In terms of Human Rights, how revolutionary was the French Revolution - Essay Example

Most of these events have had momentous effects on human rights, especially as most of these events have involved bloodshed and violence. One of these events is the French Revolution. The French Revolution from 1789 to 1799 was a period of political and social change in France and in the rest of Europe. Its causes and its eventual results became a turning point in the clamour for better human rights in France and Europe. This paper shall now discuss the statement: in terms of human rights, how revolutionary was the French Revolution.

It shall start with an overview of the French Revolution, and then it shall specifically discuss the impact of the war in terms of securing and protecting human rights. It will end with summary and concluding remarks. This essay is being carried out in order to establish a clear and comprehensive discussion of human rights evolution and how events in history have impacted on its formulation. Body Overview of the French Revolution The French Revolution was launched in 1789 after the convocation of the Estates-General.

Initially, members of the Third Estate proclaimed the Tennis Court Oath in June of 1789; this was followed by the assault on the Bastille, later, by the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, and then, the march on Versailles which pushed the royal court into Paris by October 1789 (Doyle, 2003). In the years that followed, tensions rose between the liberal assemblies and the right wing monarchy; these were parties which were bent on preventing any major reforms from being passed (Doyle, 2003).

In 1792, a republic was established and a year later King Louis XVI was executed. The French Revolutionary Wars were initiated in 1792; and it led to French victories which ensured the domination of the Italian Peninsula, the Low Countries and some of the western territories of the Rhine (Doyle, 2003). For a long while, these territories were elusive to the previous French regimes. Various causes and complaints led to the revolution, eventually leading to the rise of Robespierre and the Jacobins, as well as the dominance of the Committee of Public Safety in their Reign of Terror from 1793 to 1793 where thousands were killed (Doyle, 2001).

As the Jacobins lost their power and Robespierre was executed, the Directory gained control of France in 1795 until 1799, when Napoleon Bonaparte took over. At the end of the Napoleonic Wars and his First Empire, an absolute monarchy was established; two smaller revolutions were later successfully launched and in the years following, France was again governed by regime changes (Doyle, 2001). The modern age followed in the wake of the French Revolution, and the emergence of the republics, as well as the liberal governments, the birth of secularism, the establishment of modern ideals, and the launching of total war were events which dominated the era of the French revolution (Doyle, 2001).

Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen The French Revolution also eventually led to the establishment of various human rights laws and policies; specifically, it led to the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen (Censer and Hunt, 2001). This declaration specified as universal the individual and the general rights of the realm estates. It is based on the concept of natural right, as well as universal rights which are valid at all times based on human nature and inherent human