Changes

During the French [[Reign of Terror]] of the early [[Enlightenment]], the Left attempted a de-Christianization movement to replace the "reactionary" worship of God and replace it with the worship of national patriotism, or the ''Patrie''.  Many churches were closed and either converted into Temples of Reason,<ref>John Hall Stewart, ''A Documentary Survey of the French Revolution'' (Macmillan, New York, 1963).</ref> or otherwise demolished outright under the order of Jacobin leader [[Maximilien de Robespierre]] under the pretense that their design was "undemocratic."<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20050309031846/https://culturewars.com/CultureWars/Archives/Fidelity_archives/parricide.html Operation Parricide: Sade, Robespierre & the French Revolution]</ref> The Left even formed a new calendar [[Liberal censorship|secularizing Christian holidays]]. This calendar was short-lived though and was never accepted in the rural, more religious parts of France.  

During the French [[Reign of Terror]] of the early [[Enlightenment]], the Left attempted a de-Christianization movement to replace the "reactionary" worship of God and replace it with the worship of national patriotism, or the ''Patrie''.  Many churches were closed and either converted into Temples of Reason,<ref>John Hall Stewart, ''A Documentary Survey of the French Revolution'' (Macmillan, New York, 1963).</ref> or otherwise demolished outright under the order of Jacobin leader [[Maximilien de Robespierre]] under the pretense that their design was "undemocratic."<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20050309031846/https://culturewars.com/CultureWars/Archives/Fidelity_archives/parricide.html Operation Parricide: Sade, Robespierre & the French Revolution]</ref> The Left even formed a new calendar [[Liberal censorship|secularizing Christian holidays]]. This calendar was short-lived though and was never accepted in the rural, more religious parts of France.  

The term Left has its origins in 1790s, when in the French revolutionary parliament the representatives for the socialists sat to the presiding officer's left.<ref>[https://www.britannica.com/topic/left Left Ideology], Encyclopedia Britannica</ref> In addition, it was also stated that the left-wing had some origins in the [[Book of Revelation]] when [[Jesus Christ]] transfigured people on his right and left as sheep and goats, respectively.<ref>https://www.theculturewatch.com/the-french-revolution</ref><ref>The Origin of the Left Wing

The term Left has its origins in 1790s, when in the French revolutionary parliament the representatives for the socialists sat to the presiding officer's left.<ref>[https://www.britannica.com/topic/left Left Ideology], Encyclopedia Britannica</ref> In addition, it was also stated that the left-wing had some origins in the [[Book of Revelation]] when [[Jesus Christ]] transfigured people on his right and left as sheep and goats, respectively.<ref>https://www.theculturewatch.com/the-french-revolution</ref><ref>James Billington, Fire in the Minds of Men: Origin of the Revolutionary Faith.</ref>

It was in the French Revolution that the terms 'left wing' and 'right wing' were first coined. Those on the left were the Radicals, who proudly adopted the designation as a symbol of their Revolutionary defiance of Christian tradition which always represented those on the right hand of God as saved, and those on the left as damned. (James Billington, Fire in the Minds of Men: Origin of the Revolutionary Faith.)</ref>

==19th century European leftists ==

==19th century European leftists ==