1789: Failures of The Republic

Judge the effectiveness of this particular government in regard to its actions and agendas.


Thesis: Governments during the French Revolution are often deemed ineffective due to the ignorance of the people's demands and the short-sightedness of their actions that often led to their demise.


Failure is not an option


Governments rise and fall, but their reigns are not as short as those in the French Revolution. What the world population had witnessed in this even is the fastest transition of governments in various forms, whether it would be the radicals or the indecisive moderates. In all forms of government preceding Napoleon's reign had significantly FAILED in their efforts of governance. The most explicite examples of such failures lie in the monarchy and Robespierre Committee of Public Safety.

A portrait of Marie Antoinette in her ridiculously extravagant clothing. Her spendings would increase France's deficit spendings, coining the title of "Madame Deficit"

A British cartoon during the revolution, portraying the Jacobins and the radicals around a guillotine.  The savagery of the characters and the scenery would be repulsive the viewers suggesting that this action must be stopped.

The Monarchy

The monarchy was utterly ineffective in managing the country. They would not give up their comforts to rescue the starving people in their country, and continued their extravagant lifestyles. The people in France were devastated by the winters, and most of the peasants now only survive by foraging for food, as the urban workers toil day and night to receive a wage that is not enough to buy even bread. The king, Louis XVI, was indecisive and others could manipulate him. For example, the nobles that were close to him were able to convince him to pass a law that reduced their taxes. This worsened the terrible condition the country was already in. The king did not act, and that in itself was a crime. By doing nothing, he let the social structure of the Ancien Regime abuse the third estate, which was 97% of the actual population. The heavy taxes fell upon the Bourgeoisie, the peasants and the urban artisans. While the middle class were able to survive, the peasants and laborers had to fight just to live. France was a nightmare, and it was all the monarch’s fault. King Louis also managed to anger the general populace more by being lenient with his wife, Marie Antoinette. She was free to do anything she wished. That meant that she spent her allowance on dresses, hair styling and gambling. As if that wasn’t enough, the king built her Le Petit Trianon. It was simply something that could not be forgiven. She was a foreigner, she spent money wastefully, and now the king had built her a miniature village with the money that could have been used to help the poor people. By now, the only people that would support the monarchy were the nobles and the high clergy. It was time that the people revolted against their king.


The Committee of Public Safety

The Committee of Public Safety was a 12-man collective dictatorship. They were ruthless, headed by the “Incorruptible” Maximilien Robespierre.

The problems that this administration faced is simply to quell the rebellions in all regions of France. In such a time, all other issues of governance are disregarded due to the anarchy that had hampered the government’s effort in improving the people’s living conditions. It is safe to say that the Jacobins had failed in all agendas as a government, including its primary objective to restore order in the society. A madman, Robespierre utilized legislations, tailored to kill anyone in his path. Paradoxically, such killings caused even more violence as the ancient proverb states: “violence only begets violence”. Robespierre’s utilized senseless violence, created even more counter revolutionaries for his administration to deal with. The administration had been defiant to the suggestions of its members, who begged for Robespierre to end the killings, yet he's placed even his closest associate, George Danton, at the guillotine for making such suggestions.


Futile attempts of reformations in the French culture and religion also made the government increasingly unpopular.


The Committee of Public safety proved to be an ineffective government in any role it took, and its aggression would be all in vain as the government would come to an abrupt end when Robespierre was trailed and executed for his crimes.

1789: The Government's Duties

How did the governments address problems within the state itself? Show evidence.


The Government’s Duties

The government’s job had been, and always will be to protect the rights of the people. Some government does this faithfully, providing its people with every right they can. Others are corrupted, and they oppress the people so that they themselves can gorge on the riches of the nation. The administration had not been very different in the French Revolution. 


Thesis: The different governments in the French Revolution dealt with the problems by the various means such as violence, propaganda and legislation.

