HISTORY III ASSIGNMENT

FRENCH REVOLUTION

THE AMITY UNIVERSITY, DUBAI

Batch: 2017-2022

Under the guidance of:                    Submitted by:

Dr. Seema Jaiswal Name: Sangitha Roy 
                                                               Program: BA.LLB(H)
Course
Code: LAW 322
                                                                AUD No.: 7044
 AMITY UNIVERSITY,DUBAI

BONAFIDE CERTIFICATE

Certified that this project titled “FRENCH REVOLUTION” is the bonafide work of
“SANGITHA ROY” who carried out the project work under my supervision.

Teacher In-charge: ………………………………………………

Internal Examiner:……………………………………………….
 INTRODUCTION

The French Revolution of 1789 had far-reaching effects on the social and political life of all the
countries all over the world. 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.

A Monarchy in Crisis

When Louis XIV was on his death bed, he had recognized the inefficacy of war as a mean to realize
his aims. He had, in the process of achieving his ambitions involved France in series of war, had
taxed his people to their utmost capacity and drained away the wealth of nation and had brought
untold misery to them. So when he was nearing his end he called his great-grandson, the future
Louis XV and advised him to take a lesson from his failures and to wage any more wars and to
relieve the people from the burden of taxation. But he and his successor Louis XVI unheeded the
advice and gradually the political, social and economic conditions so degenerated that the situation
get out of control and precipitated a great Revolution which brought untold misery to millions of
people and uprooted numerous families and wars, calamitous to the monarchy which involved
France in long and bloody wars. As the 18 th century drew to close, France costly involvement in the
American Revolution and extravagant spending by Louis XVI and his predecessor had left the
country on the brink of bankruptcy. In the fall of 1786, Louis XVI controller general, Charles
Alexander de Calonne, proposed a financial reform package that included a universal land tax from
which the privileged classes would no longer be exempt. [ CITATION Rag89 \l 1033 ]

LITERATURE REVIEW

“The relation between art, literature and history is a complex one. The way in which broad
historical processes affect art and literature is not a direct one. The poets and writers of England and
other lands did not necessarily set out to express political ideas in a conscious way, though some
did. The processes we are dealing with here are far more subtle and indirect. They do not express
themselves as a conscious decision or trend, but rather a certain mood. However, unconsciously, or
at best semi-consciously, poets and writers can and do reflect the general trends in society.” – Alan
Woods

“The Revolution of 1789 hit England like a thunderbolt. It shook up the whole social and political
edifice of Britain.”

– Alan Woods

The revolutionary poets of the 1790s did not confine themselves to the written word but attempted
to establish links with the people, identifying themselves with the poor, the oppressed, the insulted
and humiliated.

William Hazlitt wrote: [they] scorned “degrees, priority, place, and the distinctions of birth,” and
“were surrounded by a rabble of idle apprentices and Botany Bay convicts, female vagrants,
gypsies, meek daughters in the family of Christ, of idiot boys and mad mothers, and after them
‘owls and night-ravens flew’.”

The British Poets identified with the struggles of the common French person and they wrote to
express the attitude and anger they held.

Writers of the French Revolution

i. William Blake (1757-1827)

 Wrote The French Revolution in 1791,
 Had it printed anonymously, only distributed to political sympathizers so he could avoid
public outcry.
 He developed his attitude of revolt against authority, combining political beliefs and
visionary ecstasy.
 First book of a projected seven books Blake wanted to write, no one is even sure if he ever
wrote them because they were never found
 Radical Bookseller Joseph Johnson was responsible for the printing in 1791 because he was
the only one that would do it for fear of retribution, it was only given to political
sympathizers because he feared what would happen if anyone else found out.
 The Marriage of Heaven and Hell in 1790
 Emphasis was placed upon on “Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity.”
 Attitude towards The Revolution: he was against authority and feared government
persecution for his beliefs
 He sympathized with English radicals like Thomas Pain and William Goodwin.
  He originally sympathized with the French revolutionaries, but the Reign of Terror made
him despise the Revolution.
 Some of Blake’s contemporaries called him a harmless lunatic.
 Blake was also an artist, and his paintings express the chaotic and tumultuous nature of the
revolution.

ii. William Wordsworth (1770-1850):

