Age of Revolutions: Progress and Backlash from 1600 to the Present

The French Revolution presents a stark contrast to the social changes that occurred earlier in the Netherlands and in Britain. In 1789, the bankrupt Louis XVI called a meeting of the country’s dormant parliament. Rather than agreeing to fund the king’s extravagant lifestyle, the delegates demanded social reforms and a written constitution. Matters quickly got out of hand when a frustrated populace, long deprived of a political voice, roamed the streets of Paris in mobs. The Marquis de Lafayette, a hero of the American Revolution, tried to quell the violence and guide the nation to moderate reform.

Meanwhile, neighboring monarchies grew alarmed at the uprising and invaded France, and the revolutionaries responded by executing the king and his family. Extremist ideologues such as Maximilien Robespierre then seized control of the revolution and accused their political opponents of being traitors. This development launched the Reign of Terror, which resulted in mass slaughter. While the charismatic general Napoleon Bonaparte succeeded in driving the invaders out of France, he then went on to conquer adjoining countries and declare himself emperor.

Zakaria uses Lafayette, Robespierre, and Napoleon to illustrate the consequences of a revolution that is externally imposed rather than organically grown.