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Prior to the revolution, France was a de jure absolute monarchy, a system that became known as the Ancien Régime. In practice, the power of the monarchy was typically checked by the nobility, the Roman Catholic Church, institutions such as the judicial parlements, national and local customs and, above all, the threat of insurrection.
The French Revolution had a major impact on western history, by ending feudalism in France and creating a path for advances in individual freedoms throughout Europe. [ 228 ] [ 2 ] The revolution represented the most significant challenge to political absolutism up to that point in history and spread democratic ideals throughout Europe and ...
Soon after the Revolution, the motto was often written as "Liberty, Equality, Fraternity, or Death." "Death" was later dropped for being too strongly associated with the excesses of the revolution. The French Tricolour has been seen as embodying all the principles of the Revolution— Liberté, égalité, fraternité. [3]
Though seen throughout the French Revolution, perhaps the most well known French reincarnation of the fasces is the Fasces surmounted by a Phrygian cap. This image has no display of an axe or a strong central state; rather, it symbolizes the power of the liberated people by placing the Liberty Cap on top of the classical symbol of power.
By the time Delacroix painted Liberty Leading the People, he was already the acknowledged leader of the Romantic school in French painting. [4] Delacroix, who was born as the Age of Enlightenment was giving way to the ideas and style of romanticism, rejected the emphasis on precise drawing that characterised the academic art of his time, and instead gave a new prominence to freely brushed colour.
The red rose, which is the favourite flower of French people, is associated with passion and love in the language of flowers. [60] Bonnet's design of the flower and its leaves pointing left and right can also remind of a Christian cross. An ambiguous element of the symbolism is that clenching a rose may be bloody, since the flower has thorns. [52]
The cockade of France (French: Cocarde tricolore, lit. 'Tricolor cockade') is the national ornament of France , obtained by circularly pleating a blue, white and red ribbon. It is composed of the three colors of the French flag , with blue in the center, white immediately outside and red on the edge.
Tocqueville's contributions to the historiography of the Revolution included his extensive use of the recently opened French archives and his stress that the Revolution had multiple causes, including the King's attempts at reform: [25] "The social order destroyed by a revolution is almost always better than that which immediately precedes it ...