 ISS WAS IT IN THAT DAWN TO BE ALIVE, BUT TO BE YOUNG WAS VERY
HEAVEN!” – Famous quote at the beginning of the revolution expressed his enthusiasm
which did not last long.
 Letter to the Bishop of Llandaff 1793, pamphlet that gave support to the French Revolution
to reflect his initial feelings
 After the Reign of Terror from September 1793 to July 1794, he became a radical,
publishing The Borderers in 1796 to reflect his new views.
 The French Captain Michel Beaupuy strongly influenced Wordsworth in forming political
ideals, and his presence was so important to the young poet that Wordsworth mentions the
captain in Book Nine of The Prelude.
 Wordsworth hoped that France would be a “work of honour” and a democratic government
could not work unless there were men like Beaupuy to ensure there were radicals to stand
for this honor and freedom.
 The young Wordsworth had great hopes for the Revolution, and he believed that once a
republic was firmly in power in France, he and his contemporaries “should see the people
having a strong hand/ In framing their own laws; whence betters day; To all mankind”
(Wordsworth, Book IX, lines 517-18).
 As a Romantic, Wordsworth believed in the equality of all men and saw the monarchy as an
institution that sought to take away this equality.
 Wordsworth believed in the equality of all men like most Romantics of the time, and he
viewed the monarchy as a means of taking away equality.
 Wordsworth had great hopes for the Revolution, and he believed that once a republic was
firmly in power in France, he and his contemporaries “should see the people having a strong
hand/ In framing their own laws; whence betters day; To all mankind” (Wordsworth, Book
IX, lines 517-18).
 Once the Reign of Terror and England’s declaration of war against France, he became torn
between his ideals of freedom and equality and all the bloodshed he saw going on around
him.
  He went from being a Republican with dreams of equality for all men, to a conservative who
wished to preserve the stability and resume order in England.

iii. Jane Austen (1775-1817):

 Born in Stevenson, England, in 1775
 Lived through the American Revolution, French Revolution, Napoleonic Wars, and
Industrial Revolution.
 Began publishing anonymously to prevent her from becoming known as an author and hide
from the shameful opinion of women in the public sphere.
 Due to the French Revolution, England was poorly affected politically which made Austen’s
entire life a struggle for survival.
 Although Austen did not directly refer to the French Revolution in any of her literary works,
the French Revolution did disrupt her world.
 Austen was connected to many of these great events through members of her own family
who were involved in the political aspects of the war.
 According to the novel, Jane Austen and the French Revolution by Warren Roberts,
Robert’s is shocked at the fact that with all of these hardships in Austen’s life, she did not
directly write about them in any of her works but did incorporate them indirectly.
 Through Austen’s work, you cannot see the direct impact on her from the Revolution but
you can see her responses to the world around her.
 In a majority of her novels, social reality and class structure were common themes.
 Pride and Prejudice:
 Published in January 1813
 Written at the time of the revolution
 Story indirectly depicts the Austen’s view of the French revolution in England.
 English society rapidly began to grow and social transformation became a part of the lives
of the people living in England during this time.

iv. John Keats (1795-1821):

 Keat’s was one of the later poets during the romantic era.
 During his life Keats faced many hardships including being part of the lower class, having
poor health, and limited education.
 “Hyperion” and “The Fall of Hyperion” are about Titans’ fall to Olympians, many critics
have thought these works were based off of the French Revolution.
 These show limited evidence that Keat’s was effected by the Revolution.
  Unlike, Coleridge and Wodsworth, the influence of the French Revolution are not as
pronounced in Keat’s literary work.
 The ideas and changes of the Revolution were directly seen in major poets of this time, but
these themes were not present in Keat’s writings.
 In “Ode to a Nightingale,” and “Ode on a Grecian Urn,” Keat’s emphasizes the beauty of the
world, which was a common theme in many of his works.
 “Beauty is truth, truth beauty, – that is all ye know on earth, and all ye need to know” –
From Keat’s “Ode on a Grecian Urn.
 This theme of beauty was an unusual theme due to all of the hardships of this time period.
 Keat’s focused on the beauty he sees in nature, art, and humans.
 Although, the French Revolution affected most of the poets during the time period, it did not
severely affect Keats as much as it did others.

v. Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772-1834):

 He is quoted as saying his early zeal for revolution was a “sqeaking baby trumpet of
sedition”
 He joined the reformist movement stimulated by the revolution and abandoned his studies in
1793 for the cause
 He studied politics in college where he became a big supporter of the French Revolution
 “Like fiends embattled by a wizard’s wand,
 The Monarchs marched in evil day,
 And Britain joined the dire array;
 […] For ne’er, O Liberty! with partial aim
 I dimmed thy light or damped the holy flame;
 But blessed the paeans of delivered France,
 And hung my head and wept at Britain’s name.”
 Shared similar ideals to Wordsworth, started off enthusiastic but lost his zeal at the end of
the Revolution
 “You cannot conceive the tumult, calumnies and apparatus of threatened prosecutions which
this event [the presence of Wordsworth] has occasioned round about us. If you too should
come, I am afraid that even riots and dangerous riots might be the consequence.” (Quoted in
E.P. Thompson, The Romantics, 49).

