Broken Promises of the French Revolution: Why French Women Did Not Get the Vote Until 1944 Thesis:Therefore, because of the discontinuity of French political history, the strength of the Patriarchal culture, and the inability of the French feminist movement to form a cohesive unit, French women could not obtain the right to vote until 1944. - Definition of French Feminism - Exploration of French Culture: The Patriarchal SocietyII. Women and The French Revolution of 1789III. Women Under the Napoleonic Code and 19th Century RomanticismIV. Class Separations: The State of Women in France During the Industrial RevolutionV. The Twentieth Century: Women Caught in a Political Power PlayA. WWIB. La Politique NatalisteC. Louise WeissVI. The Right to VoteVII. ConclusionAppendix A: Budget of a small hand in ready-made clothes industryAppendix B: Timeline of legislation concerning women in FranceBroken Promises of the French Revolution:Why French Women Did Not Get the Right to Vote Until 1944To answer the question of why French women did not receive the right to vote until April 21, 1944, one only needs to look at the paradoxical nature of the French Revolution of 1789 for the answer. The Revolution that promised "libert, galit, et fraternit," for all delivered on its promise by giving to history the Reign of Terror 1793-1794, led by the Jacobins and characterized by hasty and tyrannical justice. Though the French had thrown off the shackles of the monarchy, it adopted the murderous treachery of the Jacobins and nearly crowned Napoleon king (Wolf 36). French history is plagued with this kind of paradox and incongruency, and it is in this political atmosphere that French feminism tried to grow. The legacy of the French Revolution seemed to include a fear of revolutionary violence that resulted in the government periodically repressing those who espoused new ideas (Moses 6). Feminism, being a revolutionary movement, was often subject to thes...
