French invasion of Switzerland

1798 invasion during the French Revolutionary Wars

French invasion of Switzerland

Part of the French Revolutionary Wars

Entry of the French into Bern on 15 March 1798. Engraving by Abraham Girardet, c. 1798-1803
| Date| 28 January – 17 May 1798

|

Location|

Old Swiss Confederacy

Result|

French victory

* Switzerland becomes a French client state

Belligerents
France|  Switzerland
Commanders and leaders
Guillaume Brune
Balthazar Alexis Henri Schauenburg
Philippe Romain Ménard [fr]|  Karl Ludwig von Erlach X
Alois von Reding
Strength
At least 35,000[1]|  20,000 (Bern)
10,000 (Schwyz, Nidwalden and Uri)[1]
Casualties and losses
Unknown|  700 (Bern)

* v
* t
* e

Conflicts in Switzerland during the Napoleonic era

* French invasion
* Grauholz
* Engadine
* Feldkirch
* Frauenfeld
* Winterthur
* 1st Zurich
* Oberwald
* Schwyz
* Amsteg
* Suvorov's campaign
* St. Gotthard
* Devil's Bridge
* 2nd Zurich
* Linth River
* Klöntal
* Muottental
* Glarus
* 1st Schwanden
* 2nd Schwanden

The French invasion of Switzerland (German: Franzoseneinfall) occurred from January to May 1798 as part of the French Revolutionary Wars. The independent Old Swiss Confederacy collapsed from the invasion and simultaneous internal revolts called the "Helvetic Revolution". The Swiss ancien régime institutions were abolished and replaced by the centralised Helvetic Republic, one of the sister republics of the French First Republic.

## Background

[edit]

Before 1798, the modern canton of Vaud belonged to the canton of Bern, to which it had a subject status. Moreover, the majority of the Francophone Vaudois felt oppressed by German-speaking Bern. Several Vaudois patriots such as Frédéric-César de La Harpe advocated for independence. In 1795, La Harpe called on his compatriots to rise up against the Bernese aristocrats, but his appeal fell to deaf ears, and he had to flee to Revolutionary France, where he resumed his activism.

In late 1797, French general Napoleon Bonaparte, who had just successfully conquered northern Italy and founded the Cisalpine Republic, pressed the French Directory to occupy Switzerland.[2] France's main goal in the invasion was securing access to northern Italy via the Alpine passes, with supplying its war effort and using the military potential of Switzerland as secondary objectives.[1] Due to internal political and social upheaval, the Confederacy could neither reach an arrangement with France nor organize resistance.[1] In September 1797, Switzerland's situation was further aggravated by the removal of François Barthélemy from the Directory, who had defended a position favorable to the Confederacy.[1]

Liberty tree erected in Basel. This act was repeated in other Swiss places to symbolise revolution and liberation.

On 10 October 1797, Valtellina, Chiavenna and Bormio, dependencies of the Three Leagues, revolted and with French support seceded from the Confederacy to join the Cisalpine Republic.[3] In December, the southern part of the Prince-Bishopric of Basel was occupied and annexed to France.[3] Soon 10,000 French troops gathered near Geneva.[2] The atmosphere inside Switzerland had changed significantly due to these developments, and many pro-French patriots hoped, and anti-French conservatives feared, that the Revolution would now spread to the rest of the Confederacy, with or without direct French military intervention. France used the dissatisfaction of the rural elites in the dependencies and the Enlightened citizenry in the cantons to stimulate revolutionary excitement.[3]

The first event of what would become known as the Helvetic Revolution happened with a patriot uprising in Liestal in the canton of Basel on 17 January 1798. The rebels demanded equality before the law, erected a liberty tree and burnt down three Vogtei castles by 23 January.[4] On 24 January, the urban elite of Vaud proclaimed the Lemanic Republic (République lémanique)[5] in Lausanne, which became its seat of government.[6] Next, citizens and subjects in countless Swiss cities, cantons and their dependencies rebelled, and after the example of Vaud, more than 40 other short-lived republics were proclaimed in February, March and April throughout the country.[2]

## Invasion

[edit]

Contemporary drawing of the Battle of Neuenegg, 5 March 1798. Bernese heavy cavalry (in red) mounts an attack against French dragoons on the river Sense.