vi. Lord Byron (1788-1824):

 Seen as a complete rebel
  Admiration for Napoleon
 “Proletariat”- new revolutionary force took shape after Wordsworth & Coleridge
 In the poem, “King Ludd” supported the textile workers when conditions got bad after
Napoleon’s defeat and the outbreak of violence and poverty spoke of the evils of capitalism
and supported the working class“These men merely destroyed their looms…, which had
become impediments to earning their bread”
 An Englishmen and strong Napoleon supporter, he often felt alienated from his native land.
Showed both support for the revolutionary cause and a defiance against England.
 Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage
 Don Juan
 “Romanticism in general, and the poetry of Byron in particular, corresponds to the period in
the early 19th century when the storm and stress of the French Revolution had calmed down,
when the bourgeoisie had set its fat rump firmly in the saddle, and was getting down to the
serious business of making money.”
 “The true difference between Byron and Shelley consists in this, that those who understand
and love them consider it fortunate that Byron died in his thirty-sixth year, for he would
have become a reactionary bourgeois had he lived longer; conversely, they regret Shelley’s
death at the age of twenty-nine, because he was a revolutionary through and through and
would consistently have stood along with the vanguard of socialism.” (Marx and Engels, On
Literature and Art, pp. 320-1.)

vii. Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792-1822)

 Percy Bysshe Shelley was born in 1792, the year of the deposition of Louis XVI and the
September massacres in Paris. Like those of the first generation of Romantic poets,
Shelley’s views were shaped by the French Revolution and its aftermath, but he came to
maturity in a very different political climate. He wrote a political pamphlet A Declaration of
Rights, on the subject of the French Revolution, but it was considered to be too radical for
distribution in Britain
 In 1822 Shelley, moved to Italy with Leigh Hunt and Lord Byron where they published the
journal The Liberal. By publishing it in Italy the three men remained free from prosecution
by the British authorities. The first edition of The Liberal sold 4,000 copies.
 FRENCH REVOLUTION GALLERY

Painting depicting : La fête de l'Unité sur la place de la Bastille Day, July 14, 1789, Paris, France, engraving by Prieur,
Révolution, le 10 août 1793. By Pierre-Antoine Démachy (1723- French Revolution, 18th century.
1807). Carnavalet Museum in Paris.

"The Tennis Court Oath, June 20, 1789" The deputies pledged
not to stop the meetings until de constitution had been written. The Execution of Louis XVI in the Place de la Revolution on 21
Painting attributed to Jacques Louis David (1748-1825), 18th January 1793, 1790s. Found in the collection of Musée
century. 0,65 x 0,88 m. Carnavalet Museum, Paris Carnavalet, Paris

Liberty Leading the People, 1830. Artist: Delacroix, Eugène

To Versailles, an Incident in the French Revolution', (circa 1894),

(circa 1902). After a painting in the Museums Sheffield (1798-1863
collection. French women weilding scythes and banging drums
march on the palace of Versailles. Thousands of women took
part in the march on 5 October 1789. From The Nation's
Pictures. A selection from the finest modern paintings in the
public picture galleries of Great Britain, reproduced in colour.
 CAUSES OF FRENCH REVOLUTION

Let us now discuss the causes of the French Revolution. For the sake of convenience we divide it
into four categories.

 Social
 Political
 Intellectual
 Economical
1. Social Causes

France was divided into three Estates or Classes

 The Clergy
 The Nobles
 The Commoners

The first two classes were called the “privileged” classes and the third was the under-privileged
class.

Privileges of Clergy

The privileges of the clergy dated back to medieval times when the Church was supposed to be the
guardian of the “souls” of the people and looked after their education and tended the weak and
invalid. In the lieu of spiritual service the clergymen were granted large estates and the Church
owned a good deal of landed property. In the 16th 17th 18th centuries the name of the Church had
suffered much on account of the corruption and vices of the clergymen and the consequent
Reformation movement, yet the clergymen in the 18 th century still enjoyed their old privileges and
influence. To others who wished to achieve position and influence the Church was the only avenue
for achieving this, and ambitious people joined the religious order. In the social and political
matters the clergymen always made common cause with the noble and all attempts to impose taxes
on them were resisted bitterly.

