Mahir Chowdhury
Jeffrey Doo
Ari Montes
Andrew Lin
London during French Revolution
During the beginning of the 1790s, a political storm was set in london, as the revolution
started with marginalised groups going against the government. For example, the middle class
supported the ideas of reformation and revolution, because it was beneficial for them, as they
didn’t have any political influence over the country's government, due to the government
prohibiting the middle class in influencing changes to the country. Through the middle class
supporting these ideas, they were able to gain power, as they teamed up with other powerful
parties. However, “with benefit comes loss,” and each party witnessed this, as they were arrested
for going against the government, and the laws placed by them.
The leading groups that wanted reforms in Britain, the SCI (Society for Constitutional
Information) and the LCS (London Corresponding Society), were inspired by the French
Revolution and wanted the same reforms in Britain. They wanted the ordinary working class to
gain power and seek parliamentary reforms. Soon the petitions and popular pressure for reform
created increasing tension between the government. Nonetheless, plans for an English
Convention continued, but the government arrested the leading members of the two movements
on suspicion of treason.
At the height of the French Revolution, many European countries closed their borders to
block information about the revolution from coming out. There were many lockdowns in many
of the European countries in an attempt to stop the idea of revolution from spreading. However,
this lockdown didn’t happen in Britain, due to insulation from revolution provided by its
geographical location and political history. So the British newspapers such as the London Times
were free to report on the revolution as much as possible with no censorship. This lead to varying
opinions about the Revolution, as some thought it was beneficial, while others viewed it as a
disaster to the whole country and all of Europe.
One great impact that the French Revolution had on London was the gradual increase in
its population. It had systems such as having night-soil men and having to hand pump water in
order for the city to survive. The city was one of the most largest and diverse cities in the world.
However, the East end had slums and reeked of poverty while the West had the rich. One of the
reasons why London was so big was because of migration.There were things like diseases that
made the life spans of the citizens in London shorter, but medicines that came with the people
who migrated allowed London to grow during this time period. Due to all of the wars that was
going on such as the American War, and the French Revolution there were many different races
all bunched up into one place. All these different people from different races made London a big
and diverse city.
Work Cited
"About British Reactions to the French Revolution."
​
​British Reactions to the French Revolution. N.p.,
19 Apr. 2009. Web. 20 Oct. 2016.
Clive Emsley, Tim Hitchcock and Robert Shoemaker, "London History - London, 1760-1815", ​Old
Bailey Proceedings Online (www.oldbaileyonline.org, version 7.0, 21 October 2016 )