At the invitation of the Lemanic Republic, 12,000 French troops under General Philippe Romain Ménard [fr] invaded Vaud on 28 January. An incident on 25 January, in which two French hussars were killed by Swiss soldiers in Thierrens, was cited as a pretext.[2][7] They occupied Vaud without resistance and were cheered on by the population, as Bernese troops withdrew to the area of Murten and Fribourg.[1] A second army under General Balthazar Alexis Henri Schauenburg advanced from Mont-Terrible, the former Prince-Bishopric of Basel, towards Bern and demanded its government to put pro-French Revolutionary parties in power.[1] The Bernese refusal to do so was used by the French to justify war.[1] Bernese field marshal Karl Ludwig von Erlach was appointed supreme commander of all Swiss forces, while General Guillaume Brune held the equivalent office over French forces.[8][9]

The Last Days of Old Bern, by Friedrich Walthard, depicting the Battle of Grauholz

Fighting began on 1 March, and the next day there were battles around Lengnau, Grenchen and in the Ruhsel forest between Alfermée and Twann, which ended with the surrender of the canton of Solothurn.[1] On 4 March, Bern's government resigned, nevertheless its troops continued to resist the French advance.[1] The next day, the Bernese were defeated at Fraubrunnen and the French attained a decisive victory at the Battle of Grauholz, confirming Vaud's secession.[1] Schauenburg then received the capitulation signed the day before by Karl Albrecht von Frisching, leader of the pro-French Reform Party, who was appointed head of a new provisional government.[1] Erlach, who intended to continue resistance after retreating from Grauholz, was murdered near Wichtrach by his own soldiers who mistook him for a traitor.[8] A Bernese victory at Neuenegg on 5 March, which stopped a French advance from the south through Murten and Freiburg, had no effect in the outcome of the war.[1] Bern suffered 700 killed in the fighting, while French losses are unknown.[1]

The surrender of Bern led to even more dependencies across Switzerland declaring themselves independent republics. However, the Directory desired a single central republican state at France's eastern border, not dozens of small ones, and steered towards (re)establishment of national unity, though this time with equality for all its subdivisions. A new Constitution had already been written in Paris by Peter Ochs and approved by the Directory. Many Swiss rebels detested it, and the National Convention in Basel passed a modified version, which was then adopted by many other entities, but the French government insisted on the original. A proposal by Brune on 16 and 19 March to divide Switzerland into three republics (Tellgovie, Hélvetie and Rhodanie) was also overruled.[4]

Alois von Reding receives his father's blessing before he marches against the French, by August Weckesser

On 12 April 1798, 121 cantonal deputies proclaimed the Helvetic Republic, a client state of Revolutionary France. The new regime abolished cantonal sovereignty and feudalism, establishing a unitary state based on the ideas of the French Revolution.[4] Subsequently, the cantons of Schwyz, Nidwalden and Uri in Central Switzerland rejected the Helvetic constitution.[1] They were able to gather around 10,000 soldiers, under the command of Alois von Reding, Landeshauptmann of Schwyz.[1] Their forces dispersed on a long line of defense going from the Napf to Rapperswil.[1] Reding took control of Lucerne and advanced across the Brünig Pass into the Bernese Oberland, but Schauenburg launched a counterattack towards Schwyz from occupied Zürich, moving through Zug, Lucerne and the Sattel Pass.[1] Zug and Lucerne surrendered, and were soon followed by Glarus after the capture of Rapperswil and battles near Wollerau.[1] Reding's troops had to retreat after a defeat at Schindellegi, and although victorious at Rothenthurm they were unable to revert the situation.[1] On 4 May, the Landsgemeinde of Schwyz gave up the fight.[1] Impressed by the resistance of the central Swiss, the French granted them mild terms of surrender and allowed them to keep their arms.[1]

The last event of the French invasion was an initially successful revolt of the Upper Valais, which was suppressed in late May.[1] The Nidwalden uprising, an episode related to the invasion though distinct from it, took place in September 1798 and was quashed by the French under Schauenburg, leaving some 100 killed on both sides, along with 300 civilians massacred.[10]

## Aftermath

[edit]

The invasion strained the recently concluded Treaty of Campo Formio (18 October 1797) that had ended the War of the First Coalition against France. Now, the European monarchies once again feared republican France was expanding its grip on the continent, and had to be opposed and driven back. The French conquest of Switzerland, which had maintained its neutrality ever since the outbreak of the French Revolution, was one of the reasons for the formation of the Second Coalition, and would see an Austro-Russian army conduct the Italian and Swiss expedition in 1799 and 1800.

