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Essays on french revolution
French revolution : its causes and impact
French society during the french revolution
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Reign of Terror The Reign of Terror was a time of death and war. In 1789, France was ruled by King Louis XVI. France was in debt from war, because of this, a lot of it’s people were starving and living in poor conditions. To make matters worse, there were riots and killings. There were over 40,000 people killed by guillotines because they were suspected to be enemies of the government(Doc F). All this is known as the Reign of Terror. Some people see it as unjustified, but I think it is. It is justified for three reasons, the wars had reasoning, the counter revolutionaries rebelled for good reasons, and the government had to defend the country. The first reason it is justified is war because they fought to protect their land, defend themselves
The French Revolution was a period of radical change of political, economic, and social structure in France in the eighteenth century. During this period, King Louis XVI and Queen Marie-Antoinette were in power, but soon were beheaded by the infamous guillotine during the overthrowing of the French monarchy. This was caused by their neglect to address the agrarian distress between the middle class and peasants in France, the lack of trust between the French and their monarchy due to Queen Marie-Antoinette’s suspicious correspondences with Austria, and the sheer and absolute hatred that the French had for the Austrian Empire in which Queen Marie-Antoinette was born in.
Taking into account the reality of the effect of the Reign of Terror and its acts to secure the government, it is important to highlight the circumstances that made the Reign the most necessary: war. Marching an 80,000-man army into France, Prussia and Austria moved to attack and capture the providences of Longwy and Verdun. Along with the pressing overseas forces, an additional “10,000 French army officers.formed armies and allied themselves with France’s foreign enemies” (Document B). To match the amassing legion that was shaping against them, the French government had to enforce regulations (in example: The Tribune) to divert the internal forces they were spending calming riots back to their needed place on the front lines. Similarly, without the Committee on Public Safety “employing a.network of informers and spies” (Document E) it’s impossible to say how the French would have suffered if the infantile government had lost information to enemies, especially considering many of their own countrymen had abandoned their patriotism and fled to the Austrian-Netherlands.
The French Revolution, beginning in 1789, was a lengthy process in which the people of France took over the government and instituted a Republic (Chambers). The overarching goal of the Revolution was to place the power of government in the hands of the people. For two years, whilst France was facing internal disorganization and external wartime threats, the government was run by a war dictatorship under Maximilien Robespierre, the head of the Committee of Public Safety (“Reign of Terror”). Amid much internal suspicion and fear, the Reign of Terror began. Much of France was politically divided, and Robespierre’s method for keeping the government stable in a time of crisis involved severe penalties for any suspected of plotting against the new government (Chambers). Soon the accusations began to fly and a handful of people convicted and killed for treason became thousands. Many of the cases turned into the accuser’s word versus the accused, and a government preoccupied with bigger issues often did not care to look into these cases, simply convicting the accused, supposedly to promote a sense of unity and control to the citizens of France, and to forewarn anyone who did attempt treasonous deeds (Chambers). Eventually, Marie Antoinette, guilty of no crime other than marrying the former king, was executed on the grounds of treason (“French Revolution: The Reign of Terror”). Many thought this was taking a step too far. The former Queen was well-respec...
After the Reign of Terror, Napoleon Bonaparte rose to authority. When he was in power, Napoleon only kept some of the ideas that were used in the French Revolution. For example he was for equality, but disregarded liberty. Napoleon started many wars for France, in hopes of gaining land. France did win some land, but more times than not France lost the wars, putting them into extreme war debt.
In today’s society the word “terrorism” has gone global. We see this term on television, in magazines and even from other people speaking of it. In their essay “Controlling Irrational Fears After 9/11”, published in 2002, Clark R. Chapman and Alan W. Harris argue that the reaction of the American officials, people and the media after the attacks of 9/11 was completely irrational due to the simple fact of fear. Chapman and Harris jump right into dismembering the irrational argument, often experienced with relationships and our personal analysis. They express how this argument came about from the terrorist being able to succeed in “achieving one major goal, which was spreading fear” among the American people (Chapman & Harris, para.1). The supporters of the irrational reaction argument state that because “Americans unwittingly cooperated with the terrorist in achieving the major goal”, the result was a widespread of disrupted lives of the Americans and if this reaction had been more rational then there would have been “less disruption in the lives of our citizens” (Chapman & Harris, para. 1).
To accomplish this task, he murdered close to 40,000 people, most by guillotine, and some sentenced to life in jail. The Reign of Terror was one of the most controversial, and terrifying phases of the Revolution. Some French colonists thought it to be a path to democracy; others thought it was just an attempt by Robespierre to assume dictatorship. The other great leader was Napoleon Bonaparte. He believed that the only way to have control in France was to put a limit on democracy.
