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The French Revolution (French: Révolution française [ʁevɔlysjɔ̃ fʁɑ̃sɛːz]) was a period of political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789, and ended with the coup of 18 Brumaire in November 1799 and the formation of the French Consulate.
To a large extent, modern France lies within clear limits of physical geography.Roughly half of its margin lies on sea coasts: one continuous coastline along "La Manche" ("the sleeve" or English Channel) and the Atlantic Ocean forming the country's north-western and western edge, and a shorter, separate coastline along the Mediterranean Sea forming its south-eastern edge.
The French Revolution had a major impact on Europe and the New World. Historians widely regard the Revolution as one of the most important events in European history. [1] [2] [3] In the short-term, France lost thousands of its countrymen in the form of émigrés, or emigrants who wished to escape political tensions and save their lives.
By the end of 1789 the term Ancien Régime was commonly used in France by journalists and legislators to refer to the institutions of French life before the Revolution. [7] It first appeared in print in English in 1794 (two years after the inauguration of the First French Republic ) and was originally pejorative.
It was the last of the Estates General of the Kingdom of France. [ 2 ] Summoned by King Louis XVI , the Estates General of 1789 ended when the Third Estate, along with some members of the other Estates, formed the National Assembly and, against the wishes of the King, invited the other two estates to join.
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 period from 1789 to 1914, dubbed the "Long nineteenth century" by the historian Eric Hobsbawm, extends from the French Revolution's aftermath to the brink of World War I. Throughout this period, France underwent significant transformations that reshaped its geography, demographics, language, and economic landscape, marking a period of ...
The Irish revolutionary John Mitchel called the French Revolution "the profoundest book, and the most eloquent and fascinating history, that English literature ever produced." [ 15 ] Florence Edward MacCarthy, son of Denis MacCarthy , remarked that "Perhaps more than any other, it stimulated poor John Mitchel & led to his fate in 1848", i.e ...