## Battles

[edit]

Map of the French invasion of Switzerland and the simultaneous Helvetic Revolution Date | Battle | Site | Notes

|
|
|

2 March 1798 | Battle of Lengnau | Lengnau | France vs. Bern
2 March 1798 | Battle of Twann | Twann | France vs. Bern
2 March 1798 | Battles of Grenchen and Bellach | Grenchen, Bellach | France defeats Solothurn
3 March 1798 | Battle of Col de la Croix | Col de la Croix (Jura) | France vs. Bern
5 March 1798 | Battle of Col de la Croix [11] | Col de la Croix (Vaud) | France defeats Bern
5 March 1798 | Battle of St. Niklaus | Merzligen | France vs. Bern
5 March 1798 | Battle of Fraubrunnen | Fraubrunnen | France defeats Bern
5 March 1798 | Battle of Grauholz | Schönbühl | France defeats Bern
5 March 1798 | Battle of Neuenegg [de] | Neuenegg | Bern defeats France
26 April 1798 | Battle of Hägglingen [de] | Hägglingen | France defeats Zug
30 April 1798 | Battle of Wollerau [de] | Wollerau | France defeats Schwyz
1 May 1798 | Battle of Stucketen-Chäppeli | Beinwil | France vs. Solothurn
2 May 1798 | Battle of Schindellegi [de] | Feusisberg | France defeats Schwyz
2/3 May 1798 | Battle of Rothenthurm [de] | Rothenthurm | Schwyz defeats France
17 May 1798 | 1st Battle of Pfyn | Sion | France defeats Upper Valais
7–9 September 1798 | Nidwalden uprising [de] | Nidwalden | France defeats Nidwalden

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w Martin Illi: French invasion in German, French and Italian in the online Historical Dictionary of Switzerland.
2. ^ a b c d Nappey, Grégoire (2012). Swiss History in a Nutshell. Basel: Bergli Books. p. 43\. ISBN 9783905252453. Retrieved 11 May 2016.
3. ^ a b c Andreas Fankhauser: Helvetic Republic §1.1. The political upheaval in German, French and Italian in the online Historical Dictionary of Switzerland.
4. ^ a b c Andreas Fankhauser: Helvetic Revolution in German, French and Italian in the online Historical Dictionary of Switzerland.
5. ^ The word lémanique referred to the French name of Lake Geneva, Lac Léman. This followed the practice of Revolutionary France to erase the traditional toponymy of the Ancien Régime, and replace it with natural units such as rivers.
6. ^ Hug, Lina; Stead, Richard (1890). The Story of Switzerland. United States: Library of Alexandria. p. 210\. ISBN 9781465597243. Retrieved 11 May 2016.
7. ^ Emmanuel Abetel: Thierrens in German, French and Italian in the online Historical Dictionary of Switzerland.
8. ^ a b Barbara Braun-Bucher: Karl Ludwig von Erlach in German, French and Italian in the online Historical Dictionary of Switzerland.
9. ^ Andreas Fankhauser: Guillaume Brune in German, French and Italian in the online Historical Dictionary of Switzerland.
10. ^ Karin Schleifer-Stöckli: Nidwald §4.1.1. From the Helvetic Republic to the Federal state (1798-1848) in German, French and Italian in the online Historical Dictionary of Switzerland.
11. ^ "Le Monument Forneret".

## External links

[edit]

* Media related to French invasion of Switzerland at Wikimedia Commons

Preceded by
Treaty of Campo Formio | French Revolution: Revolutionary campaigns
French invasion of Switzerland  | Succeeded by
French campaign in Egypt and Syria

|
|

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Significant civil and political events by year

1788|

* Day of the Tiles (7 Jun 1788)
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1789|

* What Is the Third Estate? (Jan 1789)
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1790|

* Abolition of the Parlements (Feb–Jul 1790)
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* Civil Constitution of the Clergy (12 Jul 1790)
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1791|

* Flight to Varennes (20–21 Jun 1791)
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1792|

* France declares war (20 Apr 1792)
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1793|

* Execution of Louis XVI (21 Jan 1793)
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* Committee of Public Safety
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1794|

* Danton and Desmoulins guillotined (5 Apr 1794)
* Law of 22 Prairial (10 Jun 1794)
* Thermidorian Reaction (27 Jul 1794)
* Robespierre guillotined (28 Jul 1794)
* White Terror (Fall 1794)
* Closing of the Jacobin Club (11 Nov 1794)

