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There were two major waves of revolution inspired by the French, one in the first decades of the 19th century, the other in the late 1840's if memory serves. (The appropriate reference tome is not to hand).

The English were very worried about a French style revolution, after all, the veterans from the American Revolution were mostly still kicking around. At the lowest level, grain and enclosure riots (See late entry) were seen as precursors of large scale rebellion and were brutally put down with musket and sword. Intellectuals initially sided with the French, leading to increasing nervousness among the entrenched nobility. When the Reign of Terror got really cranking, English opinion shifted. It was one thing to contemplate forcing the unpopular British monarchy to abdicate and giving more power to parliament; it was a totally different thing to hear reports of executions and mob rule. The Government used the situation and the ancient hatred between England and France to stir up sentiment against the Revolution and joined in the European Coalition against France. This mean they could recruit/press/conscript large numbers of men into the army and navy. They could empty the jails and quell the riots by putting the poor in uniform and giving them something "constructive" to do, all in the name of patriotism. High casualties were a side benefit, since the fewer made it home, the fewer would be available to foment revolution at home.

Other Revolutions occurred with mixed results. Most were crushed, some had limited success, many led to invasions, some to nation building, others led to a cycle of sporadic warfare and civil war that continues to the present day. Modern Italy, Greece, and Germany are some side effects of the upheavals. (Byron died of dysentery as a volunteer in the Greek Revolution if memory serves). Remember that France had more than one Revolution and there was more than one wave of revolutions. I'm a little fuzzy on dates and details, since I last looked into this over a decade ago).


Basically, some countries were inspired to fight against foreign rulers or to attempt a change in government. Others were inspired to nation building through their experience of fighting the various Revolutionary governments and Napoleon. For every action, there are imitators and a backlash.