French Revolution and Its Impact
Added on 2020-05-16
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Running head: FRENCH REVOLUTION FRENCH REVOLUTION AND ITS LEGACYName of the StudentName of the UniversityAuthor note
FRENCH REVOLUTION 1TheFrench Revolution(1789–1799) was a violent or sudden change of ideology, politicsand social changes. This political change marked the changes in French politics that denoted ashift from monarchy to democracy. These changes denoted the shift in power from upper classesto lower classes, catholicclergy (Cole & Symes, 2017). Furthermore, this revolution marked thegeneration of republicanism, rights and citizenship. However, these revolutionary changes werenot easy for the citizens of France, as they have to suffer violent turmoil, expensive wars as thecitizens were uprising against the supreme power and the wealthy elite category. This revolutionhas two important phases, the liberal phase and the radical and terror phase (Sa'Adah, 2014). The historical meaning of these two revolutions were of great importance as itdetermined the loss of monarchy as the regime becomes weak, loss of legitimacy and less radicalsociety. The liberal or moderate phase (1789-92) of French revolution marked the disruption ofBastille, revolutionary changes in the Roman Catholic churches, declaration of rights of man,tennis court oath and abolition of slavery (Cole & Symes, 2017). Further, it marked abolishmentof feudal privileges and the whole country unified to face external problems. In this, phase theabsolutist realm of Louis XVI transformed into constitutional dominion. This new systemprovided with the rules according to which the realm should act and rules and basicconstitutional rights that could be used by common people for equality. Further, in 1789, thenational constituent assembly removed feudalism and within few hours, this course of actionremoved all the privileges from the aristocrats, clergy, nobles, companies and provinces thatenjoyed it earlier (Sa'Adah, 2014). In 1789, Louis XVI closed Salle des États where the commonpeople planned to arrange assembly. The weather was not good for an outdoor meeting, thereforethe assembly occurred in an indoor tennis court and this event was known as the tennis courtoath (June 20, 1789) (Palmer, 2013). They took the oath to stay united until a strong constitution
FRENCH REVOLUTION 2is formed and in the process 47 members of the nobility and majority members of clergy joinedthem. In the course of action by this revolutionary unity, thousands of people from Paris andFrance poured in their support in the favor of national assembly and on July 9, the NationalConstituent Assembly was formed (Cole & Symes, 2017). The terror phase or the radical phase from 1792 to 1794 was also important as it markedthe establishment of first republic, execution of the king Louis XVI and election of nationalconvention. The political insurgency made France indulge in war with Australia and its allies(Linton, 2013). The king thought that war will increases his popularity by showing his armstrength, however it lead France to suffer from constitutional crisis. This made the nationalgovernment dependent on the rebelliouscommune. The situation changed when in 1792, a newConstitution was prepared and ‘de facto government’ of France declared it as a Republic. Whilein the other hand, the Imperial and Prussian armies threatened government by retaliation of theFrench population. King Louis XVI again used this opportunity and started conspiring with theenemies of the France (Linton, 2013). However, in 1793, King Louis was condemned to deathfor conspiring against Republic Liberty with a week majority in the convention. This phase sawthe supremacy of terror that lead to revolts throughout the country this reign of terror enables arevolutionary government to avoid defeat from military as a Jacobins expanded the size of theArmy and involved younger soldiers (Cole & Symes, 2017). The legacy of the French revolution can be estimated from the fact that it puts a long andpowerful impact on the French as well as global population. This revolution changed theideology and changed the social stereotypes. Since then France has 11 constitutions and postrevolution, it made France more strong and coercive. The importance events that occurred in theFrench revolutions contributed to its legacy. It ended the absolute monarchy, destroyed the
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