French Revolution
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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The French Revolution (Template:Lang-fr; 1789–1799), was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France that had a lasting impact on French history and more broadly throughout Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed within three years. French society underwent an epic transformation, as feudal, aristocratic and religious privileges evaporated under a sustained assault from radical left-wing political groups, masses on the streets, and peasants in the countryside. Old ideas about tradition and hierarchy regarding monarchs, aristocrats, and the Catholic Church were abruptly overthrown by new principles of Liberté, égalité, fraternité (liberty, equality and fraternity). The royal houses across Europe were horrified and led a countercrusade that by 1814 had restored the old monarchy, but many major reforms became permanent. So too did antagonisms between the supporters and enemies of the Revolution, who fought it out politically over the next two centuries.
Amidst a fiscal crisis, the common people of France were increasingly angered by the incompetency of King Louis XVI and the continued indifference and decadence of the aristocracy. This resentment, coupled with burgeoning Enlightenment ideals, fueled radical sentiments, and the French Revolution began in 1789 with the convocation of the Estates-General in May. The first year of the Revolution saw members of the Third Estate proclaiming the Tennis Court Oath in June, the assault on the Bastille in July, the passage of the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen in August, and an epic march on Versailles that forced the royal court back to Paris in October. The next few years were dominated by struggles between various liberal assemblies and a right wing of supporters of the monarchy intent on thwarting major reforms.
A republic was proclaimed in September 1792 and King Louis XVI was executed the next year. External threats shaped the course of the Revolution. The French Revolutionary Wars began in 1792 and ultimately featured spectacular French victories that facilitated the conquest of the Italian Peninsula, the Low Countries and most territories west of the Rhine – achievements that had eluded previous French governments for centuries.
Internally, popular sentiments radicalized the Revolution significantly, culminating in the rise of Maximilien Robespierre and the Jacobins and virtual dictatorship by the Committee of Public Safety during the Reign of Terror from 1793 until 1794 during which between 16,000 and 40,000 people were killed. After the fall of the Jacobins and the execution of Robespierre, the Directory assumed control of the French state in 1795 and held power until 1799, when it was replaced by the Consulate under Napoleon Bonaparte in 1799. His dictatorship demonstrated undisputed military genius that took France through a series of wars. He was finally defeated in 1815 by a coalition of almost all of Europe, but not before spreading French revolutionary ideals across much of the continent. Historians debate whether Napoleon was the highest achievement of the Revolution or an entirely different direction.
The modern era has unfolded in the shadow of the French Revolution. The growth of republics and liberal democracies, the spread of secularism, the development of modern ideologies, and the invention of total war all mark their birth during the Revolution. Subsequent events that can be traced to the Revolution include the Napoleonic Wars, two separate restorations of monarchy (Bourbon Restoration and July Monarchy), and two additional revolutions (1830 and 1848) as modern France took shape.
See also
- Historiography and the French Revolution
- History of democracy
- Jean-Nicolas Pache - Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité
- List of revolutions and rebellions
- List of revolutions and rebellions in French history
- Timeline of the French Revolution
- La Révolution française (film)
- Biens nationaux
- Dual revolution
- History of democracy
- Jean-Nicolas Pache - Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité
- List of people granted honorary French citizenship during the French Revolution
- Military career of Napoleon Bonaparte
- Napoleonic code
- Rise of nationalism in Europe
- Art and the French Revolution
Cultural depictions
The French Revolution is the subject of an opera, Le bleu-blanc-rouge et le noir by Italian composer Lorenzo Ferrero, written in 1989 for the bicentenary of the French Revolution.
