The Legacy of the French

Revolution
 Modern-day Western Democracies
• The organisation and political systems used in current Western
democracies are based on the same principles that drove the French
Revolution:
• All people are citizens with rights recognised by the state
• Popular sovereignty- all citizens have the right to vote for their
representatives
• The constitution establishes the rights and duties of citizens and
leaders
• Everybody is equal before the law and justice is independent of
political power
• The state is organised into provinces and town councils
 From Political Clubs to Political Parties
• Those with similar beliefs and ideas formed groups (political clubs) to
debate politics and have an influence in the Assembly
• The political clubs of the French Revolution are equal to modern day
political parties
• The idea of classifying parties as left or right came from the French
National Assembly

Radical Moderate
 Economic Liberalisation

• The liberalisation enabled the development of

capitalism and the bourgeoisie
• Guilds were abolished whilst ‘freedom of
trade and contract’ was put into place
• Trade unions were prohibited
• Internal customs were ended
• The metric system was introduced in 1790 to
facilitate the exchange of goods
 Education and Culture

• The revolutionaries defended a secular state and religious freedom

• Equal, compulsory education for all citizens
• The creation of public museums to make art and culture available to all
(e.g. the opening of the Louvre in Paris in 1793)