Why Were There Dangers To The French Revolution From The Counter Revolution

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(1) Why were there dangers to the French revolution from the counter revolutionaries from 1789 to 1795?

First of all, as the development of the French revolution, a number of French counter revolutionaries—nobles, ecclesiastics, and some bourgeois—abandoned the struggle in their own country and emigrated. Many formed armed groups close to the northeastern frontier of France and sought help from the rulers of Europe. The rulers were at first indifferent to the Revolution but began to worry when the National Constituent Assembly proclaimed a revolutionary principle of international law—namely, that a people had the right of self-determination. In accordance with this principle, the papal territory of Avignon was reunited with France on September 13, 1791. By early 1792 both radicals, eager to spread the principles of …show more content…

He worked very hard to obtain the support of the Royalist factions, and he also worked to improve French relations with the Catholic Church, since Catholicism was the majority religion in France and thus a major force among the people. On July 15, 1801, he signed a Concordat with Pope Pius VII. In this agreement, the Church officially recognized the French Republic and gave back property it had appropriated during the chaos of the Revolution. In exchange, Napoleon, in a carefully worded agreement, pronounced that Catholicism was the religion of "most French", and thus the official religion of the Republic, though he still tolerated the practice of all religions in France. Napoleon supported religious tolerance, even for Jews, a policy consistent with his conviction of judging men according to their ability, not according to their birth, social status, or personal beliefs. Therefore, Napoleon gained a good reputation over France and thus increasing his