FRENCH REVOLUTION

RESEARCH PROJECT SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE COURSE LEGAL HISTORY

SUBMITTED TO – ASSSIST PROF DR. PRIYA DARSHINI

SUBMITTED BY – MR. ANURAG CHAUHAN

ROLL NO. – 1918

BA LLB

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I take this opportunity to express my profound gratitude and deep regards to my guide and
professor Dr. Priya Darshini for her exemplary guidance, monitoring and constant

1
encouragement throughout the course of this thesis. The blessing, help and guidance given by her
time to time shall carry me a long way in the journey of life on which I am about to embark.

I am obliged to staff members of Chanakya National Law University, for the valuable
information provided by them in their respective fields. I am grateful for their cooperation during
the period of my assignment.

Lastly, I thank Almighty and my parents, brother, sisters and friends for their constant
encouragement without which this assignment would not be possible.

Anurag Chauhan

CONTENTS

 INTRODUCTION
 FRENCH SOCIETY DURING THE LATE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY
 THE OUTBREAK OF THE REVOLUTION
 FRANCE ABOLISHES MONARCHY AND BECOMES REPUBLIC
 ROLE OF WOMEN
 ABOLITION OF SLAVERY
 IMPACT OF FRENCH REVOLUTION
 CONCLUSION

1. INTRODUCTION

In the year 1789, French Revolution started leading to a series of the events started by the
middle class. The people had revolted against the cruel regime of the monarchy. This revolution
had put forth the ideas of liberty, fraternity as well as equality. The start of the revolution took
place on the morning of 14th July 1789 in the state of Paris with the storming of the Bastille
which is a fortress prison. The Bastille stood for the repressive power of the king due to which it
was hated by all. The revolt became so strong that the fortress was eventually demolished.1

1
About the French Revolution, toppr(11 February, 2019, 12:00AM) https://www.toppr.com/guides/history/french-
revolution/about-the-french-revolution/

2
 Storming of Bastille on 14th July, 1789.

On the morning of 14 July 1789, the city of Paris was in a state of alarm. The king had
commanded troops to move into the city. Rumours spread that he would soon order the army to
open fire upon the citizens. Some 7,000 men and women gathered in front of the town hall and
decided to form a peoples’ militia. They broke into a number of government buildings in search
of arms. Finally, a group of several hundred people marched towards the eastern part of the city
and stormed the fortress-prison, the Bastille, where they hoped to find hoarded ammunition. In
the armed fight that followed, the commander of the Bastille was killed and the prisoners
released - though there were only seven of them. Yet the Bastille was hated by all, because it
stood for the despotic power of the king. The fortress was demolished and its stone fragments
were sold in the markets to all those who wished to keep a souvenir of its destruction. The days
that followed saw more rioting both in Paris and the countryside. Most people were protesting
against the high price of bread. Much later, when historians looked back upon this time, they saw
it as the beginning of a chain of events that ultimately led to the execution of the king in France,
though most people at the time did not anticipate this outcome. How and why did these things
happened will be dealt in the rest part of this project.2

2
French Revolution Storming of the Bastille, Ducksters(11 February, 2019, 12:05
AM),https://www.ducksters.com/history/french_revolution/storming_of_the_bastille.php

3
 2. FRENCH SOCIETY DURING THE LATE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY

In 1774, Louis XVI of the Bourbon family of kings ascended the throne of France. He was 20
years old and married to the Austrian princess Marie Antoinette. Upon his accession the new
king found an empty treasury. Long years of war had drained the financial resources of France.
Added to this was the cost of maintaining an extravagant court at the immense palace of
Versailles. Under Louis XVI, France helped the thirteen American colonies to gain their
independence from the common enemy, Britain. The war added more than a billion livres to a
debt that had already risen to more than 2 billion livres. Lenders, who gave the state credit, now
began to charge 10 per cent interest on loans. So the French government was obliged to spend an
increasing percentage of its budget on interest payments alone. To meet its regular expenses,
such as the cost of maintaining an army, the court, running government offices or universities,
the state was forced to increase taxes. Yet even this measure would not have sufficed. French
society in the eighteenth century was divided into three estates, and only members of the third
estate paid taxes. The society of estates was part of the feudal system that dated back to the
middle ages. The term Old Regime is usually used to describe the society and institutions of
France before 1789. Peasants made up about 90 per cent of the population. However, only a
small number of them owned the land they cultivated. About 60 per cent of the land was owned
by nobles, the Church and other richer members of the third estate. The members of the first two
estates, that is, the clergy and the nobility, enjoyed certain privileges by birth. The most
important of these was exemption from paying taxes to the state. The nobles further enjoyed
feudal privileges. These included feudal dues, which they extracted from the peasants. Peasants
were obliged to render services to the lord ñ to work in his house and fields ñ to serve in the
army or to participate in building roads. The Church too extracted its share of taxes called tithes
from the peasants, and finally, all members of the third estate had to pay taxes to the state. These
included a direct tax, called Taille, and a number of indirect taxes which were levied on articles
of everyday consumption like salt or tobacco. The burden of financing activities of the state
through taxes was borne by the third estate alone.3

