Revolutions And The French Revolution

The initial impulse of the French revolution was destructive. For those who lived through all, or even part, of these vast upheavals, the shock was overwhelming. Maximilien Robespierre was a proud disciple of the enlightenment and declared that no political writer had foreseen this revolution. Robespierre (1758-1794) was one of the leaders of the Committee of Public Safety, the effective governing body of France during the most radical phase of the revolution. The leaders of this revolution attempted, perhaps more than any other revolutionary leaders before or since, to totally transform human society in every way. (Supreme Being) Although Robespierre began with patriotic intent he still was the face of the Reign of Terror and was viewed as being a radical person.

The development of the French Revolution was greatly influenced by the philosophies of the French Enlightenment period. Interestingly, disparate to the English and American Revolutions, the French Revolution did not evolve in a linear fashion. Instead, it progressed in a series of conflicting phases, each of which could be considered almost as a revolution in itself. Political theorists – such as Montesquieu, Rousseau and Voltaire – were sources of inspiration for key revolutionaries throughout the Revolution’s three major phases. As the revolutionists occupying the leading roles changed, the principles of the Revolution’s former phase were abandoned in favour of another policy, essentially antithetical to the previous one. Ultimately, in shifting between various Enlightenment philosophers, France was able to subject its government to massive structural change - from being an absolute monarchy (prior to the Revolution), to a constitutional monarchy (1791-1792), then a republic (1792-1804), and finally a dictatorship (under Napoleon Bonaparte).

The French Revolution, beginning in 1789, was a lengthy process in which the people of France took over the government and instituted a Republic (Chambers). The overarching goal of the Revolution was to place the power of government in the hands of the people. For two years, whilst France was facing internal disorganization and external wartime threats, the government was run by a war dictatorship under Maximilien Robespierre, the head of the Committee

Before the French Revolution took place the people were oppressed by their king, Louis XVI. The irresponsible king did not call upon parliament for advice, instead ignoring Parliament for many years. This rule of no regulation by Louis XVI made the people see how unfair the circumstances were and put their laws and government into perspective for the way they were living. Because of the neglectfulness of the king, the people were left without another power to keep the balance over their neglectful King. Without Parliament’s influence on the King, the third estate was accessed unfair

The Enlightenment was a period of great thinkers trying to solve the world’s mistakes with logic. Their ideas eventually affected later Revolutions. The American and French Revolutions were very inspiring around the world.

The American and French Revolutions took place hundreds of miles apart, yet they are similar in many ways. For example, they both wished to get rid of unfair tax policies that were imposed on them by oppressive monarchies. Also, the citizens of both countries began to feel that they were entitled to certain rights and freedoms that the monarchy had limited. The Enlightenment introduced ideas of a good and fair government, and broadened the influence of public opinion. People in France and America read the works of Enlightenment thinkers like Locke, Montesquieu, and Voltaire. Many of the revolutionary leaders of both revolutions had studied major writings of the Enlightenment, inspiring them to support the concepts of the social contract,

The French Revolution was a time rife with violence, with many revolutionaries using extreme actions to overturn the French Monarchy and create a government based on equality and justice, rather than tyranny and despotism. This violence reached gruesome and terrible heights throughout the revolution, but was justified by the revolutionaries, who believed that their goals of total equality, the end of tyranny, and the return to a virtuous society, allowed them to use means necessary to attain these sublime and holy goals. Their goal of total virtue for France was a good goal, but the methods in which they attempted to achieve it were tyrannical. Additionally, nationalism was used as method of convincing the French that pure and virtuous thoughts that drove the revolutionaries to such terrible heights. The Committee of Public Safety believed that personal freedom should be foregone in order to protect France from foreign monarchies in Europe who wanted to reinstall the monarchy. Although their original intention was to better France through overthrowing the monarchy, their methods in eradicating the ideology of the monarchy were cruel and extensively terrible.

The Revolutions in America and France had many correlating factors and causes. Both countries began their revolts to escape the ruling powers of their King. Both countries had people inspired to begin a revolution because of unjust taxations imposed by the monarchies rule over them. Circumstances were different in America and France, their specific reasons for revolution were distinct and purposeful. Peasant workers in France were upset about not being represented in the French Parliament, as it was traditionally controlled by middle and upper-class citizens. In America, revolutionary ideas began when the colonists from Great Britain were not given representation in British Parliament, and were forced to pay taxes to the British Kingdom

The American Revolution and French Revolution were unique in world history because they used the ideas of freedom and equality from the Enlightenment, but understood them differently at the same time. Both revolutions occurred around the same time- the 18th Century, the American Revolution began on the 4th of July when Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence (Dr. Taylor). The French Revolution then follows in 1789, provoked by “...a greater demand for food and consumer goods” and “ the social structure of the West” (Encyclopedia Britannica). Although they ended with different results, France later reverted from a republic back to a dictatorship when Napoleon rose to power (Acemoglu, Cantoni, Johnson, Robinson 13 ; Godechot). This merely one example of how France differed from the patriotic colonists of America.

What is a revolution? According to Merriam-Webster (2014), revolution is a fundamental change in political organization; especially: the overthrow or renunciation of one government or ruler and the substitution of another by the governed. Various social, political, and economic conditions led to the revolution. These conditions included dissatisfaction among the lower and middle classes, interest in new ideas about government, and financial problems caused by the costs of wars. Due to fiscal irresponsibility and the hubris attitude of King Louis XVI and other rulers after him, the French were put

The other two social classes had no idea what the third estate was going to do. The third estate (the lower class) met alone and was named the National Assembly; they kept meeting and starting gaining a lot of new people (“French Revolution”). This led to people getting paranoid about what they were meeting about, which ultimately led to people storming the Bastille. They stormed the Bastille on July 14, in order to get gunpowder and weapons (“French Revolution”). According to Vikram Rana, the economic instability formed one of the most important causes of the French Revolution.

The French Revolution in 1789 was a chain of economic and social acts started by reformers within the French Government seeking to eliminate the absolute power of the King and rich landowners. The reformers strived to develop a Government elected solely by the citizens of the country. The Revolution was fueled by the citizens desires for liberty and equality to generate fair living standards and treatment for all social classes. The Revolution questioned the elitist power and authority of kings, priests, and nobles and provided new principles and significant social ideas for citizens. Numerous factors led to the cause of the French Revolution, which inevitably changed the appearance of France’s economy and social status. Although many historians

In a time of political plague and radical revolution; a violent, complicated, and bloody reign of terror came along, The French Revolution. A revolution like no other infiltrated with treason, scandal, and mixed ideologies.

There were a lot of things going on in France during the 1780. France was in a huge debt and had many financial issues because of King Louis XVI, who was not the brightest star in the sky. He threw many parties without even knowing that he would soon be in big trouble. Everyone was starting to get sick of being under his rules. And that’s how the French revolution had begun.

Edmund Burke published the Reflections on the Revolution in France in 1790; after the Bastille had been stormed by the Paris mol. He reflects upon about how France was very chaotic. Burke opposed the values of his contemporary revolutionaries; and he predicted that the French revolution would cause problems of fear and chaos to the country. Burke also believed that the revolutionary leaders were more interested in themselves and that they wanted power, however; and really did not care about the well-being of the French people. He believed in the concepts of liberty, equality and the right for everyone; he argues that people should have the opportunity to own their private property. Furthermore, Burke viewed the revolution as a violent takeover of the government, emphasizing that citizens should not have the right to do this. He also argues about importance of tradition in that tradition is what holds society together.