Privileges of the Nobles

The nobles in France formed a hereditary caste and unlike England, the sons of French nobles kept
themselves aloof from the commoners and were jealous of their rights. They enjoyed a numbers of
privileges which dated back to the heydays of feudalism and though Richeliue and Mazarin had
deprived them much of their political power, their privileges were still intact. The nobles often
monopolized trade and were extremely rich and lived in a grand style. They did not pay any direct
taxes and were exempted from a number of indirect ones. The nobles could be classified into big
nobles and lesser nobles. The former usually lived at court and vied with one another in leading a
luxurious and licentious life and in trying to win the king’s favour. The more money they could
fleece, the greater was their own share. They perpetrated all sorts of atrocities on the helpless
peasants who could not even appeal to the nobles against them.

The lesser nobles mostly lived in idle, gay and purposeless life on their estates and contributed very
little the economic or political progress of the country. They were satisfied with an easygoing life,
enjoyed shooting and hunting. They have same privileges as big nobles and exempted from taxation
and other burdens from the masses groaned.

The Miseries of Masses

The masses comprised as the third estate, were composed of peasants and the new middle class
“bourgeoisie” both belonged to the under-privileged classes

i. The Peasants

The peasants were subjected to “triple taxation” they paid taxes to the king, to the nobles and to
clergy. The king claimed both direct and indirect taxes. The direct taxes comprised the “taille” or
the land tax, a poll tax per head and income tax which amounted to one-twentieth of the peasant’s
income. The indirect taxes comprised salt tax, customs and excise duties and forced labor on the
roads.

ii. The rise of the Bourgeoisie

A new middle class had steadily emerged through the last two or three centuries. It consisted of the
bourgeoisie or towns- people who controlled commerce and industries and worked for a living in
some profession or the other. They mostly controlled all industry through guilds. They had become
fairly rich on account of overseas trade in tobacco, wine, spices, tea, coffee and cotton with the
colonies and quite a few of them could compete very favorably in wealth with the nobles. But they
belonged to the underprivileged class and were subjected to taxation. They were inspired by the
French philosophers and the successful revolt of the American colonies against Great Britain and by
their “Declaration of Independence”. They attacked the privileges of nobles and were in sympathy
with the peasants.[ CITATION Rag89 \l 1033 ]

2. Economic Causes

Though there had been considerable economic and agricultural development in the 17th century
under Richelieu and Colbert, agriculture was still backward and quite often they were famines and
food riots. King Louis XVI had just spent millions of francs helping the American colonies fight
against the England. Because of this and others debts, just the interest payments on loans took up
over half of the France’s economy. Then in 1788 France was hit by a terrible drought that nearly
destroyed the entire year’s harvest and the jobless, starving people began to riot. [ CITATION Lil19 \l
1033 ]

3. Political Causes

Degeneration of Monarchy

Political condition after Louis XIV was far from happy. The monarchy though still absolute had
degenerated in many respects. Louis XV was an easy-going man, pleasure-loving monarch whose
court was steeped in immorality and licentiousness. He was deeply under the influence of mistress
like Madame de Pompadour who was responsible for the Austrian alliance in 1756 and all its evil
results in terms of loss of colonies and foreign commerce and prestige.

Louis XVI who succeeded him in 1774 was weak-willed through religious, pious, kind and moral.
He lacked all those qualities of leadership and kingship which were required at this crucial time in
history of France, when the king was faced with a grave financial and political crisis. He was too
much under the influence of his young and beautiful queen, the Austrian princess, Marie Antoinette,
who was intensely hated by the French people because she was foreigner. She had no love for the
French people and was extravagant and unsympathetic. While France was passing through a serious
financial crisis and was faced with the problem of food, she was lavishly spending money on her
pleasures and was absolutely unconcerned about the miseries of people. The monarchy was, in
short, incompetent and utterly unable to solve the question of the nobles’ privileges and the problem
of food and thus allowed the condition to drift and deteriorate.

Centralized Government

The administration had been highly centralized in the 17th century and continued to be so in the 18th.
Everything in the state was decides by the council at Versailles which hardly any time to devote to
the affairs of the state. Too much centralization had deprived local officials of all initiative and
unnecessary delay was caused by references to the central government even over trivial matters.

Influence of American Revolution

The revolt of the American colonies against Great Britain had a tremendous impact on the minds of
the Frenchman. France had joined the colonies against England in the war of American
Independence and the French soldiers under Lafayette had fought in America and defeated the
English. The success of revolt of the colonies and their Declaration of the Independence and a
subsequent adoption of a new constitution based on the principles of equality and liberty and on the
principles of the separation of powers as enunciated by Montesquieu deeply influenced the French
soldiers returning home after the war and the French people through them.

