The Four Phases Of Political Ideas During The French Revolution

Throughout the French Revolution there were countless documents drafted that adapted political ideas from the Enlightenment to create a government that was fair for all of it citizens. The Enlightenment was a time where several new ways of thinking and exploring the world were being used in countries across Europe. People began to think objectively and used reasoning, rationalism, and empiricism to explore new ideas. New political thought processes from the Enlightenment were included in many of the documents written during the French Revolution. Throughout the four phases of terror in the French Revolution the new political ideas that were brought up were continually inspired by political ideas of the Enlightenment. The four stages of terror were the National Assembly moderate phase, the National Assembly radical phase, the Directory, and the Age of Napoleon. Each stage was characterized by influence from political ideas from the Enlightenment. The moderate phase of the National Assembly lasted from 1789 to 1791 and was the start of the French Revolution. France had been broken into three “estates” prior to the French revolution: ‘the First estate was the 100,000 clergy, the Second Estate was the 400,00 Nobles, and the Third Estate was the rest of the 26 million people in …show more content…
The Directory was a group of five men that were the head of the new legislature, which was chosen by wealthy electors that were voted on by the people (390). A new constitution was drafted that gave the citizens of France a vote in who would run the country. The extreme violence had stopped but the government was not fixed yet. The politician in power were “mostly interested in gaining wealth through corruption and holding power regardless of the constitution” (390). The citizens hated the new government; even the middle class who was expected to show support hated the new