More handpicked essays just for you.
French revolution christianity
The enlightenment and french revolution
The enlightenment and french revolution
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: French revolution christianity
Joseph de Maistre Vs. Germaine de Stael
Joseph de Maistre and. Germaine de Stael harbored contrasting views on the legibility of the French Revolution based on their religious beliefs. Apparently, while the revolution might have had a worthy cause, the equality of all persons, the outcomes of the years of violence and mass prosecutions opposed religion. In “Considerations on the Principal Events of the French Revolution”, Germaine de Stael supported radical efforts against the absolute Monarch but was against the brutal nature of the same. Meanwhile, Joseph De Maistre’s “Considerations on France” attacked the revolutionists using a religious and dictatorial blueprint that apparently proved their flawed ideologies. Apparently, the man opposed
About Maistre, the argument that enlightenment ought to have benefited all of France instead of destroying the political, social, and economic spheres of the country is logical to the rational mind. Additionally, the rapid executions of the French nobles were both brutal as it was against religious convictions; hence, the man makes another good point. However, the question focuses on the relationship between politics and religion during the French Revolution, and Stael shows a more superior grasp of the same. In other words, it is absurd to assume that human beings are God’s slaves because, particularly in Christianity, free will is a major concept. For that reason, Maistre is wrong. Similarly, if all persons are free before God, they ought to be the same with other humans, and that renders the old system a defilement of God’s will. In fact, that proves Stael’s analysis of the enlightenment as a divine intervention to be satisfactory. Finally, yet importantly, while the brutal nature of the revolution appears to be against the Christian teachings or the personal views of Stael, the indisputable fact is that in the absence of violence, France would still have an absolute Monarch. Based on the given conclusion, such possibilities would have been against God’s desires; hence, the violence was
Beginning in mid-1789, and lasting until late-1799, the French Revolution vastly changed the nation of France throughout its ten years. From the storming of the Bastille, the ousting of the royal family, the Reign of Terror, and all the way to the Napoleonic period, France changed vastly during this time. But, for the better part of the last 200 years, the effects that the French Revolution had on the nation, have been vigorously debated by historian and other experts. Aspects of debate have focused around how much change the revolution really caused, and the type of change, as well as whether the changes that it brought about should be looked at as positive or negative. Furthermore, many debate whether the Revolutions excesses and shortcomings can be justified by the gains that the revolution brought throughout the country. Over time, historians’ views on these questions have changed continually, leading many to question the different interpretations and theories behind the Revolutions effectiveness at shaping France and the rest of the world.
The French Revolution may have temporarily destroyed Christianity in France, however, it acted as a savior for the future of Christianity. According to the Bible, God allows us to go through trials of tribulation to grow stronger and closer to him. This series of events that impacted France, represented a truly dark period in the history of Christianity, but also marked a rebirth and overall revival of a religion that was becoming far detached from its roots.
In order to investigate the claim that ‘Napoleon betrayed the revolution’, it has to be determined what is the French revolution? And what are the revolutionary ideals that Napoleon allegedly betrayed? If Napoleon betrayed the Revolution then he betrayed the ideals of liberty, equality and fraternity. However if Napoleon did not betray the revolution, he consolidated the revolutionary ideals. The only way of determining whether Napoleon consolidated or betrayed the revolution is to explore his actions such as his military success, Dictatorship and social reforms. The difficulty of this analysis is that Napoleons motives for his actions determine whether he consolidated or betrayed the Revolution.
There are plenty of speculations concerning why there was a French Revolution and plenty of articles and books written on the subject of why did France revolutionize? Was it because France was following in the footsteps of the Americans and rebelling against a negligent monarch or was it because it was time for a reformation in France? Perhaps it was none of those reasons but because of a language sweeping that nation of France that calls the bourgeoisie, the foundation of the nation that was France, into action. Maybe the French Revolution began simply because the city-dwelling bourgeoisie overthrew the empowered nobility and monarchy, which is what most speculations, ultimately leads to. However, all of these assumptions may be partially true, but not the whole truth and therefore, are all wrong. The French Revolution occurred because of a series of dependent occurrences that led to the culmination of the members from the bourgeoisie storming the Bastille in July and the overthrowing of the monarchy and the nobility. The French Revolution began not because of one single, particular act like overthrowing a government or agitating the lower classes, but a combination of those reasons listed above and others not mentioned in this introduction but that will be addressed later in this paper.