3
French Society During the Late Eighteenth Century, Zigya(12 February, 2019, 11:00 PM),
https://www.zigya.com/chapter/nbse/SS093/1/French+Society+During+the+Late+Eighteenth+Century

4
 2.1. THE STRUGGLE TO SURVIVE
The population of France rose from about 23 million in 1715 to 28 million in 1789. This
led to a rapid increase in the demand for food grains. Production of grains could not keep
pace with the demand. So the price of bread which was the staple diet of the majority rose
rapidly. Most workers were employed as labourers in workshops whose owner fixed their
wages. But wages did not keep pace with the rise in prices. So the gap between the poor
and the rich widened. Things became worse whenever drought or hail reduced the
harvest. This led to a subsistence crisis, something that occurred frequently in France
during the Old Regime.4
2.2. A Growing Middle Class Envisages an End to Privileges
In the past, peasants and workers had participated in revolts against increasing taxes and
food scarcity. But they lacked the means and programmes to carry out full-scale measures
that would bring about a change in the social and economic order. This was left to those
groups within the third estate who had become prosperous and had access to education
and new ideas. The eighteenth century witnessed the emergence of social groups,
termed the middle class, who earned their wealth through an expanding overseas trade
and from the manufacture of goods such as woollen and silk textiles that were either
exported or bought by the richer members of society. In addition to merchants and
manufacturers, the third estate included professions such as lawyers or administrative
officials. All of these were educated and believed that no group in society should be
privileged by birth. Rather, a person’s social position must depend on his merit. These
ideas envisaging a society based on freedom and equal laws and opportunities for all,
were put forward by philosophers such as John Locke and Jean Jacques Rousseau. In his
Two Treatises of Government, Locke sought to refute the doctrine of the divine and
absolute right of the monarch. Rousseau carried the idea forward, proposing a form of
government based on a social contract between people and their representatives. In The

4
French Society during the Late Eighteenth Century, THOUGHT CRACKERS(12 February , 2019, 11:15 PM),
http://thoughtcrackers.blogspot.com/2015/09/french-society-during-late-eighteenth.html

5
 Spirit of the Laws, Montesquieu proposed a division of power within the government
between the legislative, the executive and the judiciary. This model of government was
put into force in the USA, after the thirteen colonies declared their independence from
Britain. The American constitution and its guarantee of individual rights was an
important example for political thinkers in France. The ideas of these philosophers were
discussed intensively in salons and coffee-houses and spread among people through
books and newspapers. These were frequently read aloud in groups for the benefit of
those who could not read and write. The news that Louis XVI planned to impose further
taxes to be able to meet the expenses of the state generated anger and protest against the
system of privileges.5
3. THE OUTBREAK OF THE REVOLUTION
In France of the Old Regime the monarch did not have the power to impose taxes
according to his will alone. Rather he had to call a meeting of the Estates General which
would then pass his proposals for new taxes. The Estates General was a political body to
which the three estates sent their representatives. However, the monarch alone could
decide when to call a meeting of this body. The last time it was done was in 1614. On 5
May 1789, Louis XVI called together an assembly of the Estates General to pass
proposals for new taxes. A resplendent hall in Versailles was prepared to host the
delegates. The first and second estates sent 300 representatives each, who were seated in
rows facing each other on two sides, while the 600 members of the third estate had to
stand at the back. The third estate was represented by its more prosperous and educated
members. Peasants, artisans and women were denied entry to the assembly. However,
their grievances and demands were listed in some 40,000 letters which the representatives
had brought with them. Voting in the Estates General in the past had been conducted
according to the principle that each estate had one vote. This time too Louis XVI was
determined to continue the same practice. But members of the third estate demanded that
voting now be conducted by the assembly as a whole, where each member would have
one vote. This was one of the democratic principles put forward by philosophers like
Rousseau in his book The Social Contract. When the king rejected this proposal,
members of the third estate walked out of the assembly in protest. The representatives of

5
Supra Note 4

6
 the third estate viewed themselves as spokesmen for the whole French nation. On 20 June
they assembled in the hall of an indoor tennis court in the grounds of Versailles. They
declared themselves a National Assembly and swore not to disperse till they had drafted a
constitution for France that would limit the powers of the monarch. They were led by
Mirabeau and AbbÈ SieyËs. Mirabeau was born in a noble family but was convinced of
the need to do away with a society of feudal privilege. He brought out a journal and
delivered powerful speeches to the crowds assembled at Versailles. AbbÈ SieyËs,
originally a priest, wrote an influential pamphlet called ‘What is the Third Estate?’.6

