How Did The French Revolution Define A Nation?

286 Words2 Pages
Today, we define a nation as a group of people united by a common decent, history, culture, or language, though this was not always the definition. Some people used to think that geography was the main criteria for being a nation, but the French Revolution changed that. During the French Revolution, nationalism was on the rise, fuelled by things such as the Estate System, King Louis’ tyranny, and the rise of Napoleon. All of these occurrences shaped the definition of nationalism and what it means to be a nation, by uniting the people of France against a common cause. The Estate System separated the citizens of France into three estates; First, Second, and Third. Though the Third Estate was the majority of the population, their political and