Events in France were closely watched in Britain. Enthusiasm for the Revolution was particularly marked among those who promoted political reform. These included prominent figures, such as the Whig opposition leader in the Commons, Charles James Fox, and those who were then excluded from political office, such as religious Dissenters.

Others, however, viewed events in France more warily. Another leading Whig, Edmund Burke, was the first and foremost critic of the Revolution. In his scathing 1790 pamphlet, Reflections on the Revolution in France, he recognized the danger of this new form of revolution, predicted its escalation into violence and foresaw the outbreak of war.

Burke's predictions sparked intense debate. Responses came from the radical Thomas Paine, in his Rights of Man, and the feminist, Mary Wollstonecraft, who argued for rights for women in A Vindication of the Rights of Woman. Until 1792, the Revolution strengthened the call for change in Britain. After that, its violent turn led to a conservative backlash.

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