While the National Assembly was busy at Versailles drafting a constitution, the rest
of France seethed with turmoil. A severe winter had meant a bad harvest; the price of
bread rose, often bakers exploited the situation and hoarded supplies. After spending
hours in long queues at the bakery, crowds of angry women stormed into the shops. At
the same time, the king ordered troops to move into Paris. On 14 July, the agitated crowd
stormed and destroyed the Bastille. In the countryside rumours spread from village to
village that the lords of the manor had hired bands of brigands who were on their way to
destroy the ripe crops. Caught in a frenzy of fear, peasants in several districts seized hoes
and pitchforks and attacked chateaux. They looted hoarded grain and burnt down
documents containing records of manorial dues. A large number of nobles fled from their
homes, many of them migrating to neighbouring countries. Faced with the power of his
revolting subjects, Louis XVI finally accorded recognition to the National Assembly and
accepted the principle that his powers would from now on be checked by a constitution.
On the night of 4 August 1789, the Assembly passed a decree abolishing the feudal
system of obligations and taxes. Members of the clergy too were forced to give up their
privileges. Tithes were abolished and lands owned by the Church were confiscated. As a
result, the government acquired assets worth at least 2 billion livres.7
3.1. FRANCE BECOMES A CONSTITUTIONAL MONARCHY

6
The Outbreak of the French Revolution, Indiana.edu(12 February, 2019 01:15 AM)
http://www.indiana.edu/~paris10/ParisOSS/Paris_PreClass/Outbreak_of_Revolution.html
7
Ibid

7
 The National Assembly completed the draft of the constitution in 1791. Its main object
was to limit the powers of the monarch. These powers instead of being concentrated in
the hands of one person, were now separated and assigned to different institutions ñ the
legislature, executive and judiciary. This made France a constitutional monarchy.
The Constitution of 1791 vested the power to make laws in the National Assembly,
which was indirectly elected. That is, citizens voted for a group of electors, who in turn
chose the Assembly. Not all citizens, however, had the right to vote. Only men above 25
years of age who paid taxes equal to at least 3 days of a labourer’s wage were given the
status of active citizens, that is, they were entitled to vote. The remaining men and all
women were classed as passive citizens. To qualify as an elector and then as a member of
the Assembly, a man had to belong to the highest bracket of taxpayers.
The Constitution began with a Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen. Rights such
as the right to life, freedom of speech, freedom of opinion, equality before law, were
established as ‘natural and inalienable’ rights, that is, they belonged to each human being
by birth and could not be taken away. It was the duty of the state to protect each citizen ís
natural rights.8
4. FRANCE ABOLISHES MONARCHY AND BECOMES REPUBLIC
The situation in France continued to be tense during the following years. Although Louis
XVI had signed the Constitution, he entered into secret negotiations with the King of
Prussia. Rulers of other neighbouring countries too were worried by the developments in
France and made plans to send troops to put down the events that had been taking place
there since the summer of 1789. Before this could happen, the National Assembly voted
in April 1792 to declare war against Prussia and Austria. Thousands of volunteers
thronged from the provinces to join the army. They saw this as a war of the people
against kings and aristocracies all over Europe. Among the patriotic songs they sang was
the Marseillaise, composed by the poet Roget de LíIsle. It was sung for the first time by
volunteers from Marseilles as they marched into Paris and so got its name. The
Marseillaise is now the national anthem of France. The revolutionary wars brought losses
and economic difficulties to the people. While the men were away fighting at the front,

8
Supra Note 6

8
 women were left to cope with the tasks of earning a living and looking after their
families. Large sections of the population were convinced that the revolution had to be
carried further, as the Constitution of 1791 gave political rights only to the richer sections
of society. Political clubs became an important rallying point for people who wished to
discuss government policies and plan their own forms of action. The most successful of
these clubs was that of the Jacobins, which got its name from the former convent of St
Jacob in Paris. Women too, who had been active throughout this period, formed their
own clubs. Section 4 of this chapter will tell you more about their activities and demands.
The members of the Jacobin club belonged mainly to the less prosperous sections of
society. They included small shopkeepers, artisans such as shoemakers, pastry cooks,
watch-makers, printers, as well as servants and daily-wage workers. Their leader was
Maximilian Robespierre. A large group among the Jacobins decided to start wearing long
striped trousers similar to those worn by dock workers. This was to set themselves apart
from the fashionable sections of society, especially nobles, who wore knee breeches. It
was a way of proclaiming the end of the power wielded by the wearers of knee breeches.
These Jacobins came to be known as the sans-culottes, literally meaning ‘those without
knee breeches’. Sansculottes men wore in addition the red cap that symbolised liberty.
Women however were not allowed to do so. In the summer of 1792 the Jacobins planned
an insurrection of a large number of Parisians who were angered by the short supplies
and high prices of food. On the morning of August 10 they stormed the Palace of the
Tuileries, massacred the king’s guards and held the king himself as hostage for several
hours. Later the Assembly voted to imprison the royal family. Elections were held. From
now on all men of 21 years and above, regardless of wealth, got the right to vote. The
newly elected assembly was called the Convention. On 21 September 1792 it abolished
the monarchy and declared France a republic. As we all know, a republic is a form of
government where the people elect the government including the head of the government.
There is no hereditary monarchy. 9

