the french revolution was the most
important political social change in
europe
in the late 18th century it was a
violent period
in which the old regime was overthrown
to establish a new regime where the
bourgeoisie
sometimes supported by the masses became
the dominant political force
let's look at the triggers that started
this revolution
it's the 18th century we're in france
the current of thought is the
enlightenment the ideas of people like
voltaire
rousseau and montaque have made a dent
in society
they argued that human knowledge could
combat ignorance superstition
and tyranny to build a better world
these ideas
spread through meetings held in the
homes of wealthy people intellectuals
were invited and talked about philosophy
politics
and literature the encyclopedia was read
these books were an initiative by deidre
and ellen bear that involved successive
publications with numerous
collaborations who wrote thousands of
articles
to illustrate enlightened thought and
knowledge the encyclopedia contributed
to the discrediting of the current
system a cultured society that thinks
for itself
was the best way to secure the end of
the old regime principles
based on reason equality and freedom
were injected into the mentality of the
french not just the french
the ideas illustrated had spread
throughout europe and its colonies
on the other side of the ocean this
enlightenment had served as an impetus
for the 13
american colonies to gain their
independence from england on july 4th
1776.
france at this time was under the rule
of an absolutist monarchy at the time
louis xvi reigned and he was married to
marry antoinette the power of the king
and the nobility were the basis of this
regime the state was in a rather
precarious economic situation
military spending and poor harvests
created a very serious
social situation the people were
starving as the luxury
and waste of the king and nobility
continued oblivious to the situation
and further adding to the debt of the
state coffers enlightened thought
and social discontent brought about the
perfect breeding ground
for revolution to break out but first
let's see how french society
was divided society was made up of three
social sectors
called states the first state was the
church it didn't pay taxes
it received a tithe from the peasants
that is one tenth of the product of
their crops only the church could
legalize marriages
births and deaths and education was also
in its hands
the second state was composed of the
nobility landowners
the nobility didn't pay taxes either the
peasants paid them a levy and could only
sell their crops to them it was a kind
of lifelong indentured servitude the
first
and the second state i.e the clergy and
the nobility totaled roughly three
percent of the population the third
state comprised 97
of the remaining population and its
composition was very varied on one side
was the bourgeoisie made up of wealthy
merchants and bankers
liberal professionals doctors lawyers
also of artisans and small traders on
the other hand
there were free peasants small holders
tenants and day laborers the third state
lacked power and political decision but
it paid all the taxes
had the worst jobs and had no rights the
bourgeoisie needed access to power to be
able to manage a centralized state that
would protect and boost its economic
activities
just as it had been doing in england but
let's go back to paris when the
precariousness of survival provoked
riots people went to complain to their
size
about hunger then there was a rumor that
the queen very high class
uttered the phrase let them eat cake her
response was made public and it was
quite provocative to lift the severe
budget deficit the king had declared the
state bankrupt
and convened the state's general in
1788. this was a medieval parliament
that had last been convened 174 years
earlier an assembly where the deputies
of the nobility the clergy and the
people
meet some 1 200 deputies were present
half of them represented the first two
states
and the other half represented the third
state that had managed to double its
representation the inaugural session was
presided over by king
louis xvi the nobility and clergy
demanded the vote for the stand which
assured them the majority without the
need for consensus the third state
called for the vote per head which
allowed for more equality in the vote
and the ability to open debates in the
face of the refusal of the first two
states
and the consequent blockade of any vote
the third state
invited unaffiliated members of the
nobility and the clergy to join them two
nobles
and 149 members of the clergy did faced
with this
revolutionary act king louis xvi ordered
the closing of the hall
and forbade entry to the representatives
of the third state
the deputies of the third state then
decided to form a new assembly and be
the true representatives of the people
of france they found another meeting
place
the versailles games room this assembly
took the name of the national assembly
promising to remain united
until a constitution was established for
france the king
tried to dissolve this assembly mr
murubo then uttered his famous phrase
we are here by the will of the people
and we will only leave by the force of
bayonets
on the 14th of july the people of paris
backed their representatives in the
streets
and in fear of the royal troops
arresting them they stormed the bastille
fortress
a symbol of monarchical absolutism but
also a strategic point of louis xvi
repression plan as the bastille's
cannons pointed to the surrounding
working-class neighborhoods
after four hours of combat the
insurgents stormed the prison returning
to the city hall
the crowd accused the prison governor of
treason he was stabbed
and shot to death his head was cut off
and displayed in the city impaled on a
pike
and the custom of displaying the heads
of the decapitated on pikes
was something that became very common
during the revolution the storming of
the bastille gave the radicals and the
people of paris a great deal of
self-confidence which was expressed in
the press
jean-paul marat a doctor who founded a
highly successful newspaper
became the voice of the revolution and a
kind of leader of the proletariat with
his continued harassment of the rich
the king ended up giving in and invited
the nobility and clergy to join the new
national assembly the assembly adopted
the name
of the national constituent assembly
among the work carried out by the
constituent assembly were the adoption
of the declaration of the rights of man
and the citizen the abolition of
feudalism the appropriation of the
church's assets the civil constitution
of the clergy
freedom of the press and of course the
drafting
of a constitution in this assembly those
