The French Revolution (1789-1799) was one of the greatest turning points in European history, turning everything on its head, literally and figuratively. It showed how the transition from absolute monarchy to radicalism can bring unity on the outside, but self-destruction on the inside.
Context
A major cause of the French Revolution was the Enlightenment, which started around the mid-17th century. Philosophers, or Enlightenment thinkers, began to question the authority of monarchs as they advocated for the necessity of rationality and reason over common belief. Ideas such as limited government and constitutional monarchy began to spread like wildfire, and across Europe, absolute monarchies and church authorities started to feel ideologically threatened.
Pushed on by the spread of Enlightenment ideas, the French people felt that they needed more representation in the Estates General, the French government. These individuals were most likely part of the 3rd Estate, who, ranging from the middle class bourgeoisie to the hungry peasants, made up 97% of France’s population, while the other 3% was made up of the 1st Estate (the clergy) and the 2nd Estate (the nobility). Despite the drastic percentage differences, up until now, all three estates had the same amount of representation in the Estates General (⅓ each). The 1st and 2nd Estates were also able to escape taxation, despite being the ones in the country with all of the wealth.
But the Enlightenment was not the only problem for the absolutist Bourbon kings of France. Without the grasp of power, especially through espionage and other forms of control back during the times of Louis XIV, the French monarchy began to decline. By 1789, Louis XVI, an indecisive and weak king, was on the French throne with his Austrian wife Marie Antoinette “the Austrian whore” who showered herself with luxury while the majority of France were suffering. Bread prices were high and national debt was high due to expensive wars, and most of this economic burden fell on the 3rd Estate.
The Liberal Phase
The Estates General hadn’t been called since the reign of the all-powerful Louis XIV. Louis XVI decided to call the Estates General back to discuss how to run France, but there was a mishap, where most of the 3rd Estate arrived to convene but the doors were locked. Enraged, they decided to hold their own meeting in a nearby tennis court. This would later be known as the Assembly of Notables, where the 3rd Estate swore the Tennis Court Oath and promised to establish a constitution. A few weeks later, this group of revolutionaries became the National Assembly.
On July 14 1789, about a month after the formation of the National Assembly, a mob of peasants attacked and breached the Bastille, a prison that symbolized the absolutism and sovereignty of the monarchy. They freed a few prisoners and got their hands on gunpowder. This event became known as the Storming of the Bastille, and July 14 would later become Bastille Day, a national holiday in France.
A few months after the Storming of the Bastille, a hoard of peasants headed to Versailles angrily. The peasants of France were infuriated at how expensive bread had become, and demanded the royal family to be brought to Paris to the Tuileries Palace, where the Parisian population would be able to keep a close eye on them. After arming themselves, the peasantry proved successful. This event would later be remembered as the Women's March on Versailles (though men participated too). The royal family was forced to relocate to the Tuileries.
French politics began to change. A constitution was drafted, titled the Declaration of Rights of Man & Citizen, and suddenly Louis XVI was no longer able to enjoy the powers of an absolute monarch like the rest of his ancestors. The new National Convention now had the ability to tax and abolish unions, and the king was subject to the laws they drafted up. At one point, Louis XVI and his family attempted to escape France to seek the help of other monarchs in Europe, but were caught.
In 1792, the National Convention declared France to be a republic and abolished the monarchy completely. This was highly encouraged by the Jacobins, a radical political party who saw the king as a traitor. In December 1792, Louis XVI was tried. The Girondins (a less radical party) feared regicide, but the Jacobins wanted him dead. Ultimately the Jacobins got their wish: Louis XVI was guillotined in January of 1793. Marie Antoinette was executed not long after.
The Radical Phase
The few years that would follow became the darkest times in the French Revolution. Jacobin leaders unleashed a “Reign of Terror” on France, executing anyone who didn’t support the new French republic—even anyone who didn’t support them enough.
Maximilien Robespierre, the head of the Committee of Public Safety, was one of the most influential political figures during the French revolution, overshadowing French politics and sending thousands to the guillotine. Jean-Paul Marat was a journalist and politician, spreading radical beliefs everywhere through his powerful and influential newspaper articles, criticizing any anti-Jacobin.
Though their Reign of Terror wasn’t an absolute monarchy per se, the political environment wasn’t far off from one: their absolute corrupt rule forced the French people into one ideology and executed anyone who wouldn’t obey. Over the course of 2 years, guillotine blades took the lives of 17,000 people for alleged disloyalty to the republic.
Under Jacobin rule, everything associated with religion, such as calendars, were changed, as religion had no place in a secular radical
republic. Before the French Revolution, France was predominantly Catholic. Catholicism was supported by the French monarchy and was a huge inspiration for baroque architecture all around France, such as the world famous Palace of Versailles, but was also associated with the counter-revolution during the Reformation and seen as a conservative and corrupt. The Jacobins formed a new “religion” where there was no god; rather, everyone worshipped the “virtues” of the republic, all while the guillotines continued executing suspected political dissidents.
As the Jacobins reigned during these years, the French people began to question the radical practices of the republic. Resistance to the Jacobins began to spread, and people began to wonder if a republic like this was actually better than a monarchy…
The Conservative Phase
Following this period of radicalism, politics started turning conservative. In the next couple years, the Jacobin leaders lost their popular support.
One of the most obvious and famous examples would be the death of Jean-Paul Marat. Remember - Marat was a Jacobin, who wrote influential newspapers about radical beliefs and accused many of being an enemy to the republic. In July 1793, he was killed by Charlotte Corday, who reasoned that she was saving France’s population by silencing the radical voice that reverberated through the news. A painting by Jacque-Louis David, called the “Death of Marat,” illustrates the scene, showing Marat in his bathtub with a piece of newspaper in his hand, limp.
A year later, in July 1794, Robespierre would meet his end—by now he had gained plenty of enemies for his extremely radical practices. He was found, with his few supporters, stuck in a hotel with nowhere to run as the Convention closed in, ready for his execution. Robespierre attempted suicide, but ended up blasting his lower jaw. He was caught, locked up in the same place that once imprisoned Marie Antoinette, and sent to the guillotine. Robespierre, the powerful voice of Jacobin radicalism, was finished off by his own reign of terror.
Meanwhile, the Catholic church returned (although with much less power), and the clergy and nobility made their way back. The new “religion” the Jacobins had set up was looked down upon, and was soon outlawed.
Through the revolutionary fervor and the conservative reactions that gripped France in the late 18th century, France was also at war with foreign powers, such as Austria and Britain, and had been winning these battles, thanks to Napoleon. He came back to France from his military campaigns and was welcomed like a hero, for the people were eager to follow a leader to guide them out of all the revolutionary chaos.
Napoleon was elected as emperor of France, and after Napoleon’s downfall, France returned to monarchy (limited by a constitution). However, the liberal ideas of a republic and self-government spread throughout Europe quickly, and monarchs of other European powers were now sitting uncomfortably in their thrones, their absolute power yet to be challenged. The French Revolution would be an inspiration for the many revolutions that occurred in Europe throughout the 19th century.
Sources
AP Euro + European History knowledge
Kagan textbook: The Western Heritage