9
Manognya Bokka, FRANCE ABOLISHES MONARCHY AND BECOMES REPUBLIC, Prezi(13 February, 2019, 12:15 AM),
https://prezi.com/l9te4hayvn-i/france-abolishes-monarchy-and-becomes-republic/

9
 Louis XVI was sentenced to death by a court on the charge of treason. On 21 January
1793 he was executed publicly at the Place de la Concorde. The queen Marie Antoinette
met with the same fate shortly after.10
4.1. REIGN OF TERROR
The period from 1793 to 1794 is referred to as the Reign of Terror. Robespierre followed
a policy of severe control and punishment. All those whom he saw as being enemies of
the republic ex-nobles and clergy, members of other political parties, even members of
his own party who did not agree with his methods ñ were arrested, imprisoned and then
tried by a revolutionary tribunal. If the court found them guilty they were guillotined. The
guillotine is a device consisting of two poles and a blade with which a person is
beheaded. It was named after Dr Guillotin who invented it. Robespierreís government
issued laws placing a maximum ceiling on wages and prices. Meat and bread were
rationed. Peasants were forced to transport their grain to the cities and sell it at
prices fixed by the government. The use of more expensive white flour was forbidden; all
citizens were required to eat the pain díÈgalitÈ (equality bread), a loaf made of whole
wheat. Equality was also sought to be practised through forms of speech and address.
Instead of the traditional Monsieur (Sir) and Madame (Madam) all French men and
women were henceforth Citoyen and Citoyenne (Citizen). Churches were shut down and
their buildings converted into barracks or offices. Robespierre pursued his policies so
relentlessly that even his supporters began to demand moderation. Finally, he was
convicted by a court in July 1794, arrested and on the next day sent to the guillotine.11
4.2 A DIRECTORY RULES FRANCE
The fall of the Jacobin government allowed the wealthier middle classes to seize power.
A new constitution was introduced which denied the vote to non-propertied sections of
society. It provided for two elected legislative councils. These then appointed a
Directory, an executive made up of five members. This was meant as a safeguard
against the concentration of power in a one-man executive as under the Jacobins.
However, the Directors often clashed with the legislative councils, who then sought to

10
Ibid
11
Supra Note 9

10
 dismiss them. The political instability of the Directory paved the way for the rise of a
military dictator, Napoleon Bonaparte.
Through all these changes in the form of government, the ideals of freedom, of equality
before the law and of fraternity remained inspiring ideals that motivated political
movements in France and the rest of Europe during the following century.12
5. ROLE OF WOMEN
Women had no political rights in pre-Revolutionary France; they were considered
"passive" citizens; forced to rely on men to determine what was best for them. That
changed dramatically in theory as there seemingly were great advances in feminism.
Feminism emerged in Paris as part of a broad demand for social and political reform. The
women demanded equality for women and then moved on to a demand for the end of
male domination. Their chief vehicles for agitation were pamphlets and women's clubs;
for example, a small group called the Cercle Social (Social Circle) campaigned for
women's rights, noting that "the laws favor men at the expense of women, because
everywhere power is in your hands."13 However, in October 1793, the country's all-male
legislative body voted to ban all women's clubs. The movement was crushed. Devance
explains the decision in terms of the emphasis on masculinity in a wartime situation,
Marie Antoinette's bad reputation for feminine interference in state affairs, and traditional
male supremacy.14 A decade later the Napoleonic Code confirmed and perpetuated
women's second-class status.15
When the Revolution opened, groups of women acted forcefully, making use of the
volatile political climate. Women forced their way into the political sphere. They swore
oaths of loyalty, "solemn declarations of patriotic allegiance, [and] affirmations of the
political responsibilities of citizenship." De Corday d'Armont is a prime example of such
a woman; engaged in the revolutionary political faction of the Girondins, she assassinated
the Jacobin leader, Marat. Throughout the Revolution, other women such as Pauline Léon
and her Society of Revolutionary Republican Women supported the radical Jacobins,

12
Supra Note 9
13
Hunt, Lynn, ed. (1996). The French Revolution and Human Rights. Boston: Bedford. p. 123.
14
Louis Devance, "Le Féminisme pendant la Révolution Française," Annales Historiques de la Révolution Française
(1977) 49#3 pp. 341–76
15
Jane Abray, "Feminism in the French Revolution," American Historical Review (1975) 80#1 pp. 43–62 in JSTOR

