But it did work. France after the revolution, even when they backslid into having kings, had more rights for the people and less power for the king and church. The pre-revolution king had absolute power – the kings after the revolution had to contend with political parties and worry about not looking like he was trying to grab full power again. Napoleon might have been an emperor but he also set up a solid legal system that wasn’t the arbitrary will of the king. Around in europe, the revolution influenced the rise in liberal philosophy and democratic ideals. The french revolution wasn’t the sole trigger of this of course, but it’s commonly seen as a strong factor. It took a few hundred years but other countries either adapted over time or ended up with their own revolution like russia. It wasn’t a one clean blodless step from feudalism to modern democracy, but it was a step. They backslid, but they didn’t backslide all the way back to the divine right of kings.