GS Notes

1.3 - World History Notes 07

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Elaborate Notes

Other Reasons for the French Revolution

  • A Discredited Bourbon Monarchy: The ruling dynasty of France, the Bourbons, had become synonymous with autocratic rule and profligacy.

    • Historical Context: The concept of absolute monarchy was theorized by thinkers like Bishop Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet during the reign of Louis XIV (1643-1715), who famously declared “L’état, c’est moi” (“I am the state”). While Louis XIV centralized power and made France a European hegemon, his successors, Louis XV and Louis XVI, lacked his political acumen.
    • Wasteful Expenditure & Military Defeats: Louis XV’s reign was marked by costly and largely unsuccessful wars, notably the Seven Years’ War (1756-1763), which resulted in the loss of significant colonial territories, including Canada and possessions in India, to Great Britain. The monarchy’s expenditure, exemplified by the opulent court at the Palace of Versailles, drained the state treasury. Louis XVI’s decision to support the American War of Independence against Britain, while ideologically resonant, pushed the French state to the brink of bankruptcy. Historian Simon Schama, in his work Citizens: A Chronicle of the French Revolution (1989), argues that this intervention was the final nail in the coffin of the old regime’s finances.

  • A Defective Administrative System: The administrative structure of pre-revolutionary France, known as the Ancien Régime, was chaotic and inefficient.

    • Lack of Uniformity: France was a patchwork of different legal and administrative systems. The north of the country operated under customary law (droit coutumier), which varied significantly from place to place, while the south followed a system based on Roman law (droit écrit). This legal disunity created confusion and injustice.
    • Economic Disunity: There was no uniform system of currency, weights, or measures. Internal customs barriers and tolls hindered trade and commerce, preventing the development of a unified national market. This contrasted sharply with the increasingly integrated market of its rival, Great Britain.

  • Corrupt Political Practices:

    • Simony: This refers to the sale of public offices, a practice known as venality of office. Judicial, financial, and administrative positions were often sold to the highest bidder. This system ensured that offices were held not by the most competent but by the wealthiest, leading to widespread corruption and inefficiency.
    • Plurality: This was the practice of a single individual holding multiple public or ecclesiastical offices simultaneously. This often led to absenteeism and neglect of duties, as one person could not effectively manage several responsibilities, further weakening the state’s administrative capacity.

  • Financial Reasons: The fiscal crisis was the most immediate trigger for the revolution.

    • Unequal Tax System: The French tax system was deeply inequitable. The First Estate (clergy) and the Second Estate (nobility) were largely exempt from the most significant direct tax, the taille. The burden fell almost entirely on the Third Estate (commoners), particularly the peasantry and the burgeoning middle class (bourgeoisie). Other oppressive taxes included the gabelle (salt tax) and the vingtième (an income tax from which the privileged classes often found ways to be exempted).
    • Revenue Farming: The state outsourced tax collection to a private consortium of financiers known as the Ferme Générale. These “tax farmers” paid the state a fixed sum and then collected as much as they could from the populace, keeping the surplus. This system, as detailed by scholars like G. T. Matthews in The Royal General Farms in Eighteenth-Century France (1958), was notoriously corrupt and led to extreme exploitation of the taxpayers.
    • Feudal Obstructionism: The remnants of feudalism meant that the nobility, who were major landowners, often resisted agricultural innovation and economic development that could threaten their traditional privileges and sources of income.

  • The Role of Philosophers (The Enlightenment): France was the epicenter of the 18th-century intellectual movement known as the Enlightenment, which championed reason, individual rights, and skepticism towards traditional authority.

