French Revolution: what it is, summary, causes, and consequences

French Revolution: what it is, summary, causes, and consequences
Posted on 19-02-2022

French Revolution

What was the French Revolution?

French Revolution designates a set of events developed between May 5, 1789, and November 9, 1799, in France, which led to the fall of the absolutist regime, better known as the Old Regime.

He put an end to French absolutism and feudal privileges; promoted the political ascent of the bourgeoisie, proclaimed the Rights of Man; it laid the foundations for republicanism, modern democracy, and popular sovereignty, and inspired the libertarian movements of the 19th century. All this is under the slogan "liberty, equality, and fraternity".

It began after a meeting of the Estates-General of the kingdom to solve the economic crisis in France. But soon the struggle to transform the Old Regime into a constitutional monarchy and, soon after, to establish a republic, broke out.

The French Revolution is considered the starting point of the Contemporary Age along with the first industrial revolution. Some researchers refer to this process as "the double revolution."

Causes of the French Revolution

  • Propagation of the ideas of the Enlightenment. Among the most influential ideas was liberalism, which proposed the separation of powers, equality before the law, and individual freedom.
  • Growing socioeconomic inequality. Marked by the fall in production and consumption, scarcity, inflation, and unemployment.
  • Unequal tax burden. Both the nobility and the clergy enjoyed privileges that exempted them from taxes. Therefore, the tax burden fell mainly on the bourgeoisie and peasants.
  • Accelerated population growth. Between the years 1700 and 1789, the population grew by 44%, which was a challenge in the midst of the economic crisis.
  • The inability of the State to cover the public debt. It was a consequence of the mismanagement of the absolutist monarchy and its extremely high level of spending. Among them, the participation of France in the financing of the war of independence of the United States.
  • political crisis. While enlightened despotism grew in Europe, which had modernized societies and regimes, the King of France resisted reform of the State and maintained absolutism. There is then a dispute over political representation.

Summary of the French Revolution

During the reign of Louis XVI, France was going through a deep economic and political crisis. With no resources to cover the public debt, the monarch convened the Estates-General of France, a meeting of various representative bodies of the kingdom, which only met in situations of national emergency. The Estates-General was made up of three estates or estates:

  • First State or the nobility (with 270 representatives).
  • Second Estate or the clergy (with 291 representatives).
  • Third State or the people (with 578 representatives of the cities, called bourgeois).

From that moment, a revolutionary turn would begin in the history of France that would only culminate in 1799.

Stages of the French Revolution

The French Revolution spanned ten years, which were very tumultuous. Therefore, to understand it, it is better to separate each of its stages.

1789: the Estates General

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Aguste Couder: Inauguration of the Estates General of France on May 5, 1789 , oil on canvas, 400 x 715 cm, Musée national du château et des Trianons, Versailles.

The sessions of the States-General began on May 5, 1789. The Third Estate proposed to limit royal power and reform the monarchy, while the opinions of the First and Second Estates were divided. The Third Estate asked that all members vote individually and not by the estate, as was customary. Seeing themselves in the minority, the Conservatives refused.

The priest Emmanuel-Joseph Sieyès suggested to the lower clergy and the petty nobility to ignore the estates and join the Third Estate, which they considered representative of the nation. 149 religious and two noblemen accepted. The Third Estate then declared the National Assembly, the first session of which was on June 17, 1789.

King Louis XVI wanted to dissolve the Estates-General, but the Assembly was able to meet in another room of the Palace of Versailles, called the Ball Game Room. There the assembly members promised not to separate until they drafted a constitution and proclaimed the Constituent Assembly. This episode was known as the Ball Game Oath.

1789-1791: the taking of the Bastille and the Constituent Assembly

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Charles Thévenin: Storming of the Bastille on July 14, 1789 , 1793, oil on canvas, 41 x 58.5 cm, Carnavalet Museum, Paris.

Louis XVI sent his soldiers against the assembly and dismissed the popular minister Jacques Necker. The measure only encouraged the taking of the Bastille by the people on July 14, 1789, an action that freed the prisoners of that fortress. This event represents both the emergence of the common people of Paris as an actor in the revolution and its first triumph.

The king had to give in and, later, the Constituent Assembly proclaimed the Rights of Man and of the Citizen on August 26, 1789. But the crisis continued, and on October 5 and 6 of that year the people rose up and led carried out the Versailles march, in which they demanded food and social reforms. The monarchs were transferred to the Tuileries Palace in Paris, where they remained in custody.

On September 3, 1791, the first Constitution of France was approved. It established a constitutional monarchy and the separation of powers (judicial, executive, and legislative). The confiscation of property of the clergy and nobility was also approved, the hereditary nobility was abolished and feudal privileges were eliminated.

