Revolution is a word that we feel is part of our collective history. in the past several days and weeks we have seen civil unrest. There are a few ingredients that lead to a revolution. In looking at our current situation, it is undeniable that it is an echo of a revolution past, the French Revolution.
The situation in France in 1789 was tenuous on multiple fronts. The existing government was engaged in the struggle for hegemony and imperialism, which was costly to the point of bringing the nation to brink of fiscal collapse. The monarchy and the landed class were in disagreement over taxation which led to inability for the government to act and bankruptcy of the government.
The French Revolution was deeply influenced by the Enlightenment movement. This movement led to the intensification of the political differences as the Enlightenment movement was in dissonance with the status quo of French society. One of the key influencers during that time was Montesquieu, who with his work, Spirit of the Laws, put forward ideas on good government and good governance. One of the most radical ideas was the notion of popular sovereignty as described by Rousseau's Social Contract. Coupling these new ideas to the underground literary movement to attack the aristocracy called Grub Street contributed to the proliferation of these revolutionary ideas.
Contributing to the climate of change was the conflict of the rising classes. The aristocracy was gaining power, but so was the rising middle class. The aristocracy was interested in their new found power and wanted to maintain the status quo while the new middle class was hoping to push the aristocracy out of their recently acquired position.
The French monarch at this time was the famous but disconnected Louis the XVI. He was a weak leader and a figurehead at best. He and his wife, Marie Antionette's, lack of connection is shown in the famous quote "let them eat cake". This was in response to being told that their people had no bread to eat and were starving.
The other major contributing factor was the economic crisis of 1788-1789. In a primarily agrarian society, the lack of production sent France into a great depression. The civil discontent associated with a lack of food are monumental and were felt throughout the French populace. No one avoided the pinch.
“This contrast between theory and practice, between good intentions and acts of savage violence, which was the salient feature of the French Revolution, becomes less startling when we remember that the Revolution, though sponsored by the most civilized classes of the nation, was carried out by its least educated and most unruly elements.”
The Third Estate's Oath of the Tennis Court, in which they affirmed to represent the population of France led to birth of the revolution. A revolutionary environment emerges when the existing government's unilateral power and authority is challenged by one or more groups that no longer recognize said authority, no longer render loyalty, or obey the government's commands.
The result is a dual or poly polity, in which more than one group which exercise authority over all or some part of the government is the existence of revolution. This situation remains until one faction has gained unilateral control. This occurs by either acquiescence or force.
The revolution began in 1789 when the traditional monarchy was changed to a constitutional monarchy (like Britain). This was what the aristocracy wanted, but it did not last long. In 1792, the constitutional monarchy was suspended (Aug. 11, 1792) and later abolished (Sept. 21, 1792) ending over 200 years of Bourbon rule. This is often referred to as "The Second Revolution".
Roughly 40,000 people were beheaded during Robespierre's "Reign of Terror"
This "Second Revolution" brought about the French Republic; but it certainly had its problems. The issue with revolutionary leaders is that they tend to be extremists. Enter Robespierre. He was the minister of the Committee for Public Safety. His government sought to solidify its position by forcefully and violently eliminating any counter-revolutionaries. This period is referred to as the Reign of Terror.
“In my view the social and economic changes brought about by the Revolution were not revolutionary. Nobles were able to return to their titles and to much of their land. Although considerable amounts of land changed hands during the Revolution, the structure of landholding remained much the same; the rich got richer, and the small peasants consolidated their hold, thanks to the abolition of feudal dues. Industrial capitalism grew at a snail’s pace. In the real of politics, in contrast, almost everything changed. Thousands of men and even many women gained firsthand experience in the political arena: they talked, read, and listened in new ways; they voted; they joined new organizations; and they marched for their political goals. Revolution became a tradition, and republicanism an enduring option. Afterward, kings could not rule without assemblies, and noble domination of public affairs only provoked more revolution. As a result, France in the nineteenth century had the most bourgeois polity in Europe, even though France was never the leading industrial power”
Robespierre was eventually overthrown and more moderate leaders sought to return to the initial principles of the 1789 revolution. This new government called the Directory, while idealistic relied upon the military to repress domestic rivals through use of military force. This new governing body relied so heavily on Napoleon and his army that they were eventually overthrown by him, which brought France back under a monarchy.
The parallels between France in 1789 and the United States of America in 2016 are startling. We have civil unrest, we are involved in arguably imperialistic endeavors which is outstripping the government's ability to pay for it, we have had economic crisis and we can argue about the effectiveness of past and present leadership. We the aristocracy (i.e. one percenters) who are interested in the status quo while we have the rising class (millennials) who are interested in social change. We have conflicting groups of thought, a la enlightenment vs religionists. The Grub Street of today is social media.
“This great drama [the French Revolution] transformed the whole meaning of political change, and the contemporary world would be inconceivable if it had not happened. . . . In other words it transformed men’s outlook. The writers of the Enlightenment, so revered by the intelligentsia who made the Revolution, had always believed it could be done if men dared to seize control of their own destiny. The men of 1789 did so, in a rare moment of courage, altruism, and idealism which took away the breath of educated Europe. What they failed to see, as their inspirers had not foreseen, was that reason and good intentions were not enough by themselves to transform the lot of their fellow men. Mistakes would be made when the accumulated experience of generations was pushed aside as so much routine, prejudice, fanaticism, and superstition. The generation forced to live through the upheavals of the next twenty-six years paid the price. Already by 1802 a million French citizens lay dead; a million more would perish under Napoleon, and untold more abroad. How many millions more still had their lives ruined? Inspiring and ennobling, the prospect of the French Revolution is also moving and appalling: in every sense a tragedy.””
The choice is ours. We can continue as we are, seeking to divide, segregate, and vilify, in which case we will repeat, essentially step for step the misadventure of the French Revolution, or we can seek to dialogue. America is the great social experiment. There is no guarantee that she will survive. If the past has taught us anything, it is that the rights people seek as the result of revolution aren't typically made available. That is what makes America unique.
Washington was no Robespierre, nor was he a Napoleon. This unique attitude of seeking the greater good and seeking to build an environment where thoughts can be freely expressed and expressly protect those of differing opinions is what makes the United States of America unique in human history.
Do we have problems? Absolutely. Are there solutions to these problems? Absolutely. We must come together to seek understanding. It is in seeking to understand that we are understood. I love America and recognize that there are issues to address. I had the opportunity to live overseas for a few years. While I loved that experience, I realized that I took the good old U.S. of A for granted.
Let us passionately express our ideas and opinions, but we must afford others that same right and privilege. We can return to the ideals espoused from the 1789 revolution- Liberty, Equality, Fraternity. If we are truly seeking to live these principles, then viva la revolucion!