The fall of the Bastille on July 14, 1789 has become the commemorative symbol of the French Revolution. But this violent and random act was unrepresentative of the real work of the early revolution, which was taking place ten miles west of Paris, in Versailles. There, the nobles, clergy and commoners of France had just declared themselves a republic, toppling a rotten system of aristocratic privilege and altering the course of history forever.
The Revolution was led not by angry mobs, but by the best and brightest of France's growing bourgeoisie: young, educated, ambitious. Their aim was not to destroy, but to build a better state. In just three months they drew up a Declaration of the Rights of Man, which was to become the archetype of all subsequent Declarations worldwide, and they instituted a system of locally elected administration for France which still survives today. They were determined to create an entirely new system of government, based on rights, equality and the rule of law. In the first three years of the Revolution they went a long way toward doing so. Then came Robespierre, the Terror and unspeakable acts of barbarism.
In a clear, dispassionate and fast-moving narrative, Ian Davidson shows how and why the Revolutionaries, in just five years, spiralled from the best of the Enlightenment to tyranny and the Terror. The book reminds us that the Revolution was both an inspiration of the finest principles of a new democracy and an awful warning of what can happen when idealism goes wrong.
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Table of contents
- Copyright Page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Maps
- Timeline
- 1. Introduction
- 2. Ătats gĂ©nĂ©raux
- 3. The Fall of Necker
- 4. The Storming of the Bastille
- 5. The Dismantling of Feudalism
- 6. Declaration of the Rights of Man
- 7. The King Moves to Paris
- 8. The Assembly Starts to Govern France
- 9. The Revolutionaries Reform the Church
- 10. The Flight of the King
- 11. The Rush to War
- 12. The Overthrow of the Monarchy
- 13. The Commune insurrectionnelle
- 14. The Convention
- 15. The War in 1792: From Valmy to Jemappes
- 16. The Trial of the King
- 17. Girondins and Montagnards
- 18. The Fall of the Girondins
- 19. The Civil Wars of 1793
- 20. The Gouvernement révolutionnaire
- 21. The Terreur
- 22. The Spasm of Religion to the Fall of Danton
- 23. The Fall of Robespierre
- 24. The Aftermath
- 25. Epilogue
- In Place of a Bibliography
- A Note on the Children of Louis XVI
- A Note on the Franchise for Women
- The Coups dâĂtats of the French Revolution
- The French Text of the Declaration of the Rights of Man of 1789
- A Note on Money and Inflation
- A Note on the Comité de salut public
- A Note on Death and the Revolution
- Notes
- List of Illustrations
- Photo Section
- Index
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Yes, you can access The French Revolution by Ian Davidson in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in History & World History. We have over 1.5 million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.