Reflections on the Revolution in France is a political pamphlet, published in 1790. It was written by Edmund Burke, who offers a strong criticism of the French Revolution. His pamphlet is a response to those who agreed with the revolution and saw it as representing a new era of liberty and equality.
Burke wrote this text in the early stages of the Revolution, before it had descended into violence. However, Burke perceptively predicts that it would head in a violent direction. He believed that the unorganized nature of this Revolution, based on a vague concept of liberty, would lead to disagreement and chaos. Burke takes issues with the concept of "liberty" as it is understood by supporters of the French Revolution. Burke is an advocate of conservatism, meaning he believes changes ought to be gradual, over long periods of time. As such, he is against the idea that liberty can arise from a short-term upheaval of society, as supporters of the Revolution posit.
Following this, Burke argues that although leaders of the Revolution make appealing promises, they have no experience of how to govern a country. Burke again suggests a more conservative view, that governance develops over time. He sees that idea of a full revolution and upheaval as being incredibly impractical. Burke argues that a country must be governed based on wisdom and knowledge that have been accumulated through experience. However, the Revolution leaders do not have any experience of governance. He sees the Revolution as being based upon ideological and theoretical thought, with no practical experience of how to implement these ideas.
Burke also criticizes the French government, saying that the new legislators of the National Assembly are not skilled enough to create successful reform. He instead applauds the British government for implementing reform successfully.
