A History of Modern Europe - From the Renaissance to the Present

476 Ch. 12 • The French Revolution

Perspectives on the French Revolution

The French Revolution, which began in Paris, swept across Europe. In
France, it marked a significant break with the past, although, to be sure,
important continuities from the Old Regime helped shape the modern
world. In other countries, too, the Revolution effected major changes. These
included in some places the abolition of feudalism, curtailment of clerical
privileges, and establishment of a more centralized governmental structure.
But while some people welcomed the export of the French Revolution, oth­
ers did not, viewing “liberation” by the French as indistinguishable from
conquest. The French presence engendered a patriotic response in Russia,
Spain, and some of the German and Italian states, contributing to the emer­
gence of nationalist feeling there.
Like the contemporaries who witnessed the Revolution, modern histori­
ans also have had a variety of interpretations of it. Many of them still dis­
agree as to the causes, effects, and significance of the Revolution, debating
the dramatic events with some of the same passion as those who experienced
it firsthand.

European Responses to the Revolution

In countries over which revolutionary armies swept, enthusiastic shouts for

“liberty, fraternity, and equality!” echoed in German, Dutch, and Piedmon­

tese, then disappeared in a sea of French muskets, military requisitions, and

even executions. The revolutionary wave did bring about sweeping changes

in some of the “liberated” territories, and these changes continued even as

Napoleon consolidated his authority in France (see Chapter 13). Thus, in

Piedmont, French control reduced the influence of the nobility and left a

heritage of relative administrative efficiency. The abolition of feudalism in

some of the conquered German states, northern Italy, and the Kingdom of

Naples increased the number of property owners. The French conquerors

proclaimed the rule of law and curtailed some of the influence of the clergy.

But the French faced the realities of almost constant warfare and, increas­

ingly, local resistance. As the wars dragged on and the economic situations

of the “republics” grew worse, the benefits brought by the French seemed

increasingly less important. Ruined merchants and former officials joined

nobles and clerics in opposing rule by France or its puppets. As the Civil

Constitution of the French Clergy led to a violent reaction against the Revo­

lution in France, anticlerical measures in the occupied territories had the

same effect. The peoples of the Rhineland, the Netherlands, and Flanders

bitterly resented the revolutionaries’ de-christianization campaign. Increas­

ingly, the French presence bred contempt and hatred. Bavarian, Dutch,

Piedmontese, Austrian, and Swiss patriots found willing listeners. The

French occupation gave rise to general opposition and a new wave of

national feeling among the conquered. In Great Britain, the French Revolu­