Hobsbawm argues that the French Revolution was the most important revolution of its time. It transformed France from a society divided into estates with the King at the top to a nation-state where sovereignty resided with the people. The revolution transitioned from an aristocratic uprising to a popular revolution as poor harvests and high food prices swelled the ranks of the poor and dissatisfied. Revolutionary groups like the Jacobins and Sans-culottes helped drive the radical changes being enacted. The revolution helped establish the modern concept of the nation-state that connects a state, its citizens, and a shared territory through a constitutional framework.
3. France during the Ancien Régime
What was the structure of French society and
government?
4. France during the Ancien Régime
What was the structure of French society and
government?
● First Estate - Clergy
● Second Estate - Noblity
● Third Estate - Everybody else
And, of course, the King.
5. American Revolution
What role did the American Revolution play in
the French Revolution?
And for whom did this create a unique
opportunity in France?
(page 58-59)
6. From Second to Third Estate
What allowed the Revolution to transition from
an aristocratic uprising to a genuine revolution
from "below"? (pages 60-62)
7. From Second to Third Estate
What allowed the Revolution to transition from
an aristocratic uprising to a genuine revolution
from "below"? (pages 60-62)
bad harvest, high numbers of poor, and
counter-revolutionary National Assembly
8. Revolutionary Subjects
Who were the Jacobins and why does
Hobsbawm think they were unique in history?
What about the
Sans-culottes?
(pages 62-63)
9. Declaration of the Rights of Man
and Citizens, 1789
The Declaration states, "The source of all
sovereignty resides essentially in the nation."
(page 59)
What is the significance of this?
11. New Political Formations
The French Revolution helps establish the
modern notion of the nation-state, which
connects three things:
the state (government)
the nation (citizenry)
the land (territory)
And they are connected in a Constitutional
framework.
12. A Second Great Transformation?
Economics
Politics
Urbanism
Culture and Social Thought