. As French armies under Napoleon Bonaparte captured territories, the ideology of
Nationalism was spread across Europe.22 The Revolution didn't only impact French Nationalism
but had a profound and long lasting impact on European intellectuals. Due to this, struggle for
national liberation became one of the most important themes of 19th and 20th-century European
and world politics.
6.4 THE SPREAD OF LIBERALISM
Liberalism is a political and moral philosophy based on liberty and equality. During the French
Revolution, hereditary aristocracy was overthrown with the slogan "liberty, equality, fraternity
and France became the first state in history to grant universal male suffrage. There were two key
events that marked the triumph of liberalism during the Revolution. The first was the abolition of
feudalism in France on the night of 4th August 1789. This marked the collapse of feudal and old
traditional rights and privileges. The second was the passage of the Declaration of the Rights of
Man and of the Citizen in August 1789. The Declaration is regarded as a foundational document
of both liberalism and human rights Due to the success of the French Revolution, liberal
governments were established in nations across Europe, South America and North America
through the 19th century. Thus the Revolution is considered a defining moment in Liberalism.
22
21
6.5 LAYING THE GROUNDWORK FOR COMMUNISM
The French Revolution didn't directly produce 19th century ideologies known as Socialism and
Communism. However, it did provide an intellectual and social environment in which these
ideologies and their spokesmen, could flourish. The French communist philosophers of the late
18th century not only criticized private property but also called for its abolition and the
establishment of a society based on the egalitarian and communal ownership of property. French
political agitator and journalist Fronçois-Noel Babeuf went to the extent of advocating violent
revolutionary action in the name of socialization of wealth. Also, Karl Marx and Friedrich
Engels, among the most important communist thinkers, were educated in late 18th and early 19th
century when there was widespread revolutionary activity.
6.6 DESTRUCTION OF OLIGARCHIES AND ECONOMIC GROWTH IN EUROPE
The French Revolution had a deep impact on neighboring countries. The French Revolutionary
armies during the 1790s, and later under Napoleon, invaded and controlled Belgium, the
Netherlands, Italy, Switzerland and parts of Germany. The French invasion of these territories
removed the legal and economic barriers that had protected the nobility, clergy, guilds and urban
oligarchies. Instead the principle of equality before law was established. The Revolution thus
destroyed the power of oligarchies and elites that opposed economic change. Evidence suggests
that areas that were occupied by the French and that underwent radical institutional reform
experienced more rapid urbanization and economic growth, especially after 1850. The arrival of
new economic and industrial opportunities in the second half of the 19th century then resulted in
more economic growth of Europe.
22
6.7 USHERED IN THE AGE OF REVOLUTIONS
The early 19th century was dominated by the effects of the French Revolution and the
Napoleonic Wars. In the decades following the peace of 1815, many European countries were
beset by social conflicts as their populations sought to assert their rights against the often
autocratic rulers of their states. This ushered in what is known as the Age of Revolutions, a
period in which a number of significant revolutionary movements occurred in many parts of
Europe and the Americas. These included the Irish Rebellion of 1798; the Haitian Revolution;
the First Italian War of Independence; Sicilian revolution of 1848; the 1848 revolutions in Italy;
and the independence movements of Spanish and Portuguese colonies in Latin America.
23
CONCLUSION
It is still debated whether the 1789 Revolution enabled economic growth and industrialization in
France or stalled French development by consolidating an agrarian structure of small
selfsubsistent farmers. It can be taken as a conjecture that the changes in the economic
environment due to emigration during the Revolution shaped the incentives for human capital
accumulation over time. Specifically, we find that high-emigration, have systematically higher
shares of literate conscripts after WWI. This is consistent with the fact that costly schooling
acted as a deterrent for literacy in high emigrant areas which suffered from lower incomes
generated by subsistence farming. But when schooling became free at the onset of the second
Industrial Revolution, it facilitated investments in human capital precisely in regions where
agriculture was less productive.
The ideas of liberty and democratic rights were the most important legacy of the French
Revolution. These spread from France to the rest of Europe during the nineteenth century, where
feudal systems were abolished. It inspired the Germans, Italians, and Austrians to overthrow
their oppressive regimes. The French Revolution inspired the struggling nations of Asia and
Africa who were groaning under the oppression of european colonialism.
The revolution in France had a profound impact on the lives of all peoples in Europe. Its effects
proved lasting and France and Europe never really returned to the conditions of the old order.
The principles of democracy, liberty, merit, equality and sovereignty of the people have been an
enduring aspect of the legacy of the French Revolution. The revolution of 1789 opened over a
century of revolutionary upheavals which culminated in the Russian Revolution and the
establishment of Soviet Russia. The very ideas of rights, citizenship, secular society, free speech,
merit, rule of law, popular sovereignty and democracy in the Western world were fundamentally
shaped by the tumultuous years of the French Revolution. These ideas continue to shape and
drive events in the world today
24
BIBLIOGRAPHY
 Georges Lefebvre, THE COMING OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION, Published by:

