The French Revolution aimed to equip France with some key attributes necessary for becoming a modern state. Ultimately, a modern state can be defined by its possession of these essential characteristics. The first characteristic is that the state must be governed by man-made laws— not by laws made by kings or by revelation. The theory of classical mechanics says that everything in the universe changes over time. Therefore, no law can last forever. New laws must be made in new times. Accepting change is modernity.
The worldview that Europe’s Enlightenment Movement in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries built throughout the West was based on the reliance on reason over faith, the primacy of matter over ideas, emphasis on worldliness rather than the after world. For example, Karl Marx, a disciple of the idealist philosopher Hegel, abandoned his master and took refuge in the materialist philosopher Feuerbach.
The Enlightenment Movement was the foundation of the French Revolution. Therefore, looking at terminology of the Enlightenment Movement will give an idea of the modern state. The main themes of the Enlightenment Movement included the celebration of the glory of reason and the application of reason; freedom from beliefs and Prejudices; to awaken the power by which man can know this universe and improve the condition of human society; knowledge, liberation and happiness are the goals of rational humanity etc. Let me explain the term ‘rational humanity’. Suppose ‘revelation’ says, lower castes cannot be allowed to enter the temple. Then someone who believes in Charbak philosophy might say, ‘No. It can’t be the case. God cannot discriminate like that. Therefore, this revelation is not the word of God. It is merely a manipulation of self-interested Brahmins.’
When a drought of knowledge-science-philosophy is going on in the society of Bangladesh, notice the preparation phase of the people before the French Revolution. A group of avant-garde thinkers and writers began writing extensively in eighteenth-century France, including Voltaire and Rousseau. These were philosophical thoughts about the state, politics, society, universe, man, God etc. This philosophy emphasized the use of human reason. And there was criticism of established religious and prevailing political practices. The people of France read their philosophy widely, adopted it, and prepared for an all-out revolution to bring about drastic changes.
The roots of the French Revolution lie deep in the European Renaissance of the fourteenth to seventeenth centuries. And the Renaissance is the European cultural, artistic, political and economic rebirth. The Renaissance was a rediscovery of classical philosophy, literature, and art. After the fall of the Roman Empire in 476 A.D. to the thirteenth century, this rediscovery is that man is at the center of this universe— at the center of all human action. The achievements in all fields of science, art, literature, etc. are for the people— for the improvement of their quality of life on this earth.
The invention of science and technology led to the Industrial Revolution in England. The Industrial Revolution then spread to other European countries and the United States. As a result, urbanization and unprecedented development of transportation systems took place. The standard of living of the workers leaped. This was followed by the passage of the Bill of Rights (1689) regarding civil rights and liberties, the authority of Parliament over the King, the separation of religion and state, and the Glorious Revolution (1688–1689). Inspired by the English Bill of Rights, the United States also passed the Bill of Rights in 1789, which guarantees human rights and individual freedoms, such as freedom of speech, press, assembly and exercise of religion; due process of law and the right to bear arms; And powers not delegated to the federal government shall be reserved to the states and the people.
The French Revolution was completed in 1792 with the abolition of the monarchy and the establishment of the Republic. With this, a bicameral legislature was established and the role of religion in any state affairs was eliminated. Three ideals of the French Revolution were established: Liberty, equality, fraternity. A new era began in the whole world. The French Revolution inspired many people in many countries, who fought for freedom and changed the destiny of people.
There is a fundamental difference between the revolutions discussed so far and the Russian Revolution. These revolutions did not ensure equality among people. These historical events achieved the right to vote, the right to express opinion, the right to live according to one’s own way etc., but didn’t ensure equality among people— didn’t ensure the fair dues of the working people. It is only the Russian Revolution which guaranteed working people’s right to food. In fact, there is no emancipation of man without the emancipation of the backward section of people: women and workers. This liberation is impossible without the implementation of communist ideals. Because only in a state built on communist ideals the working people exist at the center of power.
The Soviet Union built through the Russian Revolution is such an example of the emancipation of workers and women. Apart from the Soviet Union’s phenomenal progress in science and its emergence as a superpower, its incredible progress in literacy and women’s empowerment, two fundamental elements of development, is simply a wonder of human civilization.
After the establishment of the Bolshevik government in 1917, the urban and rural literacy rates rose to 94 and 86 respectively by 1939, which rose to 99 and 98 by 1959, while, according to the 1897 census report, Russia had a nominal literacy rate of under 21 percent. At the same time, the Soviet Union was fully able to bring equality between men and women in all areas. Historian Ben Eckloff commented, ‘What Britain, France and Germany took at least 100 years to do, the Soviet Union did in just 22 years.’
Women’s freedom in the capitalist world is, in my opinion, only a rhetorical slogan. Those who associate with it love thinking of themselves as progressives and sink into a sort of delusion. A capitalist cannot practice women’s freedom because women’s freedom cannot be practiced separately without the practice of equality in all spheres of life. Women can be equal to men in decision-making, economic capacity and political power in the state, society and family only in a state founded on communist ideals. Therefore, if one wants to practice women’s freedom, he must work for the establishment of a communist state.
Doing the same work, women get paid less than men, blacks get paid less than whites in the US, the highest form of capitalism. Death rates are higher for blacks than whites, and for women more than men, because blacks and women suffer from caloric deprivation for years, resulting in weakened immune systems. In capitalist countries, cases of sexual harassment and rape of women by colleagues or superiors, teachers in various institutions including Hollywood, Oxford University are constantly happening. It proves that one of the ideals of the French Revolution, ‘equality’, is still an empty bully.
If our students want to build a modern state, they must read the history of the French Revolution and build Bangladesh on the ideals of the French Revolution. And if they want to materialize the anti-discrimination movement, they must go beyond the French Revolution and move farther eastward, to the Russian Revolution.