Ian Hank Prepared for Mr. Dan Myers Honors Western World History, Block 2 21 October, 2015 Violence Within the French Revolution Many people know very little about the French Revolution and the violence that came with it. The French Revolution began in 1789 and ended in the late 1790s with the rise of Napoleon Bonaparte. During this time the citizens rebuilt and redesigned their country's political landscape bringing back century old institutions such as absolute monarchy as well as the feudal system. The French Revolution was influenced by enlightenment ideals, more specifically the thoughts of popular sovereignty and inalienable rights. Although it did fail to achieve most of its goals, the movement played a humongous role in shaping modern …show more content…
This age old perennial question has been asked for centuries. First, there were many revolutions that were very peaceful and bloodless. Many people think every big revolution that ever happened was bloody and violent just because of the French Revolution and that is not the case. In my opinion I would say yes, the violence was necessary in order for the French Revolution to attempt to be successful. People had so much unventilated hatred of the system that it accumulated for generations and as well as the unsolved problems of the French society for centuries. When this hatred got unleashed, it created an uncontrollable demonic violence that could only be stopped after all the creators of the injustice were stopped or killed. The French Revolution occurred in the biggest, wealthiest, and most powerful country at the time. The French would either face civil war or foreign invasion and possible partition to their land. They tried so desperately to avoid both of these. In the end, the French had avoided any full scale civil war and kept all land they had in the beginning. To prevent these things the French had to carry through with the French Revolution and to do this they had to kill any opposition to it. Was it necessary to kill the big named people who were revolting? No, it probably was not necessary but it showed people what was going to happen if you stood up and opposed the revolution that was going on. Also, the revolution and the mountain became suspicious and decided to implement a policy of revolutionary tribunals that would watch for the enemies of the revolution. This is why the French Revolution turned into a real bloodbath. People were using personal vendettas, pure hatred, and suspicion to send people to the gallows even if the accusations they made were false. A gallow is a way of public execution by hanging. It is typically made of wood and