French revolution laid the foundation of democracy.
Arguments in favour-
Greeks especially from Athens are described as the father of democracy, and true indeed they got the ball rolling.
However the greek form of democracy was nothing COMPARED to what we know as democracy today. It wasn't representative and it only was for a chosen few of Athenian elites in fact women ,slaves, poor etc couldn't even vote.
So it can be said that modern democracy emanates from the French Revolution of 1789. Now many of the modern nation states, have made their constitution based on the French ideals.
This was the first time that there was a claim of voting rights for all sections of the society. More importantly,
‘ Separation of power’ – by Montesquie.
‘ Social contract between citizens and the government’ – by Rouseau .‘Ideals of social status based on merits’ etc were brought to light for the first time in the French revolution. And today, we know very well that these ideas are the very base and root of democracy.
The french revolution has a huge impact on liberal ideals which is the foundation of modern democracy and its functions and ideals. So it can very well be said that the “French revolution laid the foundation for the modern democracy.”
Arguments in against –
The French Revolution of 1789 was a middle-class rebellion against the privileges of the aristocracy and the clergy. It wasn’t at all intended to establish democracy.
A few years after 1789, the French Revolution became a mere scramble for power between groups of middle-class politicians and professionals.
The Jacobins became a terrible dictorial group, and so did Napoleon Bonaparte.
Although we can’t deny that the revolution gave us some important ideals for democracy. But this wasn’t the foundation. England restarted the democratic form, after the Greeks. The French only had a revolution for the want of the proper democratic practices, but the ideas had been created much before. The main origins of present day democracy lie with the Levelers of the 1640s in England, the Bill of Rights of 1689 in England, the Declaration of Independence in USA in 1776, the Chartist Movement in UK during 1838-48, and the many popular revolutions in Europe in 1830 and 1848.