4. Intellectual Causes

The writings of philosophers had a tremendous impact on the minds of people and created a
revolutionary awakening in their minds and formed intellectual creed of the French Revolution. The
common man was now convinced that the Church and State had made an unholy alliance to exploit
him and so both of them should be revolutionized. In creating intellectual awakening in France the
following philosophers played a notable part.

Voltaire

He was a great philosopher, historian, poet, dramatist and satirist of his age and was a very widely
known. He ridiculed Church by means of his sarcasm and satire, and completely shook people’s
faith in it. He indirectly undermined their faith in the theory of the Divine Right of Kings. His
writings had a tremendous effect on millions of people not only in France but in whole Europe

Montesquieu

He was more of a political philosopher then a Deist. He was deeply influenced by the English
culture and political institutions. He attributed the comparative happiness and prosperity of the
English people to their liberal constitution and advocated the adoption of the similar institution in
France. He ardently supported the principle of the Separation of Powers, the independence of the
three organs of State, the Executive, the Legislature and Judiciary from one another

5. Financial Causes

Unfortunately both the King and the nobles failed to appreciate the gravity of the financial crisis
and did not realize that if the Ship of State foundered on the rock of financial bankruptcy, the nobles
would also sink along with the monarch. The noble remains adamant, and the King continued to
vacillate. Minister after minister was appointed to improve the financial condition but without the
cooperation of monarch and the nobles the crisis continued to deepen.

Turgot as Finance Minister

Louis XVI appointed Turgot as Finance Minister. Hopes rose high, as he was a friend of Voltaire
who wielded considerable emotional influence on the people. He abolish the guilds and to introduce
free corn trade but he was strongly opposed by the nobles and the clergy so was dismissed in 1776.

Jacques Necker
He was great banker and financier and enjoyed the confidence of the moneyed class of France. But
as he was a Protestant he was hated by the nobles. Yet he succeeded in raising loan to enable France
to fight against England in war of American Independence. He issued a pamphlet entitled
“Accounts rendered of the Financial Condition”. It mentioned the sources of income but at the same
time it drew the attention of masses to the colossal expenditure at court. There was a hue ad cry by
the masses against this so the King dismissed him.

The States-General 1789

The king decided to summon this medieval institution which had not been met since 1614. The
State-General was an assembly of the three Estates, the nobles, the clergy and the masses.
Whenever it was summoned, the three Estates met, deliberated and voted separately and the votes
of any two Estates could outweigh the vote of third, irrespective of the strength of each estate..As
always the clergy and nobles voted together against the masses. But the Third Estate was adamant
and on 10 June 1789 it proclaimed itself a “National Assembly” and invited the other two Estates to
join it. The King was opposed this move and shut the doors of hall where the meeting of the Third
Estate to be held.

The King was frightened into submission and ordered that the three Estates could sit together and
vote “by head”. Behind his outward submission, he was scheming to crush the Assembly and mob
violence by force and under pressure of his courtiers, he dismissed Necker. Necker was popular in
people and they hoped that he will be able to solve the financial as well as food problem. The Paris
mob was infuriated and on the 14 th of July stormed the “Bastille”, the symbol of “Bourbon
Despotism”. This was hailed as the end of Absolutism and marked the beginning of the great
French Revolution.

Reign of Terror

In June 1793, the Jacobins seized control of the National Convention from the moderate Girondins
and instituted a series of radical measures, including establishment of a new calendar and the
eradication of Christianity. They also unleashed the bloody Reign of Terror, 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 of 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 excesses.
 FRANCE DURING THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

The vast majority of people in France lived in destitution, with little chance of escaping their
condition. Peasants were entirely at the mercy of the nobility, who had preserved much of the
fundamental power relationship of feudalism. As Jean Jaurès described in 1901, the economic
subjugation in the countryside was profound:

There was not one action in rural life that did not require the peasants to pay a ransom… Feudal
rights thus extended their clutches over every force of nature, everything that grew, moved,
breathed […] even over the fire burning in the oven to bake the peasant’s poor bread.

This led to near-universal poverty in the countryside. English agriculturalist Arthur Young
remarked at the time:

The poor seem poor indeed; the children terribly ragged, if possible worse clad than if with no
clothes at all; as to shoes and stockings they are luxuries… One third of what I have seen of this
province seems uncultivated, and nearly all of it in misery. What have kings, and ministers, and
parliaments, and states, to answer for their prejudices, seeing millions of hands that would be
industrious, idle and starving, through the execrable maxims of despotism, or the equally detestable
prejudices of a feudal nobility?