1795–6|

* Insurrection of 12 Germinal Year III (1 Apr 1795)
* Constitution of the Year III (22 Aug 1795)
* Directoire (1795–99)
* Council of Five Hundred
* Council of Ancients
* 13 Vendémiaire 5 Oct 1795
* Conspiracy of the Equals (May 1796)

1797|

* Coup of 18 Fructidor (4 Sep 1797)
* Second Congress of Rastatt (Dec 1797)

1798|

* Law of 22 Floréal Year VI (11 May 1798)

1799|

* Coup of 30 Prairial VII (18 Jun 1799)
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* Constitution of the Year VIII (24 Dec 1799)
* Consulate

Revolutionary campaigns

1792|

* Verdun
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* Siege of Mainz
* Jemappes
* Namur

1793|

* First Coalition
* War in the Vendée
* Battle of Neerwinden
* Battle of Famars (23 May 1793)
* Expedition to Sardinia (21 Dec 1792 - 25 May 1793)
* Battle of Kaiserslautern
* Siege of Mainz
* Battle of Wattignies
* Battle of Hondschoote
* Siege of Bellegarde
* Battle of Peyrestortes (Pyrenees)
* Siege of Toulon (18 Sep – 18 Dec 1793)
* First Battle of Wissembourg (13 Oct 1793)
* Battle of Truillas (Pyrenees)
* Second Battle of Wissembourg (26–27 Dec 1793)

1794|

* Battle of Villers-en-Cauchies (24 Apr 1794)
* Second Battle of Boulou (Pyrenees) (30 Apr – 1 May 1794)
* Battle of Tourcoing (18 May 1794)
* Battle of Tournay (22 May 1794)
* Glorious First of June (1 Jun 1794)
* Battle of Fleurus (26 Jun 1794)
* Chouannerie
* Battle of Aldenhoven (2 Oct 1794)
* Siege of Luxembourg (22 Nov 1794 - 7 Jun 1795)

1795|

* Siege of Luxembourg (22 Nov 1794 - 7 Jun 1795)
* Peace of Basel

1796|

* Italian campaign (1796)
* Battle of Lonato (3–4 Aug 1796)
* Battle of Castiglione (5 Aug 1796)
* Battle of Theiningen
* Battle of Neresheim (11 Aug 1796)
* Battle of Amberg (24 Aug 1796)
* Battle of Würzburg (3 Sep 1796)
* Battle of Rovereto (4 Sep 1796)
* First Battle of Bassano (8 Sep 1796)
* Battle of Emmendingen (19 Oct 1796)
* Battle of Schliengen (26 Oct 1796)
* Second Battle of Bassano (6 Nov 1796)
* Battle of Calliano (6–7 Nov 1796)
* Battle of Arcole (15–17 Nov 1796)
* Ireland expedition (Dec 1796)

1797|

* Italian campaign (1797)
* Naval Engagement off Brittany (13 Jan 1797)
* Battle of Rivoli (14–15 Jan 1797)
* Battle of the Bay of Cádiz (25 Jan 1797)
* Treaty of Leoben (17 Apr 1797)
* Battle of Neuwied (18 Apr 1797)
* Treaty of Campo Formio (17 Oct 1797)

1798|

* French invasion of Switzerland (28 January – 17 May 1798)
* French Invasion of Egypt (1798–1801)
* Irish Rebellion of 1798 (23 May – 23 Sep 1798)
* Quasi-War (1798–1800)
* Peasants' War (12 Oct – 5 Dec 1798)

1799|

* Second Coalition (1798–1802)
* Siege of Acre (20 Mar – 21 May 1799)
* Battle of Ostrach (20–21 Mar 1799)
* Battle of Stockach (25 Mar 1799)
* Battle of Magnano (5 Apr 1799)
* Battle of Cassano (27–28 Apr 1799)
* First Battle of Zurich (4–7 Jun 1799)
* Battle of Trebbia (17–20 Jun 1799)
* Battle of Novi (15 Aug 1799)
* Second Battle of Zurich (25–26 Sep 1799)

1800|

* Battle of Marengo (14 Jun 1800)
* Convention of Alessandria (15 Jun 1800)
* Battle of Hohenlinden (3 Dec 1800)
* League of Armed Neutrality (1800–02)

1801|

* Treaty of Lunéville (9 Feb 1801)
* Treaty of Florence (18 Mar 1801)
* Algeciras campaign (8 Jul 1801)

1802|

* Treaty of Amiens (25 Mar 1802)
* Treaty of Paris (25 Jun 1802)

