The French Revolution is one of the most significant events that emerged between the late 18 th and early 19 th Century. The revolution broke out in 1789, and its effects were felt through out Europe for many decades . As a result, the event played a significant role in Europe’s development. Within the same period , intense nationalism was witnessed as states vigorously protected their identities . Thus, border controls were high-level national priorities. Europe was also torn between two zones of unity and deep division as the industrial revolution, and political liberalization took shape in Western Europe (Britain, France, Scandinavia, Germany, Italy) . Conversely, Southern and Eastern Europe changed slow ly mainly due to its rural setting . This paper will thus highlight the French Revolution as a significant development and its influence on Europe.
In 1 764 , Cesare Beccaria finished his famous essay titled O n Crimes and Punishments caus ing an unlikely trigger in the revolution of criminology. The essay condemned torture and the death penalty and became a f oundation in the field of penology (Beccaria, 2009) . Beccaria’s treatise was based on three main points . These were that all individuals possess free will , rational manner, and manipulability. He explained that while an individual had the free will to make choices, this also meant that these individuals were rationally on the lookout for their satisfaction . As a result, human action was predictable, generable and controllable. Hence, criminal justice systems should ensure that they have control over an y individual who acts deviant with free will and rational thought while pursuing personal pleasure. However , the same criminal justice system finds it hard to create the right laws and punishments that protect the society against individuals or groups that take back the personal freedom of others.
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Furthermore, Beccaria had two main principles of punishment if an individual was found guilty of a crime. He reckoned that for a punishment to be considered effective , it had to be both certain and prompt. Thus, Beccaria went ahead to create nine principles that effectively prevented crime because he believed that preventing crime was much better than punishing for it. Notable among these nine principles include d making sure that the laws a re simple and clear , and provid ing sound education and reward virtue among others. Overall, Beccaria’s work influenced various aspects of the criminology theory .
The 17 articles of the Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen contained principles that greatly inspired the French revolution and served as a preamble to the French National Constitution of 1791. The declaration had one basic principle , which was contained in Article 1 of the constitution. The principle stated that “ all men are born and remain free and equal in right ” ( National Assembly of France, 1789 ). A rticles 1 to 4 were concerned with equality, liberty, and sovereignty and thus explain ed the basic idea that all men are equal and have the freedom to do as they please. Articles 5 to 9, 16 and 17 la id down the laws on what is allowed and what is not under the law. On the other hand, A rticles 10 and 11 enforce d the freedom of speech and religion while articles 12 to 15 introduce d the controversial topics of tax es and guns . These two were aimed at provid ing for and protecting the society respectively.
The articles of the declaration were applied universally and became the basis of free individuals protected equally by law in a nation . The declaration was viewed as an attack on the pre-revolutionary monarchial French regime , which was known for its abusive ruling by the king and the administration. Despite this, t he National Assembly of France approved the document on August 26, 1789 . The declaration played a significant role in the development of freedom and democracy in Europe as well as globally . Notably, the declaration influenced the outbreak of the French Revolution. Unfortunately, the document was only in force for a few years . This is because the Revolution became very authoritarian and war with the monarchy led to increase d taxation, confiscation of property and price controls (Goodwin, 2016).
The two documents above greatly influenced the French Revolution. This is because they stimulated the political consciousness of the peasants and middle class. Subsequently, the two classes sought to protect their interests against the French aristocracy which was accused of the various ills highlighted in the documents.
R eferences
Beccaria, C. (2009). On crimes and punishments and other writings . University of Toronto Press.
Goodwin, A. (2016). The French Revolution (Vol. 2). Routledge.
National Assembly of France (1789). Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen. Retrieved from www1.curriculum.edu.au/ddunits/downloads/pdf/dec_of_rights.pdf