11
 staged demonstrations in the National Assembly and participated in the riots, often using
armed force.16
On 20 June 1792 a number of armed women took part in a procession that "passed
through the halls of the Legislative Assembly, into the Tuileries Gardens, and then
through the King's residence."17 Militant women also assumed a special role in the
funeral of Marat, following his murder on 13 July 1793. As part of the funeral procession,
they carried the bathtub in which Marat had been murdered (by a counter-revolutionary
woman) as well as a shirt stained with Marat's blood.18 On 20 May 1793 women were at
the fore of a crowd that demanded "bread and the Constitution of 1793." When their cries
went unnoticed, the women went on a rampage, "sacking shops, seizing grain and
kidnapping officials."19
The Society of Revolutionary Republican Women, a militant group on the far left,
demanded a law in 1793 that would compel all women to wear the tricolour cockade to
demonstrate their loyalty to the Republic. They also demanded vigorous price controls to
keep bread – the major food of the poor people – from becoming too expensive. After the
Convention passage law in September 1793, the Revolutionary Republican Women
demanded vigorous enforcement, but were counted by market women, former servants,
and religious women who adamantly opposed price controls (which would drive them out
of business ) and resented attacks on the aristocracy and on religion. Fist fights broke out
in the streets between the two factions of women.
Meanwhile, the men who controlled the Jacobins rejected the Revolutionary Republican
Women as dangerous rabble-rousers. At this point the Jacobins controlled the
government; they dissolved the Society of Revolutionary Republican Women, and
decreed that all women's clubs and associations were illegal. They sternly reminded
women to stay home and tend to their families by leaving public affairs to the men.
Organised women were permanently shut out of the French Revolution after 30 October
1793.20

16
Rebel Daughters: Women and the French Revolution Edited by Sara E Melzer and Leslie W. Rabine p. 79
17
Rebel Daughters by Sara E Melzer and Leslie W. Rabine p. 91
18
Hufton, "Women and the Limits of Citizenship," p. 31
19
James H. McMillan, France and women, 1789–1914: gender, society and politics (Routledge, 2002) p. 24
20
Darline Gay Levy, Harriet Branson Applewhite and Mary Durham Johnson, eds. Women in Revolutionary Paris,
1789–1795 (1981) pp. 143–49

12
 5.1 PROMINENT WOMEN
Olympe de Gouges wrote a number of plays, short stories, and novels. Her publications
emphasised that women and men are different, but this shouldn't stop them from equality
under the law. In her "Declaration on the Rights of Woman" she insisted that women
deserved rights, especially in areas concerning them directly, such as divorce and
recognition of illegitimate children.21

Madame Roland (a.k.a. Manon or Marie Roland) was another important female activist.
Her political focus was not specifically on women or their liberation. She focused on
other aspects of the government, but was a feminist by virtue of the fact that she was a
woman working to influence the world. Her personal letters to leaders of the Revolution
influenced policy; in addition, she often hosted political gatherings of the Brissotins, a
political group which allowed women to join. As she was led to the scaffold, Madame
Roland shouted "O liberty! What crimes are committed in thy name!"22

Most of these activists were punished for their actions. Many of the women of the
Revolution were even publicly executed for "conspiring against the unity and the
indivisibility of the Republic".23
5.2 COUNTER- REVOLUTIONARY WOMEN
A major aspect of the French Revolution was the dechristianisation movement, a
movement strongly rejected by many devout people. Especially for women living in rural
areas of France, the closing of the churches meant a loss of normalcy.24
When these revolutionary changes to the Church were implemented, it sparked a counter-
revolutionary movement among women. Although some of these women embraced the
political and social amendments of the Revolution, they opposed the dissolution of the
Catholic Church and the formation of revolutionary cults like the Cult of the Supreme
Being. As Olwen Hufton argues, these women began to see themselves as the "defenders

21
De Gouges "Writings" 564–68
22
Susan Dalton, "Gender and the Shifting Ground of Revolutionary Politics: The Case of Madame Roland,"
Canadian journal of history (2001) 36#2 pp. 262–67
23
Lisa Beckstrand, Deviant women of the French Revolution and the rise of feminism (2009) p. 20
24
Olwen Hufton, Women and the Limits of Citizenship (1992) pp. 106–107

13
 of faith". They took it upon themselves to protect the Church from what they saw as a
heretical change to their faith, enforced by revolutionaries.
Counter-revolutionary women resisted what they saw as the intrusion of the state into
their lives.25 Economically, many peasant women refused to sell their goods for assignats
because this form of currency was unstable and was backed by the sale of confiscated
Church property. By far the most important issue to counter-revolutionary women was
the passage and the enforcement of the Civil Constitution of the Clergy in 1790. In
response to this measure, women in many areas began circulating anti-oath pamphlets
and refused to attend masses held by priests who had sworn oaths of loyalty to the
Republic. These women continued to adhere to traditional practices such as Christian
burials and naming their children after saints in spite of revolutionary decrees to the
contrary.26

