Liberté égalité fraternité

The French Revolution from 1789 until 1799, with its abbreviated motto Liberté, égalité, fraternité (Liberty, equality, fraternity), informs life in Europe even today. In consequence of the Napoleonic Wars after 1800 the motto spread increasingly throughout the whole of Europe, put an end to the existing absolutist feudal forms of government and became the basis for the democratic states. In this way, it sparked profound changes in systems of power and society and established fundamental human values.

The Revolution was prompted amongst other things by the massive financial crisis in France: wars, plummeting revenue from the now independent Overseas Colonies and the extravagant lifestyle at the court were putting a strain on the French state economy. Poor harvests drove up bread prices. To avoid state bankruptcy, in 1789, for the first time since 1614, King Louis XVI called a meeting of the Estates General, a committee of representatives of the three estates of the aristocracy, the church and the citizens, which only assembled in times of crisis. This had a devastating effect on the absolutist rule of the aristocracy and the clergy, who had not even paid taxes for some time. The ‘Third Estate’, the normal citizens, hitherto excluded from power, formed themselves into the Enlightenment-inspired National Assembly. This marked the beginning of the French Revolution: the citizens showed with marches and demonstrations that they no longer wanted to be kept away from power. This was followed by the abolition of the society based on estates and serfdom, and the introduction of a liberal constitution which enshrined human and civil rights.