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Definition: French Revolution from The Macquarie Dictionary
1.

the movement that, beginning in 1789, overthrew the absolute monarchy of the Bourbons and the system of class privilege, and ended in the seizure of power by Napoleon in 1799.

French Revolution

From Encyclopedia of Global Studies
The French Revolution has made an impact on global history. The revolution of 1789 was one of the most prominent elements in historical master narratives. On the one hand, it was presented as the origin of modern Western democracy and of a political culture based on human rights, the principle of people's sovereignty guaranteed by a constitution, and the centrality of private property. On the other hand, Marxist interpretations saw the event occurring between the storming of the Bastille and Maximilien Robespierre's Committee of Public Welfare, and concluded that it was an initial important step toward the definitive emancipation of humanity from exploitation and therefore a model for modern revolution. Not by accident, Bolsheviks in Russia view themselves as the Jacobins of the 20th century, and many more revolutionaries in the world since the French Revolution have made a reference to the ideals of 1789. Because the French Revolution produced metaphors for subsequent political…
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Full text Article French Revolution

From Philip's Encyclopedia
Shortly before the Revolution, Paris' city limits...
(1789-99) Series of events that removed the French monarchy, transformed government and society, and established the First Republic. Suggested causes include economic pressures, an antiquated social structure, weakness of the (theoretically absolute) royal government and the influence of the…
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Full text Article French Revolution

From The Columbia Encyclopedia
political upheaval of world importance in France that began in 1789. Historians disagree in evaluating the factors that brought about the Revolution. To some extent at least, it came not because France was backward, but because the country's economic and intellectual development was not matched by…
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Full text Article FRENCH REVOLUTION

From Encyclopedia of Free Blacks and People of Color in the Americas
A group surrounds the revolutionary leader...
The French Revolution contributed to the crumpling of the slave trade and provided a model, a vocabulary, and justification for slaves’ emancipation. More than any previous war or uprising, this conflict changed the face of the Caribbean islands. Lasting from 1789 to 1799, it inspired rebellions in…
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Full text Article French Revolution

From Britannica Concise Encyclopedia
Movement that shook France between 1787 and 1799, reaching its first climax in 1789, and ended the ancien régime . Causes included the loss of peasant support for the feudal system, broad acceptance of the reformist writings of the philosophes , an expanding bourgeoisie that was excluded from…
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Full text Article French Revolution

From The Hutchinson Unabridged Encyclopedia with Atlas and Weather Guide
The period 1789–1799 that saw the end of the monarchy in France. The revolution began as an attempt to create a constitutional monarchy, where the powers of the king would be limited by a parliament . By late 1792, however, demands for long-overdue reforms resulted in the proclamation of the First…
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Full text Article French Revolution

From The New Penguin Dictionary of Music
Movement generally reckoned from the fall of the Bastille (14 Jul 1789) to that of Robespierre (27 Jul 1794). During this period Figaro was mounted at the Opera (1793), while the deregulation of theatres brought many new houses, and new works in which liberation was enacted onstage (Cherubini's…
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Full text Article French Revolution

From Encyclopedia of World Trade: From Ancient Times to the Present Full text Article A-Z Entries
A period of political and social upheaval (1789–1791) that caused a major disruption in European trade. By the late eighteenth century, France had emerged as a major international trading power, surpassed only by Great Britain, its major rival. Most French trade involved its colonial possessions in…
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Full text Article French Revolution

From The Hutchinson Unabridged Encyclopedia with Atlas and Weather Guide
Introduction In 1789, French royal finances were bankrupt after years of expensive warfare and uncontrolled domestic spending, while high food prices and shortages were accelerating the economic crisis. King Louis XVI tried to increase his income by reforming the way his revenues were produced. To…
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Also known as: Revolution of 1789 1789–1815 The American Revolution inspired many people around the world in the ideas of democracy and this was certainly true of France, which had sent over many soldiers to fight in the Americas and had helped subsidize the war. In fact, it was the crisis in the…
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The Indivisible Unity of the Republic: Liberty,...
The French Revolution of 1789 will forever be remembered (and admired) for its production of ‘The Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen’, which gave birth to the idea of ‘nationhood’ (the ‘state’ was formed of its people; it was not the property of a royal dynasty). It then attempted to…
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