The Universal Declaration of the Rights of men and Citizen 1789 and Essay

The Universal Declaration of the Rights of men and Citizen 1789 and Modern Political Thought - Essay Example Reforms were put in place but this resulted in divisions because the Assembly adopted a position that was against the church and declared war on nations that supported the French king. Anarchy ensued and in 1792, the National Assembly declared itself as a National Convention. It abolished the monarchy, established a French Republic and executed King Louis XVI the following year (Wilde, 2009). The first part of the Revolution was characterized by moral and physical violence. The States-General met in 1789 in Versailles but were paralyzed by the refusal of the Third Estate (the Commons) to meet separately as a distinct, inferior body. On June 17, the Commons took the crucial revolutionary step of declaring their assembly to be the National Assembly, thereby destroying the States-General. This first assertion of the sovereign authority of the nation soon inspired a popular rising in Paris, marked by the storming of the Bastille on July 14. Concurrently, urban and rural revolts occurred throughout France. Suspicions generated by the political crisis had aggravated the discontent aroused by the failure of the 1788 harvest and an exceptionally severe winter. The peasants pillaged and burned the chateaus of the aristocracy destroying the records of their manorial dues (Sydenham, 1997). The revolutionary government declared war against Great Britain in January of 1793. In Cody’s treatise, it was mentioned that what followed was the Reign of Terror where all potential enemies of the ruling faction, regardless of their age, sex and physical condition, were executed. In October of 1795, a new system, the Directory replaced the revolutionary government and the first bicameral legislature in the history of France was instituted. The parliament was composed of 500 representatives and 250 senators while executive power was granted to five directors. After four years,