New York: Barnes & Noble, 1969. Print. The. Kreis, Steven. A. A. "Lecture 12: The French Revolution - Moderate Stage, 1789-1792.
Scientific and philosophical innovations during the 18th century brought about a new breed of thinkers. Their driving forces of rational and reason shifted the religious temperament of the elite from “enthusiasts” to intellectuals. “They argued that there was no divine standard of morality, no afterlife to divert humanity from worldly concerns” (The Western Experience, pg. 657). They were radicals who sought to displace the authority of religion. Driven by reason, enlightenment thinkers naturally opposed superstition and attempted to replace religious mysticism with philosophical standards and scientific formulations. Their shift of focus highlighted reverence for the Creator and moral teachings of the Bible. By eliminating superstition they hoped to bolster the Christian religion (The Western Experience, pg. 660). Two philosophies of the new enlightened view of religion were toleration and deism, both of which sustained the faith of the educated elite. However, these philosophies displaced the authority of religion in society (The Western Experience, pg. 660). Never again would the teachings of Christianity be so readily accepted. French critic Pierre Bayle put forth the concept of religious tolerance in his Critical and Historical Dictionary. Typical of an enlightenment thinker, Bayle put the claims of religion to the test of critical reason. He concluded that many of Christianity’s sacred traditions were myth and its history noth...
Liberty, equality, and freedom are all essential parts to avoiding anarchy and maintaining tranquility even through the most treacherous of times. The Reign of Terror is well known as the eighteen month long French Revolution (1793-1794). In this period of time, a chief executive, Maximilien Robespierre, and a new French government executed gigantic numbers of people they thought to be enemies of the revolution, inside and outside of the country. The question is: were these acts of the new French government justified? Not only are the acts that occurred in the Reign of Terror not justified, they were barbaric and inhumane.
The French people were quick to blame the government for all the misfortune they possess, yet ignored the potential evil or crisis the social body was heading towards within themselves. Because of the rapid sequence of horrific events in the beginning of the French revolution, it prevented the subversive principles to be spread passes the frontiers of France, and the wars of conquest which succeeded them gave to the public mind a direction little favorable to revolutionary principles (2). French men have disgraced the religion by ‘attacking with a steady and systematic animosity, and all it is there that the weapon of ridicule has been used with the most ease and success (2). Metternich was not in support of the French
The essential cause of the French revolution was the collision between a powerful, rising bourgeoisie and an entrenched aristocracy defending its privileges”. This statement is very accurate, to some extent. Although the collision between the two groups was probably the main cause of the revolution, there were two other things that also contributed to the insanity during the French revolution – the debt that France was in as well as the famine. Therefore, it was the juxtaposing of the bourgeoisie and the aristocracy as well as the debt and famine France was in that influenced the French Revolution.
Even though, the French Revolution saw the Terror as a sign to create peace and restore a new France, it was not justified because the extremities of the internal and external threats spun out of control and the methods of the period were over the top. As the Reign of Terror in France grew and invoked fear, the internal threats became more radical and deadly. The French Revolution began in 1789 as an attempt to create a new and fair government. (Doc A) As year four of freedom lurched, the thirst for power in Maximilien Robespierre stirred and the hunger for more blood provoked him, urging him to create the Reign of Terror.
The Reign of Terror is an extremely controversial time period during the French Revolution because it shows France turning on its people with opposing political views that threatened the Revolution’s progression. At this time, the rebels were considered violent threats and the ways to deal with them became increasing violent and dictatorial. In 1792, the National Convention created fundamental changes in France’s government, drastically changing the political and social landscape. According to Popkin, “Some believe the assembly laid the groundwork for the basic institutions that make France a democratic society today, while others see the Convention as a violent and destructive regime comparable to the totalitarian dictatorships of the twentieth century (Popkin, 63).” Even though historians disagree, they cannot disagree on the radical policies that are no doubt some of the most radical moments in French Revolution history. They’re related specifically to their creation of democracy and the polices of terror, which also rose the questioned of whether the government was a democracy or a dictatorship because of the lack of political freedom and complete control over the people of France.
