3. The French RevolutionThis chapterIn the last chapter we saw how the American Revolution created a republic based on the ideas of theEnlightenment. This chapter is about the French Revolution, which followed soon after the American Revolution,and is closely related to it. In this chapter we will learn about:. the causes and main phases of the French Revolution

' Napoleon, including his reforms in France, and his wars with the rest of Europe

' the French occupation of Spain, the Spanish War of Independence and the Spanish constitution of 1812

' why the French Revolution was so important, and how it has influenced the world we live in today

Causes of the French RevolutionOne of the main causes of the French Revolution was that French society in the 18th century was very unjust.A small group of privileged people lived in luxury, while the vast majority of the population struggled to survive.However, this was nothing new, and the situation was just as bad elsewhere in Europe. Nevertheless, mostmonarchs maintained their power. So why was there a revolution in France in 1789?. In France, many people believed in the ideas of the

Enlightenment, so they thought that all men wereequal, and deserved the same rights. They also believedin the division of powers and popular sovereignty, so

they opposed absolute monarchy.. The American Revolution created the first republic

based on Enlightenment ideas. It showed that it waspossible to create a fairer society. Europeans whofought in the American Revolution also brought theideas of the revolution back to Europe.

. France had massive debts, partly due to the cost ofhelping the American Patriots. King Louis XVI neededto raise taxes, which was unpopular, because the taxsystem was extremely unfair.

. The bourgeoisie had become richer in the l-8th century,but they were unhappy that the nobles had moreprivileges than them. They wanted political power, so

most of them supported the revolution.. In L7B8-89, there was a famine. The cost of bread rose,

and there were bread riots in many towns. The King andhis nobles, who lived in luxury at Versailles, didn't realisehow bad these oroblems were.

Questions t $}@1. Was life in France in 1-789 worse than in most other

European countries?

2. Why were people who believed in the Enlightenmentagainst absolute monarchy?

3. How are the American and French revolutionsconnected? Think of at least two ways.

4. Give at least three reasons why many French people wereunhappy with the King in 1789.

THE MARQUIS DE LAFAYETTE

People from all over theworld supported theAmerican and Frenchrevolutions. They

believed that therevolutionaries werefighting for universalvalues like freedom andequality, and againsttyranny and privilege.

One of those peoplewas the Marquis deLafayette. He wasFrench, but he

volunteered to fight in the American Revolutionwhen he was just 20 years old. In his first battle,he was shot in the leg, but he showed greatbravery. He became friends with GeorgeWashington, and is considered a hero in America.Lafayette brought many of the ideas of theAmerican Revolution back to France.

Exercise 1

Here is an extract from a pamphlet written bythe Abbé Sieyés during the French Revolution:

What is the Third Estate? Everything.

What hos it been until now in the political

order? Nothing.

What does it desire to be? Something.

Work in pairs. What does each of the three linesmean?

Statue of Lafayette inBaltimore, United States

The start of the French RevolutionIn L789 Louis XVI needed to completely reform the tax system in order to repay France's debts. For the

first time since 1604, he summoned the Estates General (see below). This demonstrated that the absolute

monarchy was in crisis: Louis could not solve France's problems by himself.

THE ESTATES GENERAL OF L789The Estates General was on assembly that represented the three estates. Each estate elected delegates

(representatives) from all over France. Let's look at who they elected in l-789:

First estate: three quarters of delegates were parish priests from the low clergy.

Second estate: both high-ranking nobles at the court and lower-ranking nobles from the provinces.

Third estate: mainly people from the bourgeoisie, including many lawyers. They were chosen by all male

taxpayers over the age of twenty-five.

Each estate had one vote, so the first and second estate could vote together to keep their privileges. However,

the delegates of the third estate wanted more power, because they represented over 95o/o of the population.

THE TENNIS COURT OATH (20 JUNE 1789)When the Estates General met in Versailles, the three

estates were unable to agree on anything. Finally the third

estate created a new National Assembly to write a new

constitution for France. It invited the other two estates tojoin the assembly, and the first estate accepted. One day

soldiers stopped the assembly from meeting in its normal

room, so the delegates went to a nearby tennis courtinstead. There they promised to continue meeting unti'lthey hod ogreed o new constitution. This is called the

Tennis Court Oath.

SToRMING OF THE BASTILLE (14 JULY 1789)Louis XVI realised that he was losing control of the situation,

so he decided to cooperate with the National Assembly. The

ordinary people of Paris celebrated, but the situation

remained very tense:. Food prices were still rising, and there were frequent

riots. Some people stole food and weapons.