    • Voltaire (François-Marie Arouet): In his Lettres philosophiques or Letters on the English (1734), Voltaire contrasted the religious intolerance and absolute monarchy of France with the constitutional monarchy, freedom of speech, and commercial vitality he observed in England. He fiercely attacked the Catholic Church’s privileges and its right to collect the tithe (a tax), arguing for reason over superstition.
    • Montesquieu (Charles-Louis de Secondat): His magnum opus, De l’esprit des lois (The Spirit of the Laws, 1748), advocated for a constitutional system of government. He proposed the “Theory of Separation of Powers,” arguing that political authority should be divided among legislative, executive, and judicial branches to prevent tyranny. This idea profoundly influenced the framers of both the American Constitution and the French Constitution of 1791.
    • Jean-Jacques Rousseau: His ideas were perhaps the most radical and influential.
      • In The Social Contract (1762), he argued that government is legitimate only if it has the consent of the governed—a concept he termed the “General Will” or “Popular Sovereignty.” He declared that the people have the right to create and abolish political institutions.
      • In his Discourse on the Origin and Basis of Inequality Among Men (1755), he contended that private property was the source of social inequality and injustice, providing a philosophical basis for later socialist and egalitarian movements.
      • His emphasis on individual liberty and freedom resonated deeply with the revolutionary slogan “Liberty.”
    • Denis Diderot: As the chief editor of the Encyclopédie (published between 1751 and 1772), Diderot compiled a vast compendium of Enlightenment thought. It provided new, secular definitions for political and social concepts, challenging the authority of both the monarchy and the Church and disseminating Enlightenment ideas to a wider audience.
    • Physiocrats: These were French economists like François Quesnay and Anne-Robert-Jacques Turgot. They argued against mercantilist policies, monopolies, and government interference in the economy, advocating for a laissez-faire approach. They believed land and agriculture were the true sources of wealth and championed a more equitable system of taxation, though they supported the right to private property.

  • Debate on the Philosophers’ Role: While the philosophers provided the ideological ammunition for the revolution, historians debate their direct causal role.

    • Argument against Direct Causation: As the summary notes, revolutionary conditions (financial crisis, famine due to crop failures in 1787-89) already existed. The revolution was initiated by an illiterate mob (the sans-culottes) in Paris, who were unlikely to have read complex philosophical treatises. No philosopher explicitly called for a violent revolution.
    • Argument for Influence: As historian Georges Lefebvre argued in The Coming of the French Revolution (1939), the philosophers’ ideas, once popularized, created a critical mindset among the educated middle class (bourgeoisie). They did not cause the revolution, but they shaped its course by providing a language of liberty, rights, and sovereignty, which leaders used to justify their actions and frame the new political order.

  • Immediate Cause: The final trigger was the decision by King Louis XVI, on the advice of his finance minister Jacques Necker, to summon the Estates-General in May 1789. This legislative body, representing the three estates, had not met since 1614. Its convocation was an admission of the monarchy’s failure to solve the financial crisis and opened the door for the Third Estate to voice its long-suppressed grievances.

Work of the National Assembly (1789-1791)

  • Formation: When the Estates-General convened, the Third Estate, representing 97% of the population, demanded reforms, including voting by head (one delegate, one vote) rather than by estate (one estate, one vote). When the King and the privileged orders resisted, the Third Estate, led by figures like Abbé Sieyès, declared itself the National Assembly on June 17, 1789. After being locked out of their usual meeting hall, they gathered at a nearby tennis court and took the Tennis Court Oath (June 20, 1789), vowing not to disband until a new constitution was written.
  • The Fall of the Bastille: As tensions rose, mobs in Paris, fearing a royalist crackdown, stormed the Bastille prison on July 14, 1789. This medieval fortress symbolized royal despotism. Its fall was a massive symbolic victory for the revolution and marked the collapse of royal authority in Paris.
  • Major Reforms and Works:
    1. Abolition of Feudalism: On the night of August 4, 1789, in a wave of patriotic fervor, the National Assembly formally abolished feudalism, serfdom, and the special privileges of the nobility and clergy, including tax exemptions and exclusive hunting rights.
    2. Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen (August 1789): This monumental document, influenced by the American Declaration of Independence and Rousseau’s philosophy, proclaimed that “men are born and remain free and equal in rights.” It guaranteed rights to liberty, property, security, resistance to oppression, freedom of speech, and freedom of religion.
    3. Nationalization of Church Lands: To address the severe financial crisis, the Assembly confiscated all lands belonging to the Catholic Church and issued a new paper currency, the Assignats, with these lands as collateral.
    4. Civil Constitution of the Clergy (1790): This law subordinated the French Catholic Church to the state. Priests and bishops were to be elected by the people and paid salaries by the government, and they were required to swear an oath of allegiance to the new constitution. This deeply divided the nation, alienating devout Catholics and the Pope.
    5. Drafting the Constitution of 1791: This established a constitutional monarchy.
      • Separation of Powers: Inspired by Montesquieu, power was divided. The King was the chief executive, granted a suspensive veto (the power to delay, but not block, legislation). A new Legislative Assembly with 745 members, elected for two-year terms, held legislative power. An independent judiciary was also established.
      • Administrative Reorganization: The old, complex provinces were replaced by 83 uniformly sized departments, which were further subdivided into cantons and communes. This rationalized administration and fostered national unity.
  • Critical Assessment:
    • Inequality: The new constitution contradicted the principle of equality by dividing citizens into “Active Citizens” (men over 25 who paid a certain amount of taxes) and “Passive Citizens.” Only Active Citizens could vote, effectively disenfranchising nearly two-thirds of the adult male population and all women.
    • Religious Schism: The Civil Constitution of the Clergy created a lasting conflict between the revolution and the Catholic Church.
    • Economic Failure: The over-issuance of Assignats, without sufficient backing, led to rampant inflation, harming the urban poor.
  • Achievements: Despite its shortcomings, the National Assembly dismantled the Ancien Régime, abolished feudalism, introduced principles of social equality and human rights, and established meritocracy by opening public offices to talent. It laid the groundwork for a modern, centralized French state.

