The French Revolution

The French Revolution had several long term outcomes: It led to the fast development of republics and democracies around the world. The French Revolution occurred due to the oppressive nature of...

The French Revolution was principally caused by the growth in dissatisfaction among the poor and middle class of French society towards the nobility and the clergy, comprising, respectively, the...

The Reign of Terror was a period of violence during the French Revolution emanating from conflicts between the Girondins and the Jacobins. During this period people perceived to be against the...

Metternich was an Austrian alive during the French Revolution and Napoleonic Era. He would have been around to witness the revolution in France and its wide-reaching consequences, like involving...

The French Revolution affected other countries because there was immediately a perceived threat that the French would attempt to spread the Revolution to other countries. The movement to overthrow,...

To put it simply, the third estate revolted in response to an unfair economic and political system that disproportionately taxed the middle classes and peasants while benefiting the other estates....

The French Revolution of 1789-1799 followed on the American Revolution and was inspired by similar ideals, albeit in different circumstances. A key element in the Revolution was revulsion against...

It is unclear for certain if and how many children were subjected to the guillotine during the French Revolution, but some sources imply that they did in fact guillotine children. In many cases,...

Actually, the First and Second Estates paid no taxes whatsoever. This meant that one hundred per cent of the tax burden fell on the Third Estate. To make matters worse, as a means of raising money...

The French Revolution is often referred to as a watershed event because it had a profound effect on France, as well as other European countries. Because of the financial excesses of King Louis XV,...

Despite its short existence—just over two years—the National Assembly racked up an impressive list of achievements. The most important of these was arguably the abolition of feudalism, serfdom,...

There were a number of turbulent events of the French Revolution. Some of the key ones between 1789 to 1794 are described below. The Tennis Court Oath - June 20, 1789 - This pivotal event occurred...

The storming of the Bastille on 14th July, 1789, is usually taken to be the day on which the French Revolution began. The significance of the event, however, is more symbolic than anything...

This is one of the great questions on the French Revolution and the Napoleonic Era and a subject of considerable debate (and you can probably make a case for either side of it). Of course, it...

The Directory ruled France from 1795-1799. There were five Directors that led France. The Directory dealt with competing forces that wanted a constitutional monarchy or a radical democracy. The...

The directory was the government set up by the Constitution of the Year III as a result of the French Revolution. It was a very short-lived government, lasting only 4 years. The Directory included...

The French Revolution was a deeply transformative (as well as destabilizing) period in history, and its repercussions continued to be felt across the nineteenth century. It's also deeply difficult...

I think that the argument could be made that the Revolutionary Government, of which the National Convention represented, was significantly weakened by the Reign of Terror. The immediate aftermath...

The basic cause of the French Revolution was the fact that the common people of France were not given any sort of real voice in their own government. They were relatively oppressed and were very...

Although Napoleon was in practice very much a despot, he was still a product of the Enlightenment. Growing up in Corsica, Napoleon was exposed to the enlightened ideals of the Corsican nationalist...

Let's try for four. 1) All three represented a transition from a less democratic to a more democratic government. The Glorious Revolution replaced a king who had come to the throne by monarchic...

Danton and Robespierre were around the same age, were both provincial lawyers before they started out in politics, and were both fanatical revolutionaries who believed in meting out extreme...

The French Revolution led to the fall of absolutism in France through very extreme means. The Revolution was not something that came about unprovoked—a number of factors contributed to this event....

One major significance of the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen was that it was one of the first European governing documents to apply the concepts of the Enlightenment to the...

The ideals of the French Revolution were a direct outgrowth of Enlightenment philosophy. A major focus of the Enlightenment was the worth of the individual and his or her right to take a role in...

The Bourbon Monarchy was undoubtedly both the main cause and the main victim of the French Revolution. Enlightenment ideas encouraged the people of France to question their government and demand...

I would argue that the end should never justify the means. If the French Revolutionaries genuinely wanted to build a society based on liberty, equality, and fraternity, then they should have used...

A major cause of the French Revolution was the severe economic stress the country faced near the end of the eighteenth century. France was heavily in debt due to foreign wars, including its support...

The French Revolution began the establishment of social and economic rights for all citizens, affording them voice and some control over their political destinies. The Napoleonic Era established...

The French Revolution, which begin in 1789, and the Haitian Revolution, which first began in 1794, were products of the Enlightenment. In the eighteenth century, philosophers like John Locke began...

I think the negative outcomes were mainly short-term and the positive ones long term. There is no question that the French Revolution was needed. The Ancien Régime was brutal, denying basic human...

Looking back through the lens of history, there are several points where the revolution could have been avoided, or at the very least, delayed. The food shortages and economic decline that began in...

The circumstances that led to the outbreak of the French Revolution were intricate and complex. In analyzing these conditions, it becomes clear how seismic the French Revolution actually was. One...

Though the French Revolution was largely the handiwork of the bourgeoisie, the working-class people of France also played their part. For the most part, their political role was outside the formal...

The French Revolution occurred in several stages, beginning in 1789 with the overthrow of the Ancien Régime and culminating in 1799 with a military coup led by Napoleon Bonaparte. There were...

The major conflicts between classes in the decades leading up to the French Revolution were between the lower classes (proletariat) and the upper class (bourgeoisie), which consisted mainly of the...

I think that much of this answer is going to be dependent on the idea of what defines "radical." If we are examining the idea of "radical" as one that fundamentally changes the way revolution is...

To me, the major effect of the French Revolution was that it created the idea of nationalism in Europe. This idea came to be hugely influential -- it led, for example, to the creation of the...

One similarity between both revolutions is in how the will of the majority of the body politic was expressed extremely loud and extremely clear. There was an undeniable will of the people heard in...

In the early phase of the French Revolution, members of the Third Estate, the commoners who made up most of France's population, which was divided into a series of "estates" denoting one's place in...

The French Revolution produced many reforms and changes for French citizens. Obviously, the main reform that happened was the removal of the monarchy and the nobility, who were oppressive to the...

The French Revolution was caused by a number of factors, some of which served to exacerbate others. Some of these factors, like a dying class system, were common to most of the European...

The people expressed their resentment towards the oppressive absolute monarchs by supporting the revolution in their countries. America stood against King George while France rejected King Louis...

I am not sure there is going to be much in the way of good about the Jacobins in the French Revolution. I think that one positive element could be how the group started. Its origins were rooted...

Many of the philosophes cited as inspirations by the liberal revolutionaries (though not, admittedly, the radicals) were strongly impressed by the English constitution, which they believed to be...

French involvement in the American War of Independence inadvertently helped to sow the seeds of revolution in France. The French had assisted the American colonists in the hope of weakening their...

I think that this is going to be a challenging question because of the lack of consensus on the issue. The reason for this is because both answers are represented in the French Revolution. I...

One of the most intriguing aspects of the French Revolution is the role that absolutism played in its development and in its overall lesson. On one hand, the French Revolution was a direct...

As we have seen repeatedly in history, people in nations often assign all the ills of the country to the political party or the regime in power at the time. In France, especially since the reign...

Late eighteenth-century France was, in retrospect, a nation ripe for revolution. In some respects, it was still feudal. Its leader, King Louis XVI, was indecisive. The French Revolution, which...