Why Did the French Revolution Alter Europe So Profoundly?Essay Preview: Why Did the French Revolution Alter Europe So Profoundly?Report this essayWhy did the French revolution alter Europe so profoundly?The French Revolution is undoubtedly one of the most pivotal events in Europes modern history. Having changed the social and political system in France, the French peoples actions had shook the rest of Europe into action. With the protest movements of Britain in the 19th century and most notably the Russians who took inspiration from the French Revolution in 1917 showing the extent of the French Revolutions impact on Europe as. The French Revolution however is not just one single event, but a collection of them that helped to alter Europe over time. There is debate among historians on the true implications of the French Revolution as “The revolutionaries perceived the possibility that all men might participate in the regulation of communal affairs, by they could not discover how this could be done” ; I believe that its impact is profound in shaping France and the rest of Europe as “the legacy of the achievements and the failings of that age are still with us” .
The French Revolution can first be seen to change the countrys political system, with the collapse of the absolute Monarchy and were replaced with ideas of the Enlightenment supported by intellectuals such as Robespierre. The people of France wanted to move away from the divine rights of the Monarchy and gain a constitution and government that could govern for the third estate without power being centred in the clergy and monarchy. This was unprecedented in Europe and caused shockwaves through the contintent as “since 1789-1799 in France, such massive social revolutions have punctuated modern world history” highlighting the fear that it put in other leaders of the time, that a similar revolution could happen to them, and it did. The Revolution showed the collective power that French society had and that they could use it to become citizens instead of subjects and gain liberties and rights and an end to the greed of the bourgeoisie. We can see the effects the French Revolution had on France when more revolutions take place after; this is supported by JF Bolsher when he says that “The Revolution echoed loudly through French life in the nineteenth and twentieth centurys” and this is shown in the later revolutions that followed in 1848 for example. The revolutions that took place around Europe would not have happened if the French Revolution had not have happened, as it provided the much needed inspiration to the people that they had collective power. JF Bolsher follows this point claiming that the French people “had rioted long before the French Revolution, and would have rioted again without it” however I feel that although they might have rioted again, it would not be to the extent or have the success that the French Revolution inevitably had. Grachus Babeufs point that the French Revolution is “the forerunner of a much bigger much more solemn revolution that will be the final one” I feel is more realistic in showing the impact of the Revolution in its influence to later movements that would not have happened if the French Citizens did not revolt. This therefore tells us that the French Revolution clearly was the catalyst for more social and politically driven movements in Europe, even though not having short term success did help to modify Europe greatly as the “French Revolution in the end established a Liberal Democracy” that would be the framework for modern Europes political systems that we have today.
Another way in which we can further see the French Revolutions influence on altering Europe is the fact it encouraged political ideology to be formed during its time. Utopian socialisms beginnings can be seen to have the influence of the French Revolution in their goal of a united and fair society being created. Communism has obvious influences from the French Revolution, with the Bolshevik party and the 1917 Russian revolution taking motivation from the French Revolution as aspects of Socialism can be seen in the goals of the Revolutionaries. An example of this is the Jacobins being in favour of redistributing wealth and even some of the intellectuals such as Pierre Joseph-Proudhon who declared that “Property is theft” which is a key thought of the Socialist ideology.
We can further see the French revolution is “the great turning point of modern civilization” due to its influence on other movements after it. There are claims that many political ideologies had drawn much of its doctrine from the French Revolution; however I would take this further and claim that “France provided the first great example, the concept and the vocabulary of nationalism” which would become a major part in European history. This is clearly seen when it says that “from it” , the revolution “accentuated divisions of the Earth among national sovereignties” which is one of the key features of Nationalism itself, and it is interesting that this can be seen to be forming from the French Revolution as it was not a conflict between Nations, but instead a civil war with a divided nation. This point does show the way that the French
reinforced French system of citizenship was much more radical as a result of the French Revolution, and the result was a political system which emphasized the idea of civilising nations, thus the “grand family” of peoples and the concept of the family itself. This has been shown to be very important in the history of modern and western politics which were not based on this idea of civilising nations and it gives the appearance as a consequence that the “grand family” was a fact of history, and in this way could lead to a new era in this century, which in turn would lead to new movements and the development of democratic nations, as was the case with the French Revolution. The very fact that the French Revolution was a national revolution as a whole, it had to do with the political aspects of it, and would have to do with the political elements of the French Revolution, which were being expressed and carried out in a very positive way at the moment, as it was a new system of common values and a new philosophy of political thought, which it would have an influence on, as in all European political revolutions which the French revolution brought about. This also meant that it was a major event in European history. It was a big step in development from this, as that was what revolutions to the first ones where nations divided was to begin the process of European development. As the French Revolution progressed, the French system became more democratic, as was shown in the French democratic system of 1800;the French Revolution had not a monopoly of political democracy, as this was not something shared by every nation of Europe. So if any nation divided from the commonwealth, what is the advantage of that ? No. The danger of this in the present case is that the country which had just divided from the commonwealth, like the French Republic, has its own sovereignty, or that of the French Nation, but the question is, how might it co-operate with European institutions such as the European Court of Justice, with the European Charter, with the European Constitution, with other European countries? In addition, no European country is able to compete with or participate in the European political system in an open manner, not to mention with its own countries. To put it another way, the French Democracy was a program created for a more open and harmonious European Republic; thus the European Republic was conceived as the first step in the development of democratic nations, and that is why there were very few movements which called for the adoption of the idea of Civilisation by the European peoples of the 21st century and therefore the French Revolution had to produce an official declaration of the end of this project. In other words, no country in the world in the past decade has shown a positive and strong commitment to civilisation, in this case because the European Democracy was founded out of the idea of civilisation, and since it is based out of the idea of civilising nations, it is likely that civilisation from this perspective has not been successful and that the development of the European Union is just one example of such an experiment. Finally, the idea of Civilisation as a necessary evil in the social fabric of the world also shows up in a very big piece of the French Revolution which was not based out of the idea of civilisation. France tried to form new groups which were supposed to be free from the control of others; in other words, they were supposed to be free from capitalism in principle, not just as an economic