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Unlock This CourseSieyès wanted a stronger government and needed a general to give his plan muscle. He chose Bonaparte, 30 years old and the most popular soldier in France. Sieyès expected to stay in charge himself. He was wrong.
Key terms:
Sieyès drafted a new constitution that kept power shared. Bonaparte rewrote it to suit himself. The Constitution of Year VIII was announced on 15 December 1799.
The announcement told the French: 'Citizens, the Revolution is established on the principles which began it. It is finished.' (translated). Ten years after 1789, one man led France again. Many people accepted this because they were tired of coups, war and disorder. Bonaparte promised order, and he promised to protect what the Revolution had won.
Absolute monarchy and divine right were gone, and France had been a Republic since 1792. Power was now said to come from the nation. It was written down in a constitution and used through elected assemblies. Even Bonaparte had to rule through a constitution.
In July 1793 all remaining feudal dues were abolished with no payment at all. The tithe had gone too. Nobles lost their titles and tax privileges. All citizens were equal before the law, and careers were open to talent, not birth. In the army, men from ordinary families rose to be generals.
Every department had the same system of courts and the same taxes. Old barriers to trade inside France had gone. In 1795 France adopted the metric system, meant to give the whole country the same weights and measures.
The Church lost its land, its tithe and its hold on the state. Its land, and land taken from émigrés, was sold. Most went to the bourgeoisie and better-off peasants, who were determined to keep it. Protestants and Jews gained the same rights as other citizens. Divorce became legal in 1792, and slavery in the French colonies was abolished in 1794.
So the Revolution's lasting gains were mostly about equality before the law. The biggest winners were the bourgeoisie and the better-off peasants.
'The main achievement of the Revolution in France, in the years 1789-99, was the ending of the absolute monarchy.'
How far do you agree? Explain your answer.
You may use the following in your answer:
You must also use information of your own. [16 marks]
I agree to some extent, because ending the absolute monarchy was a huge change. However, I think the abolition of feudalism was the greater achievement, because it lasted and it changed more lives.
Ending the absolute monarchy was a major achievement. Before 1789 Louis XVI ruled by divine right and his will was law. The Revolution replaced this with the idea that power belongs to the nation. The 1791 constitution limited the king, and in September 1792 the monarchy was abolished and France became a Republic. Laws were now made by elected assemblies under written constitutions. However, this achievement was not secure. The Directory cancelled election results in 1797 and 1798. In November 1799 the coup of Brumaire brought Bonaparte to power, and in December he was named First Consul, with most power in his own hands. Rule by one man had returned in a new form.
The abolition of feudalism was more complete. The August Decrees of 1789 began to end feudal privileges, although at first most dues had to be bought out. In July 1793 all remaining feudal dues were abolished without payment. The tithe went too. This mattered because the peasants were the great majority of the French people, and they no longer owed payments and labour to a lord. Neither the Directory nor Bonaparte's new Consulate tried to bring feudalism back.
A third achievement was equality before the law. Nobles lost their titles and tax privileges, all citizens faced the same courts and taxes in every department, and careers were opened to talent, so men from ordinary families could become generals. Yet this equality had limits. Women could not vote, and the poor gained little because they could not afford the Church land that was sold.
Overall, I only partly agree. Judged by how long each change lasted and how many people it affected, the abolition of feudalism was the main achievement. Ending the absolute monarchy changed who held power at the top, but by 1799 one man held power again. Equality before the law was also lasting, but it left out women and did little for the poor. The end of feudal dues and privilege changed daily life for millions and was still firmly in place in 1799.
What lifts it to the top level: it covers three achievements, including one that is not in the bullets, argues both for and against the statement, and reaches a judgement using clear tests (how lasting and how widely felt).
An answer that uses only the two bullets cannot reach the top level, so plan a third achievement of your own, such as equality before the law or the sale of Church land. Then test each achievement against Brumaire: was it still standing when Bonaparte took power in 1799?