Princeton University Press (2005)
 Heather Schwartz, THE FRENCH REVOLUTION: TERROR AND TRIUMPH, ,

Published by: Teacher Created Materials (Huntington Beach CA)
 Simon Schama, CITIZENS: A CHRONICLE OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION,

Published by: Vintage Books (1990)
 David Andress, THE OXFORD HANDBOOK OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION,

Published by: Oxford University Press (2015)
 Dictionnaire critique de la révolution française, A CRITICAL DICTIONARY OF THE

FRENCH REVOLUTION, Published by: Harvard University Press (1989)
 Joseph Klaits, Michael Haltzel, GLOBAL RAMIFICATIONS OF THE FRENCH

REVOLUTION, Published by: Cambridge University Press (2002)
 Learnodo Newtonic, 10 MAJOR EFFECRS OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION
 https://www.researchgate.net/publication/283319192_The_French_Revolution?enrichId
 https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/history/history-art/french-
revolution/content-section-0
25

French Revolution and Its Universal Appeal: History Iii

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French Revolution and Its Universal Appeal: History Iii

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FRENCH REVOLUTION AND ITS UNIVERSAL APPEAL

B.A. LL.B. 2nd Year, 3rd Semester

Ms. Upasana Devi

NATIONAL LAW UNIVERSITY, ASSAM

2. CAUSES OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 6

3. BEGINNING OF THE REVOLUTION 11

4. THE MODERATE REVOLUTION 14

5. THE RADICAL REVOLUTION 15

1. The Coming of the French Revolution, Georges Lefebvre, Published by:

1.4 Scope and Objective

1.5 Research Methodology:

2.1 SOCIAL INEQUALITY IN FRANCE DUE TO THE ESTATES SYSTEM

2.3 THE RISE OF THE BOURGEOISIE

2.5 FINANCIAL CRISIS CAUSED DUE TO COSTLY WARS

2.7 THE RISE IN THE COST OF BREAD

2.8 INEFFECTIVE LEADERSHIP OF LOUIS XV AND LOUIS XVI

2.10 THE EXTRAVAGANT LIFESTYLE OF THE FRENCH MONARCHY

3.1 NATIONAL ASSEMBLY

3.2 STORMING OF THE BASTILLE

5.1 END OF MONARCHY

5.2 FIRST FRENCH REPUBLIC

5.3 REIGN OF TERROR

6.1 LOSS IN POWER OF THE FRENCH CATHOLIC CHURCH

6.2 THE BIRTH OF IDEOLOGIES

6.4 THE SPREAD OF LIBERALISM

6.6 DESTRUCTION OF OLIGARCHIES AND ECONOMIC GROWTH IN EUROPE

 Georges Lefebvre, THE COMING OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION, Published by:

 Heather Schwartz, THE FRENCH REVOLUTION: TERROR AND TRIUMPH, ,

 Simon Schama, CITIZENS: A CHRONICLE OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION,

 David Andress, THE OXFORD HANDBOOK OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION,

 Dictionnaire critique de la révolution française, A CRITICAL DICTIONARY OF THE

 Joseph Klaits, Michael Haltzel, GLOBAL RAMIFICATIONS OF THE FRENCH

 Learnodo Newtonic, 10 MAJOR EFFECRS OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

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