•What is the French Revolution?
The French Revolution (1789-94) is the revolt leaded by the French middle class that finalized the French feudalism and monarchy.
The feudal regime imposed heavy taxes and failed to provide any relief , which lead to constanst riots.
The king summoned the Assambly of the General Estates (clergy, nobility and middle class) to gain support, but ended in a strike and the royalty's execution, due to the lack of representation of the middle class and abusive taxes.
•Social changes
The newly formed National Assembly adopted the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen to replace the ancien régime with a system based on equal opportunity, freedom of speech, popular sovereignty and representative government.
☆The first constitution was drafted (1791)
☆Christianity was abolished
☆Public education was granted to everyone
☆The French language was nationalized.
•From Revolution to Radicalism
In 1792, the Legislative Assembly declared war on Austria and Prussia, accusing French immigrants of building counterrevolutionary alliances.
The extremists Jacobins seized control of the Assembly and they proceed to the execution of 17,000 suspected enemies of the revolution.
•The linguistic terror:
In the 1780's French authors, such as Antoine de Rivarol or Bertand Barère, defended the superiority of French over the rest of European languages. This discourse spred.
In 1794, it was decreed by law that no other language than French could be spoken. Not speaking French was considered an ignorant act as well as a “counterrevolutionary” behavior. However, in 1790, French was only spoken in 15/83 départements.
•What about nowadays?
Nowadays, the only official language in France is French. However, there are decens of languages spoken today.
Moreover, France is the only country in the European Union that has not signed the letter of recognition of their minority languages.
The language ideology spred during the Revolution is still very much alive, as French is still taught as the most superior and universal European language.
So, where is the "égalité" (equality) ?
Did you know that the linguistic ideology about the supremacy of France was cooked during the French Revolution?
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•Sources:
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.history.com/.amp/topics/france/french-revolution
https://www.unr.edu/nevada-today/news/2021/linguistic-terror
https://thelanguageofauthoritarianregimes.wordpress.com/2017/07/12/i-cant-speak-french-linguistic-oppression-in-revolutionary-france-and-the-rise-of-linguistic-nationalism/
https://www.google.com/amp/s/mapsontheweb.zoom-maps.com/post/188211460006/languagesdialects-of-france-before-the/amp
https://www.nationalia.info/new/11403/france-leads-teaching-of-minoritised-languages-to-even-greater-uncertainty
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