. Louis brought more soldiers to Paris to maintain

order. This made the people more angry: they were

afraid that he would use the army to stop the National

Assembly from writing a new constitution.

On 14 July 1789 a crowd of people attacked the Bastille, a

prison that symbolised the abuses of the absolute monarchy.

Soldiers who deserted from the army joined the crowd,

and together they managed to enter the Bastille. They freed

the prisoners, and killed the prison governor. The stormingof the Bastille showed that the people were becoming

more powerful than the King. The revolution had begun!

THE END OF FEUDALISMMeanwhile, peasants in the countryside were starving, due

to poor harvests. There were rumours that the nobles

planned to attack them, so the peasants formed militia toprotect themselves, and burned down some manor houses.

In order to calm the situation down, the National Assembly

abolished the feudal privileges of the nobles and clergy'

Questions

5. Why did Louis XVI summon the Estates

General in 1789?

6. Why did the third estate want more power?

7. When does France celebrate its national day?

What event does it commemorate?

8. Think about the storming of the Bastille:

a) Why do you think it is considered the start

of the French Revolution?

b) What emotions do you think it caused

amongst ordinary people?

9. Why were feudal privileges abolished?

'o@

THE WOMEN'S MARCH ON VERSAILLESAfter the storming of the Bastille, power was shared between Louisand the National Assembly. The Assembly wanted to create a

(see box). However, this did not improvepeople's day-to-day lives.

In October 1789 a big group of Parisian women walked twentykilometres to Versailles to complain to the King about the price ofbread. Thousands of people joined them, including part of theNational Guard. The crowd told the King to come to Paris, so hewould understand their difficulties. There was a confrontationbetween the crowd and Louis' guards, and a few guards were killed.The royal family had to accompany the crowd to Paris. When theyreached Paris, they were forced to remain in the Tuileries Palace.

THE FLIGHT TO VARENNESIn June 1791 Louistried to escapefrom Paris, so

that he could forman army to takeback power. He

expected helpfrom loyal French

soldiers and his

brother-in-law,Leopold II ofAustria.

The whole royalfamily escaped atnight in disguise. They almost succeeded, but someone recognisedLouis, and they were stopped at a town called Varennes. They weresent back to Paris as prisoners. This is called the

By trying to escape, Louis showed that he didn't support therevolution. Instead of a constitutional monarchy, many people nowwanted a republic. They accused the King of

THE FRENCH CONSTITUTION OF 1791

In 1789 t^ethe

WTOIC

for the NationalAssembly The Declaration, which wasinspired ty the Enlightenment, set outthe rights of French people. AlthoughLafayette was a noble, he believed thatall men - nobles and peasants, rich andpoor - deserved the same basic rights:

Men are born free ond they are equa! inrights.

The principle of all sovereignty resides

essentially in the nation.

Liberty is the power to do anythi.ng thatdoes not injure other peopLe.

Every man sholL be presumed innocentuntil he is found guilty.

No one may be disturbed for his

opinions, even religious ones.

Taxes should be paid by all citizensaccording to their meens.

Adapted extracts from the Declaration

The declaration was included in the

which created a constitutional rnon"r.hybased on popular sovereignty and theseparation of powers. However, it gave

citizens with property more rights thanthose without property, and it gave

women very few rights.

USEFUL WORDS' the crime of acting against your

country, particularly in a war.

JACOBINS AND GIRONDINS

During the revolution, manypeople joined political clubs.The

name to a radical politicalgroup called the . Themost radical Jacobins werecalled , oecausethey sat in the highest benchesin the National Assemblv,which was called theMountain. The main rivals ofthe Jacobins were the

, who were moremoderate.

SANS-CULOTTES

During thel8th century,nobles woreshorttrousersmade of silk

called

Ordinarypeople inParis couldn't afford culottes,so they were known as

, (without culottes).

' .---.."::' 1,

10. Why did the women of París marc

Versailles?

11-. Why did Louis try to escape fromPa ris?

12. Did Louis try to escape on his own?

13. Why did the Flight to Varennes

increase support for a republic?

1-4. Which intellectual movement inspiredthe constitution of 1791?

15. Did the constitution give everyone thesame rights? Explain your answer.

l-6. What was the main differencebetween the Jacobins and Girondins?