“The government has no other end, but the preservation of property.”
-John Locke

The Monarch’s Ways

The King and the Queen of France had been very ignorant of their people. While they sat lazily in their palace, the citizens of France toiled away fruitlessly, trying to feed themselves and their family. The monarchy left a lot of be desired. They wasted the country’s wealth, and turn their backs on the struggle of the country. They couldn’t and wouldn’t deal with the problems of France. Their debts continued to build. Finally, the country was on the edge of financial collapse. The king finally agreed to call the Estate General, a meeting of the three estates. The third estate was adamant on making the other two estate pay more tax, but since they have only one vote, they always lost. The king also sided with the clergy and the nobles. After that, the people started to revolt. It was the beginning of the revolution. The angry people of Paris stormed the Bastille, and the fortress fell. Then, they marched on to Versailles to take on the king. They gave him a choice: move to Paris or die. He chose to go back to Paris, and with that, the rule of the indecisive and ignorant king ended.

“He did not have the qualities of a man born to be a leader. He was timid and lacked self confidence.”
- Statement about Louis XVI by a noble member of the Parlement

Robespierre’s Methods

During the French Revolution, people with new and extreme ideas emerged. These people were called the Radicals. The leader of these men was a man named Robespierre. People called him the incorruptible, as he was never deterred from his determination to make France a republic. But after the king was executed, and he was put into a position of power in the Committee of Public Safety, his sanity was questioned. He was intent on changing the nature of man itself, since he was convinced that it was the greatest problem they faced. He thought that everyone was corrupted and evil, but with enough time and effort, he could change that. He began by deciding that France will not be a Catholic nation anymore. Instead, he decreed that everyone shall pray to the gods of logic, thus creating the Cult of the Supreme Being, that is heavily based on classical dieties. Streets that had names which related to Christianity was renamed. The calendar, since it was based on Catholicism, was also thrown away and replaced with a new one. Not only that, but since he felt that the Loyalists were planning to overthrow him. He executed thousands of people per day, and brutally murdered the rebels fighting against him. The counter-revolutionary army was taken down, and their wives and children eliminated. This was most notable during Vendee Rebellions. Robespierre was paranoid and even killed off his friend, Danton, for telling him that the Terror has to end. His tyranny ended the day he was arrested.


"He did not create kings to devour the human race. He did not create priests to harness us, like vile animals, to the chariots of kings and to give to the world examples of baseness, pride, perfidy, avarice, debauchery, and falsehood. He created the universe to proclaim His power. He created men to help each other, to love each other mutually, and to attain to happiness by the way of virtue"


- Maximilien Robespierre's preachings of The Cult of the Supreme Being

Robespierre's newly invented Republican Calenda, which completely lacked terms affiliated to Christianity which was once predominant in the previous form of the calendar.

An illustration of Robespierre's papermache mound, built in the heart of Paris as a place of worship for his new cult.

1789: Chronology

The Chronicles of The French Revolution on Dipity.

1789: The Emergence

How did the government emerge and what conditions led to its implementation?


Thesis: Governments of French Revolution emerges from the discontent of the impoverished majority due to France's deficit spending, the rise of the ideas of the Enlightenment and the inequality in the society fostered by the dominant system of social classes.


The Great Deficit


France, 1789 is plagued with dilemmas 3rd world nations faced today. Famine and warfare ravaged the ex-powerhouse of 17th century Europe, leaving it in ruins. Constricted by the debt, France suffocates upon heaps of interest that piled on them. France's collapse is a certainty. Before one could dwell into the bloodstained epilogue of this debacle, one must inquire on the causes of this phenomenon.
France in the end of the 18th century was an impoverished nation, tended by a despotic monarch, Louis XVI (a synopsis of Louis XVI is available in the previous blog entry). His fathers left him with a nation knee deep in debt due to war and the lavish court spendings, notably the construction of the Versailles, that does not simply correlate with France's income. France's intervention in the New World may have brought the Americans their independence, but that costed France greatly for raising an army is a costly affair, which increases France's debt exponentially. Crop failures and inflation caused food prices to rise beyond preceded levels, thus making starvation of the peasants a common dilemma. To make matter's worse, Louis XVI is a man of extravagant appetite that insisted on retaining the court's spending, without having to realize that those around its perimeters are starving.


A Flawed Foundation


 Feudalism, is the reality of the 18th century France. The structure of the French society prior to the revolution is comparable to those of an estate. The French society is classified in three rudimentary social classes, the First, Second and Third Estate.


At the apex of the society, or should we call it the roof, would the clergy. France is a devout Catholic nation, deeply bound to their faiths, thus giving the clergy numerous privileges including the ability to impose church tax on the people, which made those in the upper hierarchy ridiculously wealthy. To make matters worse, the clergy's tax was waived for they had paid such sums in prayer for the king and country.


