France Today

France Today: A Historical Perspective

1789

The Revolution

The Revolution of 1789 as a starting-point

It is quite simply impossible to understand modern France without understanding the Revolution of 1789. Its legacy continues to this day, shaping how the nation is defined, the nature of the state, the Republic, identity and culture. It is at the heart of how France defines itself today, and its legacy is a critical factor in how France responds to the challenges of today, such as immigration, laïcité and terrorism. Its legacy is, however, also contested and divisive.

France was in debt, and King Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette were seen as being out of touch with the majority of the population. When Louis tried to raise more money in taxes, he was met with demands for more political rights.

Briefly, that was the point at which things changed. Before the Revolution, the king was believed to rule France by divine right, his rule being answerable to God, not the French people. The Revolution challenged the right of the king to rule, and instead made the people sovereign.

The Déclaration des Droits de l’Homme et du Citoyen was a proclamation by the French National Assembly. Heavily influenced by the Enlightenment thinkers, it asserted the universal rights of all men but made no mention of women, and did not apply to slaves.

The Revolution began with an assertion of rights, but turned violently against the king. Revolutionaries tried to impose a constitution on the king, but he refused to have his powers curtailed. Louis XVI then tried to flee to Varennes in June 1791.

King accused of being traitor to France and revolution

King and Marie-Antoinette executed, Jan 1793

Terror – launched by Jacobins

40,000 killed

In fleeing the revolution and trying to mount a counterrevolution, the king handed the revolutionaries possession of the nation. He was seen as a traitor and the revolutionaries were seen as the only true defenders of France.

The king's flight to Varennes fuelled paranoia. Revolutionaries feared the counterrevolutionary enemy within and outside France. Fearing the revolution was in danger, the National Assembly declared war on Austria and Prussia in 1792.

Paranoia gave rise to the Terror. The revolutionaries maintained that the need to defend the revolution overrode everything else. Enemies of the revolution had to be destroyed for the good of the nation, with Robespierre proclaiming that 'terror is a virtue'.

Revolution creates the French nation state

France as a state had existed for centuries, but the Revolution created the modern idea of the nation, in which sovereignty resided in the people, not the monarchy.

But, born in civil war and external war, the idea of the French nation was shaped by an intense fear of the enemy and the 'patrie en danger'. Anyone or any ideas that did not fit with those of the French nation were therefore seen as a threat. The legacies of these ideas are evident in how France deals with its current challenges.

The Revolution shaped the values of the modern French Republic

Symbols of the Republic -

Many of the symbols associated with the Revolution of 1789 are the symbols of the French Republic today.

On the one hand this was about the rights and liberties of French citizens.

But on the other, the legacy of the Terror meant that from the outset, the French Republic was defined by its intransigence towards those who did not share its values.

The tricolore flag was created in 1789. It combined white to represent the monarchy and blue and red as the colours of Paris.

La Marseillaise:

Allons enfants de la Patrie

Le jour de gloire est arrivé!

Contre nous de la tyrannie

L'étendard sanglant est levé

Entendez-vous dans nos campagnes

Mugir ces féroces soldats?

Ils viennent jusque dans vos bras

Égorger vos fils, vos compagnes!

Aux armes citoyens

Formez vos bataillons

Marchons, marchons

Qu'un sang impur

Abreuve nos sillons

The Marseillaise - the French national anthem - dates from the Revolutionary Wars in 1792. Its bloodthirsty lyrics and fierce nationalism calls upon the French people to rise up ('aux armes!') to defend their nation against the enemy within and outside France.

This heritage of the people mobilising when the Republic is in danger continues to resonate and was seen in the mass gatherings in response to the January 2015 Paris attacks.

The national anthem is not without controversy, however. As part of a series of reforms, in 2018, the French government announced that all primary school children would learn to sing the Marseillaise.

Some critics argue that the lyrics, which include a reference to 'sang impur', are racist and serve only to aggravate tensions between communities in France.

The image of Marianne appears on stamps, coins and the official logo of the Republic. Marianne was created as a symbol to replace the king. The revolutionaries chose a female figure because monarchs had always been male.

While it is now a public holiday and France's national day in celebration of the Republic, 14 July 1789 was not the most important day of the Revolution. The Bastille was a symbol of monarchist authority, but it only held 7 prisoners when it was stormed. It was chosen as a public holiday because it was the least controversial date.

The impact and legacy of the French Revolution extend far beyond France. The ideas of freedom and equality spread across the world. The revolutionaries of the 1790s sought to export the values of the Revolution, believing that they were universal and superior to the values of other countries and cultures.

