I think that the French people did a great job in how they led the revolution, considering the fact that they had no other source to take ideas from and this can be seen in their actions too. The decision of attacking Austria was clearly a dumb one and its impacts can be clearly on the economy after the war. It’s surprising and perhaps to some extent quite intriguing as to why the French decided to attack Austria when they clearly were not in a situation to survive yet another war and the money could’ve gone to the starving population and make their lives better.
Another thing that can be noted from the events of the French revolution is the major role played by the news and writers. We can see how they shaped the mindset of the French people and even made them completely ignore the letter from the Duke of Prussia.
I really liked what the French people did in the 17th century which people still unable to accept in 2020. They completely ditched the church, priests who refused to accept the revolution were deported and they formed a completely new atheistic group called the “Cult of Reson” whose funding was taken care of by the state and it was meant to be a complete replacement to the Catholic church. Many other churches treasury were completely destroyed and they were changed to the “Temple of Reason”.They even changed the calendar as a new republic!!
The government was Paris was now under the control of Sans-Culottes, which sentenced prison to the people who were against the revolution, which obviously constituted a large set of the clergy.
This was perhaps the most heart-wrenching moment in the French Revolution. Remember the fact that the French had declared war on Austria. As the enemy began closing in the French territories, the French leaders left Paris for war. Fear was drawing in, the people were France feared that the prisoned Aristocrats and clergy would plan a counter-revolution, in their own defense, mobs descended on Paris prisons and during the brutal September Massacres of 1792 aristocrats, priests, and others were tied and executed on the spot. Not even sparing women and children!!
This moment made the people question the French Revolution across the globe and some great questions were raised such – “Are these the rights of man?” and “Is this the liberty of human nature?”. It’s surprising how significantly fear can push the boundary of human beings and make him do things, that he wouldn’t even dream of doing otherwise.
The people of the Jacobin club still wanted to kill one man – King Louis XIV. He was sentenced to the court and was found guilty of treason. Not people wanted him killed though, some simply wanted him to deport him to some foreign land. A vote was held and by just one vote, King Louis XIV was sentenced to the guillotine. Her wife also faced the same fate.It’s terrifying how violent this revolution has already been and yet there’s still more to it. Radicals were now in complete control of France and they believed that within the masses there were individuals who were not loyal to the revolution and they established a new group called “Committee of Public Safety” which would protect the republic from its ‘enemies’. They also established a group called the “Revolutionary Tribunal”, which would streamline the process of convicting these ‘enemies’. With these two new groups, Robes Pierre wanted to establish fear among anyone’s heart, who was against the revolution. This marked the beginning of the Reign of Terror.
Criticizing this system was even more dumb, as anyone who said anything, no matter how minuscule, something against the republic would be sent to the guillotine. How is this any different from the dictatorship, that they had been against, this whole time? It was insane! All across France, about 40,000 people were killed. Robes P. had the government in control.
People started to think of Robes P. as ‘A bit Mental.’ During the summer and winter of 1790, the execution went on a great level, during a period known as “The Great Terror”. People started to oppose Robes P.His ultimate mistake, however, was on July 26, when he announced a new list of ‘enemies’ in the National Convention, which constituted many members of the National Convention. 2 days later, Robes P. was sent to the guillotine and became the final victim of the monstrous paranoia he had created.
The french revolution officially ends here in 1794, but many sources say that it continued for another five years till 1799. Napolean Bonaparte became a general and was sent to take control of the armies in Italy. All of the above clearly shows how strong the influence of the events of this revolution was.
