Was The French Revolution Worth Its Human Cost?

As Charles Dickens once said, “Liberty, equality, fraternity, or death; - the last, much the easiest to bestow, O Guillotine!” The French Revolution has been seen as a war that caused death, pain, and prosperity. Many primary documents, like Simon Schama Citizens: A Chronicle of the French Revolution, have mentioned that the amount of human lives lost during the French Revolution was unnecessary. The amount of deaths in the revolution explains the outcome of how much violence took place. Was the French Revolution worth its human costs? The loss of so many lives in the French Revolution was not worth it. The deaths were of many people who were innocent, as they were not involved in the revolution. France became obsessed with violence, as this became their main focus. Concluding the revolution, the deaths did not benefit the outcome of France. The French Revolution was a war that lasted 10 years, it was caused by the middle class(national assembly), trying to overthrow the monarchy so they would be freed from poverty and starvation. During the Revolution, many of the killings were of innocent people who were not involved. Simon Schama states from his book, “a young student had written to his father, justifying his decision to volunteer by declaring that 'our liberty can only be assured if it will have for its bed a mattress of cadavers… I consent to become one of those cadavers" (Schama). The young student is saying that …show more content…
The deaths of the French were of innocent people, caused a blood bath, and did not benefit France after the revolution. People were consumed by the guillotine by the thousands. The deaths would not have altered the outcome of the revolution because it was the National Assembly that united together to fight the bourgeoisie. However, the outcome of France has improved as the government has involved the people and the abolishment of social