The French Revolution of 1789 sparked off the conflict between liberal thought and conservative. Conservatism developed as a reaction to the destruction of the French values and autocratic system, whereas liberalism supported the revolutionaries. This outright reaction could be seen as initially the creation of an ideology absent of intellect; however the foundations were concreted with intellect with the published works of key conservative thinkers, such as Edmund Burke. In his book, Reflections on the Revolution in France, he established the Burkean philosophy, much of which continues to dominate conservative thought. He believed the most important quality of society was order – “good order is the foundation of all things”. This is intellectual in its outlook as it presents the French revolution as an example and the situation which followed; after the destruction of order the regime became, as many would argue, tyrannical in its approach as the newly established system fought to maintain control, leading to thousands of the bourgeoisie being decapitated purely because, by accident of birth, they had inherited wealth.
