The French Revolution and Its Aftermath

The French Revolution burst forth in the summer of 1789. It lasted for 10 years, and was followed by consolidations and conquests under Napoleon’s Empire. Napoleon’s defeat in 1815 led to a rollback of some of the revolutionary measures, but most of these would return during the political changes of the 19th century. The Revolution, in sum, was something of a blueprint for the constitutions of the modern state.

The Revolution was guided by many of the philosophical ideas developed in the 18th-century Enlightenment. The American Revolution and the constitutions it engendered were direct inspirations as well. The Revolution was also a massive social protest, as peasants and workers articulated the grievances they had developed during the Old Regime.

The Revolution was French, but it had European and, soon, world impact. French conquests spread many of the principles of the Revolution to most of Western Europe. Wars of independence in Latin America were inspired in part by French revolutionary principles. So was liberal-nationalist agitation in Eastern Europe, for example in the Balkans against the Ottoman Empire. Revolutionary ideas show up in other revolutions in the 20th century, and in proclamations of human rights such as the United Nations charter.

There were vital disagreements within the Revolution, as in all complex events—quite apart from the outright resistance the Revolution generated among conservatives. The first three years of the Revolution emphasized liberal principles, but then the Revolution turned more radical, for example instituting universal suffrage for all adult males for the first time, although briefly.

There are five documents in connection with this topic that I would like you to take a look at. The first three illustrate different aspects of the Revolution itself. The final two involve additional complexities—in goals not sought and in a conservative reaction that followed the Revolution itself.

The first three documents I would like you to read are classics from the Revolution. The first two emerged quickly in August 1789, as the revolutionary legislature attempted to define basic political and social principles. The third document, the first two verses of La Marseillaise (the French national anthem), represent the more radical phase, when revolutionary leaders were guiding armies to fight opposition at home and abroad.

The Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen (you can read it by clicking here) was a fundamental statement of human rights, inspired in part by American revolutionary documents. It was intended to guide the new political constitution the revolutionary legislature decided was essential. The Declaration invites analysis to determine what its main principles were and why. In the context of the old regime, they were revolutionary. Note that not all the principles were fully followed up by the liberal constitution of 1791, which most notably did not establish universal suffrage.

The second document (you can read it by clicking here) enacted on August 11, 1789, details the abolition of the feudal and manorial system in France. This act, spurred by peasant revolts against their noble landlords in many parts of the country, was the basic social measure of the Revolution, and it was never really reversed. Here, analysis should focus again on what the main principles were—including the relationship to the Declaration of Rights of Man and the Citizen. Equally important were the wider implications: Given what was now abolished, what new systems would result? The document had massive implications for an extension of government services, for new conflicts between the state and the Catholic Church, and for the control of landed property.

The third document, La Marseillaise (you can read it by clicking here) reflects the Revolution at war. It was composed in April 1792, on the French front against German and Austrian forces, and it spread quickly as a battle song. La Marseillaise was, essentially, the first national anthem ever written, adopted as a “national song” in 1795 and then as an anthem in 1879. The anthem was written by Claude-Joseph Rouget de Lisle, an army captain and, otherwise, a fairly mediocre musical composer.

Document four was written by Olympe de Gouges (you can read it by clicking here), a self-educated butcher’s daughter who used the French Revolution to call attention to aspects of French society the revolutionaries were leaving untouched. Her work is an example of the extent to which revolutionary ideologies can extend beyond what the revolutionaries themselves seem to want, and of the extent to which any revolution, even as thorough-going as the French, confirms certain existing social traditions despite high-sounding rhetoric. De Gouges was guillotined as a counter-revolutionary and “unnatural” woman. Later legislation, under Napoleon, actually weakened women’s rights within the family.

Document five deals with hostile reactions to the Revolution after the revolutionary period ended in 1815 (you can read it by clicking here). Many European countries warred against the French Revolution and then Napoleon—ultimately because of Napoleon’s ambitions for conquest, but more consistently because of a desire to defend key institutions of the old, prerevolutionary regimes. When the coalition finally defeated Napoleon in 1815, a new, anti-revolutionary conservatism seized center stage for over a decade. But agitation continued, and in 1819 the Austrian conservative leader, Prince Metternich, pressed the separate German states to pass the Carlsbad decrees. These decrees summed up key aspects of the new conservative approach. Formal conservatism was yet another result of the French Revolution, and while this version was not permanent, elements of the approach have informed Western conservatism since that time.

After you have read the documents, I would like you to think about and discuss the following: What are the main principles of the Declaration of the Rights of Man and the abolition of feudalism? Are the two documents entirely consistent? What was revolutionary about each of the documents? In what sense did the French Revolution translate the principles of the Enlightenment into political life? What principles did it add to mainstream Enlightenment thinking? What was the role of ideas, as opposed to other factors, in causing and shaping the Revolution? What were the implications of the abolition of feudalism for relations with the king? What were the implications for property rights? In what ways did the abolition of feudalism imply an expansion of government functions? What were the implications of both the Declaration and the abolition of feudalism for relations with the Catholic Church? What were the implications of both documents for the lives of ordinary people? Would their lives be “revolutionized?” What were the main themes of La Marseillaise verses? What new elements in the Revolution do they suggest? How does La Marseillaise suggest the radicalization of the Revolution? Taking the three documents together, what did the Revolution suggest about the nature and meaning of citizenship in a modern state? In what sense was Olympe de Gouges’ feminism consistent with the principles of the French Revolution and Enlightenment? Is her argument no more than an application of these principles to women’s conditions, or does it add further elements? Why did mainstream French revolutionaries ignore or reject these arguments and keep women legally and politically subordinate? What was the relationship, in substance and historical linkage, between French revolutionary feminism and 20th-century feminism? How did the Carlsbad decrees react to the French Revolution? How would their conservative supporters phrase and justify their reaction to the Declaration of Rights of Man and the Citizen? What was novel about this conservatism? In your opinion, why did French revolutionary ideas, extensions and reactions have such wide global influence during the 19th and 20th centuries? Your thoughts…