The nobility made up the Second Estate, which, similar to those of the First Estate, enjoyed privileges in the society. Unlike many's perception, a noble's wealth varied for titles of nobility are inherited. Some nobles are close associates to the king, giving them ample power to wield. The most significant perks of the nobles are that they possess a large portion of France's land. Land exemplifies the nobles power through debt of sharecroppers that formed the bulk of the Third Estate. Peasants are tethered to the noble's land by debt, thus reviving the romantic scenario of the feudal age in France, where these 'serfs' and 'vassals' break their backs serving the Lord of the manor. Since the members of the Second Estate are either appointed by the king or inherited their status as a noble, they are not subjected to taxation.


As buildings today are designed to hold what we called, the dead and the live weight. During the French Revolution, the peasants held the entirety of such a load for they made up the bulk of the French society. They are called the Third Estate, which consists of peasants and businessmen who lacked the titles of nobility. Having the burden as the sole payer of the nation's tax and no say in government, the Third Estate is liable for any punishment the First and the Second Estate could throw at them. Abused, excessively taxed and are often conscripted into the military, the Third Estate grew ever poorer. Fed up of these conditions, the Third Estate demanded radical changes in the society, and thus, this very rationale will drive the French Revolution forward.

A political cartoon reflecting the French society in the 18th Century portraying the Third Estate was  squished by  the First and the Second Estate. The slate on the man from the Third Estate states "Taille (church tax), Impots (good taxes) et Covee (force labor)". This suggests the torment of the Third Estate bearing the weight and duties of the Third and the Second Estate.

The Winters of 1789

The French never expected the harsh, deadly and cruel winter that arrived in the year of 1789. The freezing winds tore through the lands, withering crops and smothering the growing seeds. Crops failed in every field during that winter. Wheat died, which meant that the French food stores took a massive blow. No grain meant no bread. The price of the basic food of the French people skyrocket, leaving the peasants and the laborers starving. People died of starvation, or froze to death. France became a dead, frozen land.

Peasants, knowing that they will never be able to cultivate any plants, understood that they would have to act or die. So, many chose to take action. Bakeries were raided, and food stores were broken into. A loaf of bread was worth fighting and dying for. The country erupted as the people fought with teeth and nail to get to the nourishment they needed. Everything was in turmoil. You couldn’t go out at night, for fear of being attacked. Staying home, though, did not truly make you safe. Homes were broken into and stolen from. France was a deathtrap, one that the poor citizens could not escape from.

People who did not work as farmers were not safe from the failing economy and the famine. Their wages were also at risk. As crops fail, farmers were kicked out of their rented land as they did not meet their required quota. Dejected and famished, they trudged out of their farmlands and into the cities. This happened all around the country. Cities were flooded with waves of peasants arriving in droves. Owners of factories would grin and rub their hands together in excitement. For them, the hordes of the poor were a gold mine, and they would reap all the benefits they can from it. The increased workforce meant that the employers would only choose the people who asked for the lowest wage. This meant that salaries were lowered until it wasn’t even enough for food. The winters of 1789 had driven France to the verge of collapse.


Ideas of Enlightenment

Philosophers call Paris “The City of Lights”. Ideas of enlightenment were born in this great city. Ironically, though, the people of France were thoroughly oppressed by the monarchy. Paris is supposed to be a place of revolution, an advanced city, flourishing in its knowledge. In reality, though, people were under the rule of a monarch that do not care for them, and the social structure goes against nearly all the ideas of enlightenment. That, though, was going to change soon.

The monarchs of France were known as opulent and extravagant people, who cared little for the citizens of their country. When the cold winters crushed the French economy and people, the couple happily lived on in their majestic palace of Versailles, oblivious to the hardships of their own people. One of the great philosophers discussed in the salons of Paris was John Locke. People revered him, and agreed with him. But contrary to his idea of government’s purpose, which is to protect the people’s rights, the French monarch practically ignored their citizens. As winters ravaged them, and as they were abused by the social structure, the monarchs acted as if they did not exist. They continued to hold lavish feasts and enjoyed their wasteful ostentatious dresses. This directly goes against the respected opinion of John Locke.This caused much anger in the population, and became one of the major causes of the French Revolution.

