Left, Right and the Lasting Legacy of 1789

The French Revolution left a vocabulary and set of institutions used worldwide. The terms 'left' and 'right' come from the National Assembly in 1789, where supporters of a strong royal veto sat to the president's right and opponents to his left. The Revolution introduced the metric system, divided France into uniform départements, promoted the idea of the nation as the source of sovereignty, and spread legal equality and the end of feudal privilege across Europe.

It also left a model of revolution that later radicals, including Russian revolutionaries, consciously studied, and a fear of revolution that shaped European conservatism. Compared with the American Revolution, whose influence came largely through its federal constitution and example of independence, the French Revolution's influence came through its ideas of equality and the nation, its armies and its warnings. Both remain reference points in debates about democracy.