Editing French Revolution (section)

== Impact ==
{{Main|Influence of the French Revolution}}

The French Revolution had a major impact on western history by ending feudalism in France and creating a path for advances in individual freedoms throughout Europe.{{Sfn|Palmer|Colton|1995|p=341}}{{Sfn|Fehér|1990|pp=117–130}} The revolution represented the most significant challenge to political absolutism up to that point in history and spread democratic ideals throughout Europe and ultimately the world.{{Sfn|Riemer|Simon|1997|p=106}} Its impact on [[French nationalism]] was profound, while also stimulating nationalist movements throughout Europe.{{Sfn|Dann|Dinwiddy|1988|p=13}} Some modern historians argue the concept of the [[nation state]] was a direct consequence of the revolution.{{Sfn|Keitner|2007|p=12}} As such, the revolution is often seen as marking the start of [[modernity]] and the [[Modern era|modern period]].{{Sfn|Spang|2003|pp=119–147}}

=== France ===
The long-term impact on France was profound, shaping politics, society, religion and ideas, and polarising politics for more than a century. Historian [[François Victor Alphonse Aulard|François Aulard]] writes:<blockquote>"From the social point of view, the Revolution consisted in the suppression of what was called the feudal system, in the emancipation of the individual, in greater division of landed property, the abolition of the privileges of noble birth, the establishment of equality, the simplification of life.... The French Revolution differed from other revolutions in being not merely national, for it aimed at benefiting all humanity."<ref>Aulard in Arthur Tilley, ed. (1922) p. 115</ref>{{Title missing|reason=Unverifiable; what is "Tilley (1922)"?|talk=Question about Aulard quotation|date=November 2020}}</blockquote>The revolution permanently crippled the power of the aristocracy and drained the wealth of the Church, although the two institutions survived. Hanson suggests the French underwent a fundamental transformation in self-identity, evidenced by the elimination of privileges and their replacement by intrinsic [[human rights]].{{Sfn|Hanson|2009|p=191}} After the collapse of the [[First French Empire]] in 1815, the French public lost many of the rights and privileges earned since the revolution, but remembered the participatory politics that characterised the period. According to Paul Hanson, "Revolution became a tradition, and [[republicanism]] an enduring option."{{Sfn|Hanson|2009|p=189}}

The Revolution meant an end to arbitrary royal rule and held out the promise of rule by law under a constitutional order. Napoleon as emperor set up a constitutional system and the restored Bourbons were forced to retain one. After the abdication of [[Napoleon III]] in 1871, the [[French Third Republic]] was launched with a deep commitment to upholding the ideals of the Revolution.<ref>Furet, ed., ''A Critical Dictionary of the French Revolution'', pp. 479–493</ref><ref>Robert Tombs, "Inventing politics: from Bourbon Restoration to republican monarchy", in Martin S. Alexander, ed., ''French history since Napoleon'' (1999), pp. 59–79</ref> The [[Vichy France|Vichy regime]] (1940–1944) tried to undo the revolutionary heritage but retained the republic. However, there were no efforts by the Bourbons, Vichy or any other government to restore the privileges that had been stripped away from the nobility in 1789. France permanently became a society of equals under the law.{{Sfn|Hanson|2009|p=189}}

Agriculture was transformed by the Revolution. With the breakup of large estates controlled by the Church and the nobility and worked by hired hands, rural France became more a land of small independent farms. Harvest taxes were ended, such as the tithe and seigneurial dues. [[Primogeniture]] was ended both for nobles and peasants, thereby weakening the family patriarch, and led to a fall in the birth rate since all children had a share in the family property.{{Sfn|Jones|1988|pp=251–254, 265}} Cobban argues the Revolution bequeathed to the nation "a ruling class of landowners."{{Sfn|Cobban|1964|p=89}}

Economic historians are divided on the economic impact of the Revolution. One suggestion is the resulting fragmentation of agricultural holdings had a significant negative impact in the early years of 19th century, then became positive in the second half of the century because it facilitated the rise in human capital investments.{{Sfn|Franck|Michalopoulos|2017}} Others argue the redistribution of land had an immediate positive impact on agricultural productivity, before the scale of these gains gradually declined over the course of the 19th century.{{Sfn|Finley|Franck|Johnson|2017}}