@hto

Louis is brought back to Paris

€xtd af the monmx'eFrey ffixred efoe R.eign of TermwrFROM MONARCHY TO REPUBLICInitially, the French Revolution was led by the bourgeoisie. They wanted a

new constitution and an end to the privileges of the nobles and theChurch. However, in L792 the revolution became much more radical.

This was partly because France was now at war with the Europeanmonarchies, who were afraid that the revolution would spread to theircountries. In August 1792, Prussia invaded France to defend Louis XVI's

rights. In response, angry Parisians demanded that Louis abdicate. They

attacked the Tuileries Palace and killed hundreds of Louis'guards. Louis

was not harmed, but the National Assembly took away his powers.

The ssns*c€i{*Éfes suspected that there was a secret plan to restore theabsolute monarchy. They blamed the National Assembly, which was led

by the Girondins. With the support of the sans-culottes, the Jacobinsnow took control of the situation:. They gave weapons to ordinary people, so that they could defend

the revolution and the country.. People who were suspected of opposing the revolution or of

supporting the King were arrested or murdered in the S*pt*r:":b*rffiassa{res. Many aristocrats and priests were killed.

. Universal suffrage was introduced for men, but not for women.

. On 22 September 1792 the monarchy was abolished, and Frens* becarr¡e a d*rv¡ocratic republic. Louis

was found guilty of treason, and was guillotined on 2L -lanuary 37*3 (see picture).

THE DEATH OF MARAT AND THE REIGN OF TERROR (L793-L794)The Jacobins wanted to eliminate their rivals the Girondins, so they accused

them of conspiring against the French Republic and of murdering the Jacobin leader

Jean-Paul Marat. In October L793 the leading Girondins were put on trial fortreason. They were found guilty, and executed. This started the Reign of Terrar.

The leader of the Jacobins, Maximilien Rabespi*rr*, said that the revolutionarygovernment should show no mercyto its enemies. He called this the "despotÍsm ofIiberty against tyran ny" .

Over the next year, around 40,000 people were executed without a proper trial.

Some were suspected of opposing the revolution, or had criticised its leaders.

Others were ordinary people accused of hoarding food. Even Ge*rge Danton, who

had been a close ally of Robespierre, was executed for being too moderate. ByJuly!794 most of the leaders of the revolution thought that Robespierre was behavinglike a tyrant. He was arrested and guillotined, which ended the Reign of Terror.

QuestionsREVOLUTIONARY TIME

The Jacobins wanted to reform almost all areas of life. In 7793,

the French Revolutionarv Time and Calendar were introduced:. Years were counted from the beginning

of the "Republican Era" in 1792.

. Months were given names from nature,

and each month was split into threeweeks of 10 days.

. Each day was split into l-0 hours of 100 minutes.

These changes were very unpopular, and they gave no practicaladvantage. After just L7 months people returned to using theold calendar and svstem of countinq time.

USEFUL WORDS

Sr*ffrage: the right to vote.

Guillotine: a device used to executepeople by cutting off their heads.

What were the main aims of thebourgeoisie?

Give one reason why the revolutionbecame more radical in 7192.

Why did many ordinary people supportthe Jacobins against the Girondins?

Why was Louis executed?

Why is the period October 1793-luly 1794known as the Reign of Terror?

Why was Robespierre executed?

17.

18.

L9.

20.

21,.

22.

The Death of Morot by David

Napoleon's rise to powerTHE DIRECTORYAfter Robespierre was execute d in 1794, a new government was formed. There was a parliament, but fiveDirectors had most of the power. This period is therefore known as the Directory. Only men with property

could vote, so France became a bourgeois republic.

The Directors brought some stability to France, and the French

army defeated the European monarchies invading the country.Nevertheless, the government was very unpopular, due tocorruption and food shortages.

THE CONSULATE AND FIRST EMPIRE

ln 1799, there was a coup d'état led by a very popular and

successful general called Napoleon Bonaparte. He made himself

First Consul, so this period is called the Consulate, but it was

really a militory dictotorship. Napoleon gradually took more and

more power, and in 1804 he won a referendum to make him

Emperor of the French, which created the First French Empire.

As Emperor, Napoleon had almost absolute power.

