The French Revolution

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The French Revolution

Why was there a French Revolution? This is a

question of continual interests not only to professors

and philosophers, but to everybody who takes an

interests in the history of the world. Genuinely,

therefore, it is also a subject of much contention. The

statement citing the fundamental cause of the French

Revolution as the collision between a powerful rising

Bourgeoisie and an ingrained aristocracy, defending its

privileges it had for centuries, has great relevance in

reiterating the great conflict of 1789. However, it was

the financial debt of the government, and the financial

crisis it caused, which was at root of the actual course

to revolution. Many factors played a role in the

economic decline such as unequal and under taxation,

excessive borrowing, military over expenditures, and the

lavish lifestyle of the Royal Court at Versailles.

France, in the Old Regime, was characterized by

three estates. First, the clergy, numbered only about a

hundred-thirty thousand. Although their number seems

-2-

insignificant to France's population of about

twenty-five million, they had great influences

contradictive to their

numbers. The church had its own administrative body,

vast lands, and court of laws. The church was very

wealthy at

this time. It had a great income from the crops of the

land, donations and gifts from the nobles, and fees for

registrations of birth and deaths.

The second estate consisted of the born nobles, who

owned a great deal of France's vast lands. They

constituted a small portion of the population, only

about three-hundred thousand, but they also held the

bulk of the nations wealth, the King being the

wealthiest in all the land. ...

... middle of paper ...

... York: American Heritage

Publishing Co. 1971.

Forster, B., and Tackett, T. The Origins if the French

Revolution: a Debate. 1990.

Gershoy, Leo. The French Revolution and Napoleon.

New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts, Inc. 1933.

Gildea, Robert. The Past in French History. New Haven: Yale

University Press. 1994.

Hardman, John. French Politics, 1774-1789. New York: Longman

House. 1995.

Levron, Jacques. Daily Life at Versailles. Trans. Claire

Eliane Engel. New York: The Macmillan Company. 1968.

Mettam, Roger., and Johnson, Douglas. French History and

Society. Harper and Row Publishers.

Sargent, Thomas J., and Velde, Francois R., " Microeconomic

features of the French Revolution." Journal of

Political Economy.June 1995: V103: p474.

Temple, N. The Road to 1789. From Reform to Revolution in

France. New York: Cardiff. 1992

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