John Locke, an Enlightenment philosopher who greatly influenced the French and the preceding American Revolution. His ideas are evident in the foundation of many republics around the world. 

The Declaration of the Rights of Man 1789


The ideas of The Enlightenment bears fruit in the French Revolution when the National Assembly passed the Declaration of the Rights of Man in 1789, which derives mostly from Locke's idealism of the natural rights of man. The Declaration of the Rights of Man, a set of legislations that proclaim the rights of the individual's, written by the bourgeois of the Third Estate in the National Assembly in 1789, believes in the concept of liberty in society for every man are born equal and is naturally entitled to inalienable rights, and ultimately, power comes from the people. The Declaration of the Rights of Man resembles the British and American Bill of Rights, which, this resemblance is no coincident. The French involvement in the American Revolution had exposed the French the concept of equality and liberty in society that is transcribed into legal documents.


"1. Men are born, and always continue, free, and equal in respect of their rights. Civil distinctions, therefore, can be founded only on public utility. " - The Declaration of the Rights of Man 1789


This is the first point made on the declaration, and as seen here, liberty and equality is emphasized in this document. The second sentence refers to the social statuses, or distinctions, which according to this document, could only be made for the sake of the society, and thus, titles of nobility are appointed in vanity and must be eliminated for it did no good to the society. The French had done just that in the months following the creation of this declaration (please refer to the timeline).

Outside Influence

All the causes of the French Revolution does not come from inside the country itself. Other countries were also a major influence upon the change in government. For example, the British. England now is ruled by a parliament, and does not have an absolute monarchy. Also, they had the Bill of Rights, which is a set of laws that dictate the rights of the people that the king cannot ignore. As the French looked towards the British, they saw that they were flourishing. Then, they looked at their own country and saw that they themselves were upon the edge of destruction. Their country was collapsing, and they realized that the king was the crux of the problem. England had helped them realize the problems of their own country.

1789: Shaping the Government

What social, political, and economic events (internal & external) shaped the activities of the government? 


Thesis: The French governments during the revolution are sculptured by the nation's deficit and the radical's actions that constantly escalates into unprecedented dilemmas that forces governments to retaliate with force .


Both Ends of the Spectrum and Everything in Between


Governments existed for as far as we could recall, in all shapes and form that lay along the political spectrum that ranges from absolute authority to anarchy. Never before in the history man had all of the types political systems had been witnessed in action in a single pivotal event. That event, ladies and gentlemen, is the French Revolution of 1789...


The Debacle of Debt and Danger

As the interest payments piled up, the French government is on the verge of collapse and in a desperate attempt to prolong the inevitable, Louis called up the Assembly of Notables to discuss an increased tax payment for the nobles. Soon, the Estate General was called up to agree to the new tax structure that was based on property one owned, but failed to do so due to the masses of noble bureaucracy that had vetoed their claims in order to retain their perks. Enraged, the king dismissed the Estate General, which in that act of passion, the Estates General met in a nearby tennis court and vowed to establish a constitution for France. This event is coined as the Tennis Court Oath.

The painting portraying the Tennis Court Oath by Jacques Louis David, a prominent painter and an avid supporter of the revolution.

Le Grand Peur


The Estates General proclaimed themselves as the National Assembly and ordered a parliament called the National Convention to be set up. Composed of mainly the bourgeois, the National Assembly bargained a fair deal with the king and for them, the revolution was over. Yet once again, the peasants were ignored and could no longer endure such a condition. The peasant demanded reforms to improve their lives, and therefore, they ushered a series of riots beginning from storming the Bastille, an attempt to destroy the symbol of tyranny. These events revved of the engines of the revolution as it sets off widespread riot in the nation as peasants harnessed the power of the masses. France is left in a state of anarchy where mob mentality reigned over rationality, giving this period its name: the Great Fear. As witnessed in history, anarchy never lasts, for soon, in desperation, the people begged for anyone to grab the reigns of power and restore order in the society. Often times, it is the ones who spurred the anarchy itself who filled the power vacuum. In this case, it was the Jacobins, an assembly of radicals led by Maximilien Robespierre (a synopsis of Robespierre is available in the previous blog entry) of the Committee of Public Safety. In 1793, the Convention, unable to quell the riots handed authority to the Public Safety Committee. Robespierre became the despot of France who was loathed for his policy of massacres of those he claims to impede the progress of the revolution. By passing legislations that justified and lubricated Robespierre's executions, anyone could be dragged into the gallows. This period is called the Reign of Terror. Here, power resides in Robespierre and his 12-man party of dictators. After over 14,000 decapitated, Robespierre loses his support and was executed, ending the Reign of Terror.

