The French Revolution was essentially the pivotal culmination of a rising conflict between two opposing conceptions as to the source by which a governing state derived its authority. During the late eighteenth century an ideology accentuating reason, freedom, and the sovereignty of the common man grew in direct opposition to the accepted dogmas of absolutism and divine right of the monarchy. As illustrated within the three aforementioned quotes, the divergent depth between these two philosophies of government created a void, one which would ultimately lead to the French Revolution and alter the course of Western culture.
Within Robespiere's quote one is able to observe the aspirations of the
Bourgeoisie and peasant revolutionaries; an ideal society of liberty and equality
revolutionary objectives in the words of Saint-Just, a young fanatic of the revolution who was executed alongside Robespiere. Saint-Just's inclusion is allowed so that one may observe the radical extent of the revolutionary ideology; in less than a century the common man progressed from utter inferiority under the state to a masterful superiority over 'the powers of the world'. That, my friends, is progress.
In the final quote one is presented with the extreme apex of the French
wherein one is as much a subject of the state as the state is a subject of thee. This converging movement towards reasoning and justice grew from the theories of such revolutionary thinkers as Voltaire, Rousseau, and the Encyclopedists, who presented a vision of a liberal community with equal rights and responsibilities, wherein reason r
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