(originally posted October 4, 2013)
The French Revolution is one of the most influential events in development of democracy and importance of free will. While the revolt itself was a terrible failure and definitely did more harm than good in the short term. From this revolution evoked the ideas of representative democracy and revealing the problems with aristocratic privilege and a total overthrow of political and social norms.
The dissatisfaction with the political and social regime of the time started first with the tax system. This early system favored the "bourgeoisie" or high classes and the clergy. This population of people were not required to pay taxes at all. However, the problem with this system, was that France was deeply in debt. France's involvement in the Seven Years War and the American Revolution had basically drained them of any money they had left. The country was in deep financial trouble. The clergy and noblemen were spending money on material goods and the poor could not feed themselves. The shortage of food caused outrage among the lower classes and made life for the most part, miserable. The Enlightenment was in full swing at the time, causing intellectuals to question the role of government, of monarchy and even the role of God. This was important because the king was supposed to have the "divine right" which they didn't think was relevant anymore.
To make matters worse, when the Estates General convened the "representation" of each class was unevenly matched. The classes consisted of the first Estate which were the nobles, the second estate which was the clergy, and the third was the rest of the population. The nobility and clergy held far more power in government and they refused to give up their privilege to help the country escape financial turmoil. Louis XVI attempts to fix things by even proposing democratic local government, which was soon rejected. He the appoints Charles de Calonne whose ideas are rejected at the Estates General.
Feeling frustrated at the lack of representation, individuals of the third estate left the meeting to an empty tennis court where they swore the famous "Tennis Court Oath" where they swore they would not give up their cause until a new more equal government was established. This was how the National Assembly was created, a brand new government for a brand new set of ideals. Louis XVI responded by sending troops to Paris which angered the National Assembly. On July 14th they stormed the Bastille prison under the pretense of freeing prisoners (there were only seven prisoners at the time), but in reality to acquire weapons. These radical actions continued through to August 26th when the National Assembly, under the leadership of Maximillien Robspierre, finally wrote The Declaration of Man and of the Citizen. This document completely obliterated the original regime of the King and Church partnership, instead proposing ideas of democracy, sovereignty among citizens, and due process.
By this point of the revolution the people's anger was boiling over. The breaking point was surely the food crisis occurring in Paris. Women frustrated by the lack of food to feed their families gathered in Paris and marched to Versailles to the palace of the King and Queen. The royal family was effectively forced to accompany to crowd back to Paris so they could finally "see" the poverty and hardship their people were going through. Many people did not feel as though the King was the cause of their poverty. They were far angrier at the nobles rather than the King. Due to this, they tried to create government systems that would work alongside the King rather than get rid of him completely.
However, after the royal family was basically taken captive by the people, the revolutionary spirit began to sour. The National Assembly felt as though they could not truly be a free country unless the monarchy was abolished. After the National Convention of delegates were elected, they removed the role of the King and found the French republic the next day. This eradication of the royal family apparently was meant literally. Robespierre, along with his colleagues believed the beginning of France could only come with the death of the King. The execution of the figurehead of the bourgeoisie would be the ultimate symbol of revolution. Louis XIV was found guilty of treason and executed on January 21, 1793.
Robespierre, who had seemed like the beacon of hope in the revolution, began to focus on political and economic threats to the Republic. However, under the guis of The Committee of Public Safety, Robespierre began pointing fingers at individuals of different political ideas. Individuals who had different opinion than him. These could be anyone whose political agendas varied slightly from Robespierre's, whether they were counter revolutionaries, his colleagues, or even innocent civilians. Anywhere between 15,000 to 50,000 French citizens were executed during this time dubbed as "The Reign of Terror." Robespierre became increasingly radical, even proposing a move from the morals of Christianity to a "Republic of Virtue." In 1794, Robespierre was arrested and executed.
The French economy continued to struggle after the death of Robespierre, and hunger became epidemic. A new constitution was put into place, but one that favored the rich all while fighting two other wars. A last coup in France resulted in the establishment of Napoleon Bonaparte as the consul of France. Under Napoleon Bonaparte the revolution finally ended.
The French Revolution, while founded on brilliant ideas that make up the very foundation of our modern government was a failure in its time. It's goal to establish a republic and democracy would go unfinished for years afterwards with a string of constitutional monarchs. However, the principles of the French Revolution were those that were never seen before. The egalitarian approach to wealth and political involvement was incredible for its time. It asked incredible questions about rights of man and the nature of equality. The effects of which are still seen today.
