Soon after the American Revolution,
there was a revolution in France. French society, during this time, was
divided into three classes or ‘estates’- the clergy, the nobility and
the commoners. The king and the royal family, along with the clergy and
the nobility, lived in great luxury. All political power was
concentrated in their hands. They owned vast quantities of land and paid
no taxes. The entire tax burden was borne by the common people
comprising of the merchants, the artisans and the peasants. The
merchants, despite being tax-payers, were denied political rights. The
peasants too were extremely unhappy as they were always on the brink of
starvation.
The revolutionary ideas of the French
philosophers such as Voltaire, Rousseau and Montesquieu inspired the
common people to demand their rights. The representatives of the
commoners declared themselves to be the National Assembly of France. On
14 July1789, the people rose up in revolt, broke open the state prison
of Bastille, in Paris (this incident is commonly known as the Storming
of the Bastille) and set free all the prisoners. This event marked the
beginning of the French Revolution.
The revolution ended soon afterwards.
The French king, Louis XVII and his wife, Marie Antoinette were
arrested and later executed. Monarchy ended in France and a republican
form of government was established. The National Assembly adopted a
famous document- Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen, which
promised the basic rights of life, liberty and equality to all citizens
of France. The ideals of liberty, equality and fraternity became the
guiding principles of the republic of France.
