how long did the french revolution last

[11], The problem lay in the assessment and collection of the taxes used to fund government expenditure. The American Revolution was very similar to the many revolutions that have gone on in many countries that are fights for independence and democracy. The economy was bad and the socialist elements that controlled the government made life difficult for ex-nobles. [194], At the beginning of the Revolution, women took advantage of events to force their way into the political sphere, swore oaths of loyalty, "solemn declarations of patriotic allegiance, [and] affirmations of the political responsibilities of citizenship." [50], Food shortages and the worsening economy caused frustration at the lack of progress, and the Parisian working-class, or sans culottes, became increasingly restive. Others like Throigne de Mricourt, Pauline Lon and the Society of Revolutionary Republican Women supported the Jacobins, staged demonstrations in the National Assembly and took part in the October 1789 March to Versailles. In return, the state assumed responsibilities such as paying the clergy and caring for the poor, the sick and the orphaned. 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. Growing disorder meant many professional officers either left or became migrs, further destabilising the institution. [242], Conversely, two seminal political pieces of political history were written in Price's favour, supporting the general right of the French people to replace their State. [247], The French invaded Switzerland and turned it into the "Helvetic Republic" (17981803), a French puppet state. Despite a series of military victories, many won by Napoleon Bonaparte, political divisions and economic stagnation resulted in the Directory being replaced by the Consulate in November 1799. [103], Meanwhile, a committee led by Robespierre's close ally Saint-Just was tasked with preparing a new Constitution. As the royalists and their British and Spanish supporters were also offering freedom for slaves willing to fight for their cause, the commissioners outbid them by abolishing slavery in the north in August, and throughout the colony in October. In 1789, faced with a grave financial crisis, the king summoned a meeting of the Estates General at the palace. [135], The Directory has a poor reputation amongst historians; for Jacobin sympathisers, it represented the betrayal of the Revolution, while Bonapartists emphasised its corruption to portray Napoleon in a better light. Vendors sold programmes listing the names of those scheduled to die. The first conscription measure or leve en masse on 24 February sparked riots in Paris and other regional centres. [213] Its impact on French nationalism was profound, while also stimulating nationalist movements throughout Europe. Brown and Timothy Tackett, eds. Revolution became a tradition, and republicanism an enduring option. The French legal system, however, was adopted, with its equal legal rights, and abolition of class distinctions. "[61], The Revolution caused a massive shift of power from the Catholic Church to the state; although the extent of religious belief has been questioned, elimination of tolerance for religious minorities meant by 1789 being French also meant being Catholic. On 18th, Dumouriez was defeated at Neerwinden and defected to the Austrians. Reform was gradual and the regime itself carried out agrarian reforms that had the effect of weakening absolutism by creating a class of independent peasant freeholders. On 25 September 1792, Lasource, of Brissot's party, told the convention: "I fear the despotism of Paris, and I do not want those who dispose there of the opinion of the men they mislead to dominate the national convention and the whole France. Most lasted only a matter of weeks but they became the main communication medium, combined with the very large pamphlet literature. The sentence was carried out on 21 January on the Place de la Rvolution, now the Place de la Concorde. After the Convention passed the law in September 1793, the Revolutionary Republican Women demanded vigorous enforcement, but were countered 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. In response to protests by the Commune, the Commission warned "if by your incessant rebellions something befalls the representatives of the nation,Paris will be obliterated". 