The French Revolution

Another important event that captured the imagination of the rest of the world and shone as an example for many peoples of different countries for over several centuries was the French Revolution.

Unlike its American counterpart, this movement was not about shaking off the shackles of imperialism, but was fundamentally concerned with the liberty of the people of the country and its right to rule itself. The catchy slogan of “Liberty, Equality and Fraternity”, was the signature of the movement which aimed at freeing the people from the tyrannical rule of the monarchies.

The revolution, regarded by many historians as one of the most important events in human history, lasted from 1787 to 1799. This was a period of far-reaching social and political upheaval in France. It was partly carried forward by Napoleon during the later expansion of the French empire. It successfully dethroned the monarchy, and established, in its place, a Republic.

The movement was marked by many violent periods of political turmoil and culminated in a dictatorship led by Napoleon. What happened was to become a model the later on to countries in Western Europe and beyond.

Inspired by liberal and radical ideas, the Revolution significantly influenced the course of modern history, triggering a global decline of absolute monarchies, while replacing them with a Republic and liberal democracies. It also led to many wars and caused global conflict that extended from the Caribbean islands to the Middle East.

The causes of the Revolution remain shrouded in doubt and debate. Following the “Seven Year’s” War and the “American Revolutionary War,” the government of France was heavily indebted. Attempts to recover through a series of levies proved extremely unpopular with the people.

A series of bad agricultural years preceding the Revolution had already angered the population, who resented the perks and privileges enjoyed by the religious and aristocratic elite. The callous attitude of the ruling classes towards the object misery of the poor, and the suffering masses, is best exemplified by the much quoted remark of Queen Marie Antoinette who, upon being told, that the peasants had no bread to eat, is said to have remarked “let them eat cake”. Gradually, expression was given to the desire for change, and turned into a rebellion resulting in the formation, in 1789, of the Estate General.

In its very first year, the Revolution saw the members of the Third Estate assuming control, the assault on the Bastille, the passage the “Declaration of Rights of Man and the Citizen” and the “Woman's March” on Versailles that forced the “Royal Court” back to Paris.

The most important event of the first stage was the abolition of feudalism and the attendant privileges left over from the Ancien Regime. The next few years witnessed a series of struggles between the liberal assemblies on the one hand and the supporters of the Monarchy.

The country transited, in a very short period, to the state of a secular and democratic Republic where one saw freedom of religion, legalisation of same-sex relationships and the grant civil rights for the minorities such as the Jews and the Blacks.

Finally in September 1792, after the French victory at Valmy, the Revolution ended in the historical execution of King Louis the IXI, an event that was unilaterally condemned the world over.

The Revolution was continuously and significantly influenced by real and perceived external threats. The wars that began in the last decade of the 18th century led to many victories by the French including over the Italian Peninsula, the Low Countries and some territories of the Rhine in Germany – which many French governments could not achieve for centuries in the past.

That period also saw the radicalization of the Revolution culminating in the rise of Maximilien Robespierre and the Jacobins. The next important event in this sequence was the imposition of dictatorship by the Committee of Public Safety during the “Reign of Terror”, as it was called, from 1793 to 1794.

Important developments that took place during that period were the establishment of controls on prices of food and other commodities, the abolishment of slavery in colonies occupied by France abroad, the separation of religion from government, creation of a new calendar, the expulsion of religious figures and the securing of the borders of the New Republic from aggression.

Unfortunately, large numbers of civilians were executed during that time, with the estimates ranging from 16,000 to 40,000. In 1975, the “Thermidorian Reaction” an executive council called the Directory assumed control of the government. That rule was characterized by suspended elections, debt repudiation, finances instability, persecution of the clergy and many successful remarkably successful campaigns against other countries.

Finally in 1799 the Directory succumbed to a coup led by Napoleon who successfully exploited the charges of corruption against the regime.

Thus, Napoleon not only became a hero of the Revolution, but went on to lead many popular military campaigns and to establish the “First Empire”, setting the stage for a wider array of global conflicts in the Napoleonic Wars.

The modern era has unfolded in the shadow of the French Revolution. Almost all subsequent revolutionary movements look back to the Revolution as their predecessor. Its central phrases and cultural symbols, such as La Marseillaise and Liberté, légalité, la fraternité, became the clarion call for other major upheavals in modern history, including the Russian Revolution over a century later.

Nearly all the revolutionary movements in the modern history of the world were inspired by the example set by the French Revolution. As stated earlier, the three slogans of “Liberty, Equality and Fraternity”, together with the cry of "la Marseilles" became the inspiration for many such fights for freedom including, nearly a hundred years later, the Russian Revolution.

The values that inspired the French Revolution, and the institutions that came into being much later, inspired by its example continue to dominate the body politic of France even to this day. The major achievements of the Revolution obviously were the destruction of the pernicious feudal system, restoration of the dignity and importance of the individual, greater equity in the distribution of property, abolishing of the privileges of the nobles as and, most importantly, the establishment, forever, the concept of equality among the citizens of the country.

Thus, not merely the country of France, but the whole of the world, benefited from the French Revolution, which speeded up the spread of democracy as a favoured form of government, and ushered in an era of birth of Republics the world over.

Little wonder, then, that against this background, the French Revolution is fondly regarded as the focal point of all modern political ideologies, which are informed by liberalism, radicalism, nationalism, socialism, feminism and secularism, among many other values.

Many far reaching reforms leading to the recognition of the value of individual freedom and equality among religions, communities and creeds, such as universal suffrage and abolition of slavery, are regarded as the diect result of that great event in history.