Political Reasons: The Causes Of The French Revolution

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During the late 1700’s, France was in desperate need of change. Being ruled as a monarchy led the French society to suffer with debt problems and live in poverty. With all the problems piling up, France finally made a step toward revolution, known as the French Revolution. The main goal of this rebellion was to overthrow the constitutional monarch system, which was form of government where the monarch, a king or queen is the head of the state but the Parliament has the power to pass legislation. (“French Revolution.” britannica.com) The French Revolution could possibly be caused by an ineffective ruler, which led to economic hardships and political conflicts. These events may have instigated societal upheavals leading France to embrace a militant …show more content…

This period at which Robespierre ruled soon became known as the Reign of Terror because people classified as the “enemies” were tried and executed by the guillotine. Approximately 40,000 were beheaded during the Reign of Terror. (Beck 226-227) “The first maxim of our politics ought to be to lead the people by means of reason and the enemies of the people by terror. If the basis of popular government in time of peace is virtue, the basis of popular government in the time of revolution is both virtue and terror: virtue without terror is murderous, terror without which virtue is powerless,” )Maximilien Robespierre, “On the Morals and Political Principles of Domestic Policy 1794”) Robespierre’s believes that people should be ruled by reason, while enemies of the people should be ruled through terror. During the peaceful times of France, the government should use reason to govern, but during the revolution, reason and terror should be used. Only using terror is murderous, and only using virtue is powerless, but together a successful government is formed. Though, he did not state who exactly the “people” and the “enemies” were, considering the position as the leader of the Committee of Public Safety, Robespierre protected the revolution from the enemies. This reveals that the enemies were the people that disagreed with the revolution and they should be punished with terror. Robespierre’s creation of terror was executing as many “enemies” as he can. Terror was not only being felt by the enemies. As the people watch the deaths of their enemies, they feared for their own safety. In 1794, the National Convention went against Robespierre and arrest him. The Reign of Terror ends as Robespierre was guillotined (Beck

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