Work of the National Convention (1792-1795)

  • Context: The monarchy was overthrown in August 1792 after Louis XVI attempted to flee the country. A new assembly, the National Convention, was elected by universal male suffrage. Its primary goal was to protect the revolution from internal counter-revolutionaries and external threats from a coalition of European monarchies (Austria, Prussia, Sardinia) fearful of the revolution’s spread.
  • Major Reforms:
    1. Establishment of the First French Republic: On September 21, 1792, the Convention officially abolished the monarchy and declared France a republic. Louis XVI was tried for treason and executed in January 1793.
    2. Rise of Nationalism: The Convention created the first mass conscripted army in modern history (levée en masse). This citizen army, fueled by revolutionary fervor and nationalism, successfully defended France against foreign invasion. The French language was promoted as a tool of national unity.
    3. Radical Social and Economic Policies:
      • Abolition of Slavery: In 1794, the Convention abolished slavery in all French colonies.
      • Inheritance Law: The Law of Primogeniture (right of the eldest son to inherit the entire family estate) was abolished, stipulating that property be inherited equally by all children, including daughters for the first time.
      • Abolition of Imprisonment for Debt: This provided significant relief to the poor.
      • Land Redistribution: Lands of émigré nobles were confiscated and sold, sometimes in small plots, to landless peasants.
      • Law of the Maximum: To combat inflation and food shortages, this law imposed price controls on essential goods and set maximum wage rates. This represented an early experiment in a state-controlled economy.
    4. New Calendar: A new revolutionary calendar was introduced, starting from Year I of the Republic (September 22, 1792), with new names for months and a ten-day week, in an attempt to de-Christianize society.
  • The Negative Side:
    1. The Reign of Terror (1793-1794): Dominated by the radical Jacobin faction and its Committee of Public Safety, led by Maximilien Robespierre, the Convention sought to eliminate all enemies of the revolution. An estimated 40,000 people were executed by the guillotine or died in prison during this period of extreme paranoia and violence. The revolution, in the words of historian Crane Brinton (The Anatomy of Revolution, 1938), had entered its most radical and violent phase.
    2. Execution of the Royal Family: The execution of King Louis XVI and later Queen Marie Antoinette solidified the opposition of European monarchies and fueled internal royalist rebellions, leading to prolonged warfare.
    3. Creation of the Directory (1795): After the fall of Robespierre, the Convention drafted a new, more conservative constitution that established a five-man executive body called the Directory. This system was weak, corrupt, and unstable, ultimately creating a power vacuum that allowed a brilliant young general, Napoleon Bonaparte, to seize power in 1799.

Why Revolution in France Only?

  • Unique Convergence of Factors: While other European nations had some similar problems, France was unique in the simultaneous convergence of several critical factors:
    1. Irresponsible Feudal Class: Unlike in England, where the aristocracy was more involved in commerce and governance, the French nobility was largely a parasitic class, clinging to its privileges while shirking social and financial responsibilities.
    2. Ineffectual Absolute Monarchy: While Prussia and Austria had “enlightened despots” like Frederick the Great and Joseph II who introduced reforms from above, the French monarchy was both absolute in theory and weak in practice, unable to implement necessary reforms against noble opposition.
    3. Strong and Politicized Bourgeoisie: France had a large, wealthy, and well-educated middle class that was economically powerful but politically powerless. Influenced by Enlightenment ideas, this class was acutely aware of the system’s injustices and possessed the leadership capacity to challenge it.
    4. Epicenter of the Enlightenment: As the home of most major philosophers, French society was saturated with revolutionary ideas of rights, liberty, and sovereignty to an extent not seen elsewhere.
    5. Acute Financial Bankruptcy and Famine: The French state was uniquely insolvent, and the consecutive crop failures of 1787-89 created a desperate, starving peasantry and urban population, providing the mass support for an uprising.
    6. Geography of Paris: The capital city, Paris, was centrally located and relatively accessible to the rural populace. This allowed for the rapid mobilization of masses who could directly pressure the central government, a situation not as easily achievable in more geographically dispersed capitals.

