The French Revolution had a far greater
impact on the Western world than the American revolt ever did, even though the French
Revolution occurred
after the American example and even though the French championed many of the same
principles of natural rights as the Americans had. Although the
American Revolution was an inspiration to Europeans
and other people the world over and although the American revolt did affect England (somewhat), it occurred
in a far-off place for most people, and it did not affect nearly as many people as the
French Revolutionary wars did--Remember the French had a world empire. (The American experience was
also far less violent than the French.) Events in France
reverberated everywhere (from
Moscow to Dublin) and affected everyone (from king to peasant) on the continent. In addition, the
French Revolution had a far-ranging overseas impact.
Napoleon became the subject of heated
debate after his death in 1821. Was this man a child of the French Revolution,
i.e., was he a symbol of all that the revolution stood for, or was he the
destroyer of the revolution as just another dictator? Did he destroy the revolution
with his dictatorship, a dictatorship based on limited political participation,
support of the church and suppression of free speech? Or did he symbolize
a new revolutionary order because he was able to rise to such a prominent position
based solely on his talent--It was highly unlikely that a son of minor Corsican
noble would have ever become a French general, let alone a major political
figure, in the Ancien Régime in France. Did Napoleon undo the ideals of the revolution
by his attempt to conquer all of Europe and subjugate it to his personal
control? Or did he fulfill the goals of the revolution by his wide-ranging
domestic reform program that swept away many of the remnants of the Old
Regime and created new, more "Enlightened" reforms, for example his law code and new educational system?
Some recommended online lectures and websites:
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