In late August, the Assembly adopted the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen ( Déclaration des droits de l’homme et du citoyen), a statement of democratic principles grounded in the philosophical and political ideas of Enlightenment thinkers like Jean-Jacques Rousseau.ĭrafting a formal constitution proved much more of a challenge for the National Constituent Assembly, which had the added burden of functioning as a legislature during harsh economic times.įor months, its members wrestled with fundamental questions about the shape and expanse of France’s new political landscape. Known as the Great Fear ( la Grande peur), the agrarian insurrection hastened the growing exodus of nobles from the country and inspired the National Constituent Assembly to abolish feudalism on August 4, 1789, signing what the historian Georges Lefebvre later called the “death certificate of the old order.” Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen Revolting against years of exploitation, peasants looted and burned the homes of tax collectors, landlords and the seigniorial elite. The wave of revolutionary fervor and widespread hysteria quickly swept the countryside. A popular insurgency culminated on July 14 when rioters stormed the Bastille fortress in an attempt to secure gunpowder and weapons many consider this event, now commemorated in France as a national holiday, as the start of the French Revolution. Though enthusiastic about the recent breakdown of royal power, Parisians grew panicked as rumors of an impending military coup began to circulate. Causes of the French RevolutionĪs the 18th century drew to a close, France’s costly involvement in the American Revolution, and extravagant spending by King Louis XVI and his predecessor, had left the country on the brink of bankruptcy. Although it failed to achieve all of its goals and at times degenerated into a chaotic bloodbath, the French Revolution played a critical role in shaping modern nations by showing the world the power inherent in the will of the people. The upheaval was caused by widespread discontent with the French monarchy and the poor economic policies of King Louis XVI, who met his death by guillotine, as did his wife Marie Antoinette. During this period, French citizens razed and redesigned their country’s political landscape, uprooting centuries-old institutions such as absolute monarchy and the feudal system. The French Revolution was a watershed event in modern European history that began in 1789 and ended in the late 1790s with the ascent of Napoleon Bonaparte. French Revolution Ends: Napoleon’s Rise.Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen.
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