The Beginning of the "Modern" Europe (Essay Sample)

The Beginning of the "Modern" Europe
The French Revolution united the French public and reinforced the new republic's authority. Moreover, it altered Europe's pre-existing historic power arrangement, nurtured nationalism rise, and signaled the period of modernism and total war. The French revolution was a turning moment in contemporary European history. It presented both seductive ideals and cautionary warnings and dissimilarities. In one aspect, it had a paradigm that sought balance through the division of powers. Conversely, there was a powerful push to centralize and consolidate authority.
The French revolution affected contemporary politics in Europe. The revolution essentially opposed monarchs; their claims to create the power of the people were a landmark moment and genuinely opened the door to a new sort of contemporary ideological politics (Week 2, Lecture 4). At the same time, absolute rulers had claimed their power from God, and practically all governments since this revolution sought to explain that it represents the masses. This focus on the masses as the source of power and sovereignty resulted in the emergence of contemporary ideologies, whose proponents contended that their ideologies would best serve the people. Among these contemporary ideas, liberalism stressed economic and political individual liberty.
In the 19th and 20th centuries, there was a rise of nationalism. In response to the French Revolution, radicals used the energy and vitality of the French Revolution as a model for exploring the potential of disruption (Week 2, Lecture 5). The French Revolution likewise set a fatal pattern: violent insurrection followed by anarchy followed by despotism. Karl Marx developed the idea of communism and socialism, seeing the French Revolution as a critical historical milestone. The 1917 Russian Revolution followed this pattern: after the Russian Tsar was deposed, Lenin and his compatriots were able to seize power for their Bolshevik rule (Week 4, Lecture 13). Likewise, Germany's emperor's reign was overthrown.Still, the German push for democracy was undercut by its financial and economic collapse and a lack of trust until the Nazis came to power. Nevertheless, the ripples of those radical dues to the power of people's rule continue to play out across the politics of the contemporary global community (Bella 220). Also, following the French Revolution, the French military deployed on the battlefield was the biggest ever seen in Europe before that time. They were driven by patriotic philosophy as opposed to passively obeying monarchs or princes, as was the case in the past. In this new military, advancement would be based on performance, not on a soldier's aristocratic origin. This merit-based promotion enabled geniuses like Napoleon Bonaparte to rise rapidly.
All in all, the French Revolution did shape Modern Europe into the way it is today. It brought about many changes to Europe ranging from political ideologies to the concept of rights and freedoms.