who defended a parliamentary monarchy
sat on the right on the left sat
supporters of a republic
those representing the interests of the
middle class and popular class
thus was born the ideological definition
of the concept of being right or
left at the end of september 1789 there
was a rumor in paris that the king was
assembling his troops
and the journalists with marat at the
helm roused the people
in order for them to react people
marched to versailles camped out
organized riots on the outskirts of the
palace and one group of women even
entered the palace and beheaded members
of the royal guard
they then demanded the king move his
residence from versailles to paris
which he did a large crowd assembled in
paris and the king had to stay in
tuilarray palace
it was a way to control and subject him
to popular will
the constituent assembly which also
moved its chamber to paris
managed to approve the constitution in
1791. france would function as a
constitutional monarchy the constitution
stated that sovereignty resides with the
nation
and no longer with the king the king had
nothing left
but to accept the constitution with his
power greatly weakened the king begins
to pursue a plan to regain his power
he knows he can only do this with the
help of a foreign army his plan is to
escape the tuilare palace
to reach the nearest border the king and
queen disguise themselves as servants
and flee
during the night when they are about to
reach the border with austria their plan
is discovered
they're caught and apprehended at this
time
dr guillotine had proposed a
sophisticated method of beheading that
he presented at the assembly
journalist murat excited about this
invention nicknames the device
the gello teen it would end up playing a
very important role with the royal
family imprisoned and in fear of an
imminent attack
the assembly acts swiftly and declares
war on austria
the country of marie antoinette's family
soon prussia
joins austria on the 10th of august 1792
the masses stormed twila ray palace
and the legends assembly suspended even
the king's constitutional functions the
assembly ended up convening elections
with the aim of setting up
by universal vote a new parliament that
would be called
the national convention political and
social tension was increasing in france
which was also at war and was seeding
territories to its enemies the newly
elected parliament
composed mainly of the jacobins with
rose pierre at the helm
and the goan darns of more moderate
persuasion decided to abolish the
monarchy and proclaim
the republic they opened a trial of the
king for treason
he is eventually sentenced to death he
is killed by the guillotine queen mary
antoinette would end up following the
same fate
and was also executed the revolution had
become
radicalized during this period there was
retribution between radical jacobins and
moderate groundings
the bloodthirsty marat lashes out in his
newspaper against the gourond and
moderates and publishes lists of alleged
traitors to the revolution
this would end with marat being
assassinated while taking a bath in his
house the consequence
marat became a martyr an icon for the
radicals the national convention drafted
a new constitution it also created a new
calendar
according to which the year 1792 would
become year one of its new era they
changed the names of the month as well
floral brumari german the concept of the
week was removed in order to suppress
the religious connotations of sunday and
each month was divided into three 10-day
periods
the great speakers robespierre and
danton are the revolutionary figures who
took the most prominence at this time
the legislative power of the new
republic was in charge of the convention
while the executive power was the
responsibility of a newly created body
the committee of public safety set up to
safeguard the republic
this organization fell under the command
of the jacobin rose pierre the jacobins
unleashed what was known as the reign of
terror between 1793 and 1794
a kind of jacobin dictatorship the
french republican experiment ended up
evolving into a terrorist
regime between 10 000 and 40 000 people
were guillotined on charges of
counter-revolutionary activities
the ruthless people responsible for this
reign of terror served the ideals they
claimed to defend
priests and members of the nobility were
guillotined meanwhile
in the border war a young general was
beginning to win some battles for the
french republic
his name was napoleon bonaparte but at
home
a rebellion that turned into a real
civil war pitted supporters of the
french revolution
against counter-revolutionaries it was
called the war in the von d
collective madness caused the
revolutionary leaders themselves to
become
targeted they were accused and convicted
of jealousy of their rivals
or for aspiring to a personal
dictatorship robespierre
proposed more terror as a path to virtue
danton however
believed it was time to end the reign of
terror consequence
danton is guillotined the number of
execution increased
what became known as the great terror
robespierre's madness could only end one
way with his head cut off at the
guillotine with the fall of robespierre
terror ended but not the revolution
finally in an attempt at moderation in
1795
the new constitution of the year 3 that
had been drawn up and approved by the
convention during the previous months
was enacted it was a constitution very
different from that of 1793
and essentially returned to the
principles of the monarchical
constitution
of 1791. the two main developments it
presented was that the legislative
branch would be composed of two chambers
following the british model and that the
executive was made up of five people
who would form the directory the name by
which the new republican regime would
end up being known the directory was in
control between 1795
and 1799 and was more moderate in nature
this period is characterized by
dissension among the directors
and a serious economic crisis napoleon
bonaparte having returned from his
campaign in egypt found the motivation
to organize a coup
in 1799 on the 18th of bru marie he
proclaimed himself
the first consul of the republic the
political phase of the consulate began
at this stage he managed to restore
internal augur with great support from
the french people
the economy began moving again in 1804
he again made a move to take control and
after a plebiscite napoleon proclaimed
himself
emperor for many historians the
revolution ended here
but the cry of revolution still lives on
over all the world today
freedom equality and fraternity these
words change the history of the west
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forever
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