Influence of the French Revolution
In addition to effects similar to those in Italy and Switzerland, France saw the introduction of the principle of legal equality, and the downgrading of the once powerful and rich Catholic Church to just a bureau controlled by the government.
Thompson says that the kings had: "ruled by virtue of their personal wealth, their patronage of the nobility, their disposal of ecclesiastical offices, their provincial governors (intendants), their control over the judges and magistrates, and their command of the Army.
Historian François Aulard writes: Europe was wracked by two decades of war revolving around France's efforts to spread its revolutionary ideals, and the opposition of reactionary royalty by the members of the anti-French coalitions.
The presence of these thousands of Frenchmen of varying socioeconomic backgrounds who had just fled a hotbed of revolutionary activity posed a problem for the nations that extended refuge to the migrants.
Britain, guided by Pitt the Younger, led and funded the series of coalitions that fought France from 1793 to 1815, and the removal of Napoleon Bonaparte culminated with the (temporary) restoration of the Bourbons.
Edmund Burke wrote Reflections on the Revolution in France, a pamphlet notable for its defense of the principle of constitutional monarchy; the events surrounding the London Corresponding Society were an example of the fevered times.
The chaos and barriers in a land divided and subdivided among many different petty principalities gave way to a simplified, centralized system controlled by Paris and run by Napoleon's relatives.
The most important impact came from the abolition of all feudal privileges and historic taxes, the introduction of legal reforms of the Napoleonic Code, and the reorganization of the judicial and local administrative systems.
Decades later workers and peasants in the Rhineland often appealed to Jacobinism to oppose unpopular government programs, while the intelligentsia demanded the maintenance of the Napoleonic Code (which was stayed in effect for a century).
This resulted in the Swiss regaining control of Lucerne, however due to the sheer greatness in size of the French army, Von Reding's movement was eventually suppressed.
The French Army suppressed the uprisings but support for revolutionary ideals steadily declined, as the Swiss resented their loss of local democracy, the new taxes, the centralization, and the hostility to religion.
[34] The instability of France resulted in the creation of two different revolutionary groups with different ideologies of revolt: The aristocrats, seeking the restoration of the Old Swiss Confederacy and a section of the population wanting a coup.
Ultimately, this instability, frequent coups within the government and the eventual Bourla-papey forced Napoleon to sign the Act of Medallion which led to the fall of the Helvetic Republic and the restoration of the Confederacy.
In economics, therefore, the nobility declined while the middle class Belgian entrepreneurs flourished because of their inclusion in a large market, paving the way for Belgium's leadership role after 1815 in the Industrial Revolution on the Continent.
In contrast to Old Regime France, agricultural reform was intensified in Denmark, serfdom was abolished and civil rights were extended to the peasants, the finances of the Danish state were healthy, and there were no external or internal crises.
[42] When the king was assassinated in 1792 his brother Charles became regent, but real power was with Gustaf Adolf Reuterholm, who bitterly opposed the French Revolution and all its supporters.
She had the novel Journey from St. Petersburg to Moscow written by Alexander Radishchev burned as she believed it dangerously promoted the French Revolution and even sent Radischev to exile in Siberia.
Other Novoye Vremya contributors described that the sexuality mentioned by Fyodrov and Bulgakov as a destructive phenomenon that plagued the French gentry with absolute cynicism, causing the monarchs to become effeminate and helping in their downfall in the revolution.
In this regard, the French Revolution brought such influential themes as constitutionalism, parliamentarianism, individual liberty, legal equality, and the sense of ethnic nationalism.
In this way: the known and famous atheists Voltaire and Rousseau, and other materialists like them, had printed and published various works.. of insults and vilification against the pure prophets and great kings, of the removal and abolition of all religion, and of allusions to the sweetness of equality and republicanism, all expressed in easily intelligible words and phrases, in the form of mockery, in the language of the common people.
Finding the pleasure of novelty in these writings, most of the people, even youths and women, inclined towards them and paid close attention to them, so that heresy and wickedness spread like syphilis to the arteries of their brains and corrupted their beliefs.
When the revolution became more intense, none took offence at the closing of churches, the killing and expulsion of monks, and the abolition of religion and doctrine: they set their hearts on equality and freedom.. the ultimate basis of the order and cohesion of every state is a firm grasp of the roots and branches of holy law, religion, and doctrine; that the tranquillity of the land and the control of the subjects cannot be encompassed by political means alone; that the necessity for the fear of God and the regard for retribution in the hearts of God's slaves is one of the unshakeably established divine decrees.. the leaders of the sedition and evil appearing in France, in a manner without precedent.. have removed the fear of God and the regard for retribution from the common people, made lawful all kinds of abominable deeds, utterly obliterated all shame and-decency, and thus prepared the way for the reduction of the people of France to the state of cattle...
Nor were they satisfied with this alone, .. they had their rebellious declaration which they call 'The Rights of Man' translated into all languages and published in all parts, and strove to incite the common people of the nations and religions to rebel against the kings to whom they were subject"[49][50]Egyptian Islamic scholar and historian 'Abd al-Rahman al-Jabarti (1753–1825 C.E) maintained a strict, puritanical tone in reactions to his witnessing of the advanced military technology, material sciences and cultural values of the French occupiers.
Al-Jabarti was deeply influenced by the reformist ideals of the Arabian Muwahhidun movement and their calls for pan-Islamic fraternity, revival of past Islamic glory by direct engagement with the Scriptures, advocacy of Ijtihad, opposition to folkish superstitions, etc.
He gave a supportive account of the movement in his seminal Egyptian history work "Aja'ib al-athar fi al-tarajim wal-akhbar" (The Marvelous Compositions of Biographies and Events) and lamented the fall of Emirate of Dirʿiyya during the Wahhabi Wars.
Meanwhile, Jabarti abhorred the Republican ideas of the French revolution such as egalitarianism, liberty and equality; insisting on the supremacy of Wahy (Islamic Revelation) over European rationalism.
For when they rebelled against their sultan six years ago and killed him, the people agreed unanimously that there was not to be a single ruler but that their state, territories, laws, and administration of their affairs, should be in the hands of the intelligent and wise men among them.
[54] After the September Massacres, and the subsequent execution of Louis XVI in January 1793, members of the Canadian clergy, and seigneurs began to openly voice opposition against the Revolution.
[66] The broad similarities but different experiences between the French and American revolutions lead to a certain kinship between France and the United States, with both countries seeing themselves as pioneers of liberty and promoting republican ideals.
[68] The call for modification of society was influenced by the revolution in France, and once the hope for change found a place in the hearts of the Haitian people, there was no stopping the radical reformation that was occurring.