Military leaders

France|

| French Army|

* Eustache Charles d'Aoust
* Charles-Pierre Augereau
* Alexandre de Beauharnais
* Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte
* Louis-Alexandre Berthier
* Jean-Baptiste Bessières
* Napoléon Bonaparte
* Guillaume Brune
* Jean François Carteaux
* Jean-Étienne Championnet
* Chapuis de Tourville
* Adam Philippe, Comte de Custine
* Louis-Nicolas Davout
* Louis Desaix
* Jacques François Dugommier
* Thomas-Alexandre Dumas
* Charles François Dumouriez
* Pierre Marie Barthélemy Ferino
* Louis-Charles de Flers
* Paul Grenier
* Emmanuel de Grouchy
* Jacques Maurice Hatry
* Lazare Hoche
* Jean-Baptiste Jourdan
* François Christophe de Kellermann
* Jean-Baptiste Kléber
* Pierre Choderlos de Laclos
* Jean Lannes
* Charles Leclerc
* Claude Lecourbe
* François Joseph Lefebvre
* Étienne Macdonald
* Jean-Antoine Marbot
* Marcellin Marbot
* François Séverin Marceau
* Auguste de Marmont
* André Masséna
* Bon-Adrien Jeannot de Moncey
* Jean Victor Marie Moreau
* Édouard Mortier, Duke of Trévise
* Joachim Murat
* Michel Ney
* Pierre-Jacques Osten [fr]
* Nicolas Oudinot
* Catherine-Dominique de Pérignon
* Jean-Charles Pichegru
* Józef Poniatowski
* Laurent de Gouvion Saint-Cyr
* Barthélemy Louis Joseph Schérer
* Jean-Mathieu-Philibert Sérurier
* Joseph Souham
* Jean-de-Dieu Soult
* Louis-Gabriel Suchet
* Belgrand de Vaubois
* Claude Victor-Perrin, Duc de Belluno

|

French Navy|

* Charles-Alexandre Linois

Opposition|

|  Austria|

* József Alvinczi
* Archduke Charles, Duke of Teschen
* Count of Clerfayt (Walloon)
* Karl Aloys zu Fürstenberg
* Friedrich Freiherr von Hotze (Swiss)
* Friedrich Adolf, Count von Kalckreuth
* Pál Kray (Hungarian)
* Charles Eugene, Prince of Lambesc (French)
* Maximilian Baillet de Latour (Walloon)
* Karl Mack von Leiberich
* Rudolf Ritter von Otto (Saxon)
* Prince Josias of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld
* Peter Vitus von Quosdanovich
* Prince Heinrich XV of Reuss-Plauen
* Johann Mészáros von Szoboszló (Hungarian)
* Karl Philipp Sebottendorf
* Dagobert von Wurmser

|

Britain|

* Sir Ralph Abercromby
* James Saumarez, 1st Baron de Saumarez
* Edward Pellew, 1st Viscount Exmouth
* Prince Frederick, Duke of York and Albany

Netherlands|

* William V, Prince of Orange

Prussia|

* Charles William Ferdinand, Duke of Brunswick
* Frederick Louis, Prince of Hohenlohe-Ingelfingen

Russia|

* Alexander Korsakov
* Alexander Suvorov
* Andrei Rosenberg

Spain|

* Luis Firmin de Carvajal
* Antonio Ricardos

Other significant figures and factions

Patriotic Society of 1789|

* Jean Sylvain Bailly
* Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette
* François Alexandre Frédéric, duc de la Rochefoucauld-Liancourt
* Isaac René Guy le Chapelier
* Honoré Gabriel Riqueti, comte de Mirabeau
* Emmanuel Joseph Sieyès
* Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord
* Nicolas de Condorcet

Feuillants
and monarchiens

* Grace Elliott
* Arnaud de La Porte
* Jean-Sifrein Maury
* François-Marie, marquis de Barthélemy
* Guillaume-Mathieu Dumas
* Antoine Barnave
* Lafayette
* Alexandre-Théodore-Victor, comte de Lameth
* Charles Malo François Lameth
* André Chénier
* Jean-François Rewbell
* Camille Jordan
* Madame de Staël
* Boissy d'Anglas
* Jean-Charles Pichegru
* Pierre Paul Royer-Collard
* Bertrand Barère de Vieuzac

