Ways in Which the French Revolution had a Lasting Impact on France

‘Liberté, égalité, fraternité’: the motto that France uses to this day and first came about as a result of the French Revolution. This in itself shows that the revolution had a major impact on France. It played a significant role in changing France through, for example, the new definition of nationalism, the abolition of the monarchy and the abolition of feudalism. Whether these changes succeeded in modernising France or resulted in something that was not any better than pre-revolutionary times is what will be discussed in more detail using the above three examples.

Nationalism did exist, to a certain extent, in pre-revolutionary France, and ‘it played an important role in the Revolution itself’ (O’Brien, 1988:18) but it only had a real impact on France after the revolution. The nationalism that existed before the revolution gave rise to the idea of a more equal society without the monarchy or clergy, therefore after the revolution, this pride in the nation was shown through the equality which they managed to achieve, and gaining the desired result of no monarchy and no clergy. It was the beginning of this concept of nationalism that resulted in Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen and consequently what brought about the motto that France uses today. O’Brien emphasises this idea of nation above everything else, including their king, which the French were driven to achieve, so not only was this idea of nationalism present before the revolution, being one of the causes of the revolution, but also after the revolution, staying with the French until the present day, and influencing other countries to exalt this idea of nationalism and implement it. However the nationalism that existed in relation to Joan of Arc was still cl...

... middle of paper ...

...ay had the revolution never occurred. There would not be such a strong sense of nationalism present in France today, without the revolution.

Works Cited

Best, G. (1988), The French Revolution and Human Rights in Best, G. (ed), The Permanent Revolution: The French Revolution and its Legacy 1789-1989, London: Fontana Press 101-127

Blanning, T. C. W. (1987), The French Revolution: Aristocrats versus Bourgeois?, London: MacMillan

Jones, C. (1988), The Longman Companion to the French Revolution, London and New York: Longman

Markoff, J. (1998), Violence, Emancipation and Democracy in Kates, G. (ed), The French Revolution: Recent Debates & New Controversies, London and New York: Routledge

O’Brien, C. C. (1988), Nationalism and the French Revolution in Best, G. (ed), The Permanent Revolution: The French Revolution and its Legacy 1789-1989, London: Fontana Press 17-48