Effects of the Revolution

  • Within France:
    • Political: Ended the Ancien Régime, abolished the monarchy, and established republicanism. It introduced constitutionalism, popular sovereignty, and a centralized administrative system.
    • Social: Feudalism and aristocratic privileges were permanently destroyed. The revolution promoted social mobility and the principle of equality before the law. It established human rights as a core principle of the state. It also enhanced the status of women by granting property rights, though political rights remained elusive.
    • Economic: Abolished monopolies and internal trade barriers. The principle of the right to property was affirmed for all citizens, and the redistribution of church and émigré lands created a larger class of peasant proprietors.
    • Religious: The power of the Catholic Church was broken, and religion was subordinated to the state, paving the way for secularism.
  • External Effects:
    • Spread of Revolutionary Ideas: The ideals of “Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity” spread across Europe, inspiring liberal and revolutionary movements in Italy, Germany, Poland, and Latin America.
    • Rise of Nationalism: The French model of a nation-state based on popular sovereignty and a citizen army inspired nationalist movements, particularly in Germany and Italy, who sought to unite against French domination under Napoleon.
    • Socialism: The radical experiments of the Jacobins, such as the Law of the Maximum and calls for economic equality, planted the seeds of modern socialist thought.
    • Romanticism: The revolution’s emotional intensity, emphasis on individualism, and nationalist fervor contributed to the rise of the Romantic movement in art and literature, seen in the works of writers like Lord Byron, Percy Bysshe Shelley, and William Wordsworth.
    • Universalism: The revolutionaries’ declaration of their intent to spread these ideals worldwide introduced a new, universalist dimension to European politics.

Napoleon Bonaparte

  • Rise to Power: A Corsican of minor nobility, Napoleon rose through the ranks of the French army during the revolution. He gained fame by crushing a royalist uprising in Paris (1795) and through his brilliant Italian campaign (1796-97). He defeated Austrian and Sardinian forces and forced Austria to sign the Treaty of Campo Formio (1797), which gave France control over northern Italy and the Austrian Netherlands (Belgium). He created the Cisalpine and Ligurian republics in Italy, earning him the moniker “Father of Italian Unification” for awakening Italian national consciousness. His Egyptian campaign (1798-99) was less successful; despite a victory at the Battle of the Pyramids, his fleet was destroyed by British Admiral Horatio Nelson at the Battle of the Nile (1798). Returning to France, he took advantage of the Directory’s weakness and seized power in the Coup of 18 Brumaire (November 9, 1799).

  • Domestic Reforms as First Consul and Emperor:

    • Consular Constitution: He established a new constitution that created a strong executive in the form of three Consuls, with himself as the all-powerful First Consul. While it maintained a façade of representative bodies (Council of State, Tribunate, Legislative Assembly, Senate), all real power was concentrated in his hands. He centralized administration, appointing prefects and sub-prefects to govern the departments.
    • Financial Reforms: He established the Bank of France in 1800, which stabilized the currency and provided a sound financial footing for the state.
    • Napoleonic Code (Code Civil des Français, 1804): This was his most lasting achievement. It was a unified legal code that affirmed revolutionary principles like equality before the law, freedom of religion, and the right to property. It also included more conservative elements, such as reasserting the father as the head of the family. However, it also sanctioned civil divorce. This code was implemented in all territories conquered by Napoleon and became the basis for the legal systems of many modern nations.
    • Educational Reforms: He created a centralized, secular, state-controlled education system. This included primary schools, secondary schools (Lycées), technical schools, and Normal Schools for teacher training. The entire system was coordinated by the University of Paris. He also created the Legion of Honour in 1802 to reward civil and military merit, promoting a meritocratic elite.
    • Concordat with the Pope (1801): To end the schism with the Catholic Church, he signed the Concordat with Pope Pius VII. It recognized Catholicism as the religion of the “majority of Frenchmen” but not the official state religion, and the state retained the power to nominate bishops and pay clerical salaries. This pacified religious conflict while maintaining state control.
    • Public Works: He initiated vast public works projects, including the construction of roads, canals, and bridges, and the beautification of Paris.