NAPOLEON'S REFORMS IN FRANCE

Napoleon was a very energetic and skilful leader, who participated actively in all areas of government. He

introduced many reforms, in order to modernise France, and to keep all groups in society happy:

ECONOMIC REFORMS TEGAL REFORMS

Napoleon established the Bank of The Napoleonic Code made the lawFrance, which helped to end very high the same in all of France.lt gave all

inflation. Roads, bridges and canals men the same rights, so people fromwere repaired, in order to make trade different social backgrounds could get

easier, and loans were given to important government jobs. However,

industry. He provided cheap bread, the Code also increased men's controland made the tax system fairer, which over their wives, and brought backincreased the income of peasants. slavery in French colonies.

As well as these reforms, Napoleon allowed aristocrats who had emigrated to return to France.

political privileges, but they were able to keep some of their wealth.

REFORMS IN OTHER COUNTRIESUnder Napoleon, France established a huge empire(see next page). In the whole empire, Napoleonintroduced reforms based on the French system.Most people in the conquered countries disliked being

ruled by foreigners, but the reforms made Napoleonpopular with some members of the bourgeoisie.Initially they considered him as a liberator from theirtyrannical monarchs. However, Napoleon's popularityoutside France soon fell:. Napoleon installed members of his family as rulers

of the other European states. They ruled for thebenefit of France, rather than for the local people.

. France tried to stop its allies trading with Britain,

which increased the price of textiles, sugar, coffee

and tobacco.

As a result, the sense of nationalism in the conquered

countries increased.

Questions

23. When did the following periods start and end?

REUGTOUS REFORMS

In L80l- Napoleon signeda Concordaf (agreement)

with the Catholic Church,which gave it a specialstatus. However, therewas stillfreedom ofreligion, and the Churchhad no political power.

They had no

a) Peasants

d) Atheists

Do you think that any groups of French society were

unhappy with Napoleon's reforms? Why?

Why did Napoleon become unpopular in otherEuropean countries?

Painting by David showing Napoleon's

;$o@a) the Directory b) the Consulate

24. Why was the Directory unpopular?

25. How did Napoleon take power initially? How did

he become Emperor?

Exercise 2

Work in pairs. Which of Napoleon's reforms made him

popular with these groups in France?

,n,oe

b) Bourgeoisie c) Catholics

e) Aristocrats

T-fu* r$s€* mruur# +fmt-ffi m# ffimffim$**n's emmrrmNAPOLEON',S CONQUESTSAfter the French Revolution, there was almost constantwar between France and the Eurooean monarchies for20 years. Between 1795 and L81-2, Napoleon led theFrench army to victory after victory. As a result, theFrench Empire gradually expanded. In 1805 there weretwo very important battles:. &r¡st*v*itx: Napoleon destroyed the Austrian and

Russian armies. This made France the dominantpower on the European continent.

. 'ir'=falg*r: The British navy, commanded by Lord:=*5s*¡:, defeated the French and Spanish navies.

This made Britain the dominant power at sea.

By 1-809, France controlled almost all of westernEurope, including Spain and most of the areas that are

Italy and Germany today. Also, many countries ineastern and nofthern Europe, including Russia and

Austria, were forced to form alliances with Napoleon(see map).

NAPOLEON'S FIRST EXILE

In 1812, Napoleon invaded Russia with around halfa million men, including most of his best soldiers. The

Russian army retreated without fighting, and burnedthe countryside behind it, so that there would be no

food for the French. Finally, the two armies met at theW;.,tt.wilt:t,*{: ffi*,,-*..ells:r:, near Moscow. The French won,but many of their soldiers were killed or wounded, and

they didn't destroy the Russian army. The Russians

evacuated Moscow, taking all of the food with them.Without food for his huge army, Napoleon had toreturn home.

Winter was approaching, and temperatures fell belowminus 30 degrees Celsius. The French army sufferedterribly: from the cold, from starvation and because

the Russian army constantly attacked them. Very fewFrench soldiers returned to France alive.

Napoleon's army was badly weakened, and in 1-813 he

lost the Battle of Leipzig against Russia, Austria and

Prussia. He was forced into exile on the island of Elba,

and the Bourbon monarchy was restored in France.

French Empire in around 1812

I French Empire

',. Areas occupied by orcontrolled by France

Allied to France

A BR¡LLIANT GENERAL

Napoleon trained as

an army officer, and

during the French

Revolution he

supported theJacobins. He becamea generalwhen he

was only 24 years old,because he was such

a good leader.

After he defeated a

royalist rebellion inParis in 1795. he wasput in charge of the French army in Italy, which was

fighting against Austria. He was an inspirational and

successful leader, which made him very popular withhis soldiers, and with the people of France.

