It
reflected a conviction, deep in many minds, that the old political
institutions and social distinctions had served their purpose and
should now be radically adapted to the new order. Every country in
greater or less degree heard the radical philosophy, but it was in
France that it was first heeded.
[Sidenote: The Revolution]
In France, between the years 1789 and 1799, occurred a series of
events, by which the doctrine of democracy supplanted that of divine-
right monarchy, and the theory of class distinctions gave way to that
of social equality. These events, taken together, constitute what we
term the French Revolution, and, inasmuch as they have profoundly
affected all political thought and social action throughout the
nineteenth and twentieth centuries, they are styled, by way of
eminence, the Revolution.
[Sidenote: The Revolution French]
Why the Revolution started in France may be suggested by reference to
certain points which have already been mentioned in the history of that
country.
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