The French revolution brought about many changes in the administrative and social structure along with the end of Feudalism in France. In the early 1790s during the course of the Revolution, the despotic rule of the monarchy came to an end in France. And the concept of constitutional monarchy came into being, where the power of the king was restricted through the check by the constitution.
With the recognition of the National Assembly, the power was distributed between the legislative, executive, and judiciary. And the National Assembly also restructured the administration of the local government. Ultimately, by the end of the Revolution, France emerged as a democratic republic by transferring the sovereign power to the people from the king or National Assembly.
The French Revolution ended the privileges of the First and the Second Estates and suppressed the monarchy. With this, the bourgeois of the Third Estate took the power and installed a government that worked on the ideals of liberty, fraternity, and equality. But the newly formed government faced internal and external problems. There were conflicts of interest among the members of the National Convention. There were disagreements over the execution of King Louis XVI.
The king’s execution and the conflict within the National Convention created a situation of turbulence and violence in France. Taking advantage of the infighting within the National Convention, the Jacobins-a radical political group-began dominated and introduce a series of radical measures.
The Jacobin was headed by Maximilien Robespierre, who initiated a “Reign of Terror’’ from 1793 to 1794. This was a period when people were executed suspected of being ‘enemies’ of the revolution. These enemies were clergy, aristocracy, and even members of his own party who did not agree with him on any issue.
However, this authoritarian rule of Jacobins did not last long, and with the execution of Robespierre, there began a Thermidorian Reaction, in which the French people retaliated against the “reign of Terror”.
After the decline of the Jacobin government, the well-to-do middle class came to the power and decided to have a new constitution with the power given to the legislative council and the Directory. There were frequent conflicts between the directory and the legislative councils. Now, this political instability set the stage for the rise of Napoleon Bonaparte, a military dictator, who extended the French empire to most of Europe and some parts of Africa.
Due to the unstable political structure, the National Assembly designed a new administration in order to promote national integration via local autonomy. Under the new administration, the nation was divided into 83 departments and these departments were further subdivided into several provinces, districts, cantons, villages, etc. Through this division, the Assembly tried to decentralize the power, where citizens of these departments were given the right to elect their local officials.
The new administrative reforms also restructure the judicial system in which the National Assembly terminated the judicial system of the ancient Regime’. A civil court was established in each district and a criminal court in each department was created by the revolutionaries. With the new judicial system, they replaced the feudal way of justice with the justice of the peace in each district. In this way, the revolutionary government tried to the make judicial system more accessible for all the citizens irrespective of their background or class.
Besides, in the field of trade and commerce, the revolutionaries followed the principle of egalitarianism. As guided by laissez-faire policy(minimum government interference)., the Assembly opened the economic life for individual initiative regardless of traditional routines and obstacles. Peasants and landowners were allowed to cultivate their fields as per their will.
The French Revolution revoked the feudal society mainly the ranking privileges based on three Estates. After the abolition of privileges for nobility and clergy, the uppermiddle- class rose to power. The ideals of liberty, equality, and fraternity were given importance. A social order based on equal rights the all-the idea that all men are born free and have equal rights- was established.
In spite of having an egalitarian society, women's position remained unchanged in France even after the revolution. As a result of this women started raising their demand for having an equal position in society as their male counterparts. Initially, women had to face disappointment but after a point of time, some reforms were made by the revolutionary government to uplift women’s position for getting voting rights, women had to fight for almost two hundred years.
Similarly, slavery was abolished in French colonies during the reign of the Jacobins, which was another greatest social reform made by the French Revolution. Though it was restarted by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1848.
The French Revolution was one of the most remarkable events in the history of Europe. It brought about many reforms in the social, and political, arena of France by restructuring them entirely. This restructuring of France after the revolution included the collapse of the Ancient Regime, the loss of privileges of the upper class with the abolition of feudalism, and the welfare of the common man became a priority. Even the reforms made in favor of women and slavery were major breakthroughs in the postrevolution. The revolution also set an example for other countries of the world. The wave of nationalist movements initiated by the French started spreading to other parts of the world.
Q1. Explain the classification of the three Estates of eighteenth-century French society?
Ans. During the eighteenth century the French society was classified into three parts, called ‘Estates’ −
The First Estate comprises the clergy.
The Second Estate, comprised aristocracy or nobility.
The Third Estate, included the middle class, intellectuals, industrialists, workers, artisans, and peasants.
Q2. Who constituted the National Assembly? Why was it formed?
Ans. In 1789, King Louis XVI scheduled a meeting of the Estates-General to discuss the financial crisis of France. At this meeting, as always the voting of the Third Estate was outvoted by the First and the Second Estates, who were much less in number than the Third Estate. They wanted the voting rights to be based on the number of members of the Estates. On 17 June 1789, members of the Third Estate in a revolutionary move, declared themselves as a National Assembly, marking the beginning of the Revolution.
Q3. When and where was Robespierre executed?
Ans. The Jacobin leader Maximilien Robespierre was executed on July 28, 1794 in Hotel de Ville, Paris in France.
Q4. What was the Thermidorian Reaction in the French Revolution?
Ans. The Thermidorian Reaction in the French Revolution was the parliamentary revolt that began on 9 Thermidor years II July (27 July 1794). It was basically a moderate phase in which the French population revolted against the excesses of the “Reign of Terror” which resulted in the collapse of the Jacobins with the execution of their leader Robespierre.
Q5. Who was Napoleon Bonaparte?
Ans. Napoleon Bonaparte emerged as a crucial figure in the post-revolution period. He was a powerful military leader. During the years of the French Revolution, he rose from the ranks of soldier to General due to his spectacular military tactics. He was being called a hero by French people who were fed up with the Directory’s inefficient rule. Napoleon abolished the Directory and declared himself the First Consul. This event marked the end of the French Revolution and the beginning of the Napoleon era. In 1804, he crowned himself the emperor of France.
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