After he became First Consul and later Emperor, his

armies continued to defeat France's enemies all overEurope. He planned his battles extremely carefully, and

his tactics were usually brilliant. However, he was also

good at taking quick decisions during battles, and

changing his tactics if necessary.Questions

26. Which armies fought in the Battle of Austerlitz?

27. Why couldn't Napoleon invade Britain?

28. Give two reasons why Napoleon was successful in

battle.

29. Why did the Russian army burn the Russian

countryside when France invaded?

30. Give three reasons why the French army lost so

many soldiers during the retreat from Russia.

Exercise 3

Use the Internet to find out about the Arc de Triomphe:. Where is it?

. Who was it built for, and what battle was it built tocommemorate?

. When was it completed?

'oo@o

I

io

Y*:e Congress of V*eraffiffiAfter Napoleon was exiled to Elba, the European monarchies held the Congress of Vienna {I"81"4-L815} to agree

on the future of Europe. The important decisions were taken by the four Great Powers that defeated Napoleon:Russia, Prussia, Austria and Britain. Their priorities were to prevent revolutions against hereditary monarchs and

avoid future wars. The main principles of the treaty that they signed at the end of the Congress were:

. legitimacy: monarchs overthrown by Napoleon were considered the legitimate rulers of their countries, so

they were restored to power. balance of power: no single country should be so powerful that it could dominate Europe

. compensation: the countries that had fought Napoleon were rewarded with land taken from smaller states

France was restored to its borders in1790, as the Great Powers thought that taking away territory from France

would lead to wars in the future. In some ways, the Congress was quite successful: for the next 100 years therewere relatively few major wars in Europe. However, liberals who believed in the Enlightenment were deeply

unhappy, because they saw this as a return to the Ancien Régime. This led to numerous revolutions andinternal conflicts in European countries during the rest of the 19th century.

.* GERMANCONFEDEMTION

from Denmark, which was

punished for supporting France

. SWEDENAND NORWAY

Questions I31. What were the main aims of the Congress of Vienna?

32. Look at the map. Find at least two examples of:

a) the principle of compensation b) the principle of legitimacy

33. Do you th¡nk that the rulers who were restored were really legitimate?

Give reasons for your answer.

34. Which people were unhappy with the outcome of the Congress? Why?

:olonies: Malta,: ,,rne Lape Lorony

r and Ceylon.

i Bourbon monarchiesI were restored in France,

r Spain and the KinqdomI. of the Two Sicilies.

THE HOLY ALLIANCE

As a result of the Congress ofVienna, the Holy Alliance was

formed in 1-815 by Russia, Austriaand Prussia. They promised togovern their countries based on

the principles of Christianity, and

to provide support to each other.

:g

Russian gainedmost of Poland, and

in 1831 annexed all

of it. It also gainedFinland fromSweden.

Stronger, neutralbuffer states aroundFrance were created.

Prussia became muchbigger, which made it a

rival to Austria as the mostpowerful German state.

Austria gainedterritory in whatis now Italy, butit lost the AustrianNetherlands.

Napoleon's final defeat and legacyWATERLOO AND THE END OF THE NAPOLEONIC WARSIn 181-5 Napoleon escaped from exile,and made himself emperor once again.The Great Powers immediately declaredwar on him, and Britain and Prussia

defeated the French army at the Battleof Waterloo (see picture). After this,Napoleon was exiled to Saint Helena,where he lived until he died in 1821.

The Battle of Waterloo ended theNapoleonic Wars. They had caused hugedestruction and loss of life all overEurope: around five million people wereeither killed in battle or died fromdisease and starvation as a result of thewars.

NAPOLEON'S POUTICAL LEGACYNapoleon was eventually defeated, but he had permanently changed Europe. He spread many of the ideas ofthe French Revolution to the countries that he conquered, and gave them new legal systems and politicalstructures. These are some of Napoleon's most important legacies:

. He established universal laws and introduced new constitutions based on

the Enlightenment in the countries that France conquered. These laws and

constitutions gave equal rights to all men.. He ended the privileges of the nobles and the Church, which increased

the power of the bourgeoisie.. He spread the idea that people are citizens, not subjects. This included the

concept of popular sovereignty.. His invasions increased nationalism in the conquered counties; in Chapter 5

you will see how nationalism led to the unification of Germany and Italy and

the independence of the Spanish colonies in the Americas.

USEFUL WORDS

Legacy: the long-terminfluence of a person or an

event.