Justification does not mean there will be perfection. One of the biggest turnabouts in history would be The Reign of Terror. In the year 1793, Maximilien Robespierre declared an act called The Reign of Terror. This brought upon the French people heavily consequences for trivial things but it was sentenced with purpose. The chaos that Robespierre broght was truly a tragedy upon the French but it seems clouded by the bias of the statement, was the Reign of Terror, Justified? Thus asking the question was the Reign of Terror justified and the author believes it was. The past can not be repeated so the claim can not have decisive evidence but can be supported by historical proven facts by historians or people who lived through the French Revolution.
Throughout history there has been a lot of bloodshed from wars, civil wars, revolutions, and revolts. Each of these events changing people's lives, some for the better, and worse for others. When talking about these events the question to whether the event was justified or not comes up. This is where people disagree on many aspects. After the onset of the French revolution the Reign of Terror began, and just by reading the name one can already assume that the Reign of Terror was not an enjoyable time. The Reign of Terror was not justified due to the amount of innocent people who were executed, the weakening of the country, and the violation of human rights.
In 1789, the French people began to stand up to their current monarchical government in order to obtain rights and laws that they felt they deserved. The Reign of Terror followed after the Revolution and seemed to stand for the complete opposite of what the people had previously stood up for. The Reign of Terror began in 1793 and ended in 1794 due to the decapitation of Maximilien Robespierre. The Reign of Terror can be explained as a time period in France when many counter revolutionaries were killed because of their traditional beliefs. Counter revolutionaries believed in preserving the ways of the monarchy, but since the majority of people thought otherwise, these opposing beliefs led to death. The French government did not have good reason to conduct such drastic measures against those who challenged the Revolution.
making laws that abolish christianity is insane and trying to control an individual’s religion is very unfair and controlling for the new french government to do. Abolishing Sunday worship, Christmas, and Easter is a horribly crude thing for a revolutionary to do (Doc. C). France Representatives also took a cropper crucifix which was on the altar and carried it mockingly, upside down on a cart, offering it to passers-by to sit on (Doc. C). In Vendee, historians estimate that anywhere between 80,000 and 500,000 French people on both sides died in 1793 (Doc. C). Townspeople fought fiercely against a military draft called levee en masse and against laws to try to abolish Christianity in France (Doc. C). These pieces of evidence display that the Reign of Terror was in no way
The Reign of Terror, a period in time in which many were left to starve due to unproductive laws, Christianity was abolished and became an offense to practice and approximately 400,000 citizens were accused and killed by the guillotine without a fair trial. Through identifying these facts it is essentially to say that the Reign of Terror was undeniably detrimental to the citizens of France.
In September 1791, France achieved the movement of freeing and outlawing slavery. In turn, Haitian slaves were inspired to do the same by revolting against French plantation owners. This transformative movement of 100,000 slaves was led by Toussaint L’Ouverture; unfortunately, he died before experiencing Haiti’s separation from France in 1804. However, along the way of success of both revolutions, a toll occurred on the numerous lives lost. The Reign of Terror in France was created as a way to protect the republic from its internal enemies, but instead 16,000 people were guillotined. Many documents were shown to be describing the execution of the Reign of Terror to be gruesome and wrongful such that J.G. Milligen stated, “The process of execution was also a sad and heartrending spectacle”, in The Revolutionary Tribunal. Milligen continued to describe the vivid scene of the execution, but this was only one event and many others have died in the fall of the Bastille and the attack on the royal palace. Haiti has also lost many lives as an outcome of the revolutions especially in the slave revolts and battles with French soldiers sent by Napoleon. In addition, the Haitian Revolution leader L’Ouverture died in captivity in France. Both of these revolutions were known to have successfully achieved its goals, but it was chaotic and
Although, the Reign of Terror was seen as a way to let the revolution live and was well supported it was not justified. Because the internal threats propagated radicalism, the external threats raged and became stronger, and the methods became chaotic the Reign of Terror extended its stay in France until the death of the powerful leader Robespierre. The Reign of Terror was an outreach to gain rights but during this period they were taken away until the fateful day of Robespierre’s death ending the Terror.
With the return to France, came the return to the French military service for Napoleon. He soon became a big fan of the Jacobins, a very well-known political group involved in the French Revolution. Within these eventful years, France has been declared a republic, and King Louis XVI was executed. This lead to the reign Robespierre, his rule was called the “Reign of Terror.” It was a dark period in French history. Many innocent citizens were killed, until the Jacobins were ripped from power, and Robespierre was executed for good. This time period made many good opportun...
The revolution emphasized the ideals of “Liberty, Equality, Fraternity” and was characterized by the strong will of the French people who stood up for what they believed in. It was also an extremely bloody time, which saw the rise of the guillotine, a contraption used for public executions and to instill a sense of fear in those opposed to the revolution. The revolution saw the public execution of the King and Queen, Louis XIV and Marie Antoinette as well as thousands of others. The upper class feared for their lives.