History Research Paper
12/29/2011
Legacy of the Revolution
If you look up the word “legacy” in the dictionary the meaning of the word will be something like this: “The legacy of an event or period of history is something which is a direct result of it and which continues to exist after it is over.” So the legacy of the French Revolution is how the result of it affected the whole world and the fact that it is still a living issue.
The French Revolution began in 1789 and it happened because of the peasants’ displeasure with the way the government and the king worked. The French Revolution was a political movement devoted to liberty; it was like a turning point to French and world history during the years of 1789 and 1799. The legacy of the French Revolution is based on fraternity, equality and liberty. Before the French Revolution, the idea of revolution simply meant political change. Change of monarch, a change of policy, the fall of a minister, and all these were called revolution by eighteenth-century men. However, the incident of 1789 change all that.
The first year of the Revolution witnessed members of the Third Estate, proclaiming the Tennis Court Oath in June, the assault on the Bastille in July, the passage of the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen in August, and an epic march on Versailles that forced the royal court back to Paris in October. The Revolution was the first time a population revolted against the Monarchy and established a Republic. During the revolution, the various governments and political groups who tried to establish order and reform French society often focused on economic inequality. (For example, "The Maximum", a price ceiling placed on bread, the main staple of the French diet). These concepts are part of what led to modern socialism, and is often referenced in Marxist philosophy. The French Revolution basically really focused towards religion, it was one of the main targets. The revolution