The French Revolution was a period of uprising in France beginning in 1789 and lasting until 1799. Prior to the Revolution, France was in a financial crisis after huge military spending in European wars and the American Revolution. The wealthy nobility were exempt from paying taxes, so high taxes were placed on commoners to compensate. In addition, a series of bad harvests in 1788 left most of the country without food. These financial issues, combined with poor leadership by Louis XVI and new ideas from the Enlightenment, sparked the Revolution. (Andress, 2016)
The French middle class led the Revolution and aimed to overthrow the monarchy, establish a representative government, and create a more equal society. The Revolutionaries stormed prisons, separated from the Church, and caused the King to flee in 1791. As the conflict progressed, it became more radical and more violent. The King was executed and the new authoritarian Jacobin government operated on fear. The Revolution ended in the late 1790s when Napoleon took control of France. The original goals of creating a representative, liberal government were skewed when authoritarian governments took control. France was left in a worse state than it was before, but the Revolution laid the groundwork for democratic reform. It brought more civil rights, a reformed tax code, a more centralized government, and changes in culture to France. (Andress, 2016)
The French Revolution had an influence on many of the writers we are reading about in class this semester. William Godwin and Mary Wollstonecraft both published their thoughts in response to the Revolution in Political Justice and A Vindication of the Rights of Man. Lord Byron, Percy Shelley, and Samuel Coleridge were also inspired by the events occurring in France (Todd, 2011). In Caleb Williams, Godwin expresses his political views by showing how tyranny persists in society. Godwin was sympathetic to the ideals of the Revolution and wanted to stop abusive governments.
The term dystopia can be applied to the French Revolution because it was supposed to create an equal society with a representative government, but few of its original ideals were present by 1799. The Great Terror and creation of a dictatorship were not what the Revolutionaries intended. Another related term is Romanticism because the Romantic movement developed with the French Revolution and was directly influenced by it (Heath, n.d.).
Citations:
Andress, David. “The French Revolution: A Complete History” History Today, vol. 66, no. 2, Feb. 2016, pp. 20-28. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=112342822&site=ehost-live.
Heath, Shannon. “Romanticism and Revolution.” Romantic Politics, (n.d.) web.utk.edu/~gerard/romanticpolitics/revolution.html.
Todd, Janet. “Mary Wollstonecraft: A Speculative and Dissenting Spirit.” BBC, BBC, 17 Feb. 2011, www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/empire_seapower/wollstonecraft_01.shtml.