In the cities, entrepreneurship on a small scale flourished, as restrictive monopolies, privileges, barriers, rules, taxes and guilds gave way. However, the British blockade virtually ended overseas and colonial trade, hurting the cities and their supply chains. Overall, the Revolution did not greatly change the French business system, and probably helped freeze in place the horizons of the small business owner. The typical businessman owned a small store, mill or shop, with family help and a few paid employees; large-scale industry was less common than in other industrialising nations.{{Sfn|Cobban|1964|pp=68–80}}

=== Europe outside France ===
Historians often see the impact of the Revolution as through the institutions and ideas exported by Napoleon. Economic historians Dan Bogart, Mauricio Drelichman, Oscar Gelderblom, and Jean-Laurent Rosenthal describe Napoleon's [[Codification (law)|codified law]] as the French Revolution's "most significant export."<ref>{{Cite journal |date=June 2010 |title=State and private institutions (Chapter 3) – The Cambridge Economic History of Modern Europe |doi=10.1017/CBO9780511794834.005 |website=Cambridge Core}}</ref> According to [[Daron Acemoglu]], Davide Cantoni, [[Simon Johnson (economist)|Simon Johnson]], and [[James A. Robinson (economist)|James A. Robinson]] the French Revolution had long-term effects in Europe. They suggest that "areas that were occupied by the French and that underwent radical institutional reform experienced more rapid [[urbanization]] and economic growth, especially after 1850. There is no evidence of a negative effect of French invasion."<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Acemoglu |first1=Daron |last2=Cantoni |first2=Davide |last3=Johnson |first3=Simon |last4=Robinson |first4=James A. |date=2011 |title=The Consequences of Radical Reform: The French Revolution |url=http://www.nber.org/papers/w14831.pdf |journal=[[American Economic Review]] |volume=101 |issue=7 |pages=3286–3307 |doi=10.1257/aer.101.7.3286 |s2cid=157790320 |hdl=10419/37516 |access-date=16 July 2019 |archive-date=12 December 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191212034454/https://www.nber.org/papers/w14831.pdf |url-status=live |issn=0002-8282}}<!--http://www.nber.org/papers/w14831.pdf--></ref>

The Revolution sparked intense debate in Britain. The [[Revolution Controversy]] was a "[[Pamphlet wars|pamphlet war]]" set off by the publication of ''[[A Discourse on the Love of Our Country]]'', a speech given by [[Richard Price]] to the [[Revolution Society]] on 4 November 1789, supporting the French Revolution. [[Edmund Burke]] responded in November 1790 with his own pamphlet, ''[[Reflections on the Revolution in France]]'', attacking the French Revolution as a threat to the aristocracy of all countries.<ref>{{Cite book |first=Emma Vincent |last=Macleod |title=A War of Ideas: British Attitudes to the War against Revolutionary France, 1792–1802 |date=1999 |publisher=Ashgate |isbn=978-1-8401-4614-1}}</ref>{{Sfn|Palmer|1970|page= 459–505}} [[William Coxe (MP)|William Coxe]] opposed Price's premise that one's country is principles and people, not the State itself.{{Sfn|Clark|2000|p=233}}

Conversely, two seminal political pieces of political history were written in Price's favour, supporting the general right of the French people to replace their State. One of the first of these "[[Pamphlet#History|pamphlets]]" into print was ''[[A Vindication of the Rights of Men]]'' by [[Mary Wollstonecraft]] . Wollstonecraft's title was echoed by [[Thomas Paine]]'s ''[[Rights of Man]]'', published a few months later. In 1792 [[Christopher Wyvill (reformer)|Christopher Wyvill]] published ''Defence of Dr. Price and the Reformers of England'', a plea for reform and moderation.<ref>Graham, pp. 297–298.</ref> This exchange of ideas has been described as "one of the great political debates in British history".{{Sfn|Crowe|2005|p=93}}

In Ireland, the effect was to transform what had been an attempt by Protestant settlers to gain some autonomy into a mass movement led by the [[Society of United Irishmen]] involving Catholics and Protestants. It stimulated the demand for further reform throughout Ireland, especially in [[Ulster]], and led to the [[Irish Rebellion of 1798]], which was brutally suppressed by government troops.{{Sfn|Pelling|2002|pp=5–10}} The German reaction to the Revolution swung from favourable to antagonistic. At first it brought liberal and democratic ideas, the end of guilds, serfdom and the Jewish ghetto. It brought economic freedoms and agrarian and legal reform. Above all the antagonism helped stimulate and shape [[German nationalism]].<ref>{{Cite book |first=Theodore S. |last=Hamerow |title=Restoration, Revolution, Reaction: Economics and Politics in Germany, 1815–1871 |publisher=Princeton University Press |date=1958 |isbn=978-0-6910-0755-7 |pages=[https://books.google.com/books?id=IPNXfV2-DhcC&pg=PA22 22–24], 44–45}}</ref>

