The political structure of France transformed in an aftermath of the French Revolution, from an absolute monarchy to a democratic republic. This republican phase of France witnessed the fall of the monarchy, the formation of the National Assembly, the Reign of terror, and Directory rule.
France became the first republic in September 1792. This First republic continued till the coming of the First Empire or Napoleonic France in May 1804 under Napoleon Bonaparte. There were five republics in France after the declaration of the revolution, from 1792 to the present day. The emergence of France as a republic had to undergo many structural changes in the political system with the dominance of the different sections of society at different times.
When King Louis XVI came to the power, the discontent in french society increased against the Ancient Regime, which paved the way for the French Revolution. As a result of this revolution, a new constitution was formed by the National Convention in 1791, in which the power of the king was restricted with the setting up of the constitutional monarchy, and fundamental rights were guaranteed to citizens. In 1792 this constitutional monarchy also came to an end with the abdication of the monarch. Afterwards, the French republic was established in 1792 by the newly elected members of the National Assembly, which unanimously declared France a republic. But the newly formed government faced both internal and external problems that led to political instability.
Taking advantage of this political instability, the Jacobins seized control of the National Convention, and with this reign of terror began in France, which witnessed the mass slaughter and massive violence throughout the nation. This situation and the Jacobin republic came to end 1n 1794 with the seizure of power by the middle class, forming the Directory rules in France.
However, there were frequent conflicts even during the directory rule, which resulted in the beginning of the French Consulate headed by Napoleon Bonaparte as the First Consul, who later declared himself as the Emperor of France, and established the First Empire by ending the First French Republic.
The French Revolution overthrew the tyrannical, autocratic rulers and established new political and social systems based on the principles of equality, liberty, and fraternity. Democratic republic became the new form of government.
There were several reasons and events that set the stage for France to become a republic −
Replacement of the absolute monarchy with the Constitutional monarchy
End of the monarchy and the formation of the National Convention
Regin of Terror
Directory Rule
Assembly came up with a new constitution in 1791, in which the power of the king was confined with a check by the parliament. Now the power was distributed between the legislature, the executive, and the judiciary. This political structure came to be known as the constitutional monarchy. In this system, voting right was given to active citizens, who used to pay high taxes. Whereas. The passive citizens, who could not pay high taxes, and women were not allowed to vote. In this constitution, human rights such as freedom of speech, opinion, and equality before the law, were considered natural rights, which were given to all human beings irrespective of their birth and class. It was the duty of the state to protect these rights for all humans.
King Louis XVI was not happy with the minimization of his power even though he signed the constitution. Therefore, he started negotiating secretly with the rulers of other countries, who were also worried about the development of the f revolution in France. So the neighboring countries Austria and Prussia agreed to help him in order to suppress the revolt. Realizing the planning of King Louis and his allies, the National Assembly declared war against these countries in 1792.
People from different provinces volunteered to join French revolutionaries to fight against the monarchy and nobility for the establishment of people’s supremacy. These revolutionary wars brought massive destruction, especially to common people. And people opined that the revolution should be continued as the new constitution did not give rights to all sections of society. Subsequently, many political clubs became important elements of the political structure for the discussion of government policies and making plans of action. One such political club was Jacobins- which comprised the so-called passive citizens like peasants, laborers, and artisans.
In 1792, Tuileries palace was attacked by the Jacobins which led to the capture of King Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette. After that, they conducted an election for the new assembly, which came to be known as National Convention on September 21, 1792. Now in this election, all males above the age of 21 years were given the right to vote regardless of their economic background. This phenomenon marked the end of the constitutional monarchy and the emergence of France as a republic. Later, the king and queen were executed in 1793.
After France was declared a republic, the Jacobins became the dominant club. This club was headed by Maximilien Robespierre, who initiated the reign of terror in France with harsh punishments and control from 1793-1794.
In this period, people suspected of being enemies of the republic and revolution were executed. He banned other political clubs in order to retain the dominance of the Jacobins. A device called ‘Guillotine’ was made to behead the “enemies”. Gradually the head of the Jacobin club, Robespierre became authoritative, which made the French people to revolt against his reign and ultimately the execution of Robespierre.
After the fall of the Jacobin government, the wealthier middle class again rose to power. They made a new constitution, in which they again gave voting rights only to the propertied section of the society. With this, the provision of two legislative councils came into being. Along with this, they appointed a Directory, an executive body of five members for decision-making instead of concentrating power in hands of one executive like Jacobins. But this sharing of power to different institutions and organs created frequent conflicts between the legislative and Directory. These conflicts again generated political instability in France and ultimately set the stage for Napoleon Bonaparte to come to power by overthrowing the Directory rule, later crowned himself as the Emperor of France thus initiating the despotic monarchy once again.
Following the years of the French Revolution, France had to go through a series of changes in political structure, these changes comprised the fall of the absolute monarchy with King Louis XVI at first then the rise of constitutional monarchy, Jacobin government, rule of Directory and rise of Napoleon Bonaparte as the Emperor. In these changes, the idea of nationalism was popularized and the principles of liberty, equality, and fraternity inspired not just France but also the whole of Europe and beyond. The aristocracy lost its privileges and the Feudal structure of the society came to an end.
Q1. What does ‘Republic’ mean?
Ans. Republic refers to a state where the head of the State is elected directly or indirectly by citizens of that state. And the post of the head is not hereditary.
Q2. Why were people dissatisfied with the rule of King Loius XVI?
Ans. There were several reasons for the dissatisfaction of people during king Louis XVI's reign −
France had spent a fortune on wars in Europe since Louis XVI’s reign.
The luxurious lifestyle of the king put a strain on the royal treasury.
The king enjoyed absolute power with no accountability to the people.
The economy was on the verge of bankruptcy, for which the king raised new taxes on the Third Estate.
Q3. Where was King Louis XVI executed?
Ans. On January 21, 1793 king Louis XVI was guillotined in the palace da la Revolution in Paris.
Q4. Who constituted the wealthier middle class in French society?
Ans. This class included merchants, industrialists, professionals, and intellectuals.
Q5. When did Napoleon Bonaparte declare himself the Emperor of France?
Ans. Napoleon Bonaparte crowned himself as an emperor of France on May 18, 1804.
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