Decimal: based on thenumber ten.

Metric: universal measure.

THE DECIMAL METR¡C SYSTEM

Before the revolution, France had manydifferent units of weights and measures. Unitswith the same name represented differentquantities in different places. New units were

therefore introduced, following a universal,logical system based on the number ten:

. metre: one ten-millionth of the distancefrom the North Pole to the Equator

. litre: one cubic decimetre

. kilogram: the mass of one litre of water

. the currency was also decimalised: oneFranc was split into LO decímes and 100

centimes.

The decimal metric system made trademuch easier. Napoleon introduced it to manyother countries, and it is now used all overthe world.

Questions

35. Which battle finally ended the Napoleonic Wars?

36. Give at least one reason why the old system of weights and

measures in France made trade difficult.

37. Why do you think that the decimal system of weights and

measures is used all over the world, whereas decimal timeisn't used? Look bock ot page 25 to help you.

Exercise 4

Find out where Elba and

St. Helena are.

. How long didNapoleon spend on

each island?

. Why do you think itwas easier for him toescape from Elba?

'f,(oo

Social legacy of the French RevolutionEuropean society experienced many important changes as a result of the French Revolution. Below we will look athow it affected the role of religion and the position of women in society.

THE ROLE OF RELIGIONRevolutionaries in France saw the Catholic Church as one of their main enemies, because it was rich andprivileged, and supported the monarchy. They also thought that religion was a private matter, so states shouldbe secufar, with no officiol stote religíon. During the revolution, clerics were persecuted, and Church land wasconfiscated by the government. The revolution also reduced the importance of the Church in other ways:. Marriage became a civil contract rather than a religious one.. There was freedom of religion, and less discrimination against Jews. For example, they were allowed to live

where they wanted, and no longer had to live in a special part of the city, called a ghetto.After 181-5, some European countries reintroduced religious marriages, and discrimination against the Jewsincreased. Nevertheless, there was generally much greater freedom of religion than before the revolution.

THE POSITION OF WOMENUnder the Ancien Régime, most people believed that men andwomen had different roles:

Men 'Rational I

Head of the family

Responsible for providingfinancial income

Education important

Control over wife'sproperty

Women

Unable to use reason

Had to obey father or husband

Responsible for home and family;main role to have children

Only needed basic education

Husband or father controlledproperuy

During the French Revolution:. women played a very active role: they took part in riots and

protests, and even fought in revolutionary armies. ordinary people started thinking about what kind of society

they wanted to create, and about the rights of men and women

These two factors led to new rights for women, including an equalright to divorce and to inherit property. Women were no longerconsidered the property of their father or husband, and wereallowed to take their own decisions. However, they were never

oTYMPE DE GOUGES (L748-L793)

Olympe de Gouges was a Frenchplaywright and political activist. She

believed in abolishing slavery, and she also

thought that women should have exactlythe same rights as men. In l-79L she wrotethe Declaration of the Rights of Womanand the Femole Citizen, which imitated theDeclaration of the Rights of Man and of the

Citben, but focused instead on the rights ofwomen.

AII citizens including women are equallyadmissible to all public dignities, offices

and employments, occording to theircapacity, ond with no other distinctionthan that of their virtues and talents.

Extract from Gouges' Declaration

ln 1793, de Gouges was guillotined duringthe Reign of Terror, because she criticisedRobespierre and disagreed with theexecution of the royal family.

Exercise 5 ,eo@cDiscuss these questions in pairs.

1. De Gouges wrote that:

Women have the right to mount thescaffold, they must ako hove the rightto mount the speaker's rostrum.

What did she mean by this?

2. During the French Revolution, "reason"

was represented by a female figure.Why does this seem inconsistent?

3. Overall, was the French Revolutiongood or bad for women? Think about:. the effect on ordinary women's lives

. people's attitudes towards the role ofwomen

given the right to vote.

Many men opposed thesechanges. The NapoleonicCode took away many ofthe new rights that womenhad gained.

Nevertheless, the revolutiondid have a long-term legacyfor women: ¡t helped tochange people's attitudes.As a result, a small butgrowing number of men andwomen started to argue thatwomen deserved the samerights as men.

Did you know?

During the French

Revolution,female figureswere used as

symbols torepresenrqualities such as

"liberty" and"reason". The

Statue of Libertywas a gift fromthe people of France to the UnitedStates. It represents the goddessof freedom Libeftos, who became

a symbol of the revolution.