The French Revolution

Essay # 7152

History > European - 18th Century

An analysis of the reasons for the radicalization of the French Revolution.

1,155 words () | 19 sources | MLA | 2002 Australia

Paper Summary:

This essay examines the implications of the National Assembly, the internal and external military action, conditions in Paris and economic and social injustices which culminated in the radicalization of the French Revolution. It looks at the various stages of the Revolution and gives an historical overview of the events that led up to it as well as the revolution itself.
The French Revolution radicalized in 1793 as the revolutionary masses attempted to change their political power and overcome what they perceived as economic and social injustices. This radicalization occurred foremost as a reaction to counter-revolutionary forces which pushed the radical revolutionaries into action to preserve the ideals of liberty, equality and fraternity.

From the Paper:

"By 1793 the French Revolution had established the principles of equality before the law, the sovereignty of nation and representative institutions and introduced changes in political and social institutions. Roger price refers to this first stage as the "creative" phase. However, in 1793 the Convention voted for the execution of the king, marking a break with the past and the revolution radicalized and the reign of terror began. Eric Hobsbawm states that the French Revolution was "a mass social revolution and immeasurably more radical than any comparable upheaval". The violent radicalization of 1973 was not from "Enlightenment theorizing" but from the pressures from internal and external wars and "the related twin political forces unleashed by the Revolution itself, popular radicalism and elite counter-revolution". The interaction between the revolution and counter-revolution forces provided the pressure which radicalized the French Revolution in 1793."