The French Revolution in Short
Overview
The French Revolution should not be approached as a
major event in the history of either the world or of France; rather, it is a
series of major events that began a cycle of centuries-long change. The French
Revolution may be seen as part of the societal upheaval in Western civilization
that began with the Protestant Reformation. It may also be seen as a
reaction to the American Revolution, which occurred only about ten years
previous. Additionally, it can be viewed as the precursor to the
proletarian revolutions that swept the world in the early 20th
century.
The spark that would ignite this social and political powder keg cannot be pinpointed exactly. It could be said that the time was merely ripe for change. When Louis XIV’s ancient regime seized power from the feudal lords and consolidated it on his throne, the middle class—both the gelded aristocracy and the rising bourgeoisie, found themselves overtaxed and descending in power. Forced to operate on less available capital, a system of forced labor was levied upon the peasants.
Philosophers of the Enlightenment, such as Voltaire, Diderot, and Rosseau, were also setting the tone for the times with their writings that lauded egalitarianism.
The Revolution of 1789
When King Louis XVI called for a general election to procure permission to levy further taxes, the representatives of the Third Estate (the merchants and the non-clerical nobility) presented their demands and declared a new body of government, the National Assembly. At the same time, a general discontent seized Paris, even as the king mobilized troops in a move that signaled the possibility of the implementation of martial law. The response from the people and their leaders was swift, resulting in the storming of the Bastille and the formation of the Commune, an autonomous revolutionary administration within the city of Paris. The next move by the revolutionary government was the establishment of the National Guard, which was quickly followed by le grand peur (the great fear), in which the lower classes sacked the properties of the upper. This is generally referred to as the Revolution of 1789.
Other major events of 1789 included: the Assembly’s affirmation of the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen and the taking into custody of the king and queen. Discontent continued through both the drafting of a constitution and the interdiction of the attempted escape abroad of the monarchs, both in 1791.
The Revolution of 1792
Complete disarray would erupt in the Revolution of
1792, as infighting and factionalism took over the National Assembly. On
the right were the royalists, who favored the continuation of the monarchy; on
the left were the Jacobins, whose catch phrase “Liberty, Equality, Fraternity,”
would later become the national credo of France; and, in the center were the
Girondists, who hoped to maintain a constitutional monarchy. By mid-year,
both a civil war and a general war against Austria were in full swing.
The Jacobins and others, together with other left leaning groups, became collectively known as known as Montengards (“the Mountain”). They seized control of the Commune and called for a National Convention with the intent of major revision to the constitution. By the fall of that year, the monarchy was disintegrated, the king tried, and a republic established.
The Reign of Terror and Beyond to Napoleon
By 1794 Louis XVI had been executed, the Girondists
eliminated (a response to the perceived conspiracy to assassinate Jacobin
leader Jean-Paul Marat), and a dictatorship under Georges Danton and
Maximillian Robespierre was set in place. This period of totalitarian
control is commonly referred to as the Reign of Terror.
After the 1794 guillotining of Robespierre, one more attempt to set up a revolutionary government was tried. The Directory, consisting of five constantly-feuding autocrats was established—an experiment that lasted only until 1899, when Napoleon seized power and established France as the seat of a new empire.
