IMPORTANCE OF FRENCH REVOLUTION

The French Revolution was an important event in world history that lasted from 1789 to 1799. Among other things, it put an end to feudalism in France; converted the monarchy into a republic; Made a constitution based on the principle of equality and liberty; and became the first state to grant universal male suffrage. The consequences of the French Revolution included the downsizing of religion; the rise of modern nationalism; It is important to spread liberalism and ignite the era of revolution. Most importantly, the revolution changed the subject matter of modern history, hastened the global decline of absolute monarchies and replaced them with republics and liberal democracies.

1. End of the Bourbon Rule in France

The House of Bourbon is a French dynasty that ruled France for over 200 years. Its rule was interrupted by the French Revolution. In 1792, the monarchy in France was abolished and replaced with a republican form of government. Although the Bourbon monarchy was restored after the fall of Napoleon Bonaparte in 1815, it only lasted until 1830 when it was finally overthrown in the July Revolution. In addition, during the revolution, the royal guard of the Bourbon monarchy was replaced by the National Guard, the revolutionary army, whose role was to protect the achievements of the French Revolution. By the end of 1793, the National Guard consisted of 300,000 well-trained soldiers guarding the people and their property.

2. Change in Land Ownership in France

With the breakdown of land rights controlled by the Church and the nobility during the Revolution, France became primarily a land of small independent cultivators. It can be said that the revolution gave the country "a ruling class of landowners". The tithe taken by the church was one-tenth of the annual yield. These taxes were abolished during the French Revolution. Two-thirds of France was engaged in agriculture and the abolition of these taxes brought great relief to the farmers.

3. Decline in the Power of the French Catholic Church

Before the French Revolution, Catholicism was the official religion in France and the French Catholic Church was very powerful. The French Catholic Church was nearly destroyed during the revolution. Its priests and nuns were thrown out, its leaders executed or exiled, its property controlled by the state and tithes abolished. However, the Concordat of 1801, an agreement between Napoleon and the Church, ended this period and established rules for the relationship between the Church and the French state.

4. Birth of Ideologies

An ideology is considered the best form of social and political organization. The French Revolution gave birth to ideologies. In fact the word ideology was coined during the revolution itself. After the French Revolution, no government was recognized as legitimate without justification. The French Revolution gave rise to a number of ideological alternatives, including nationalism, liberalism, socialism, and eventually communism.

5. Rise of Modern Nationalism

Nationalism is an ideology that transcends all social and religious divisions and expresses its allegiance to the nation. The French Revolution started the movement towards the modern nation-state which played an important role in the birth of nationalism across Europe. As the French armies under Napoleon Bonaparte took over the territories, the ideology of nationalism spread throughout Europe. The struggle for national liberation became one of the most important themes of European and world politics of the 19th and 20th centuries.

6. Spread of Liberalism

Liberalism is a political and moral philosophy based on liberty and equality. During the French Revolution, the hereditary aristocracy was overthrown with the slogan "Liberty, Equality, Fraternity", and France became the first state in history to grant universal male suffrage. There were two major events that marked the triumph of liberalism during the revolution. The first was the abolition of feudalism in France on 4 August 1789. This marked the decline of feudal and old traditional rights and privileges. The second was the passage of the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen in August 1789.

7. Laying the Foundation of Communism

The French Revolution did not directly create the 19th-century ideologies known as socialism and communism. However, it provided an intellectual and social environment in which these ideologies and their spokesmen could flourish. French communist philosophers of the late 18th century not only criticized private property, but also called for its abolition and the establishment of a society based on egalitarian ownership of property. French political agitator and journalist François-Noël Babeuf  advocated violent revolutionary action in the name of socialization of wealth.

8. Inspired the Haitian Revolution

At the time of the French Revolution, Haiti was a French colony called Saint Domingue. The French Revolution led the slaves to revolt in Saint Domingue and forced the French leaders to recognize the full meaning of their revolution. The Haitian Revolution began on 22 August 1791 when slaves of Saint Domingue began killing their masters, implicating the colony in civil war. The Haitian Revolution ended with the independence of Haiti in 1804. It was the only slave revolt that established a state that was free from slavery, and was ruled by non-whites. It is now widely regarded as a defining moment in the history of racism.

9. Entering the Age of Revolution

The French Revolution started a series of revolutions which Eric Hobbes Baum called the Age of Revolutions. These included the Irish Rebellion of 1798; Haitian Revolution; First Italian War of Independence; The Sicilian Revolution of 1848; Revolutions of 1848 in Italy; and the independence movements of the Spanish and Portuguese colonies in Latin America.

In this way the consequences of the French Revolution were so far-reaching that even a simple assessment of it turns the entire history of France into the history of Europe. It taught the spirit of world liberty, equality, fraternity, nationalism and popular rule.