A portrait showing the storming of the Bastille.

Rise of The Radicals

As witnessed in history, anarchy never lasts, for soon, in desperation, the people begged for anyone to grab the reigns of power and restore order in the society. Often times, it is the ones who spurred the anarchy itself who filled the power vacuum. In this case, it was the Jacobins, an assembly of radicals led by Maximilien Robespierre (a synopsis of Robespierre is available in the previous blog entry) of the Committee of Public Safety. In 1793, the Convention, unable to quell the riots handed authority to the Public Safety Committee. Robespierre became the despot of France who was loathed for his policy of massacres of those he claims to impede the progress of the revolution. By passing legislations that justified and lubricated Robespierre's executions, anyone could be dragged into the gallows. This period is called the Reign of Terror. Here, power resides in Robespierre and his 12-man party of dictators. After over 14,000 decapitated, Robespierre loses his support and was executed, ending the Reign of Terror.

A British cartoon from the period that portrayed the Sans-Culottes, "relaxing after the fatigues of their day". In this cartoon the cartoonists portrayed the radicals as cannibals, for he is repulsed by their massacres for the revolutionary cause.  

Austrian Intervention

After the King's attempt to flee to Austria was thwarted, the royal couple's fate is in jeopardy. The Austrian Duke of Brunswick, a relative to the queen, issued an ultimatum to the French called the Declaration of Pilnitz, which warns the revolutionaries not to harm the royal family or they would find themselves at war with the Austrians. This only served to anger the Frenchmen. The San-Culottes, manipulated by the Jacobins, were convinced to attack the Tuileries Palace where the king was staying. The king managed to escape the attack, and went to the National Assembly to ask for protection. The National Assembly decided to give him a trial, in which he was announced guilty and sent to the guillotine. The king’s execution angered almost every nation in Europe, and the Prussians and the Austrians joined forces to fight France. With the Levee en Masse in place, France had plenty of men. Although the nation sacrificed a lot of soldiers, they managed to fight off the attacks from both countries. France collapsed the First Coalition, and gained territory all over Europe, including Batavian Republic, which became a satellite nation. Now, only Britain was left standing as an enemy of France. The Austrians’ intervention had triggered a series of events that would eventually to the rise of Napoleon, great Emperor of France.


Autocracy Returns


Fed up with the radicals, the French appointed the moderate Directory as the government, although ironically, its a 5-man oligarchy. Meanwhile, an audacious artillery officer called Napoleon Bonaparte (a synopsis of Napoleon is available in the previous blog entry) masses his army to take down this very government. A war hero, Napoleon rallied support for his cause and successfully staged a coup against the Directory, removing them from power. Napoleon proclaimed himself as the emperor of France, thus returning the nation into its original state of autocracy. However, Napoleon does not stop here, he waged a series of war called the Napoleonic Wars to expand the French Empire. In 1815, his ambitious campaign came to an abrupt end when he was sent into exile. Napoleon had brought France and Europe into the point of no return where the ideas of the revolution are diffused throughout Europe as it spreads like cancer that will soon bring forth an end to European monarchies.

1789: Prominent Figures

The "Hot Potato"

In the duration of the French Revolution, many tried to unite the nation of enraged peasants under their authority. Of those who attempted this audacious deed, only few succeeded, only to discover that their victory could not be prolonged. Power, in the French Revolution, is a fleeting element; the throne is as volatile as a powder keg, for a single spark could blow them to smithereens. It is as if this French debacle is a game of 'hot potato', where its players chuck glowing hot orbs of authority to one another. Those who hold onto it for too long risks death. Ladies and gentlemen, I hereby present you the prominent players of this very game...