6. ABOLITION OF SLAVERY
One of the most revolutionary social reforms of the Jacobin regime was the abolition of
slavery in the French colonies. The colonies in the Caribbean Martinique, Guadeloupe
and San Domingo ñ were important suppliers of commodities such as tobacco, indigo,
sugar and coffee. But the reluctance of Europeans to go and work in distant and
unfamiliar lands meant a shortage of labour on the plantations. So this was met by a
triangular slave trade between Europe, Africa and the Americas. The slave trade began in
the seventeenth century. French merchants sailed from the ports of Bordeaux or Nantes to
the African coast, where they bought slaves from local chieftains. Branded and shackled,
the slaves were packed tightly into ships for the three-month long voyage across the
Atlantic to the Caribbean. There they were sold to plantation owners. The exploitation of
slave labour made it possible to meet the growing demand in European markets for sugar,
coffee, and indigo. Port cities like Bordeaux and Nantes owed their economic prosperity
to the flourishing slave trade. Throughout the eighteenth century there was little criticism
of slavery in France. The National Assembly held long debates about whether

25
Hufton, Women and the Limits of Citizenship (1992) p. 104
26
Olwen Hufton, "In Search of Counter-Revolutionary Women." 1998 pp. 303–04

14
 the rights of man should be extended to all French subjects including those in the
colonies. But it did not pass any laws, fearing opposition from businessmen whose
incomes depended on the slave trade. It was finally the Convention which in 1794
legislated to free all slaves in the French overseas possessions. This, however, turned out
to be a short-term measure: ten years later, Napoleon reintroduced slavery. Plantation
owners understood their freedom as including the right to enslave African Negroes in
pursuit of their economic interests. Slavery was finally abolished in French colonies in
1848.27

7. IMPACT OF FRENCH REVOLUTION

7.1. IMPACT ON FRANCE

The changes in France were enormous; some were widely accepted and others were
bitterly contested into the late 20th century. Before the Revolution, the people had little
power or voice. The kings had so thoroughly centralised the system that most nobles
spent their time at Versailles, and thus played only a small direct role in their home
districts. Thompson says that the kings had "ruled by virtue of their personal wealth, their
patronage of the nobility, their disposal of ecclesiastical offices, their provincial
governors (intendants) their control over the judges and magistrates, and their command
of the Army."28
After the first year of revolution, the power of the king had been stripped away, he was
left a mere figurehead, the nobility had lost all their titles and most of their land, the
Church lost its monasteries and farmlands, bishops, judges and magistrates were elected
by the people, and the army was almost helpless, with military power in the hands of the
new revolutionary National Guard. The central elements of 1789 were the slogan
"Liberty, Equality and Fraternity" and "The Declaration of the Rights of Man and the
Citizen", which Lefebvre calls "the incarnation of the Revolution as a whole."29

27
Sue Peabody, French Emancipation, Oxford Bibliographies( 13 February, 2019, 01: 15 AM),
http://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/view/document/obo-9780199730414/obo-9780199730414-0253.xml
28
J.M. Thompson, Robespierre and the French Revolution (1962) p. 22
29
Lefebvre, Georges (2005) [1947]. The Coming of the French Revolution. Princeton UP. p. 212. ISBN 978-0-691-
12188-8.

15
 7.1.1. RELIGION AND CHARITY
The most heated controversy was over the status of the Catholic Church. From a
dominant position in 1788, it was almost destroyed in less than a decade, its priests
and nuns turned out, its leaders dead or in exile, its property controlled by its enemies,
and a strong effort underway to remove all influence of Christian religiosity, such as
Sundays, holy days, saints, prayers, rituals and ceremonies. The movement to
dechristianise France not only failed but aroused a furious reaction among the pious.
Napoleon's Concordat was a compromise that restored some of the Catholic Church's
traditional roles but not its power, its lands or its monasteries. Priests and bishops
were given salaries as part of a department of government controlled by Paris, not
Rome. Protestants and Jews gained equal rights. Battles over the role of religion in
the public sphere, and closely related issues such as church-controlled schools, that
were opened by the Revolution have never seen closure. They raged into the 20th
century. By the 21st century, angry debates exploded over the presence of any
Muslim religious symbols in schools, such as the headscarves for which Muslim girls
could be expelled. J. Christopher Soper and Joel S. Fetzer explicitly link the conflict
over religious symbols in public to the French Revolution, when the target was
Catholic rituals and symbols.30

The revolutionary government seized the charitable foundations that had been set up
(starting in the 13th century) to provide an annual stream of revenue for hospitals,
poor relief, and education. The state sold the lands but typically local authorities did
not replace the funding and so most of the nation's charitable and school systems
were massively disrupted.

In the ancien regime, new opportunities for nuns as charitable practitioners were
created by devout nobles on their own estates. The nuns provided comprehensive care
for the sick poor on their patrons' estates, not only acting as nurses, but taking on

30
J. Christopher Soper and Joel S. Fetzer, "Explaining the accommodation of Muslim religious practices in France,
Britain, and Germany." French Politics(2003) 1#1: 39–59; see also Abdulkader H. Sinno (2009). Muslims in Western
Politics. Indiana UP. pp. 55–56. ISBN 978-0-253-22024-0.

