French Revolution of 1789

French Revolution of 1789

(One of the landmarks events in World History)

        France, a country located in Western Europe witnessed one of the epoch making events in human history. This event was the Revolution of 1789. The revolution was directed against the inefficient, ineffective, exploitative and arbitrary rule of French monarchy. The king of France at the time of Revolution when it started in 1789 was Louis XVI. He belonged to the Bourbon dynasty. The French society was divided into three classes i.e. estates and if we say that it was based on principle of inequality it would not be an exaggeration. The Revolution of 1789 resulted in tremendous effects which not only brought sweeping changes in France but inspired the people from different countries in the world directly or indirectly. The French Revolution started on 4 July 1789 with the Fall of Bastille and came to an end in 1799 with the establishment of Consulate under the leadership of Napoleon. These ten years not only witnessed the political upheaval in France but also a lots of bloodshed.

        Before the 1789 Revolution as mentioned above there was monarchy in France. The king of France in 1789 was Louis XVI. Before him France was ruled by Louis XIV and Louis XV. Both of these two predecessors of Louis XVI were more interested in fighting wars and leading luxurious life at the cost of state treasury. Unfortunately, Louis XVI did not learn from the mistakes of Louis XIV and XV and mostly repeated their mistakes. All these kings had neglected the public welfare on great extent. Not only so during their rule the first two estates consisting Clergies and Nobility were exempted from taxation and they in turn were allowed to collect taxes from third estate, especially the peasants. The French Revolution of 1789 ended this inequality and resulted into the loss of privileges enjoyed by the first two estates. Feudalism became the past and autocratic rule of monarchy was brought to an end.

        The French Revolutionaries have given one of the unique documents known as Declaration of Rights of Man to the world. It said that liberty, property, security and resistance to oppression are some of the basic and natural rights of human beings. It is very important document as it inspired the oppressed people in other parts of the world in order to rise against those regimes which had denied these rights to them. The Constitution makers while drafting the Constitution of their respective countries were impressed by these principles and incorporated it in their respective Constitutions. It has also influenced the international organizations like the United Nations.

        The French Revolution of 1789 resulted in ending the privileges enjoyed by the Clergies of the Church. The Revolutionary government of France declared that, henceforth the Church officials will be subordinate to the state. The property of the Church was taken over by the new regime. The Clergies were made to take the vow that they would remain loyal to the State. In this way one can say that the Pope lost control on the National Church of France and it came under the direct control of the French government.

        As mentioned earlier, the French Revolution of 1789 was not just one of the important events in the history of France but a landmark event in the history of humankind. We are saying so because French Revolution inspired the oppressed and exploited people in other parts of the world to revolt against their autocratic rulers who had denied them the liberty, equality and fraternity. Not only so, but the ideals of French Revolution of 1789 motivated the freedom struggles in nineteenth and twentieth centuries in different continents of the world. It also promoted the ideas of democracy, nationalism and republicanism.

        The French Revolution of 1789 resulted into lots of killings or human loss. The king of France, Louis XVI and his queen Marie Antoinette lost their lives. During Reign of Terror (1793-94) many people who were opposed to Revolution were killed by using guillotine machine at the behest of Maximilien Robespierre and his supporters. At last on 27 July 1794 Robespierre and his followers were also guillotined or killed which ultimately paved the way for an end of Reign of Terror.

        One of the most important effects of the French Revolution of 1789 was that it resulted into bringing Napoleon Bonaparte to the forefront who became the ruler in the form of First Consul in 1799. He brought enormous changes in France and brought good days in the life of common people in France that is why he is aptly called as the Child of French Revolution.