Essays on French Revolution

Coup of 18–19 Brumaire, Civil Constitution of the Clergy, French Revolutionary wars, Reign of Terror, Thermidorian Reaction.

Louis XVI, Marie-Antoinette, Napoleon I, Maximilien Robespierre.

French Revolution, also called Revolution of 1789, was a revolutionary movement that shook France between 1787 and 1799 and reached its first climax there in 1789 — hence the conventional term “Revolution of 1789,” denoting the end of the ancien régime in France and serving also to distinguish that event from the later French revolutions of 1830 and 1848.

The bourgeoisie — merchants, manufacturers, professionals — had gained financial power but were excluded from political power. Those who were socially beneath them had very few rights, and most were also increasingly impoverished. The monarchy was no longer viewed as divinely ordained. When the king sought to increase the tax burden on the poor and expand it to classes that had previously been exempt, revolution became all but inevitable.

In May 1789, widespread social distress led to the convocation of the Estates General, which was converted into a National Assembly in June. Continuing unrest culminated in the Storming of the Bastille on 14 July, which led to a series of radical measures by the Assembly, including the abolition of feudalism, the imposition of state control over the Catholic Church in France, and extension of the right to vote.

The Estates-General was convened for the first time in more than 150 years. That led to the formation of the National Constituent Assembly. The Assembly issued the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen. The Assembly was replaced by the National Convention, which abolished the monarchy and established the French republic. The events of the revolution worried other European countries, leading to war between France and Austria, Prussia, and Great Britain.

In some respects, the French Revolution did not succeed. But the ideas of representational democracy and basic property rights took hold, and it sowed the seeds of the later revolutions of 1830 and 1848.

5 May 1789 – 9 November 1799

Kingdom of France

Coup of 18–19 Brumaire, Civil Constitution of the Clergy, French Revolutionary wars, Reign of Terror, Thermidorian Reaction.

Louis XVI, Marie-Antoinette, Napoleon I, Maximilien Robespierre.

French Revolution, also called Revolution of 1789, was a revolutionary movement that shook France between 1787 and 1799 and reached its first climax there in 1789 — hence the conventional term “Revolution of 1789,” denoting the end of the ancien régime in France and serving also to distinguish that event from the later French revolutions of 1830 and 1848.

The bourgeoisie — merchants, manufacturers, professionals — had gained financial power but were excluded from political power. Those who were socially beneath them had very few rights, and most were also increasingly impoverished. The monarchy was no longer viewed as divinely ordained. When the king sought to increase the tax burden on the poor and expand it to classes that had previously been exempt, revolution became all but inevitable.

In May 1789, widespread social distress led to the convocation of the Estates General, which was converted into a National Assembly in June. Continuing unrest culminated in the Storming of the Bastille on 14 July, which led to a series of radical measures by the Assembly, including the abolition of feudalism, the imposition of state control over the Catholic Church in France, and extension of the right to vote.

The Estates-General was convened for the first time in more than 150 years. That led to the formation of the National Constituent Assembly. The Assembly issued the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen. The Assembly was replaced by the National Convention, which abolished the monarchy and established the French republic. The events of the revolution worried other European countries, leading to war between France and Austria, Prussia, and Great Britain.

In some respects, the French Revolution did not succeed. But the ideas of representational democracy and basic property rights took hold, and it sowed the seeds of the later revolutions of 1830 and 1848.