French Revolution: National Assembly and Radicalization

The National Constituent Assembly

Members of the National Constituent Assembly had to enact legislation to abolish the old regime, but they also had to satisfy a people who defended the armed revolution and were protagonists of the political changes.

• First: It legally proceeded to abolish feudalism.
• Secondly: It adopted the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen.

This document recognized the right of resistance against oppression and established the sovereignty of the nation as an expression of the general will. The Constitution defined a constitutional monarchy based on the division of powers:

• The Executive in the hands of the King.
• The Legislature held by the Assembly.
• The Judiciary exercised by free judges.

It established economic freedom and prohibited any company of unions and employers' associations or work. To resolve financial shortfalls, they conducted a disentailment of the clergy. A civil constitution imposed the constitutional ecclesiastical oath and created the division between refractory priests.

The Radicalization of the Revolution

The revolutionary process had to face the opposition of those with ancient privileges. The nobility emigrated abroad, and refractory ecclesiastics fostered the intervention of European powers to restore the old regime. Furthermore, the Patriotic Front, which in 1789 promoted the creation of the National Assembly, started splitting.

A group consisting of liberals and the monarchist bourgeoisie warned against the conspiracies of absolutists. By the reform of 1791, the revolution had achieved all the more radical objectives. Elsewhere, the bourgeoisie claimed a more democratic organization of political life and economic reforms that would benefit the most disadvantaged.

In June 1791, the royal family of France attempted to escape to join forces with the Austrians and start the invasion of the country; they were discovered in Varennes and sent back to Paris. In October 1791, after making the constitution, deputies elected the new parliament or legislature. On April 20, 1792, the Assembly declared war on Austria, which was considered the focus of the counter-revolution.