16
 expanded roles as physicians, surgeons, and apothecaries. During the Revolution,
most of the orders of nuns were shut down and there was no organised nursing care to
replace them. However, the demand for their nursing services remained strong, and
after 1800 the sisters reappeared and resumed their work in hospitals and on rural
estates. They were tolerated by officials because they had widespread support and
were the link between elite male physicians and distrustful peasants who needed
help.31

7.1.2. ECONOMICS
Two thirds of France was employed in agriculture, which was transformed by the
Revolution. With the breakup of large estates controlled by the Church and the
nobility and worked by hired hands, rural France became more a land of small
independent farms. Harvest taxes were ended, such as the tithe and seigneurial dues,
much to the relief of the peasants. Primogeniture was ended both for nobles and
peasants, thereby weakening the family patriarch. Because all the children had a share
in the family's property, there was a declining birth rate. Cobban says the revolution
bequeathed to the nation "a ruling class of landowners."32

In the cities, entrepreneurship on a small scale flourished, as restrictive monopolies,

privileges, barriers, rules, taxes and guilds gave way. However, the British blockade
virtually ended overseas and colonial trade, hurting the port cities and their supply
chains. Overall, the Revolution did not greatly change the French business system,
and probably helped freeze in place the horizons of the small business owner. The
typical businessman owned a small store, mill or shop, with family help and a few
paid employees; large-scale industry was less common than in other industrialising
nations.33

31
P.M. Jones (1988). The Peasantry in the French Revolution. Cambridge UP. pp. 251–54, 265. ISBN 978-0-521-
33070-1.
32
Alfred Cobban, The social interpretation of the French Revolution (1964) p. 89
33
Alfred Cobban, The social interpretation of the French Revolution (1964) pp. 68–80

17
 A 2017 National Bureau of Economic Research paper found that the emigration of
more than 100,000 individuals (predominantly supporters of the Old Regime) during
the Revolution had a significant negative impact on income per capita in the 19th
century (due to the fragmentation of agricultural holdings) but became positive in the
second half of the 20th century onward (because it facilitated the rise in human
capital investments). Another 2017 paper found that the redistribution of land had a
positive impact on agricultural productivity, but that these gains gradually declined
over the course of the 19th century.34

7.1.3. CONSTITUTIONALISM
The Revolution meant an end to arbitrary royal rule and held out the promise of rule
by law under a constitutional order, but it did not rule out a monarch. Napoleon as
emperor set up a constitutional system (although he remained in full control), and the
restored Bourbons were forced to go along with one. After the abdication of
Napoleon III in 1871, the monarchists probably had a voting majority, but they were
so factionalised they could not agree on who should be king, and instead the French
Third Republic was launched with a deep commitment to upholding the ideals of the
Revolution. The conservative Catholic enemies of the Revolution came to power in
Vichy France (1940–44), and tried with little success to undo its heritage, but they
kept it a republic. Vichy denied the principle of equality and tried to replace the
Revolutionary watchwords "Liberty, Equality, Fraternity" with "Work, Family, and
Fatherland." However, there were no efforts by the Bourbons, Vichy or anyone else
to restore the privileges that had been stripped away from the nobility in 1789. France
permanently became a society of equals under the law.35
7.2. OUTSIDE FRANCE
Economic historians Dan Bogart, Mauricio Drelichman, Oscar Gelderblom, and Jean-
Laurent Rosenthal described codified law as the French Revolution's "most significant
export." They wrote, "While restoration returned most of their power to the absolute
monarchs who had been deposed by Napoleon, only the most recalcitrant ones, such as

34
Finley, Theresa; Franck, Raphael; Johnson, Noel (6 September 2017). "The Effects of Land Redistribution: Evidence
from the French Revolution". Rochester, NY.
35
Paul R. Hanson (2009). Contesting the French Revolution. Wiley. p. 189. ISBN 978-1-4051-6083-4.

18
 Ferdinand VII of Spain, went to the trouble of completely reversing the legal innovations
brought on by the French." They also note that the French Revolution and the Napoleonic
Wars caused England, Spain, Prussia and the Dutch Republic to centralize their fiscal
systems to an unprecedented extent in order to finance the military campaigns of the
Napoleonic Wars.36
7.2.1. BRITAIN
Philosophically and politically, Britain was in debate over the rights and wrongs of
revolution, in the abstract and in practicalities. The Revolution Controversy was a
"pamphlet war" set off by the publication of A Discourse on the Love of Our
Country, a speech given by Richard Price to the Revolution Society on 4 November
1789, supporting the French Revolution (as he had the American Revolution), and
saying that patriotism actually centers around loving the people and principles of a
nation, not its ruling class. Edmund Burke responded in November 1790 with his own
pamphlet, Reflections on the Revolution in France, attacking the French Revolution
as a threat to the aristocracy of all countries. William Coxe opposed Price's premise
that one's country is principles and people, not the State itself.
Conversely, two seminal political pieces of political history were written in Price's
favor, supporting the general right of the French people to replace their State. One of
the first of these "pamphlets" into print was A Vindication of the Rights of Men by
Mary Wollstonecraft (better known for her later treatise, sometimes described as the
first feminist text, A Vindication of the Rights of Woman); Wollstonecraft's title was
echoed by Thomas Paine's Rights of Man, published a few months later. In 1792
Christopher Wyvill published Defence of Dr. Price and the Reformers of England, a
plea for reform and moderation.
This exchange of ideas has been described as "one of the great political debates in
British history". Even in France, there was a varying degree of agreement during this
debate, English participants generally opposing the violent means that the Revolution
bent itself to for its ends.