  • Napoleon’s Foreign Policy and Wars:

    • After becoming First Consul, Napoleon defeated the Second Coalition. He crushed the Austrians and signed the Treaty of Lunéville (1801), which reaffirmed the terms of Campo Formio.
    • He signed the Treaty of Amiens (1802) with Britain, bringing a temporary peace to Europe, which he used to consolidate his power.
    • War resumed in 1803. In 1804, Napoleon crowned himself Emperor of the French. In 1805, his plan to invade Britain was thwarted when the Franco-Spanish fleet was annihilated by Admiral Nelson at the Battle of Trafalgar.
    • On land, Napoleon was supreme. He defeated the Austro-Russian army at Austerlitz (1805), the Prussians at Jena (1806), and the Russians at Friedland (1807).
    • Treaty of Tilsit (1807): This marked the zenith of his power. Napoleon and Tsar Alexander I of Russia divided Europe between them. Napoleon became the master of Western and Central Europe.
    • He reorganized the German states, abolishing the Holy Roman Empire and creating the Confederation of the Rhine, a league of 16 German states with himself as its “Protector.” He installed his relatives on the thrones of various European countries (Joseph in Naples, Louis in Holland).

Prelims Pointers

  • Ruling Dynasty of France: Bourbons.
  • Corrupt Practices:
    • Simony: Purchase and sale of public office.
    • Plurality: Holding more than one public office at a time.
  • Tax System:
    • Taille: Primary direct tax, largely paid by the Third Estate.
    • Gabelle: Unpopular tax on salt.
    • Revenue Farming: System of private tax collection by the Ferme Générale.
  • Philosophers and their Works:
    • Voltaire: Letters on English.
    • Montesquieu: The Spirit of Laws; advocated “Theory of Separation of Powers.”
    • Rousseau: Social Contract (Popular Sovereignty/General Will), A Discourse on the Origin of Inequality.
    • Denis Diderot: Editor of Encyclopédie.
  • Economic Thinkers: Physiocrats (opposed monopolies, supported private property).
  • Immediate Cause of Revolution: Summoning of the Estates-General by Louis XVI.
  • Key Dates and Events:
    1. July 14, 1789: Fall of the Bastille.
    2. September 21, 1792: France declared a Republic by the National Convention.
  • Revolutionary Bodies:
    1. National Assembly (1789-1791): Issued Declaration of the Rights of Man & Citizen; drafted Constitution of 1791.
    2. National Convention (1792-1795): Abolished monarchy; executed the king; responsible for the “Reign of Terror.”
  • Reforms and Laws:
    • Assignats: Paper currency introduced by the National Assembly, backed by nationalized church lands.
    • Administrative Units: France was divided into 83 departments, then cantons and communes.
    • Active vs. Passive Citizens: Division based on property qualifications for voting under the 1791 Constitution.
    • Law of Primogeniture: Abolished by the National Convention, ensuring equal inheritance.
    • Law of Maxims: Price controls on essential goods during the Reign of Terror.
    • Directory: Five-member executive body that ruled from 1795 to 1799.
  • Napoleon Bonaparte:
    • Gained fame in the Siege of Toulon and the Italian Campaign.
    • Key Treaties: Campo Formio (1797, with Austria), Lunéville (1801, with Austria), Amiens (1802, with Britain), Tilsit (1807, with Russia).
    • Key Battles: Battle of the Pyramids, Battle of the Nile (defeated by Nelson), Battle of Trafalgar (1805, defeated by Nelson), Battle of Austerlitz (1805, defeated Austrians/Russians), Battle of Jena (1806, defeated Prussians).
    • Major Reforms:
      • Code De Napoleon (1804): Civil Code.
      • Bank of France (1800).
      • Legion of Honour: Award for merit.
      • Norman Schools: For teacher training.
      • Lycées: Secondary schools.
      • Concordat of 1801: Agreement with the Pope.
    • Political Creation: Confederation of the Rhine (union of 16 German states).