The French Revolution is arguably the bloodiest period in French history, with men such as Maximilien Robespierre leading the country into a situation of state sponsored terror. Originally being quite a liberal thinker inspired by the works of Rousseau, Robespierre quickly gained a reputation for being a radical throughout the course of the Revolution, especially during the Terror. Early on terror was justified as a means to root out foreign and domestic enemies of the Revolution, however; once the foreign threat had been taken care of it became increasingly difficult for Robespierre to rationalize his use of terror to bring about a supposed Republic of Virtue. In his speech, the “Justification of the use of Terror” which he presented to the National Convention, he attempted to defend the actions of the Terror one last time. Unfortunately it appeared that Robespierre was going to become the very type of tyrant that he had strived to abolish along with the French Monarchy at the beginning of the Revolution. As demonstrated in the speech, Robespierre had become obsessed with ridding France of her enemies, however; his fixation with the Terror, even when it had become unnecessary, eventually caused the rest of the radicals to envision a France without him – and it cost him his life.
The enlightenment in the perspective of the French 18th century thinker, François-Marie Arouet, famously known as Voltaire, to him, was the time where religious superstations and ignorance was to be replaced with rational thinking. Unlike other enlightenment thinkers, Voltaire was not an atheist, he in fact believed in a greater power who was merciful, he believed in a balance between religion and science, and respected the unexplainable. Although, he by no means agreed with the Catholic church, which lead to a constant feud between him and the Catholic church, and in fact most authority. In a writing, called treatise on intolerance, in he condemns those who in his words say, “Believe, or I detest thee”, (Voltaire argued). He believed that it was cruel to
Many of the riots and stormings that took place during the French Revolution took a violent turn. Many of the earlier violent riots were from pure and utter “rage” from the lack of care from the government, however after Voltaire, the revolutionary retaliation gained another focal point. This point, was religion. Specifically, the Catholic Church. Few people people truly realized that less than .5% of the population, the First Estate (a.k.a the Catholic Clergy) owned 10% of the land and “extracted substantial amounts of wealth from the economy in the form of tithes and ecclesiastical fees, but paid few taxes” (History Book 615). Voltaire however, who “condemned injustice, clerical abuses, [and] prejudice” was one of these few, and decided to speak up, “frequently [making] use of his works to criticize [the] Church” (newworldencyclopedia.org). And it wasn’t just the financial corruption, no, Voltaire then also brought to light the oppression that was formalized religion. He believed in “freedom of religion” and advocated “social reform” in favor of displacing the Catholic Church (newworldencyclopedia.org). Voltaire’s wit was infamous for its ability to upheave crowds in his favor, in fact, his “fiery condemnation of the corruption of the church bore fruit in the radicalism and violence of the French Revolution… Anti-clerical violence and appropriation of church lands would undermine the church and the role of religion in French life” (newworldencyclopedia.org). As we can see from this statement, with some help from his assertive nature, Voltaire’s ideal towards the church took roots, and impacted part of the focus of the Revolution. This ideal added the want and need for, not only material things like food and shelter, but for religious
The French Revolution was a period of upheaval in France, during which the French governmental structure and Catholic clergy underwent a large change due to Enlightenment ideas. The commoners of France began to revolt after hearing the ideas of famous philosophes like Voltaire. Voltaire was a deist who believed that the Catholic Church and its doctrines were not to be trusted since they used propoganda to get followers rather than the actual religion. He believed it was unfair that there wasn’t any religious freedom since you were expected to be a Catholic. He spoke openly about this, which of course got him into a lot of trouble. Nevertheless, the French commoners took his word into thought and decided to act upon what he said by revolting against the church. Voltaire’s ideas also critized royal absolutism because they had, in his opinion, too much power. He favored an elightened absolutist, which is an absolutist who adopts Enlightenment ideas. Once again, the French commoners took this to heart and agreed with Voltaire that the French government was too ...