What Are The Primary Goals Of The French Revolution

Although the French Revolution was spurred by--and included--many political, religious, economic, and social ideas which were consistent with the thinking of the Enlightenment, overall, the French Revolution failed to carry out these ideas righteously and actually manifested ideas and actions which were in stark opposition of the beliefs of the Enlightenment. Because a successful revolution is determined to be a success if the initial, primary goals of the revolution are achieved, and because the French Revolution failed to attain many of its fundamental objectives, the French Revolution was only partially a successful revolution. The Enlightenment was a period of 17th and 18th century Europe which opposed conformation of tradition and authority.
Another central and extremely influential statement which expressed many of the core values of the revolution was the “Déclaration des droits de l'homme et du citoyen,” the “Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen.” This declaration, passed by the National Assembly--the representatives of the common people of France and the initiators of the revolution (France)--stems directly from some of the most influential philosophies of the Enlightenment. The declaration included concepts of individualism, equality, natural rights, separation of powers, and popular
Following the execution of Louis XVI during the revolution, Robespierre came into power and established what he believed to be a Republic, but what was truly a totalitarian regime which led to the Reign of Terror, an extremely violent period of the revolution which resulted in the executions of tens of thousands (Greer, Donald). After Robespierre was executed and his regime fell, the government settled in the hands of the Directory, a committee assembled by the revolutionary parliament of France and an authority which feared democracy and relied on the absolute power of its army to massacre thousands and repress any opposition of their command (Furet, François). In 1799, the Directory fell when Napoleon Bonaparte staged a coup and proclaimed himself the Emperor of France (Nicholls,