The Real Cause of the French Revolution For hundreds of years historians have tried to find out the real cause
of the French Revolution, and they have come up with hundreds of
varieties different reasons as well. Spread over the ten-year period
from 1789-1799, the French Revolution was initiated by disagreements
over the peoples' ideas of reform. Seeking equality, liberty and
wanting their voice to be heard, the Third Estate played a major role
in determining the future of France in ten years time. Linked with
elaborate disputes among the people, hatred toward their beautiful and
ignorant queen, Marie Antoinette, the starvation that spread over
France and their involvement with the American Revolution - the French
Revolution was, indeed, a strange and a marked time in the world
history. Nevertheless, is it really possible to know what really
happened during the ten-year period, and to find out the real cause of
the occurrence of the French Revolution?
During the eighteenth century, social classes played an important role
in the lives of the people. The French society was legally stratified
by birthrights and was divided into three classes: the First Estate,
the Second Estate, and the Third Estate[1]. Each social group had a
varied type of people within their structure, which presented the
different views of the people. The First Estate was the clergy,
numbered around one hundred thousand people. The clergy was made up of
two groups: the higher clergy and the lower clergy. The higher clergy
had a very luxurious life, but however, t...
... middle of paper ...
... exact cause of
where the idea of the French Revolution came from, because it is
impossible to go back in time. In conclusion, the opinions stated
throughout this essay are as seen from a perspective of what really
happened and what might have caused it during that period of time, and
is certainly not the exact truth of what had happened.
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[1] http://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/chap1b.html
[2] http://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/chap1a.html
[3] Travels in France, Arthur Young.
[4] http://www.geocities.com/thefrenchrevolution/causes.html
[5] http://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/chap1c.html
[6] http://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/chap1b.html
[7] http://www.angelfire.com/va/frenchrev/LouisXVI.html
[8] http://www.wsu.edu:8000/~dee/REV/LOUISXVI.HTM
The French Revolution started during 1789, it allowed for the people to have a better government that actually protected the natural rights of the people. This toke a nearly a decade of rioting and violence for the Third Estate to have their way and get the rights they deserved. From all the causes like the famine of wheat, long debts because of wars, the heavy taxes, and their rights not being protected, some causes stood out more than the others. It is noted that these reasons had to play a major role in order for the French Revolution to occur. The three most important causes of the French revolution are the ideas that came from the Enlightenment, the Old Regime not being an efficient class system, and the heavy taxation.
Under the Ancien Regime, French Society was divided into three estates. The first estate consisted of clergy. They included archbishops, bishops, abbots, parish priests, monks and nuns. They were exempt from taxation. However, the Assembly of the clergy, dominated by bishops, negotiated with the King to make an annual payment to the crown, know as the “don gratuit”. It was always much less than they would have paid in normal taxation and was under 5% of the clerical income. They made up 2% of the population. The First Estate owned nearly 10 per cent of all land in France and therefore was the single largest landowner in France. Also, the top people in the church also held important government posts, the third estate resented this a lot. The second estate was made up of nobles and they were the most powerful. They managed to pay much less then they should have for the capitation and the vingtieme (taxes). They were also generally exempt from the most onerous tax of all, the taille. . Nobles were generally the richest members of the society. The nobles held nearly all the highest positions ...
The essential cause of the French revolution was the collision between a powerful, rising bourgeoisie and an entrenched aristocracy defending its privileges”. This statement is very accurate, to some extent. Although the collision between the two groups was probably the main cause of the revolution, there were two other things that also contributed to the insanity during the French revolution – the debt that France was in as well as the famine. Therefore, it was the juxtaposing of the bourgeoisie and the aristocracy as well as the debt and famine France was in that influenced the French Revolution.
The French Revolution evokes many different emotions and controversial issues in that some believe it was worth the cost and some don't. There is no doubt that the French Revolution did have major significance in history. Not only did the French gain their independence, but an industrial revolution also took place. One of the main issues of the Revolution was it's human costs. Two writers, the first, Peter Kropotkin who was a Russian prince, and the other Simon Schama, a history professor, both had very opposing views on whether the wars fought by France during the Revolution were worth it's human costs. Krapotkin believed that the French Revolution was the main turning point for not only France but for most other countries as well. On the other hand, Schama viewed the French Revolution as unproductive and excessively violent.
Historians have long debated the causes of the French Revolution. Perhaps this is because it was a result of a multitude of factors as opposed to just a single one. A combination of several social, political and economic causes led to upheaval of the Ancien Régime, the system of law and government in France prior to the French Revolution in 1789.
