FRENCH REVOLUTION
- In the 18th century, French society was feudal in nature, with the king enjoying complete authority over the country.
- The population was divided into three estates: the First Estate (Clergy), the Second Estate (Nobility), and the Third Estate (Commoners, including peasants, workers, and the middle class).
- The First and Second Estates enjoyed privileges such as exemption from taxes, access to high offices, and luxurious lifestyles.
- The Third Estate, despite forming the majority of the population, was burdened with heavy taxes and had very few rights.
- The financial condition of France was deteriorating due to years of extravagant spending by King Louis XVI and Queen Marie Antoinette, which led the country to bankruptcy.
- To resolve the financial crisis and raise taxes, Louis XVI was forced to call a meeting of the Estates-General in 1789, which included representatives from all three estates.
- The Third Estate demanded equal taxation and the abolition of the privileges enjoyed by the clergy and nobility.
- When their demands were rejected, the Third Estate declared itself the National Assembly, claiming to represent the true will of the French people and taking sovereign power from the king.
- The National Assembly adopted the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen, a foundational document asserting liberty, equality, and fraternity for all men.
- This declaration was influenced by the American Declaration of Independence and emphasized the sovereignty of the people, the right to liberty, property, security, education, free speech, and public assistance, and the ban on torture and slavery.
- It also affirmed the people's right to choose their government and the eligibility of all citizens for public employment, regardless of their birth.
- The French Revolution triggered a series of wars, including the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars, which lasted for around 15 years.
- These wars eventually led to the fall of the monarchy and the rise of the French Republic.
- Napoleon Bonaparte emerged as a powerful leader during this period and brought about major changes in France’s government, administration, military, society, and culture.
- The revolution was guided by the ideals of Liberty, Fraternity, and Equality and drew intellectual inspiration from Enlightenment thinkers like Voltaire, Montesquieu, and Rousseau.
- The French Revolution, along with the American War of Independence, spread the spirit of nationalism across the world.
- The revolutionary ideas from France, Britain, and America inspired movements in other countries, including the unification of Italy in 1861, which was driven by the ideals of nationalism and liberalism.