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How Did the French Revolution Affect the Rest of England?
Jozlynne Taylor
May 13, 2012
World Understanding
Baumgartner
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The French Revolution, lasting from 1789 to 1799, was a major turning point in
European history. It changed France from a monarchy to a republic and was meant to limit royal
absolutism. The ending results were six governments, executing the kind, and turning to the
Napoleonic Era, but the real question is how did the revolution affect the rest of Europe?
In 1789, France was still using the medieval social hierarchies and was under the control
of King Louis XVI. Everyone in the country belonged to one of three social classes represented
in the Estates-General, which the king had not called in over 175 years. The First Estate was the
clergy, the Second was the nobility, and the Third was the peasantry. The First Estate owned
about 20% of the land, but did not have to pay taxes. Like the First Estate, the Second Estate did
not have to pay taxes either, and they owned 10% of the land.1 The Third Estate was the poorest
of the three and owned 90% of the land, but they still had to pay taxes so the state, clergy, and
nobility did well financially.
One cause of the revolution was the fact that many writers such as Voltaire, John Locke,
and Jean-Jacques Rousseau were questioning absolute monarchies and getting interested in
republican ideas. The writings of these famous authors got people thinking about what kind of
democracy they would want for their country. Another reason for the revolution in France is the
lower class started questioning their place in the government and getting upset because they did
not have much power. Many of them thought that the feudal system was unfair.2 Financial
problems were also a big contribution to the uprising. France could not afford to pay for loans of
1
World History: The Modern Era, s.v. "French Revolution," accessed April 16, 2012. http://worldhistory.abcclio.com/.
2
World History: The Modern Era, s.v. "French Revolution," accessed April 19, 2012. http://worldhistory.abc-clio.com/.
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get more credit. Many people were unemployed and could not afford to buy food for themselves
which caused bread riots, burning, and looting.
Because of all these financial issues and the low class people being upset, King Louis
XVI called a meeting of the Estates-General. Held in May 1789, there were 291 clergymen, 279
nobles, and 578 members of the peasantry.3 The nobles said that they should only use one vote
per estate, which would immediately out vote the Third Estate because the First and the Third
would side together. Because of this, the Third Estate decided not to participate along with a
couple of others from different Estates. They seceded from the Estates-General on June 17, 1789
and called themselves the French National Assembly. Meeting at a tennis court, they made an
oath, which would become known as the Tennis Court Oath, to “never separate from the
National Assembly, and to reassemble wherever circumstances require, until the constitution of
the realm is drawn up and fixed upon solid foundations.” 4
On July 14, 1789, a mob took over the Bastille, a prison in 18th century Paris, freeing all
the prisoners and killing the guards. The Storming of the Bastille started an increase of violence
in France and was the symbolic start of the French Revolution. 5 In August of 1789, the National
Assembly got rid of serfdom, old feudal privileges, and church taxes. Louis XVI allowed the
Assembly to keep going and even encouraged the clergy and nobility to join it but would not
allow them to get rid of feudalism and the Declaration of the Rights of Man. So on October 5,
3
World History: The Modern Era, s.v. "French Revolution," accessed April 27, 2012. http://worldhistory.abc-clio.com/.
4
Steven Kreis, The Oath of the Tennis Court (June 20, 1789). Accessed April 29, 2012
http://www.historyguide.org/intellect/tennis_oath.html
5
World History: The Modern Era, s.v. "Enlightenment and the French Revolution: Key Question," accessed
April 29, 2012. http://worldhistory.abc-clio.com/.
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many workers marched to the Palace of Versailles with the support of about 20,000 guards and
made the royal family go back to Paris where they locked them in the Tuileries Palace. Then the
National Assembly declared martial law, which is when temporary military government comes
into play when the civil government cannot keep order in the country.6 The National Assembly
started passing many liberal reforms such as nationalizing church property and forbidding
monastic vows. The Assembly brought France from 28 provinces to 83 equal departments, each
headed by an elected assembly. On June 20, 1790, the Assembly officially ended nobility and
then on August 16, reorganized the judiciary and got rid of the old parlements.7 Getting rid of
these things was good for France because the parlements were unfair to most people.
In the summer of 1791, the royal family tried to escape but were captured and returned to
Paris where Louis was forced to accept the new constitution. The constitution stated that the
France was now a limited monarchy and created a legislature to replace the National Assembly.
This was called the French Legislative Assembly and sat from October 1, 1791 to September 20,
1792. 8 “The Assembly was France's first true legislature and marked the first time in French
history that someone other than the king or his ministers could propose and adopt laws, oversee
6
World History: The Modern Era, s.v. "martial law," accessed April 29, 2012. http://worldhistory.abc-clio.com/.
7
World History: The Modern Era, s.v. "French Revolution," accessed April 29, 2012. http://worldhistory.abcclio.com/.
8
Baker, Lee. "French Legislative Assembly." In World History: The Modern Era. ABC-CLIO, 2001-. Accessed
April 19, 2012. http://worldhistory.abc-clio.com/.
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the national budget, and ratify treaties.”9 Since this was the first time any one besides the king
could do these things, it was a big time for the people of France.
In April 1792, Louis declared war with Austria and Prussia hoping that France would be
defeated, allowing him to become ruler again. Revolutionaries began to become upset with all
their losses and suspected that Louis was betraying them. They demanded overthrowing the
monarchy. In August 1792, they stormed the Tuileries and imprisoned the Royal Family. Over
the next couple of months, the people of Paris went into the city’s prisons and killed the
clergymen and nobles that were in them. Soon the Legislative assembly was replaced by the
French National Convention and on September 20, the convention officially made France a
republic. 10 On January 21, 1793, King Louis XVI was beheaded. Nine months later, Marie
Antoinette, Louis’s wife, was tried and executed by the guillotine.
The French Revolution was a huge impact on Europe because France went from being a
monarchy to a republic. A lot of the other countries in Europe were monarchies and the thought
of their country revolting against them to become a republic really scared them. So naturally,
they opposed the idea of getting rid of the monarchial system. Also, France was one of the
largest and most powerful countries in Europe, so the fact that something like that could happen
to France was terrifying to the people.
9
Baker, Lee. "French Legislative Assembly." In World History: The Modern Era. ABC-CLIO, 2001-. Accessed
April 19, 2012. http://worldhistory.abc-clio.com/.
10
World History: The Modern Era, s.v. "French Revolution," accessed April 21, 2012.
http://worldhistory.abc-clio.com/.
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In conclusion, the French Revolution had a huge impact on the rest of Europe. Because
the country was so large and powerful the people of Europe could not believe that there could be
a revolution. A lot of the other countries rulers hoped that the idea of turning to republic instead
of having a monarchy would not catch on in their country. Something like this had never
happened before and Europe was in a stage of confusion, fear, and in France’s case, pride.
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Works Cited
World History: The Modern Era, s.v. "French Revolution," accessed April 21, 2012.
http://worldhistory.abc-clio.com/.
Baker, Lee. "French Legislative Assembly." In World History: The Modern Era. ABC-CLIO, 2001. Accessed April 19, 2012. http://worldhistory.abc-clio.com/.
World History: The Modern Era, s.v. "martial law," accessed April 29, 2012. http://worldhistory.abcclio.com/.
Steven Kreis, The Oath of the Tennis Court (June 20, 1789). Accessed April 29, 2012
http://www.historyguide.org/intellect/tennis_oath.html
World History: The Modern Era, s.v. "Enlightenment and the French Revolution: Key Question,"
accessed April 29, 2012. http://worldhistory.abc-clio.com/.