There are plenty of speculations concerning why there was a French Revolution and plenty of articles and books written on the subject of why did France revolutionize? Was it because France was following in the footsteps of the Americans and rebelling against a negligent monarch or was it because it was time for a reformation in France? Perhaps it was none of those reasons but because of a language sweeping that nation of France that calls the bourgeoisie, the foundation of the nation that was France, into action. Maybe the French Revolution began simply because the city-dwelling bourgeoisie overthrew the empowered nobility and monarchy, which is what most speculations, ultimately leads to. However, all of these assumptions may be partially true, but not the whole truth and therefore, are all wrong. The French Revolution occurred because of a series of dependent occurrences that led to the culmination of the members from the bourgeoisie storming the Bastille in July and the overthrowing of the monarchy and the nobility. The French Revolution began not because of one single, particular act like overthrowing a government or agitating the lower classes, but a combination of those reasons listed above and others not mentioned in this introduction but that will be addressed later in this paper.
The French Revolution went on for ten years, beginning in 1789 and ending in 1799. Influencing life not only in Europe, but in other countries as well, the revolution began because of important factors. Some specific factors were abrupt but powerful, while others were continual. The causes were because of economic, political, and social aspects.
During the summer of 1793, the radical phase of the French Revolution was intensified by the Terror, created by The Committee of Public Safety. The Terror successfully preserved the Revolution by weeding out counter-revolutionaries to eliminate corruption within the government and giving equality to all social classes which untied France under one government. However, these successes were undermined by the many failures of the Terror due to the oppression of citizens which would lead to many executions and the paranoid slaughtering of citizens from all social classes which led to the changes in support of the Revolution.
The later 18th century was a time of crisis for the old regimes of Europe and their economic systems and political agitation sometimes breaking out into revolts. English Industrial Revolution vaulted Britain to the fore. France was the most powerful and the most typical of the old aristocratic absolute monarchies of Europe. (lower taxes off backs of lower classes).
“Revolutions never go backwards.”-Wendell Phillips. It is true that revolutions never go backwards; an example of this would be the French Revolution. Before 1789, France was ruled by a monarchy. Before the France revolution, the monarch was King Louis XVI. His family had ruled France for many years, however King Louis XVI, was an ill-suited leader who lost his country to the National Assembly. During the French revolution, France went through countless reforms by switching back and forth from republics to dictatorships. France eventually thrived under the rule of Napoleon, who was a dictator chosen by the people. Because of the sacking of King Louis XVI and the monarchy, France had become a better nation. Therefore, the citizens for France were justified in overthrowing King Louis XVI because King Louis XVI was not a competent leader, he treated the third estate poorly and King Louis XVI let Marie Antoinette have an impact in political affairs.
During the eighteenth century, France was one of the most richest and prosperous countries in Europe, but many of the peasants were not happy with the way France was being ruled. On July 14, 1789, peasants and soldiers stormed the Bastille and initiated the French Revolution. This essay will analyze the main causes of the French Revolution, specifically, the ineffectiveness of King Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette, the dissatisfaction of the Third Estate, and the Enlightenment. It will also be argued that the most significant factor that caused the French Revolution is the ineffective leadership of King Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette.
In order to understand the causes of the French Revolution we must first understand the separations within the French society at the time. The population was divided into 3 states, the Clergy and the Nobility which were the first and second Estates, both of whom did not have to pay taxes and were given privileges such as high positions in the army and civil service. The Third Estate consisted of everyone else, the pheasants, farmers, landless labourers, serfs and the emerging middle class called the bourgeois. 80% of the population was rural and were very highly taxed by the king, like the rest of the ...
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 had many causes. According to the historian, French people revolted because they were, “intelligent, free, and prosperous to be critical of the existing conditions.” In other words, this historian is saying that the people of France knew what was going on in their country. I agree with this historian and this quote. There were conditions that existed in France the people were aware of. The ideas of the Enlightenment, social classes, and tax system contributed to the French Revolution. The French Revolution was based mostly on the Third Estate’s desire to obtain liberty and equality.
Revolution? The major cause of the French Revolution was the disputes between the different types of social classes in French society. The French Revolution of 1789-1799 was one of the most important events in the history of the world. The Revolution led to many changes in France, which at the time of the Revolution, was the most powerful state in Europe. The Revolution led to the development of new political forces such as democracy and nationalism. It questioned the authority of kings, priests, and nobles. The Revolution also gave new meanings and new ideas to the political ideas of the people.