Men are born, and always continue, free and equal in respect of their rights.
                                                            Civil distinctions therefore, can be found ed only on public utility.
                                                            The nation is essentially the source of all sovereignty; nor can any individual,
                                                            or any body of men, be entitled to any authority which is not expressly derived from it.
                                                                                                   -The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, 1789

                                                        The French and Industrial Revolutions took place at approximately the same time and affected
                                                        many of the same people in various degrees. These revolutions resulted in the overthrow of
                                                        absolutism,and mercantilism. Together they brought forth the theory and practice of economic
                                                        individualism and political liberalism while they ensured the growth of class consciousness.

                                                       The French Revolution successfully challenged the hereditary rule and political privilege.
                                                       The Revolution, begun by financial crisis, forced the French monarchy to confront the desires of the
                                                       French elite for political reform.  With the example of the American Revolution and the emerging
                                                       Enlightenment, the French Revolution began to move into action.

                                                       In the first phase of the Revolution, the principles of a constitutional government  were enforced and
                                                       the political privileges of the Old Regime were nearly done away with.  The Revolution then moved
                                                       into a more radical direction because of the threat of foreign invasion, the actions of republican
                                                       legislators, the actions of the king and the citizens of Paris.  The most radical phase of the Revolution
                                                       was the Terror, led by Robespierre.  This phase of the revolution produced the most effective
                                                       legislation for the ordinary French citizen but brought about horrendous violence.  The final phase
                                                      of the Revolution was to be the seizure of power by Napoleon Bonaparte, a French General after
                                                       a period of unstable conservative rule.

                                 Links worth looking at ........more to come

                                                     French Revolution source of information
                                                     Marie Antoinette and her controversies
                                                     Information on 18th Century Europe/France
                                                      Art during the French Revolution
                                                     Time line of the French Revolution
                                                    The Guillotine - check out the official site

                                                                                           | Home | Table of Contents |