The notion that the values of the Revolution were universal was used to justify French colonial expansion and the idea that France had a 'civilising mission'.

The influence of the Revolution on global politics endures to this day. The whole concept of the left and right in politics comes from the Revolution. In the Estates General, the nobles sat on the right of the chamber, while the Third Estate (middle classes, workers and peasants) sat on the left.

The modern political ideologies such as socialism, liberalism and conservatism have roots in the Revolution as well. These ideas have shaped politics across the world, including countries such as China and Russia.

Napoleonic Empire

Napoleon rises to power 1799 –emperor 1804 until 1814

Napoleon rose to power out of the ashes of the Terror to become arguably the most famous French man in history. His legacy in France and across the globe lives on to this day as well. The Napoleonic legal system was imposed across Europe - many countries' legal systems are still based on it.

Monarchy

In less than 100 years after the Revolution of 1789, France had another four revolutions and 7 regime changes. In the same period, Britain had no revolutions or regime changes.

After the fall of Napoleon in 1814, the monarchy was restored. Louis XVIII reigned until 1824, followed by Charles X.

In 1830, a revolution brought a change in the monarchy. Louis-Philippe became a constitutional monarch, with limited powers.

However, February 1848 saw another revolution, with the unpopular Louis-Philippe deposed.

Revolution

Second Republic

Second Empire

The Second Republic was short-lived, and Louis-Napoleon, the nephew of Napoleon, was elected President in 1848. In 1851, he proclaimed himself emperor, Napoleon III and declared a Second Empire. But Napoleon III failed to live up to his uncle's reputation and was humiliatingly defeated in the Franco-Prussian War in 1870. The surrender of Napoleon III to the Germans heralded the collapse of the Second Empire and the creation of a new republic.

Third Republic

France’s longest lasting Republic to date (1870-1940)

After almost a century of political turmoil, the Third Republic sought once and for all to entrench republicanism. The reforms introduced continue to shape France today.

• Education
• reforms introduced by Jules Ferry continue to shape France's eduction
• National identity
• many of today's ideas on national identity date from the Third Republic
• Secularisation
• separation of Church and State introduced in 1905
• Colonial expansion
• Africa and Indochina

Vichy regime

Why is the Second World War so controversial?

• Vichy France collaborates with Nazi Germany
• Persecution of Jews – 76,000 killed
• Contradiction with values of Revolution

Fourth Republic

The Fourth Republic was proclaimed in 1946, but collapsed as a result of the Algerian War in 1958. France fought to retain Algeria in a bitter conflict that cost between 400,000 and 1.5 million lives and saw torture used against Algerians as well as an Algerian terrorist campaign in Algeria and France.

Fifth Republic

The Fifth Republic was created by Charles de Gaulle, leader of the Resistance in the Second World War, in 1958 and endures to this day. But with France facing so many challenges, for how long will it continue?

Macron Presidency (2017-

• But - since 2018, 'Gilets jaunes' protests have brought together wide-ranging opposition to the Macron presidency
• Protestors have used the symbols of France's revolutionary heritage

What are the values of the French Republic today? The constitution offers a starting-point.

Article 1 of the constitution of the Fifth Republic (1958):

La France est une République indivisible, laïque, démocratique et sociale

Citizenship

Closely linked with these ideas is the notion that all French citizens should adhere to the same set of values and culture. While France may be a diverse country, officially, the Republic is not multi-cultural. Thus, those who come from different cultural backgrounds are expected to learn the French language and to fit into the French Republic.

Advantages and disadvantages of the French model

Those who support the French model of citizenship say it promotes harmony, as all citizens are treated the same.

However, critics argue that it can lead to some communities and those who do not agree with the values of the Republic feeling alienated.

Challenges to Republican Values

The problem remains that there are significant numbers of people who don't support the values of the French Republic. Some whose heritage is in former French colonies, especially in Africa, see laïcité as thinly-veiled neo-colonialism targeted at Muslims.

Dr Karine Varley

Twentieth century

Nineteenth century

Street art (2018), based on

'La Liberté guidant le peuple' by Delacroix (1830)

What was the French Revolution?

Heralded creation of modern France

Clash between king Louis XVI and French people

Only lasts 1848-51

Why does the Revolution still matter in modern France?

Lies at heart of French political culture, values, identity

Global impact

2019

MODERN FRANCE

Marianne

Bastille Day - 14 juillet