The urban population of artisans and journeymen laborers experienced similar hardship. Economic
reorganizations in the kingdom threatened the apprenticeship system, jeopardizing the ability of
craftsmen to control their own work. Day laborers — permitted to exist in the cities only when they
could produce papers proving their employment — were stalked by royal police.

At the same time, a wave of immigration brought dramatic demographic changes to Paris. Historian
Eric Hazan estimates that in 1789 immigrants numbered about two thirds of the city’s population,
and they each had to “request a passport in their region of origin to avoid being arrested en route as
vagabonds and sent to beggars colonies.”

The clergy and nobility, together comprising about 1.6 percent of the population, were doing just
fine — most nobles lived in extreme opulence and inherited their positions hereditarily. The
Catholic Church controlled by some estimates 8 percent of total private wealth.

But in the years immediately prior to the revolution, a new class of financiers — generally
upwardly mobile craftsmen or landholding peasants — began to grow in the cities, threatening to
replace the nobility as the most decadent of social layers.

Meanwhile, the kingdom was in the midst of a catastrophic financial crisis. The king was broke, and
the system of accounting that had developed chaotically during the Seven Years War left the his
functionaries unable to account for the kingdom’s wealth until it had almost disappeared. Foreign
financiers were recalling their debts, the harvest of 1788 was decimated by a drought and a series of
hailstorms, and the free trade agreement brokered between France and Great Britain at the end of
the Seven Years War flooded the French market with British textiles, ruining French garment
production.

Things were bad. Panicked about the financial crisis, Louis XVI squeezed the people even harder,
demanding increased taxes from all layers of society.

But there were rumblings of resistance, in the cities as well as the countryside. Elites like Louis-
Sébastien Mercier expressed dismay at the insubordination of urban workers:

There has been visible insubordination among the people for several years now, and especially in
the trades. Apprentices and lads want to display their independence; they lack respect for the
masters, they form corporations [associations]; this contempt for the old rules is contrary to order…
The workers transform the print shop into a real smoke den.

And peasants, still expected to sacrifice even their most basic of foodstuffs as tribute to king and
church, took matters into their own hands as famine loomed. As one mayor of a rural district
remarked, “It is impossible to find within half a league’s radius a man prepared to drive a cartload
of wheat. The populace is so enraged they would kill for a bushel.” The starving peasants were
unwilling to deliver flour to their feudal masters to satisfy the demands of an enormous war debt;
they preferred to eat it instead.

What happened on July 14, 1789?

The storming of the Bastille on July 14, 1789 represents the popular revolution’s inaugural moment.
Encouraged by the rapid pace of reforms — and exasperated with the National Assembly’s
unwillingness to take a harder line with the intransigent king — masses of artisans and laborers
assaulted the Bastille de Saint-Antoine, seized its gunpowder, and released the handful of prisoners
held there.

By claiming the fortress on behalf of the revolution, they sent a powerful message to the forces of
old wealth that still dominated the kingdom — the upheaval in France would not be a simple
legislative reorganization, but rather a social revolution. From this point forward, the French
revolutionary process would, in many ways, take its lead from a volatile popular insurrection that
surged again each time its gains were threatened.
Hazan describes it this way:

The storming of the Bastille is the most famous event in the French Revolution, and has moreover
become its symbol throughout the world. But this glory rather distorts its historical significance. It
was neither a moment of miracle, nor a conclusion, nor a culminating point of the ‘good’ revolution
before the start of the ‘bad’, that of 1793 and the Terror; the storming of the Bastille was one
shining point on the trajectory of the Paris insurrection, which continued its upward curve…

Foreshadowing the dramatic seizure of Tuileries by thousands of sans-culottes in 1792 — which

would establish the insurrectional Commune and finally depose the king — the storming of the
Bastille represents neither culmination nor catalyst of the French Revolution. Rather, it was a
moment in which masses of oppressed Parisians thrust themselves into the process of reform
already underway in France, challenging the king’s absolutism as well as the authority of the
overcautious legislative assemblies. In this way, they helped transform what could have been a
period of cautious reform into a period of genuine revolution.

SIGNIFICANCE OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

The French Revolution symbolises possibly the most important political change in early modern
Europe. The revolution spanning from 1789 to 1799 saw mass social and political change in France
culminating in the abolition of the French monarchy and replacement with a secular and democratic
republic. The outcome of the revolution, especially the rise of Napoleon meant that the revolution
did not just impact France. The revolution’s significance was felt worldwide. 