1791-1792: the Legislative Assembly

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Thomas Falcon Marshall: The Arrest of Louis XVI and his Family at the Passport Registrar's House, at Varennes in June 1791, 1854, oil on canvas, 105 x 142.5 cm.

Having fulfilled its mission, the Constituent Assembly was dissolved on September 30, 1791, and the new Legislative Assembly began on October 1, 1791. This brought together different political tendencies, organized in clubs or thought societies (an antecedent of political parties). Among the progressives, the following stood out:

  • Club de la Gironde or Girondins: favorable to the constitutional monarchy and census suffrage, that is, only for people with certain characteristics. The leadership of Jacques Pierre Brissot stood out.
  • Club of the Jacobins or Club of the Friends of the Constitution: favorable to the republic. The leadership of Maximilien Robespierre stood out.
  • Cordeliers or Franciscan Club: favorable to the republic and universal male suffrage, under the leadership of Jean-Paul Marat and Georges-Jacques Danton.

The monarchs attempted to flee in the so-called Fugue de Varennes, between June 20 and 21, 1791. Upon being discovered, their authority further waned and the republican factions of the assembly became more radical, fearful of an absolutist reaction.

On the so-called Day of August 10, 1792, an insurrection took place, this time in the Tuileries Palace. The insurrection led to the suspension of the monarch's constitutional functions and his arrest, and prompted elections for a new parliament, called the National Convention.

1792-1795: the National Convention and the Reign of Terror

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Execution of Louis XVI on January 21, 1793. Color engraving.

Austria and Prussia tried to contain the French Revolution by force. For this, they formed a coalition. Eventually, they had the support of the monarchies of Russia, Great Britain, and Spain, among others.

The crisis continued, but finally, the new Constitution of 1793 was approved. With this constitution, the First Republic was officially born.

The National Convention was radicalized during the war. Between April 5 and 6, 1793, the Public Salvation Committee was created under the leadership of Robespierre, which was granted full powers for the defense of the republic.

But the Committee promoted violent repression, beginning the so-called Reign of Terror or The Terror. The Reign of Terror had two moments: the best known as the Red Terror, under the leadership of the Jacobins, and the White Terror, promoted by an anti-Jacobin coalition.

The Red Terror took place between 1739 and 1794. The Jacobins executed Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette of Austria; dissidents were persecuted, and more than 10,000 people suspected of 'treason' were guillotined, including the Girondins. This provoked the reaction of the anti-Jacobins, who formed a coalition and assumed white as their symbol.

The anti-Jacobins arrested Robespierre and guillotined him in July 1794. The next day, they formed the Thermidorian Convention, better known as the Thermidor Reaction. Thus began another stage of persecution and state terrorism, this time against the Jacobins. The White Terror lasted from July 1794 to November 1795.

1795-1799: the Directory and the rise of Napoleon Bonaparte

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François Bouchot: General Bonaparte and the Council of Five Hundred, at Saint-Cloud. November 10, 1799, 1840, oil on canvas, 401 × 421 cm, Palace of Versailles.

In the year 1795, a new Constitution was approved, which established the census vote and the reform of the executive power. This would become made up of five members and would be called the Directory. But throughout his administration, there were various popular uprisings.

The constant instability brought about Napoleon Bonaparte's rise to power on November 9, 1799, through the coup d'état known as the 18th Brumaire. This period was called the Consulate and marked the end of the French Revolution and the advent of a new stage for the Gallic country.

 

Consequences of the French Revolution

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Eugène Delacroix: Liberty Leading the People or The 28th of July, 1831, oil on canvas, 260 x 325 cm, Louvre Museum, Paris. Note the Phrygian cap on the personification of Liberty and the French Republic.

Political and ideological consequences

  • End of the Old Regime.
  • Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen.
  • Creation of the French Republic and separation of public powers.
  • Replacement of social classes by the notion of citizenship.
  • Strengthening of the bourgeoisie as a ruling class.
  • Separation of State and Church.
  • Transformation of the justice system, now guided by the law.
  • Awakening of a wave of revolutionary agitation in Europe and America.
  • New military confrontations for the restoration of the Old Regime.
  • Napoleon Bonaparte's rise to power.

Economic consequences

  • Growth in the number of small owners.
  • Elimination of fiscal privileges based on estate criteria.

military consequences

  • Formation of the first national army in Europe.
  • Establishment of compulsory recruitment.

Sociocultural consequences

  • Educational reform and establishment of free and compulsory education.
  • The appearance of modern public museums and display of confiscated art collections.
  • The impulse of neoclassical art committed to revolutionary values.
  • Establishment of national symbols:
    • Appointment of the Marseillaise as the national anthem.
    • The personification of France is Marianne, a woman wearing a Phrygian cap.

 

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