The impact of the French Revolution (1789-1815) on social structure, legal system and political life and institutions during the nineteenth century in France

Résumé du document

Some events remain in the history of mankind forever, the French Revolution (1789-1815) is definitely one of these. Indeed, a few upheavals, such as this one, triggered so many thoughts, comments and passionate reactions all over the world. Although a lot of scholars tried to understand and qualify this period, many interpretations actually remain. This stands for the difficulty to understand the real impact of such an astonishing event. In reality, these difficulties are deeply rooted in two specific characteristics of the French Revolution- the question of its own intensity, and therefore the question of its real legacy, and, as to what extent had the French Revolution a strong and global influence over the nineteenth century in France ?

Extraits

[...] This also was favoured by the rapid expansion of socialist and Marxist ideas in the second part of the nineteenth century. The three days Revolution against Louis the XVIII, or the 1848 Revolution, claiming the need for a democratization of the regime, are great examples of this new opposition workers/bourgeoisie, which find its basis in the core of the French Revolution. The question of gender during the nineteenth century is also inherited from the Revolutionary conception. Indeed, if the Revolutionaries were willing to change the French social structure, the women emancipation was no part of their plan. [...]

[...] Finally, all these paradoxes can be summarized by one single question: to what extent had the French Revolution (1789-1815) a strong and global influence over the nineteenth century in France? The point of this essay is to show first the strong intensity of the changes triggered by the French Revolution, but also the global aspect of these changes, justifying the use of the term “Revolution”, according to the two-criteria definition we gave at the beginning of this work. We will demonstrate this statement by focusing first on the evolution of the social structure due to the French Revolution. [...]

[...] This omnipotence of the law gives birth to the legalism of the nineteenth century. This is symbolized by a striking fact: even the undemocratic regimes of the nineteenth century, such as the First or the Second Napoleonic Empire, kept a place for different houses in their constitutional system. For example, the Corps legislative during the Second Empire could not make any proposal concerning the law, but it had to vote it. The same thing can be observed of the First Napoleonic regime. [...]

[...] The impact of the French Revolution (1789-1815) on social structure, legal system and political life and institutions during the nineteenth century in France Some events stamp on the history of mankind forever: the French Revolution is definitely one of these. Indeed, really few upheavals such as this one triggered so many thoughts, comments and passionate reactions all over the world. Although lot of scholars tried to understand and qualify this period, many interpretations actually remain. This stands for the difficulty to understand the real impact of such an astonishing event. [...]

[...] Almost a century after the French Revolution, the most “revolutionary inspired” regime of the nineteenth century not only accepts all of the French Revolution legacy, but goes even further by giving new rights to people, especially the workers. This illustrates the permanency of the Revolutionary inheritance concerning the legal system. Apart from the social and legal legacy of the French Revolution, one of the main influences of this event concerns the French political institutions and political life in the nineteenth century. Paradoxically enough, this influence is utterly striking and deeply complex at the same time. [...]