Kenny Caselnova

Mr. White

Modern European History

18 November 2016

In relation to the French Revolution, it is often said that oppression was replaced with

another form of oppression. When looking back at this time, such a claim is unarguable. The

revolution was based off the ideals of the Enlightenment from the philosophers Montesquieu,

Rousseau, and Voltaire. From these thoughts arose the characteristics of liberty, equality, and

fraternity which were slowly realized throughout this dreadful period. Although these attributes

were finally determined, it was only due to immense bloodshed and terror throughout the many

phases of the revolution. Leading to the revolution, there were many failures afflicting France,

whether they were from the failing government, or the constant battles for power between the

clergy, nobles, and the common man. One could also see occurrences of oppression throughout

the many phases of the revolution. During the French Revolution, the goal of absolute power

only lead to corruption causing death and despair for many of the citizens of France.

Once the Moderate Period was in full swing, the many citizens of France were being

oppressed by King Louis XVI. Early on, the government was very unstable and because of this,

the King decided to build himself an immaculate mansion in Versailles. Later, Versailles became

the economic and political powerhouse of France. The nation was already in great debt due to the

ill thought spending of money and gambling by Marie Antoinette, and this number nearly

doubled when France began to back the Americans in the American Revolution. As the debt kept

rising, the government began to fail more, and the struggle for power between the clergy, nobles,

and common people began. Due to this immense struggle, France had no choice but to create the
Estates General. The Estates General was made up of three estates, with the first being made up

of the clergy and nobles. The rest of the people fell into the third estate. The third estate was

treated very poorly, and they were always outvoted by the clergy and nobles, so there was the

formation of the National Assembly to ease this fighting. The National Assembly helped to

restore the commoners very high demands for their rights, which included liberty, equality, and

fraternity. Soon after the creation of the National Assembly, they agreed to meet until they

formed a new constitution, and this agreement was called the Tennis Court Oath. This

revolutionary movement was led by a great figure named Maximilien Robespierre, who later led

the citizens of France to break into armories and the Bastille to acquire weapons so they could

overthrow their oppressive and corrupt King. This event marked the beginning of the French

Revolution.

After the abrupt end of the moderate phase, the radical phase, also known as the reign of

terror, set in and lived up to its name. Soon after the beginning of this movement, the

Committee of Public Safety was formed, and its job was to make France a safe place for

everyone to live. Although the C.O.P.S. tried to secure a safe environment, close to 30,000

people faced the guillotine if they were accused for not following the revolution. Robespierre

had King Louis XVI killed due to his oppression and corruption, but now, Robespierre had

ordered thousands of people to be killed, and heavily oppressed the people of France. Only to

add to Robespierre's corruption, he basically deleted the existence of Christianity in France, and

created the cult of the supreme being. Finally, the people turn against Robespierre, and have him

sent to the guillotine. After Robespierre is gone, the directory phase is put into motion. Since

Robespierre is gone, the Committee of Public Safety that was set up was replaced by the

directory. The new directory, set up the first consulate, which was made to help solve the new
problems that arose in France. The first consulate created very high inflation. Once again, the

people of France had been affected by oppression. It went from King Louis XVI in the moderate

phase, to Robespierre in the Radical Phase, and the newly made consulate.

After the rule of Robespierre and the consulate, Napoleon rose through the ranks and

became the Emperor of France. Napoleon Bonaparte was born in 1769, and was soon to be seen

as a genius. By the age of 16, he had already worked his way through the French military

schools, and became an artillery officer for the army. Once the Revolution was in full swing, he

was favoring it heavily as he was a fiery Jacobin. Napoleon became a commander during the

many battles in Italy, and frequently won, proving he was an incredible and trusted leader.

Eventually he was able to fully conquer all of Italy and Switzerland, and was able to make large

advancements in the campaign against Austria, Switzerland, and Britain. Through his great

accomplishments, Napoleon was finally awarded the position of First Consulate. During his

service as the First Consulate, he formed the Napoleonic Code, which essentially showed that

everyone was equal. The Napoleonic Code momentarily stopped close to all of the bloodshed

throughout Europe. Napoleon became so popular through his movements that he decided to

name himself Emperor. The people of France were not satisfied with this turn of events. As

Emperor of France, Napoleon led his most elite troops and took over almost all of Europe. The

many nations that he now ruled responded with great acts of nationalism. Napoleon's power kept

growing at nearly an exponential rate, the Napoleonic Code expelled serfdom and took away

many of the women's rights. Many of the newly conquered countries did not appreciate the way

Napoleon was ruling, which forced a conflict in Russia. Napoleon invaded with forces up to

600,000 which was reduced to 100,000 due to deaths caused by weather, deserters, and disease.

He finally accepted defeat at the Battle of Waterloo, and once back in France, was exiled due to
his corruption and oppressive tendencies. Napoleon was replaced by another bourbon monarch;

King Louis XVIII.

The struggle for absolute power during the French Revolution only lead to corruption and

oppression, and lost the desired values. From the moderate phase to the reign of Napoleon, all of

these great leaders came to an end due to the fact that once they finally reached the desired

amount of power, they failed to support the people, who were continually oppressed. King Louis

XVI drove France to the ground by not saving the failing economy, and loading mass amounts of

debt. Robespierre would virtually turn to the guillotine to solve all of Frances problems and

Napoleon relied on his wit to save himself, his troops, and the citizens of his failing nation. The

ideals of liberty, equality, and fraternity were often realized throughout the revolution, but were

either stripped away or denied by the rulers.