Lecture 07: Introducing the French Revolution

In the 1970s, a famous Chinese leader stated that it was still too early to assess the significance of the great French Revolution of 1789. What were the important ramifications of the French Revolution? How did it shake the world and why does it continue to mold the world more than two centuries later? We started looking at these questions today, taking the long view of the revolution. Our focus was the central paradox of the revolution: a revolution that began as an effort to make the world over for the benefit of all men produced instead some truly horrendous results. We look at the details of the revolution next time. Today was the big picture.

Lecture 07 Vodcast, "Introducing the French Revolution."

PDF of Lecture 07, "Introducing the French Revolution."