Mains Insights

Historiographical Debates on the Causes of the Revolution

  • Marxist Interpretation (Class Struggle): Historians like Georges Lefebvre and Albert Soboul view the revolution as a bourgeois revolution. They argue that the rising capitalist middle class, whose economic power was growing, sought to overthrow the feudal aristocratic order to gain political power and create a society based on market principles. The revolution was essentially a class conflict between the bourgeoisie and the aristocracy.
  • Revisionist Interpretation (Political/State Collapse): Scholars like François Furet and Alfred Cobban challenged the Marxist view. They argue that the revolution was not a pre-determined class struggle but a political event born from a power vacuum. The collapse of the monarchy due to its financial and administrative incompetence created an opportunity for a new political elite, drawn from various social backgrounds, to seize power, using the language of Enlightenment thinkers to legitimize their rule.
  • Post-Revisionist/Cultural Interpretation: Historians like Lynn Hunt emphasize the role of a new political culture. They argue that the spread of Enlightenment ideas through pamphlets, salons, and public discourse created new concepts of citizenship, rights, and the “nation,” which fundamentally undermined the legitimacy of the Ancien Régime. The revolution was a result of this profound cultural shift.

Napoleon: Child or Destroyer of the Revolution?

This is a classic debate regarding Napoleon’s legacy. A balanced answer should consider both perspectives.

  • Napoleon as a “Child of the Revolution”:

    1. Meritocracy: He institutionalized the revolutionary principle of “careers open to talent.” His own rise from minor nobility to Emperor was a testament to this idea. He created the Legion of Honour to reward merit, not birth.
    2. Equality and Legal Reform: The Napoleonic Code enshrined revolutionary gains such as equality before the law, abolition of feudal privileges, and religious toleration. He spread this code across Europe.
    3. Consolidation of the State: He created a modern, centralized, and efficient state with a rational administration, a stable financial system (Bank of France), and a unified education system, completing the work started by the revolutionaries.
    4. Nationalism: By leading citizen armies and reorganizing territories like Italy and Germany, he inadvertently spread the revolutionary idea of nationalism across Europe.

  • Napoleon as a “Destroyer of the Revolution”:

    1. Betrayal of Liberty: He suppressed political freedom, shut down independent newspapers, created a secret police, and eliminated meaningful elections. He replaced the revolutionary ideal of liberty with authoritarian rule.
    2. End of Republicanism: He overthrew the Republic, first establishing a consulate for life and then crowning himself Emperor, effectively creating a new hereditary monarchy.
    3. Militarism and Imperialism: He plunged Europe into over a decade of constant warfare for personal and dynastic ambition, causing millions of deaths. His use of prisoners of war for labor and making defeated nations pay for French public works was exploitative, not liberating.
    4. Subordination of Women: The Napoleonic Code, while progressive in some ways, was regressive regarding women’s rights, reinforcing their subordination to their fathers and husbands, rolling back some gains made during the radical phase of the revolution.

The Radicalization of the French Revolution

  • Cause-Effect Analysis: The revolution did not begin with the intention of creating a republic or executing the king. Its radicalization can be traced through a series of interconnected events:
    1. Initial Moderation (National Assembly): The initial phase was dominated by the moderate bourgeoisie, who sought a constitutional monarchy.
    2. Triggers for Radicalism:
      • King’s Betrayal: Louis XVI’s attempt to flee in June 1791 shattered the public’s trust in him and made the idea of a constitutional monarchy unworkable for many.
      • External Threat: The declaration of war by Austria and Prussia in 1792 created a sense of national emergency and paranoia. Fear of foreign invasion and internal traitors fueled radical sentiment.
      • Economic Crisis: Persistent food shortages and inflation angered the urban working class (sans-culottes), who demanded more radical economic and political measures.
    3. The Reign of Terror (National Convention): This was the peak of radicalism. The Jacobins, led by Robespierre, argued that “terror” was necessary to save the revolution from its enemies. This illustrates the classic dilemma of whether revolutionary ends can justify violent means. The Convention’s radical social reforms (abolition of slavery, price controls) were implemented in this context of crisis.
    4. Thermidorian Reaction: The eventual fall of Robespierre and the end of the Terror showed that the revolution had exhausted its radical phase. The subsequent establishment of the more conservative Directory represented a return to bourgeois dominance and a retreat from radical democracy.

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