An explicit essay on the French Revolution

The success and failures of the French Revolution

Introduction

Major revolutions in history have shaped the fundamental social and political changes that define the contemporary world. The world has come a long way ahead of the ancient practices and customs that were mostly opposed to the rights and privileges of the common man. Furthermore, the times of history have seen people being ruled by monarch kings who exploited the rights of the commoners. Besides, history has also witnessed the fall of the monarchy in various parts of the world hence resulting in the vibrant democracies of the modern-day. The only thing common in redefining the political and social orders in various parts of the globe was the idea of revolution. Revolutions led by the common people defeated the authoritarian regimes to create a world that is built on the virtues of justice, liberty, and equality. One such uprising overhauled the sociopolitical scenario in France in the eighteenth century. The French Revolution was an overwhelming phase in the modern history of Europe and it popularized the idea of revolutions all across the world. This revolt completely transformed the social, political, and economic spheres of France to create a more inclusive space for all sections of society. This essay illustrates the paramount accomplishments as well as major failures of the historic revolution that reorganized the political order of Europe.

Body

The French revolution started in the year 1789 owing to a multiplicity of factors and causes. The core idea of all causes that inspired this revolution was the tyranny of the common people. Society in eighteenth-century France was divided into three estates separating the clergy, the nobility of France, and the common people. While the first two estates enjoyed land ownership and all other privileges, the peasants and the merchants in the third estate crumbled under heavy taxes. Moreover, the members of the third estate were not entitled to any honorable positions or political representation. Besides, on the sidelines of such misery faced by the common people of France, the ‘Age of Enlightenment’ was becoming an increasingly popular idea in Europe. This enlightenment was influenced by the notions of liberty, equality, and other modern principles that aimed at ending class distinctions. The third estate that included the poor farmers and merchants was often subjected to oppression under absolute monarchy and feudalism. To add, King Louis XVI rose to power as the king of France in 1774 and he proved to be a miserable leader in controlling the financial crisis growing in the country at that time. This crisis was caused by the costly wars France had fought against the British and was further supplemented by continuous years of poor harvest and droughts. All these factors in an economically weak France joined hands to launch the French Revolution. This revolution was spearheaded by the members of the third estate with the objective of demolishing absolute monarchy and creating a constitutional rule. In the next segments, the essay sheds light on the success and failures of the French Revolution.

Talking about the achievements of the French Revolution, this movement was successful in giving more power to the third estate. The third estate accounted for 98 percent of the population of France in the eighteenth century. It represented the working class of France which was not entitled to any powers before the revolution changed the dynamics. So, the French revolution won rights and privileges for the common people of France. This was a very significant overhaul in the social, political, and economic environments in France. Furthermore, the revolution led to the ultimate fall of the monarchy and created a constitutional rule in the nation. The kind of representation that the members of the third estate had vouched for long was granted to them by the success of this revolt. By the year 1792, France had attained the status of being a radical democratic republic promising the vivid advantages of democratic virtues to the people. It is worth noting, that for the people of the third estate who had seen the tyranny of kings for decades, these changes were imperative and it imparted hope in them. They realized their rights for the first time when the National Assembly passed the Declaration of Rights of Man in 1789. Before that, people could not even imagine such entitlements as they never recognized their potential to topple the monarchy. The events of the French Revolution inspired people to stand up for their rights and if needed even put up a fight for the same. Last but not the least, the movement united the people of France in a way that no other cause ever could.

On the contrary, despite some significant accomplishments, there were certain shortcomings in the revolution. The Declaration of Rights of Man excluded women and children from the ambit of equality under the law. The virtues of equality under this revolution were only concentrated on men and had no room for ending the disparity in gender roles. Besides, the revolution failed to address the issue of rising prices of bread and rice that were parts of the staple diet. The bread riots in the year 1795 saw extensive protests against the National Assembly. Another front where the revolution failed was in preventing corruption from infecting the new political order in the nation. Between 1795 and 1799, 5 administrators called the ‘directory’ had the onus to run the affairs of the nation. The directory failed miserably in protecting the rights of the common man and rather overturned all election outcomes that they did not like. Those in power started manipulating the laws and yet again the impoverished sections were ignored. To continue, the French Revolution failed to give equal rights to slaves despite the abolishment of slavery in the year 1794. Yet another significant failure of the revolution lied in the fact that around 40000 people were sentenced to death to prevent counter-revolution. Thus, there was a reign of terror that branched out of this movement and it took away thousands of lives.

To encapsulate, the French Revolution was detrimental in establishing a democratic rule in France contrary to the imagination of people. Various social, economic, and political causes blended with each other leading to the launch of the revolution. Besides, the revolution garnered significant achievements in restructuring the mannerisms that the nation was run in. However, there were also some failures that marred the revolution as it could not create a system fair for all. Although the revolution helped the third estate to procure massive power, the power could not sustain for long. Also, the movement turned violent in many instances and the protestors of the revolution were given the death penalty. More than thousands of people were executed for confronting the revolution. The revolution could have been steered in a better way to keep terror and bloodshed at bay. However, the revolution was still important for people to realize their capabilities as citizens and to participate in the decision-making process.