Fransız İhtilali, dünya üzerindeki tesirleri bakımından ehemmiyet arz eden tarihî bir vakadır. Bu vakanın devlet ve milletler nazarında sebep olduğu gelişmeler Osmanlı aydınlarının da ilgisini çekmiştir. Ali Kemal, bu ihtilali teferruatıyla ele alan bir Osmanlı aydınıdır. Bilhassa tarihe olan merakı ve uzun yıllar aldığı tarih eğitimi, bu alanda birçok eser kaleme almasını sağlamıştır. Bu eserlerden biri de 1329'da yayımlanan Ricâl-i İhtilâl'dir. Eser, Fransız İhtilali'nin önde gelen simalarından Marquis de Condorcet, Saint-Just, Georges Jacques Danton ve Maximilien Robespierre'in hayat hikâyelerinden teşekkül eder. Müellif, şahısların biyografik bilgilerini aktarırken Fransız İhtilali hakkında eserler kaleme alan tarihçilerin görüşlerinden istifade etmiş, değerlendirmelerini kişisel önyargılardan uzak, zevkli bir üslupla aktarmaya dikkat etmiştir. Fransız İhtilali hakkında müspet ifadeler kullandığı görülen müellifin Fransız ihtilal ricali hakkında da iyimser bir tutum sergilediği görülür. Bu tutumun başlıca sebebi, müellifin Fransız İhtilali'ni milletlerin istikballerini inşa etmeleri bakımından önemli bir adım olarak görmesidir. Edebî olduğu kadar eğitici ve öğretici üslup özellikleriyle de dikkat çeken eser, ayrıca yazıldığı dönemin olumsuz koşulları itibariyle işlenmesi zor bir muhtevaya sahip olduğu için döneminde, konu itibariyle ilk ve tek eser olma özelliğini taşımaktadır. Buradan hareketle, bu çalışmada eserden yola çıkılarak Fransız ihtilal ricali hakkında bilgiler verilmeye çalışılmıştır. Ardından Ali Kemal'in Fransız İhtilali'ne bakış açısı hakkında bir değerlendirme yapılarak döneminde yalnız kalmış bu eser hakkında okuyucu aydınlatılmaya çalışılmıştır

The French Revolution is a historical event important for its effects on the World. The developments this event has caused on states and people have also drawn the interests of the Ottoman intellectuals. Ali Kemal is an Ottoman intellectual who has taken this revolution in detail. Especially his interest towards history and the history training he has received for years have caused him to write several works in this field. One of these works is Ricâl-i İhtilâl (The Leaders of the Revolution) which was published in 1329. This work consists of the life stories of the leading figures of the French Revolution: Marquis de Condorcet, Saint-Just, Georges Jacques Danton and Maximilien Robespierre. While the writer was narrating the biographical information on these individuals, he utilized the opinions of the historians who have written works on the French Revolution, and tried to relay his assessments away from personal prejudices and with an enjoyable style. The writer, who is seen to be employing positive statements about the French Revolution, is also seen to be exhibiting an optimistic manner of the French revolution leaders. The main reason of this manner is because the writer sees the French Revolution as an important step towards people constructing their future. The work, which attracts notice due to its educational and instructive style characteristics as well as being literary, also has the significance of being the first and the only work of its time in respect of its subject as it has difficult-to-handle contents with respect to the negative conditions of the period it was written in. Thereby, the fact that a work narrating such an important event was single in its time increases the necessitation of studies on the work. For this reason, the fewness of studies done for the work is the starting point about a study on Ricâl-i İhtilâl. Thus, in this study, information on the French revolution leaders were given based on the work. This information is more of an introductory quality that will provide opinions on the revolution leaders to its readers. The writer has assessed the protagonists that he has dealt with in his work according to their education, environment, family and psychological elements, then took a turn towards their effects, activities and endeavors towards the revolution. In this study, with movement from this perspective, the individuals come out with their ordinary identities and heroic features. The roles of the protagonists in the revolution were assessed by giving their positive and negative sides together. After that, the reader is enlightened about this work which was single in its period by doing an evaluation of Ali Kemal’s perspective on the French Revolution. So, the communication of the work to future generations will be made possible. In the study, the sections of the work named Ricâl-i İhtilâl was given in five sections, with the introduction section that gives general information about the work and the Foreword section which comes after that. In the Foreword, after the reason for Ali Kemal to write this work is stated, the discussion order of the individuals are determined. According to this, Marquis de Condorcet is approached first.determined. According to this, Marquis de Condorcet is approached first.Ali Kemal, in Ricâl-i İhtilâl, where he depicts the leading figures of the French Revolution, tries to explain the reasons of the origination, and the outcomes of the revolution through the revolution leaders’ lives and characters. All actions, including the faulty and the proper, of the revolution leaders are evaluated together. In this way, everything done in the name of the revolution are discussed to point out how much they really served the future of the people. In these evaluations, even though the events occurring during the revolution era may seem dire, it is for sure that the writer acts in an optimistic manner to indicate that the people’s future were shaped in a positive way and to carry forward the positive sides of the revolution heroes to the readers. Whenever the occasion arises, Ali Kemal invites the reader to think about the costs of the revolution. According to him, this revolution is one of the exemplary events throughout the history for intellectuals. While glorifying those who lost their lives for the people’s future, Ali Kemal regards every action done with the purpose abiding with the sacred conceptions of the land and the people as being requisites of being patriotic. Ali Kemal, while expressing at every opportunity that he never acted against the land and the people in whole his life which passed on in exiles, feels, amongst the four names mentioned in this work, Danton, who he regards as, like himself, being a character whose value was not recognized and who was not understood well enough, closer to himself. The writer, who narrates the French Revolution and the heroes serving the revolution through an optimistic perspective, performs the mission he undertook to make generations comprehend, while looking out for the truth, the revolution leaders’ lives, worries, goals, activities, passions and angers, resolutions and diligences, by bringing such a work into being