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. [96] The next few months were taken up with the trial of Citoyen Louis Capet, formerly Louis XVI. [80] Restricting the franchise to those who paid a minimum amount of tax meant only 4 out of 6million Frenchmen over 25 were able to vote; it largely excluded the sans culottes or urban working class, who increasingly saw the new regime as failing to meet their demands for bread and work. [163], Fighting continued for two reasons; first, French state finances had come to rely on indemnities levied on their defeated opponents. [66] The result was state-led persecution of "Refractory clergy", many of whom were forced into exile, deported, or executed. Wikisource has original works on the topic: Significant civil and political events by year, Constitutional monarchy (July 1789 September 1792), Political crisis and fall of the Girondins. It hadn't met since 1614. [65], The Civil Constitution of the Clergy of 12 July 1790 made them employees of the state, as well as establishing rates of pay and a system for electing priests and bishops. Recent French Revolutionary Historiography,", Landes, Joan B. Equality, Freedom, Democracy, sovereignty, secularism, welfare state are the ideas of the French Revolution that are still giving momentum to the world. The 1793 Constitution was suspended indefinitely in October. By December 1790, the Brabant revolution had been crushed and Lige was subdued the following year. Since the Council of 500 controlled legislation and finance, they could paralyse government at will, and as the Directors had no power to call new elections, the only way to break a deadlock was to rule by decree or use force. Du Pont tried becoming a printer, but it was hard to make money, so he left for America with his family. [230], Economic historians dispute the impact on income per capita caused by the emigration of more than 100,000 individuals during the Revolution, the vast majority of whom were supporters of the old regime. [170], In March 1792, the Legislative Assembly responded to the revolt by granting citizenship to all free coloureds and sending two commissioners, Sonthonax and Polvrel, and 6,000 troops to Saint-Domingue to enforce the decree. 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 Ferdinand VII of Spain, went to the trouble of completely reversing the legal innovations brought on by the French. The revolution swayed the socio-economic and political life of France and affected the rest of the world. The French Revolution, Its Outcome, and Legacy - ThoughtCo [121] The Law of 22 Prairial was repealed, any surviving Girondists reinstated as deputies, and the Jacobin Club was closed and banned. The assignats were withdrawn in 1796 but inflation continued until the introduction of the gold-based Franc germinal in 1803. The resulting impasse in the face of widespread economic distress led to the calling of the Estates-General, which became radicalised by the struggle for control of public finances. Belgium now had a government bureaucracy selected by merit. In August 1789, colonial slave owners and merchants formed the rival Club de Massiac to represent their interests. Emboldened by this success, in February 1793 France declared war on the Dutch Republic, Spain and Britain, beginning the War of the First Coalition. Both failed to attract international support. Long story short: For much of the. "[186] Invented by a physician during the Revolution as a quicker, more efficient and more distinctive form of execution, the guillotine became a part of popular culture and historic memory. 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. Despite their propaganda for freedom, revolutionaries never recognized this right, or even the right to autonomy. A new page in the history of France was being written. [226] However, debate continues into the present over the role of religion in the public sphere and related issues such as church-controlled schools. Other estimates of the death toll range from 170,000, In one exchange, a Hbertist named Vadier threatened to 'gut that fat, Je crains le despotisme de Paris, et je ne veux pas que ceux qui y disposent de l'opinion des hommes qu'ils garent dominent la convention nationale et la France entire. [44], In response, the Assembly published the August Decrees which abolished feudalism and other privileges held by the nobility, notably exemption from tax. Initially the debt was financed by sales of confiscated property, but this was hugely inefficient; since few would buy assets that might be repossessed, fiscal stability could only be achieved by continuing the war until French counter-revolutionaries had been defeated. The process was a long and difficult one, hampered by differences of opinion, growing radicalism and the events of 1789-91. . In May 1789, Louis summoned the Estates-General for the first time in over a hundred and fifty years. On 17 July, Louis visited Paris accompanied by 100 deputies, where he was greeted by Bailly and accepted a tricolore cockade to loud cheers. The socio-economic analysis of the revolution and focus on the experiences or ordinary people dominated French studies of the revolution after World War II. It brought economic freedoms and agrarian and legal reform. In its early stages, this seemed unlikely; the 1791 Constitution specifically disavowed "war for the purpose of conquest", and although traditional tensions between France and Austria re-emerged in the 1780s, Emperor Joseph II cautiously welcomed the reforms.

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