King Louis XVI

In times where the nation is in peril, this is the last man one would want to see on the throne. King Louis was left with a nation impoverished by war and famine. With the burden of debts passed on to him by his father and an extravagant lifestyle to maintain, Louis will be the catalyst of the revolution. Ignorant to the needs of the people, Louis dismissed the Estate General and resort the use of brute force, ironically, while he lacked even the support of the military. Of course, this led to the Tennis Court Oath and a widespread discontent of the people, to the level that they are willing to exert force in order to meet their demands. These actions spurred the commoners into action and thus, officially started the revolution. Soon, this tyrant succumbs to the horde of peasants and was imprisoned in his own palace, the Tuileries. Death came to him in a swift stroke of the guillotine, after he was caught escaping at Varennes to the allied Duchies of Austria.

Maximilien Robespierre

In times of desperation, mankind had witnessed numerous instances madmen filling up the void in positions of power. This particular figure, is one of them. After the execution of our previous 'player', the National Convention had to contend with the widespread peasant riots against the landowners and the former loyalist authorities. This state of anarchy is called the 'Great Fear'.  The National Convention had given the authority to quell these riots to the Committee of Public Safety, led by Maximilien Robespierre, a radical from the Jacobins club. With the 12 men committee, Robespierre led a series of executions to rid the country of the lingering population of loyalists that he believed, is the source of these unrests. Amidst the chaos, Robespierre proclaimed himself as the dictator of France and executed those who opposed him with laws such as the Law of Suspects, allowing him to imprison virtually anyone without a trial. This blood stained period of French history is called the Reign of Terror where Robespierre could easily lop the head of his opposition with the newly invented execution machine called the Guillotine. Intoxicated with power, Robespierre's insanity had brought him to create his own cult based on classical deities and his own illusion of a rational God. The result: the citizen's freedom of faith is taken away and all traces of Christianity is wiped out from France (eg. Christian months are replaced by Robespierre's classically inspired calendars and streets are renamed to praise himself and his efforts towards the revolution). After the riots died down, Robespierre's cover of chaos was lifted and he soon became a convict from the murder of over 14,000 people. Robespierre was arrested and executed with his own weapon, the Guillotine, ending the Reign of Terror. This madman's life proved Boris Yeltsin's saying that "one could make a throne out of bayonets, but he could not sit on it for long".

". . . Indulgence for the royalists, cry certain men, mercy for the villains! No! mercy for the innocent, mercy for the weak, mercy for the unfortunate, mercy for humanity."

- Maximilien Robespierre

Napoleon Bonaparte

Might makes right in all episodes of the French Revolution, and that does not exclude its grand finale. Napoleon is an ambitious French artillery officer from the Isle of Corsica. He proved his merits as a soldier in the Battle of Toulon, where he effective utilize artillery in defeating the British. Such glory was exemplified by Napoleon's campaign to Egypt, where he crushed the Mamelukes in the Battle of the Pyramids, which is romantically portrayed by the media. With his fame, Napoleon rallied his supporters to overthrow the ineffective French Directory. In 1799, Napoleon returned from his conquests and staged a coup on the Directory and removed them from power. Napoleon proclaimed himself as the emperor of France, and thus, ending the French Revolution for he had consolidated the nation and would soon turn her into a world power. Napoleon with France under his control, raised his Grand Armee and expanded the French Empire, which at its apex, stretches from Russia to Algeria. After the disastrous campaign in Russia, Napoleon was defeated by the coalition of European nations in the Battle of Waterloo, ending what we call the Napoleonic Wars.  Ultimately, Napoleon made the French Revolution a paradoxical phenomenon where many had shed their blood for a republic, yet, they have an empire, ruled by an emperor in return.

Napoleon's stringent character that had won him his battles and the title of Frances emperor is shown in the following document:  

"Bonaparte's reception by the troops was nothing short of rapturous. It was well worth seeing how he talked to the soldiers, ---how he questioned them one after the other respecting their campaigns or their wounds, taking particular interest in the men who had accompanied him to Egypt. I have heard Madame Bonaparte say that her husband was in the constant habit of poring over the list of what are called the cadres of the army at night before he slept. He would go to sleep repeating the names of the corps, and even those of some of the individuals who composed them; he kept these names in a corner of his memory, and this habit came to his aid when he wanted to recognize a soldier and to give him the pleasure of a cheering word from his general. He spoke to the subalterns in a tone of good-fellowship, which delighted them all, as he reminded them of their common feats of arms."

- Madame de Rémusat (A friend of Napoleon's wife, Josephine)