WHAT IF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION FAILED FREE

Due to the immense power of these peoplesвЂ™ writings, discoveries and theories, commoners began to question their basic understandings of life, and evaluate their circumstances in terms of their role in government. The foundation of such information emanated from the minds of ingenious scholars by the name philosophes. But even that's not the end of the story in its short history, the Fifth Republic has faced serious threats to its existence.The Enlightenment was a time of educational prosper in which new ideas and standards were developed through processes of logic and reason, allowing the expansion of influential knowledge across Europe. The constitution was later rewritten in 1958 to create the Fifth Republic, which reintroduced the position of president and survives to this day. That was eventually replaced by the Fourth Republic when France was liberated, which was basically a reinstalled version of the previously defeated conservative Third Republic. 'The Third Republic then stays in place until it's defeated by Germany in 1940.' During the bulk of World War II, it was replaced by the Vichy government, which collaborated with the Nazis. 'The defeat of the Paris Commune in 1871 is a founding moment for French socialism,' he said. The Paris Commune was effectively a revolution, said Gildea it's just that it failed. This revolt is known as the Paris Commune, and leftists managed to be in control of the capital city for months before the Third Republic quashed the rebellion and reaffirmed its authority during what is ominously known as the Bloody Week. However, the backlash against this 'same old, same old' conservative republic did have some of the trappings of a revolution, such as barricaded streets and communist leaders. 'Essentially, they ended up founding quite a conservative republic.' 'Strictly speaking, we wouldn't say this was a revolution, either, because it was just a seizure of power,' Gildea told Live Science. But while Emperor Bonaparte was basically gone and the republicans were in charge, this didn't signal a significant change in the policies or tone of the government. Bonaparte was captured, and in the midst of the political confusion, republican forces back in Paris seized control and declared the Third Republic. In 1871, it was clear that France was about to lose a war with Prussia. However, the later demise of Bonaparte's Second Empire did coincide with a revolution of sorts.

WHAT IF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION FAILED FREE

While all this upheaval totally changed the balance of power in France and it wasn't based on free and fair elections, historians don't call it a revolution, because there was no grassroots violence that triggered it. In 1852, the Second Republic was formally rebranded as the Second Empire, with Bonaparte on the throne. He didn't stop there in 1851, he put a referendum to the French people, asking them to back him as emperor and - wouldn't you know it - an unlikely 97% of the votes were in favor. This coup d'Г©tat made him the sole ruler of France, and a new constitution gave him the right to be president for decade-long terms with no limits on his re-election. The republic's own elected president, Louis-NapolГ©on Bonaparte, also called Napoleon III (a nephew of the Napoleon), dissolved the National Assembly, the countryвЂ™s parliament, without any legal basis. The last of the three revolutions, the 1848 February Revolution, booted out the hitherto restored monarchy and initiated a period known as the Second Republic, but it wasn't long before political instability returned to France yet again. However, there are quite a few other notable rebellions in French history that are worthy of discussion and could be interpreted as revolutions.

Gildea agrees with Jones' reckoning that there have been three definitive French revolutions.

What if the french revolution failed