Ok Revolution lovers! Today is July 14 - Bastille Day in France - and the US also just celebrated its 250th anniversary. Which begs the question: was the American Revolution or the French Revolution more influential/consequential? Of course there are many different qualifiers we can use when considering this, but I will leave it up to you all to decide the best manner to measure ‘influence’ in this regard. Cheers!
2 Likes
Hmm… that’s an interesting one!
The American Revolution is of course a big one. The United States becoming independent was obviously a very impactful event for world history. While US independence didn’t affect world affairs much in the 18th and 19th centuries, from the 20th century onwards the world would have looked very different without US independence, as the US established itself as a major power after WWI.
Now the interesting thing is that US would not have become a superpower without the French Revolution! I’d argue that Napoleon (whose rise was made much more likely due to the French Revolution) is a key reason for why the US became the powerhouse of the 20th century. Without the Napoleonic Wars and Napoleon’s need for cash, the Louisiana Purchase would not have occurred, and as a result the US would have remained a much smaller and weaker country.
What do you think, @harrisonwmark? You’ve written extensively on both. 
2 Likes
I can kind of see the merit in both arguments. The American Revolution had a big impact on France, both financially and psychologically. Generally speaking, the French were very supportive of the American Patriots; the Thirteen Colonies were seen in a kind of Enlightened, Lockian sort of way as this great wilderness where liberty and freedom could really blossom. It became vogue for fashionable French people to fetishize the number thirteen and idolize people like Washington or Ben Franklin. And of course there’s the fact that France’s participation in the American Revolution added quite heavily to its debt, which was perhaps the most immediate cause of the French Rev. So, an argument could be made that the American Revolution helped lead to the French Revolution (very big emphasis on the word ‘helped’; I think the French Rev would have happened regardless).
At the same time, I think the French Rev had a bigger immediate impact on the world. I think its devotion to the causes of ‘liberty, equality, fraternity’ went farther than the Americans did (the Jacobins did abolish slavery, after all, even if it was reinstated later on) and I think it was much more impactful in influencing the later European revolutions like the ones in 1848, as well as the Latin American revolutions of the 1820s. And as you mentioned Jan, there is also the Napoleon element which of course never would have happened without the French Revolution. I could write about this for a while, but I think I would argue that the French Revolution was the more influential one when all is said and done.
3 Likes
In my amateur opinion (and a gross oversimplification), while the French Revolution remains one of the most culturally influential events of the modern age, the American Revolution proved to be undoubtedly more consequential in the long run. The French Revolution was a decade-long roller coaster of violence that transitioned France from the outdated, inept monarchy of the Ancien Regime right into the hands of another absolute ruler in Napoleon. Even after Waterloo, France flirted with monarchy late into the 19th century, and by that time the lessons of the French Revolution were at most felt indirectly.
The ideals and ramifications of the American Revolution, though developed over a much longer time, draw a more direct line from 1776 until WW1, (with a minor hiccup in 1860s) when the USA emerged as a global superpower. Love the question. Hope to learn more.
1 Like
I agree with Harrison and Bill that the American Revolution had less impact in the short run and more in the long run. But I think that refers specifically to the impact on liberal democracy. Most liberal democracies run on the American Founding Father’s model – or arguably more broadly the British parliamentary model – and have rejected the French model. But the French Revolution still has a huge impact: on political extremeism.
The reason the American Revolution worked better is its balance. It sought to blend democracy into existing institutions. (So did British parliamentary democracy – e.g., ideas of Burke). The French Revolution is the paradigm of change without balance. That model – extreme dedication to a single idea – guided Soviet communism and fascism in the 20th Century, along with other movements of extremes, like the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia. And the methods and logic of the French Revolution still power movements of extremes, like Islamism / radical Islam (not to be confused with Islam itself).
The French Revolution made giant contributions on many fronts, but it has some unpleasant legacies …
That’s an interesting analysis along the axis of radicalism. Makes a lot of sense! Never thought of that…
Really interesting discussion with a lot of good points made. I’m going with American Revolution - because I don’t think there would have been a French Revolution without it. But, at the same time, the French Revolution directly inspired the Haitian Revolution of 1791-1804 which then inspired others. So - I don’t really know. The French “Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen” definitely inspired the Haitian Revolution - and then others - but the “Declaration of Independence” of 1776 inspired - and was read in public by - Ho Chi Minh when trying to liberate Vietnam from European oppression. Ironic, to say the least, that the US then opposed him.
Both had influnece. Particulary when it comes to Ireland. Case in point, The Society Of United Irishmen. Yes the Society major influnece was the French Revolution when it comes to the Ideals of the French Republic. But, the American Revolution also proved, if Colonists can free themselves from the British Empire, then so can Ireland. Of course the 1798 Rebellion ended in failure as so did the Republic of Connaught (A continuation of the rebellion) also in failure.
American Revolution. It ended birthright status society (“all men are created equal”) leading to the end of inherited kingship, inherited nobility, and all the inherited privileges as well as providing the fundamental notion which underpinned the end of slavery, the women’s movement, etc. in the centuries to follow. The inalienable rights (which we are still working on identifying in the US Constitution, Declaration of Rights of Man & Universal Declaration of Human Rights) further buttress the equality notion. The rights provide definition to how we are all equal.
I’d probably argue more revolutions and world shaking occurrences (I.e. the Napoleonic Wars) sprang from the French Revolution, but I don’t think we get a French Revolution without an American one (both because of influence and finances). So, the question to me becomes this; Is the model the big influence, or what inspired the model? It’s something I wonder, for a lot of things (Does this mean Greece was bigger than Rome? Little Richard bigger than the Beatles? There’s no end to where it could go.)
I think that you’re saying is that ideas can be greater than events, because ideas are more likely to inspire other events?
US revolution proved to be an inspiration for French one so maybe it had more impact .
Hey, I just started a related topic: Does nationalism come from the French Revolution ... or the English, far earlier?
Considering the American Revolution caused the French Revolution, I would certainly say the American Revolution.