France invaded Switzerland and turned it into the "[[Helvetic Republic]]" (1798–1803), a French puppet state. French interference with localism and traditions was deeply resented in Switzerland, although some reforms took hold and survived in the later [[Restoration and Regeneration in Switzerland|period of restoration]].<ref>{{Cite journal |first=Marc H. |last=Lerner |title=The Helvetic Republic: An Ambivalent Reception of French Revolutionary Liberty |journal=French History |date=2004 |volume=18 |issue=1 |pages=50–75 |doi=10.1093/fh/18.1.50}}</ref>{{Sfn|Palmer|1970|page=394–421}} France invaded and occupied the region now known as Belgium between 1794 and 1814. The new government enforced reforms, incorporating the region into France. Resistance was strong in every sector, as Belgian nationalism emerged to oppose French rule. The French legal system, however, was adopted, with its equal legal rights, and abolition of class distinctions.{{Sfn|Kossmann|1978|pp=65–81, 101–102}}

The Kingdom of Denmark adopted liberalising reforms in line with those of the French Revolution. Reform was gradual and the regime itself carried out [[agrarian reform]]s that had the effect of weakening absolutism by creating a class of independent peasant [[Freehold (law)|freeholders]]. Much of the initiative came from well-organised liberals who directed political change in the first half of the 19th century.{{Sfn|Horstboll|Ostergård|1990|pp=155–179}} The [[Constitution of Norway]] of 1814 was inspired by the French Revolution<ref>{{Cite web |date=24 May 2013 |title=The Bicentenary of the Norwegian Constitution |url=https://www.stortinget.no/nn/In-English/About-the-Storting/News-archive/Front-page-news/2012-2013/The-Bicentenary-of-the-Norwegian-Constitution-2014/}}</ref> and was considered to be one of the most liberal and democratic constitutions at the time.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Stensvand |first=Elin |title=The Norwegian Constitution: from autocracy to democracy |url=https://www.uib.no/en/news/79930/norwegian-constitution-autocracy-democracy |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210729061204/https://www.uib.no/en/news/79930/norwegian-constitution-autocracy-democracy |archive-date=29 July 2021 |access-date=29 July 2021 |website=University of Bergen}}</ref>

=== North America ===
Initially, most people in the [[Province of Quebec (1763–1791)|Province of Quebec]] were favourable toward the revolutionaries' aims. The Revolution took place against the background of an ongoing campaign for constitutional reform in the colony by [[Loyalist (American Revolution)|Loyalist]] emigrants from the United States.{{Sfn|Greenwood|1993|pp=57–58}} Public opinion began to shift against the Revolution after the Flight to Varennes and further soured after the September Massacres and the subsequent execution of Louis XVI.{{Sfn|Greenwood|1993|pp=65}} French migration to [[the Canadas]] experienced a substantial decline during and after the Revolution. Only a limited number of artisans, professionals, and religious emigres were allowed to settle in the region during this period.<ref name="canimmg2">{{Cite encyclopedia |title=French Immigration in Canada |encyclopedia=The Canadian Encyclopedia |publisher=Historica Canada |url=https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/french-immigration-in-canada |access-date=3 January 2020 |date=26 February 2018 |last1=Dupuis |first1=Serge |archive-date=14 August 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210814100847/https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/french-immigration-in-canada |url-status=live }}</ref> Most emigres settled in [[Montreal]] or [[Quebec City]].<ref name="canimmg2"/> The influx of religious emigres also revitalised the local Catholic Church, with exiled priests establishing a number of parishes across the Canadas.<ref name="canimmg2"/>

In the United States, the French Revolution deeply polarised American politics, and this polarisation led to the creation of the [[First Party System]]. In 1793, as war broke out in Europe, the [[Democratic-Republican Party]] led by former [[United States Ambassador to France|American minister to France]] [[Thomas Jefferson]] favored revolutionary France and pointed to the 1778 treaty that was still in effect. [[George Washington]] and his unanimous cabinet, including Jefferson, decided that the treaty did not bind the United States to enter the war. Washington [[Proclamation of Neutrality|proclaimed neutrality]] instead.<ref>Susan Dunn, ''Sister Revolutions: French Lightning, American Light'' (2000)</ref>