Girondins|

* Jacques Pierre Brissot
* Jean-Marie Roland de la Platière
* Madame Roland
* Father Henri Grégoire
* Étienne Clavière
* Marquis de Condorcet
* Charlotte Corday
* Marie Jean Hérault
* Jean Baptiste Treilhard
* Pierre Victurnien Vergniaud
* Jérôme Pétion de Villeneuve
* Jean Debry
* Olympe de Gouges
* Jean-Baptiste Robert Lindet
* Louis Marie de La Révellière-Lépeaux

The Plain|

* Abbé Sieyès
* de Cambacérès
* Charles-François Lebrun
* Pierre-Joseph Cambon
* Bertrand Barère
* Lazare Nicolas Marguerite Carnot
* Philippe Égalité
* Louis Philippe I
* Mirabeau
* Antoine Christophe Merlin de Thionville
* Jean Joseph Mounier
* Pierre Samuel du Pont de Nemours
* François de Neufchâteau

Montagnards|

* Maximilien Robespierre
* Georges Danton
* Jean-Paul Marat
* Camille Desmoulins
* Louis Antoine de Saint-Just
* Paul Barras
* Louis Philippe I
* Louis Michel le Peletier de Saint-Fargeau
* Jacques-Louis David
* Marquis de Sade
* Georges Couthon
* Roger Ducos
* Jean-Marie Collot d'Herbois
* Jean-Henri Voulland
* Philippe-Antoine Merlin de Douai
* Antoine Quentin Fouquier-Tinville
* Philippe-François-Joseph Le Bas
* Marc-Guillaume Alexis Vadier
* Jean-Pierre-André Amar
* Prieur de la Côte-d'Or
* Prieur de la Marne
* Gilbert Romme
* Jean Bon Saint-André
* Jean-Lambert Tallien
* Pierre Louis Prieur
* Antoine Christophe Saliceti

Hébertists
and Enragés|

* Jacques Hébert
* Jacques-Nicolas Billaud-Varenne
* Pierre Gaspard Chaumette
* Charles-Philippe Ronsin
* Antoine-François Momoro
* François-Nicolas Vincent
* François Chabot
* Jean Baptiste Noël Bouchotte
* Jean-Baptiste-Joseph Gobel
* François Hanriot
* Jacques Roux
* Stanislas-Marie Maillard
* Charles-Philippe Ronsin
* Jean-François Varlet
* Theophile Leclerc
* Claire Lacombe
* Pauline Léon
* Gracchus Babeuf
* Sylvain Maréchal

Others|

| Figures|

* Charles X
* Louis XVI
* Louis XVII
* Louis XVIII
* Louis Antoine, Duke of Enghien
* Louis Henri, Prince of Condé
* Louis Joseph, Prince of Condé
* Marie Antoinette
* Napoléon Bonaparte
* Lucien Bonaparte
* Joseph Bonaparte
* Joseph Fesch
* Joséphine de Beauharnais
* Joachim Murat
* Jean Sylvain Bailly
* Jacques-Donatien Le Ray
* Guillaume-Chrétien de Malesherbes
* Talleyrand
* Thérésa Tallien
* Gui-Jean-Baptiste Target
* Catherine Théot
* Madame de Lamballe
* Madame du Barry
* Louis de Breteuil
* de Chateaubriand
* Jean Chouan
* Loménie de Brienne
* Charles Alexandre de Calonne
* Jacques Necker
* Jean-Jacques Duval d'Eprémesnil
* List of people associated with the French Revolution

|

Factions|

* Jacobins
* Cordeliers
* Panthéon Club
* Social Club

Influential thinkers

* Les Lumières
* Beaumarchais
* Edmund Burke
* Anacharsis Cloots
* Charles-Augustin de Coulomb
* Pierre Claude François Daunou
* Diderot
* Benjamin Franklin
* Thomas Jefferson
* Antoine Lavoisier
* Montesquieu
* Thomas Paine
* Jean-Jacques Rousseau
* Abbé Sieyès
* Voltaire
* Mary Wollstonecraft

Cultural impact

* La Marseillaise
* Cockade of France
* Flag of France
* Liberté, égalité, fraternité
* Marianne
* Muscadin
* Bastille Day
* Panthéon
* French Republican calendar
* Metric system
* Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen
* Cult of the Supreme Being
* Cult of Reason
* Temple of Reason
* Sans-culottes
* Phrygian cap
* Women in the French Revolution
* Incroyables and merveilleuses
* Symbolism in the French Revolution
* Historiography of the French Revolution
* Influence of the French Revolution
* Films

Authority control databases |

* Historical Dictionary of Switzerland

|

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