36
Kołakowski, Leszek (1978). Main Currents of Marxism: The Founders, the Golden Age, the Breakdown. W.W.
Norton. pp. 152–54. ISBN 978-0-393-06054-6

19
 In Ireland, the effect was to transform what had been an attempt by Protestant settlers
to gain some autonomy into a mass movement led by the Society of United Irishmen
involving Catholics and Protestants. It stimulated the demand for further reform
throughout Ireland, especially in Ulster. The upshot was a revolt in 1798, led by
Wolfe Tone, that was crushed by Britain.37
7.2.2. GERMANY
German reaction to the Revolution swung from favourable to antagonistic. At first it
brought liberal and democratic ideas, the end of gilds, serfdom and the Jewish ghetto.
It brought economic freedoms and agrarian and legal reform. Above all the
antagonism helped stimulate and shape German nationalism.38
7.2.3. SWITZERLAND
The French invaded Switzerland and turned it into an ally known as the "Helvetic
Republic" (1798–1803). The interference with localism and traditional liberties was
deeply resented, although some modernising reforms took place.39
7.2.4. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
The Revolution deeply polarised American politics, and this polarisation led to the
creation of the First Party System. In 1793, as war broke out in Europe, the
Republican Party led by Thomas Jefferson favoured France and pointed to the 1778
treaty that was still in effect. George Washington and his unanimous cabinet,
including Jefferson, decided that the treaty did not bind the United States to enter the
war. Washington proclaimed neutrality instead. Under President John Adams, a
Federalist, an undeclared naval war took place with France from 1798 until 1799,
often called the "Quasi War". Jefferson became president in 1801, but was hostile to
Napoleon as a dictator and emperor. However, the two entered negotiations over the
Louisiana Territory and agreed to the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, an acquisition that
substantially increased the size of the United States.40
8. CONCLUSION

37
Pelling, Nick (2002). Anglo-Irish Relations: 1798 1922. Routledge. pp. 5–10. ISBN 978-0-203-98655-4.
38
Theodore S. Hamerow (1958). Restoration, Revolution, Reaction: Economics and Politics in Germany, 1815–1871.
Princeton UP. pp. 22–24, 44–45. ISBN 978-0-691-00755-7.
39
Marc H. Lerner, "The Helvetic Republic: An Ambivalent Reception of French Revolutionary Liberty," French
History (2004) 18#1 pp. 50–75.
40
Susan Dunn, Sister Revolutions: French Lightning, American Light (2000)

20
 In 1804, Napoleon Bonaparte crowned himself Emperor of France. He set out to conquer
neighbouring European countries, dispossessing dynasties and creating kingdoms where
he placed members of his family. Napoleon saw his role as a moderniser of Europe. He
introduced many laws such as the protection of private property and a uniform system of
weights and measures provided by the decimal system. Initially, many saw Napoleon as a
liberator who would bring freedom for the people. But soon the Napoleonic armies came
to be viewed everywhere as an invading force. He was finally defeated at Waterloo in
1815. Many of his measures that carried the revolutionary ideas of liberty and modern
laws to other parts of Europe had an impact on people long after Napoleon
had left. The ideas of liberty and democratic rights were the most important
legacy of the French Revolution. These spread from France to the rest of Europe during
the nineteenth century, where feudal systems were abolished. Colonised peoples
reworked the idea of freedom from bondage into their movements to create a sovereign
nation state. Tipu Sultan and Rammohan Roy are two examples of individuals who
responded to the ideas coming from revolutionary France.

9. BIBLIOGRAPGHY
1. Books :-
(i) The French Revolution A History – Thomas Carlyle
(ii) The French Revolution From Enlightenment to Tyranny - Ian Davidson
(iii) The Oxford History of the French Revolution - William Doyle
(iv) Reflections of the Revolution in France – Edmund Burke
(v) The Days of The French Revolution - Christopher Hibbert
2. Websites:-
(i) Oxford Bibliographies -
http://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/view/document/obo-
9780199730414/obo-9780199730414-0253.xml
(ii) Prezi - https://prezi.com/l9te4hayvn-i/france-abolishes-monarchy-and-
becomes-republic/

21
(iii) Indiana.edu-
http://www.indiana.edu/~paris10/ParisOSS/Paris_PreClass/Outbreak_of_Revol
ution.html
(iv) Thought Crackers- http://thoughtcrackers.blogspot.com/2015/09/french-
society-during-late-eighteenth.html
(v) Zigya -
https://www.zigya.com/chapter/nbse/SS093/1/French+Society+During+the+Lat
e+Eighteenth+Century

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