Economics assignment help on: French Revolution and other effects
The French Revolution and the affects that it had on the society can be well understood if the reading of Edmund Burke’s Reflections of the Revolution in France is made. It becomes important to first go through the events that occurred in the mid eighteenth century that gave rise to this revolution in France. The first significant upheaval that can be seen is that the nobles were getting nobler, the wealthy commoners were extremely growing and they resented any kind of an exclusion from the political authority and the designation of the honour they had, along with the power in their hands. This was a matter of worry for the peasant and the labour class thus the second restlessness in the country was created by the same class that meant the strong criticism of the archaic and arduous feudal system, and so they had no willingness to provide any kind of a support to them. The philosophers also were being read more and more in France in the mid eighteenth century, as the authors came up with the different ideas on the social and political reforms. The books thus left the sensation alive in the society, and the people couldn’t rest unless they talked about the prevailing conditions. Also, the country was left bankrupt because of the active participation that it had in American Revolution. Further, the peasant class was getting furious because of the crop failures in the country. These are the important reasons which were gradually giving rise to the distraction in the French society, and the subsequent restlessness led to the Revolution (Patrick, A, 2006).
The significant facts that have so far been cited with reference to the revolution are that in February 1787 some reforms were proposed which were demanded by the peasant class and it was pointing out the privileged class that their taxation shall increase. As the aristocratic bodies resisted nay kind of reforms thus it led to the revolt in the society. Thus it can be said that it was a shocking event that occurred in the year 1789 and that marked the collapse of the old political system that was feudal and was run by church. The power was now in the hands of the citizens that were called as the French Republic. Now the citizens formed the objectives and decided the goals for the nation state themselves and were now being the parliament themselves. The political power that came in the hands of the common people experienced the clash of thoughts and policies and thus the situation remained unsettled and chaotic (Hunt, L, 2004).Edmund Burke’s rejection of the fundamental idea of the French Revolution surprised many in the British Society himself being a member of the British parliament. He analysed that what were the errors that were present in the whole argument that the supporters of this Revolution. In his book 1790 Reflections on the Revolution in France (1790) he critically identified those flaws. The side which Burke is the foundation of this essay t\as that is the guiding element though this paper and is much towards the writer’s side too. In his book he is endorsing upon the gradual building up of the faith in the society thus by emphasising upon the reforms in the society and not the revolution as that is no solution to the problem. The advancement which Edmund Burke had made is quite valid if scrutinised from the intellectual angel that it has. Author and the social thinker is in favour of the basic human rights when he aims for a society free from prejudice, and also advocated the central and the crucial roles of property and tradition whereas he criticised the abstraction in the ideas of liberty and the rights of man, which do sound and seem to be so tyrannical itself (Glasman, M). According to Burke, if the French were eager to bring in the significant social order then the approach should have been such in which the life, property and the claims of the liberty were preserved, and also the French citizens should have experienced equity in terms of social justice and civil liberty beyond any class constraints.
Burke’s interpretation of the unfortunate event is convincing by his very ideas of conservatism. The social reforms according to the author should be constructive and should not be destructive at any cost. The revolution should be devoid of any type of violence or the destruction of the prior set laws and it was all practiced in France 1789. It is the ancient laws and the historic constitution which can only secure the laws and the liberty. He asserts that the change shall not be something which is brought at the cost of the existing norms in a social set up. The established norms have always been the foundation for something new and shall be respected. Thus fighting over the same in order to prove them destructive is so unfair even if it is meant to result in something beneficial for the ones who suffer. As that would create the suffering for the rest of the people who are living in the same society and that is what the French Revolution had rendered. He brings that a reformation which is directed towards conserving the antiquity and the traditions is in fact non-revolutionary and thus helps in preserving the order in the society (Ward, I 2010).
Burke’s main idea is to respect the past and that all has been designed on the basis of the intellect and the intentions of the great forefathers. Edmund Burke rests upon the policy of inheritance and therefore also derives examples from Magna Carta that it is the assertion of liberties that shall be made but it has to be necessarily under the inheritance that we get from the forefathers. This is the idea that he propagates and criticises the approach which the civilians in France had held in the guise of social reform in the society. The idea of the aristocracy according to Edmund Burke is undoubtedly quite relevant in any phase of the society as that is the guiding spirit of the nation and if man would try to invade its boundaries then definitely the chaos would arise. His interpretation is convincing because war has never rendered anything productive. It is important to throw light on the balanced approach that Burke’s interpretation has of the Revolution. It attacks the root of the problem which is the restlessness in the human nature and the way the clash comes whenever there is a power struggle.
The discourse which he forms in his book criticises that it is only a matter of perspective that one forms with the citizens and they should treat the government policies as the relationship which the governing body wants to form with the citizen. The feudal system has thus formed a familial affection for the whole state and thus has a categorised the members of the society accordingly and over which the members shouldn’t fight. In France the same was not followed as the public wanted o go against the established form in the society and therefore worked against the system. The interesting part is the foresight that the author held at that time, when he balances the worldview, for he doesn’t deny the rights of men. He only emphasises upon the false claims of the rights which the French revolutionaries had made. The interpretation of Burke is contemporarily valid as he gradually marks out the real rights of the men in the society and how they are important for a respectable living the society, but again he criticises the way those men challenged the law of inheritance by destructing the real rights that belonged to someone else.
The basic rights that every human being should have in order to live happily in a nation state is all that is validated by the law of inheritance .i.e. the right to be protected by the law, the right to see that justice is imparted in the society, the right for employment and that they can equally engage in any domain of work which interests them. The law of primogeniture, the right to gain education and also a decent burial when they die. IN all these Burke’s argument remains that there are also inherent hierarchies that come along with the traditional system and that only denies one right to man and that is the right to equal share in the power roles and the government (Hunt, L, 2004). The same argument seems so justified because if every citizen would come in equal power then the society would not be led by control but would have personal systems and processes running together.
It can be concluded that this Revolution didn’t mark itself as a glorifying point in the history of France. In fact it has been altogether a confusing phenomenon where the throwing away the past values and the feudal system only led to the ever growing terror that led the country to remain disillusioned. The clash between the two classes prevailing in the same society was nothing but a loosing battle that the peasantry was playing with the bourgeoisie. Edmund Burke’s ‘Reflections’ on the same are significant to understand the reality that rests unattended behind this revolution. French Revolution could have been just a great and memorable reformation only if the idea of Conservatism had been utilised. The resistance by the aristocratic bodies can be seen as obvious because they had been trying to resist the immaturity that the peasant class had been showing in their intentions to deploy the established norms of the society. So, French Revolution can only be seen as something unfortunate and undesirable which shook the confidence of the people and their fidelity to the tradition (Clark, J, 2001).
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