The Enlightment Caused the French Revolution

It made the people realize what they wanted France to be, eventually causing them to revolt against the government make France a republic. It is evident that these three reasons are the main causes that led to the French revolution and the downfall of the French monarchial system. The ineffectiveness of the King Louis and Marie Antoinette being the main reason since it was because of it that led to the dissatisfaction of the peasants, which led them to seeking better systems and laws in the Enlightenment. It was all these reasons combined together that ultimately led to the destruction of the old regime and the French Revolution.

This event shows how corrupt and money hungry the government had become, by letting anyone get high up in the political chain just by feeding the gluttonous king. The next king, Louis XVI saw that the majority of France (75%) was peasants and serfs. Consequently, to try to ensure their happiness (and prevent the Revolution), he had the Estates-General abolish the feudal system, in which they held no ranking.4 This made the nobility extremely unhappy. With no feudal system, they no longer were much higher up politicly than the commoners. The next noble atrocity came with Louis XVI making the nobles pay taxes.

These classes weren’t able to support the high costs of running a nation in addition to supporting a foreign war that brought no tangible benefit to France. To raise more money Louis XVI decided to sell noble titles to some upper middle class who could afford it. This provided the King with fast cash, but reduced his overall tax base because he wasn’t taxing nobility. The American Revolution was a large contributing factor to the French revolution. Ideas from the American Revolution were making their way back to France, especially the idea of essential human rights and the validation of John Locke’s theory that Government should serve the people.

Through the revolution, the French aspired to do away with the traditional philosophy retained through the practices of the old monarchy. Also, the French rebelled because of the persecution inflicted by the existing government. At the time in France, social equality before the law was non-existent and corrupt government officials were prevalent. Poorer citizens were forced to carry most of the tax burden while the monarchs enjoyed lavish lives. The peasants, consequently, despised the rich and carried out an assault ... ... middle of paper ... ...estore their rights within it” (Doc ___).

A second underlying cause was the raising of taxes. The third estate was already being taxed enough, and the nobles refusal to pay taxes only worsened the problem. The third underlying cause was the American Revolution. The French had incurred an enormous debt by helping the Americans. The French also saw how the Americans overthrew an absolute monarch and obtained freedom (Krieger 484).

The French Revolution signaled the beginning of the rise of the Bourgeoisie in national politics. By how the French bourgeoisies helped to cause the French revolution, and how the French bourgeoisie lost control over the bourgeoisie, and by the major effects of the French Revolution. The French bourgeoisie helped cause the French revolution by the Absolute Monarchy, which is a ruler with complete authority over the government and lives of the people he or she governs. This was wrong because of the Enlightenment being tax. King Louis XVI had total power and denied all right of the people.

Causes of the French Revolution The French Revolution was essentially a class war between the emerging Bourgeoisie against the Privileged class, this meant they saw the Privileged class as the only hurdle between themselves and equality within French society. Many of the ideas they pursued stemmed from the enlightenment and they believed that in order to gain their full economic, social and political potential and gain equality, the Bourgeoisie had to eradicate the privileges that were halting their rise in society. To do this they had to seize power for themselves and gaining power within the government and making badly needed changes, such as, improving the tax system, creating a fair system of production where profits went to the producer, improving the whole fiscal system of the government, improving the geographical divisions of France and the problems they caused, plus many more. The revolution was a fight for equality and recognition by the Bourgeoisie, it was not a revolt against poverty, for many of the French people had been living in poverty for centuries and had learnt to live with it. France had prospered in the Eighteenth century.

In some countries peasant and working classes relished the thought of Napoleon leading their country. After he took power the people started to feel oppressed and became unhappy when relatives of Napoleon’s became their Kings. The thing that topped it off was the fact that the Code Napoleon did not allow changes for the different countries. These facts prove without a doubt that Napoleon lied to his people so they would support him. While he was doing this lying he managed to kill off most of a generation of French, which left France behind in the Industrial Revolution, and turn the Republic that the revolution had fought for back into a Monarchy.

Although the American Revolution may have been an inspiration to the people of France, it was the French mutiny that inspired the end of the monarchies throughout Europe. The American Revolution cannot compare to the French Revolution, since it wasn't fought on the soil of the ruling English monarchs and didn't rise to the level of brutality that existed in France. The French revolutionaries had to endure the brutality during the Revolution, continue fighting during the Reign of Terror and eventually over-throw the self-appointed Emperor Napoleon. During the ten years of the French Revolution, various factions rose against the ruling monarch. The poor created their uprising over the lack of food and basic life necessities.

Gilroy states that the peop... ... middle of paper ... ...re the foundation of the French revolution. The French revolution occurred through numerous causes that included financial problems. France was in budgetary emergency because of its participation in the American revolution and some of the actions of both the king and the queen. I suppose the revolution was legitimized to acquire rights in parliament to the third estate. Louis XVI tried to help them, and decreased the taxation on them, but the selfishness of the nobility did not allow that.