A new political and social order

Held against the 5 Rs, the Revolution's clearest claim to significance is that it was Resulting in change on the grandest scale: it destroyed the old political and social order — and that destruction lasted.

Before 1789, France was ruled by an absolute king and divided into legal orders, with privilege written into the law. The Revolution swept both away. It ended absolute monarchy and abolished the feudal system of privilege, replacing ranked orders with the idea of equal citizens under one law.

Here is why this counts as such deep change. France's later history was turbulent: Napoleon became emperor, and kings even returned for a time. It is tempting to say the Revolution therefore "failed". But that misreads it. What returned was never the old order. No French ruler after 1789 could restore legal privilege or rule as an absolute monarch answerable only to God. The society of orders was gone for good.

This is change that was wide (it touched every person in France), deep (it altered the basic structure of society), and lasting (it could not be undone). It is also Remembered — still central to how France understands itself today.