The French Revolution is one of the most influential events in development of democracy and importance of free will. While the revolt itself was a terrible failure and definitely did more harm than good in the short term. From this revolution evoked the ideas of representative democracy and revealing the problems with aristocratic privilege and a total overthrow of political and social norms.
The dissatisfaction with the political and social regime of the time started first with the tax system. This early system favored the "bourgeoisie" or high classes and the clergy. This population of people were not required to pay taxes at all. However, the problem with this system, was that France was deeply in debt. France's involvement in the Seven Years War and the American Revolution had basically drained them of any money they had left. The country was in deep financial trouble. The clergy and noblemen were spending money on material goods and the poor could not feed themselves. The shortage of food caused outrage among the lower classes and made life for the most part, miserable. The Enlightenment was in full swing at the time, causing intellectuals to question the role of government, of monarchy and even the role of God. This was important because the king was supposed to have the "divine right" which they didn't think was relevant anymore.
To make matters worse, when the Estates General convened the "representation" of each class was unevenly matched. The classes consisted of the first Estate which were the nobles, the second estate which was the clergy, and the third was the rest of the population. The nobility and clergy held far more power in government and they refused to give up their privilege to help the country escape financial turmoil. Louis XVI attempts to fix things by even proposing democratic local government, which was soon rejected. He the appoints Charles de Calonne whose ideas are rejected at the Estates General.
Feeling frustrated at the lack of representation, individuals of the third estate left the meeting to an empty tennis court where they swore the famous "Tennis Court Oath" where they swore they would not give up their cause until a new more equal government was established. This was how the National Assembly was created, a brand new government for a brand new set of ideals. Louis XVI responded by sending troops to Paris which angered the National Assembly. On July 14th they stormed the Bastille prison under the pretense of freeing prisoners (there were only seven prisoners at the time), but in reality to acquire weapons. These radical actions continued through to August 26th when the National Assembly, under the leadership of Maximillien Robspierre, finally wrote The Declaration of Man and of the Citizen. This document completely obliterated the original regime of the King and Church partnership, instead proposing ideas of democracy, sovereignty among citizens, and due process.
By this point of the revolution the people's anger was boiling over. The breaking point was surely the food crisis occurring in Paris. Women frustrated by the lack of food to feed their families gathered in Paris and marched to Versailles to the palace of the King and Queen. The royal family was effectively forced to accompany to crowd back to Paris so they could finally "see" the poverty and hardship their people were going through. Many people did not feel as though the King was the cause of their poverty. They were far angrier at the nobles rather than the King. Due to this, they tried to create government systems that would work alongside the King rather than get rid of him completely.
However, after the royal family was basically taken captive by the people, the revolutionary spirit began to sour. The National Assembly felt as though they could not truly be a free country unless the monarchy was abolished. After the National Convention of delegates were elected, they removed the role of the King and found the French republic the next day. This eradication of the royal family apparently was meant literally. Robespierre, along with his colleagues believed the beginning of France could only come with the death of the King. The execution of the figurehead of the bourgeoisie would be the ultimate symbol of revolution. Louis XIV was found guilty of treason and executed on January 21, 1793.
Robespierre, who had seemed like the beacon of hope in the revolution, began to focus on political and economic threats to the Republic. However, under the guis of The Committee of Public Safety, Robespierre began pointing fingers at individuals of different political ideas. Individuals who had different opinion than him. These could be anyone whose political agendas varied slightly from Robespierre's, whether they were counter revolutionaries, his colleagues, or even innocent civilians. Anywhere between 15,000 to 50,000 French citizens were executed during this time dubbed as "The Reign of Terror." Robespierre became increasingly radical, even proposing a move from the morals of Christianity to a "Republic of Virtue." In 1794, Robespierre was arrested and executed.
The French economy continued to struggle after the death of Robespierre, and hunger became epidemic. A new constitution was put into place, but one that favored the rich all while fighting two other wars. A last coup in France resulted in the establishment of Napoleon Bonaparte as the consul of France. Under Napoleon Bonaparte the revolution finally ended.
The French Revolution, while founded on brilliant ideas that make up the very foundation of our modern government was a failure in its time. It's goal to establish a republic and democracy would go unfinished for years afterwards with a string of constitutional monarchs. However, the principles of the French Revolution were those that were never seen before. The egalitarian approach to wealth and political involvement was incredible for its time. It asked incredible questions about rights of man and the nature of equality. The effects of which are still seen today.
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