The events of the French Revolution spanned ten years, stemming from the calling of the Estates
General by Louis XVI in 1789 to find a solution to the tax problem, with a solution unlikely and
unfair, the Third Estate declared itself as the sovereign National Assembly. The Assembly swore
the ‘Tennis Court Oath’; revolutionary efforts would be relentless until a new constitution. This led
to the violent events such as Great Fear and the Great Terror. These events culminated in the
abolition of the monarchy and the establishment of a republic. 

The French Revolution cannot be attributed to one cause, but a multitude of factors of discontent.
Culturally speaking, Enlightenment theory such as the notion of all being born equal coupled with
the example of American independence provoked concerns over the legitimacy of the absolutist
Ancien Régime. Economically, the national debt was growing as a result of wars fought in by
France. Discontent grew as the nobility and clergy could exempt themselves from taxes, the burden
of debt fell upon the largest group, the common people that made up the Third Estate. Socially, the
French peasantry which made up the masses of the Third Estate who were seeing increasing poverty
amongst them and social inequality was growing between the lower and upper classes. This poverty
was exacerbated by hunger and discontent created by the deregulation of the grain industry.
Regulation was seen by many as a duty of the King to his subjects and it ensured that the peasantry
had the bread that made up a majority of their diet, in the light of deregulation many went hungry. 

Perhaps the key impact of the French Revolution was the destruction of the Ancien Régime and
establishment of a republic. Absolutist monarchy in France was abolished by the National
Convention in September 1792, superseded by the execution of King Louis XVI on January 21
1973 then followed by his wife Marie Antoinette’s execution nine months later. Constitutionalism
was introduced to replace arbitrary and absolutist rule based upon the will of the monarch, many of
the principles adopted in the 1791 constitution were taken from the 1789 Declaration of the Rights
of Man defining the constitution on the will of the revolution and the rights of the people. 

Another important impact of the revolution in France was the declining influence of the Catholic
Church and secularisation of society. Although Napoleon restored some of the Church’s spiritual
roles after a backlash amongst the pious the Church was not returned its power or monetary assets
such as land. Economically, the break-up of church and noble control of agricultural land meant that
small independent farming became the norm and famers, especially peasants, benefitting from
ending of a number of agricultural taxes. Another key impact of the French Revolution was also the
emergence of Napoleon Bonaparte. His prominence in military conflict between the Revolutionary
government and other European nations including large victories against Austria. He eventually
orchestrated a coup against the French Directory eventually establishing an authoritarian and
militaristic regime. 

The French Revolution’s impacts were not limited to France alone, impacting the wider European
continent and the world as a whole. Following the French Revolution there has been a trend in
Europe of dwindling importance of monarchs in politics and the wider introduction of democratic
political orders. The ideals put forward in the French Revolution were certainly in that sense,
imported worldwide. The Revolution was also met antagonistically by some countries, such as in
Britain where the majority of the people were opposed to the aims and outcomes of the revolution.
Conflict between countries was seen after the French Revolution in both the Revolutionary Wars
from 1792 to 1802 which spanned further than just in Europe to Egypt, the Middle East, the
Caribbean and beyond. This conflict was followed into the reign of Napoleon with the Napoleonic
Wars from 1803 to 1815 which was just as international as the former.

French Revolution Ends: Napoleon’s Rise

On August 22, 1795, the National Convention, composed largely of Girondins who had survived
the Reign of Terror, approved a new constitution that created a bicameral legislature for first time in
France.

Executive power would lie in the hands of a five member Directory appointed by the 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.

On November 9, 1799, as frustration with the leadership reached a fever pitch, Bonaparte appointed
himself as France’s first consul for the first time and the for the consul for life. The event marked
the end of French Revolution and the beginning of Napoleonic era.

LESSON LEARNT FROM FRENCH REVOLUTION

The French Revolution was one of the most dramatic social upheavals in history.

The revolutionary process started with open rebellion in the summer of 1789 — including the
storming of the Bastille on July 14. It would before long topple the absolute monarchy of Louis
XVI, divest the nobility of their hereditary power, and completely undermine the political influence
of the Catholic Church.

From this unstable crucible ultimately emerged Napoleon, who would construct the Bonapartist
state through war and empire, ultimately leading to France’s renewed subjugation by the old powers
of Europe and the restoration of the monarchy.

The French Revolution was an enormous social reorganization affecting some twenty-five million
people in France and countless others in regions as geographically distant as Haiti. During the five
years of push-pull between the forces of reaction and the will of the revolutionaries, common
people experienced great hardship, but also the largely unprecedented opportunity to intervene in
matters of national politics and disrupt the exploitative power relationships that defined their lives.

Eric Hazan concludes his book with another reminder — the French Revolution, in many ways,
ended in defeat. The mainstream history is the history of the victors, the forces of reaction who
succeeded in cauterizing the revolution on 9 Thermidor. So our task is to excavate the history of
France’s great revolution, now buried under over two centuries of permanent counter-revolution.
He writes:

The heirs of the Thermidorians, who have governed and taught us continuously ever since, seek to
travesty this history. Against them, let us keep memory alive, and never lose the inspiration of a
time when one heard tell that ‘the unfortunate are the powers of the Earth,’ that ‘the essence of the
Republic or of democracy is equality,’ and that ‘the purpose of society is the common happiness.’

In India

The French revolution had a lasting impact on India the following points justify it 

1.the ideas and the writings of French philosophers were the frat source of inspiration for the Indian
social reformers

2.the ideas of liberty , equality and fraternity which became the popular slogans during the French
revolution had given positive boost to the freedom movement in India as the freedom fighters
demanded for and equality from colonial rulers

3.the fundamental rights enriched in the Indian constitution have its origin from the French
revolution.

In this, as in many other ways, the French revolutionary leaders were unlike Stalin and other
twentieth-century dictators. In the Year II many of the leading revolutionaries fell victim to the
Terror that they had helped to set up. The revolutionary leaders were afraid and with good reason.
They were desperate to show their own integrity, that they could not be bought by the counter-
revolution. And this very fear in its turn made them pitiless with one another. They dealt out terror
in part because they too were terrorised. Paradoxically, the Terror emerged partly from the relative
weakness of the revolutionary leaders. The Jacobins used coercive violence and the power of fear to
subdue their enemies, including opponents from their own ranks, ‘the enemy within’. Terror was
motivated less by abstract ideas, than by the gut-wrenching emotion of fear on the part of the people
who chose it.

As a Jacobin leader, Robespierre had supported the use of terror. He made some of the key speeches
seeking to justify its use in order to sustain the Republic. But he was far from alone, and very far
from being the dictator of a Reign of Terror — that was a myth perpetrated by the revolutionaries
who overthrew him out of terror for their own lives, not because they wanted to dismantle the
Terror. These surviving former terrorists ensured that Robespierre and the group around him took
the rap posthumously for the Terror; even whilst they opportunistically reinvented themselves as
men who had kept their hands clean.

Robespierre himself remains a complex figure. He was known as ‘the Incorruptible’ — a quality
almost as rare in contemporary politics as it was in his lifetime. He was that rare figure, a conviction
politician. For nearly thirty years now, since long before I became a professional historian, I have
been haunted by a question: what led a man like Robespierre (and others like him) who at the start
of the Revolution was a humanitarian opposed to the death penalty, to chose terror four years later?
I’m not the first person to ask this question. Many historians have asked it and come up with very
different answers. But then historians always disagree with one another, and few people have
divided historical opinion as much as Robespierre. Yet two things I do know: firstly that the answer
has to be sought not in some warp of Robespierre’s personality, but in the politics of the Revolution
itself; and secondly, that in addressing it there is no room for complacency.

To understand the French revolutionaries is to better understand ourselves. We have cause to be

grateful that we have not been confronted with such choices, in such circumstances, and with such
tragic consequences, as they faced in their own lives.

Bibliography
WALTERS, JONAH. "Jacobin." 7 April 2017. www.jacobinmag.com. 5 May 2020
<https://www.jacobinmag.com/2015/07/french-revolution-bastille-day-guide-jacobins-terror-
bonaparte/>.

"British Literature Wiki." https://sites.udel.edu. WordPress. 5 May 2020

<https://sites.udel.edu/britlitwiki/the-french-revolution/>.

Dayal, Raghubir. Modern European History. New Delhi: CBS Publishers, 1989.

Knowles, Lilian. “New Light on the Economic Causes of French Rvolution.” Economic Journal (1919): 1-
24.

Lula, Muneera. "Manchester Historian." 12 June 2016. manchesterhistorian.com. 5 May 2020

<https://manchesterhistorian.com/2016/analysis-of-the-french-revolution/>.

Linton, Marisa. "OUPblog." 6 July 2013. bloug.oup.com. 5 May 2020

<https://blog.oup.com/2013/07/french-revolution-democracy-terror/>.

Ranjan, Aditi. "Brainly." 24 June 2015. brainly.in. 5 May 2020 <https://brainly.in/question/135984>.