Causes Of The Revolution Of 1789

In this letter, he disapproved of the reduction of his royal powers and personal wealth, which affected his lifestyle and authority. He denounced the Revolution, National Assembly, and its constitution. Copies of the letter circulated in public and revealed to people that “Louis had lied to the French” when he swore an oath “before God and the nation to uphold the constitution” (102). Not only did he leave behind his people but his flight would have led to a civil war between revolutionaries and loyalists aided by foreigners. On top of that, deputies of the National Assembly dealt with the aftermath of a missing king: paranoid Parisians suspecting a conspiracy, people storming the palace, and palace servants being accused of treason. This added to the “profound sense of desertion and betrayal” by a king that people saw as a “good father” (222). Out of disgust, they denounced Louis: calling him all sorts of names, took down portraits of him, and covered “in black the word royal” on signs, buildings, and other public places (110). The “myth of the kingship had been shattered” because nobody knew what to do with Louis at this time (104, 108). Some wanted exile or imprisonment whereas others suggested reinstating him as only a figurehead, and some thought about a “republic without a king” (108). Either way, they no longer

There were many causes and events leading up to the French Revolution in 1789. Before the Revolution, France had been involved in many expensive wars, especially the American War of Independence, causing financial difficulties and debts which were increased through the expensive upkeep of the Royal Family and their courts. At this time the Age of Enlightenment was occurring and new ideas, challenging the Ancien Regime and the Absolute right to rule, were emerging. The monarch of the time, King Louis XVI, was a weak monarch who was incapable of making decisions and sticking to them. King Louis XIV was also incapable of using his powers in a way to spark fear and gain control of those under his power. As a

The assembly proceeded to grapple with its primary task, the drafting of a constitution. In the constitutional preamble, known in history as the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, the delegates formulated the revolutionary ideals later summarized as Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity. While the Constituent Assembly deliberated, the hungry population of Paris, a hotbed of discontent and of rumors of Royalist conspiracy clamored for food and agitated for action. On October 5-6 a large body of Parisians, mostly women, marched on Versailles and laid siege to the royal palace. Lafayette, on demand of the crowd, escorted Louis and his family to Paris. After this episode some conservative members of the Constituent Assembly, which followed the king to Paris, handed in their resignations. In Paris, both the court and the assembly became increasingly subject to pressures from its citizens. Radical sentiment became predominant in the

Firstly, the French Revolution came directly after the American Revolution. On the foundations of “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness,” as Thomas Jefferson said on an adaptation of John Locke’s famous quote, America was founded with new values unlike any other country at the time. Many of these values were inspired by enlightened thinkers and philosophers from Europe, including France. In fact, it can be argued that the Declaration of Independence was just a mouthpiece of Baron de Montesquieu and John Locke’s concepts. Lord Acton, an English historian claims that “the spark that changed thought [of the French people] into action was supplied by the

​The French revolution was caused by many political reasons. The main political reason was that the members of the third estate occupied 97% of Frances population yet they had little to no political power. They had no control over their own government, rules, and regulations. One person, King Louis XVI, had all the power. On top of the third estate having little to no power at all, they barely had any land to live on. The third estate was 97% of France’s population yet they only owned 55% of the land. Based on that statistic, it’s pretty obvious that the third estate lived in cramped and uncomfortable conditions (Document 2). The monarchy played a huge role in the start of the revolution. King Louis XVI was allowed to

To begin with, King Louis XVI did not know how to make informed decisions on his own accord, much less be responsible for an enire country’s well being. This led to the rise in taxes in the third estate, since Louis XVI chose to under tax the nobles and clergy. This sent France coming into great unrest as they requested “that the taille (a tax on land) be borne equally by all classes” (Doc C). Furthermore, the third estate was outraged as they could not even afford one loaf of bread and the king would eat himself into obesity. It was the king’s ignorance that truly brought his downfall in the eyes of the people, and ultimately, the downfall of

These causes can be boiled down to economic, political, and social reasons. During the late 1780’s the Third Estate people were being unfairly taxed. France was under a system in which the middle class and peasants were taxed heavily, whereas the nobles and upper class were not. (Doc 1) Thus, to a great population of France, economic issues were very apparent. Along with this, there was a prominent political issue. The ineffective King Louis XVI was in power during this time, and was frequently asked to solve the issues of France. He regularly failed to accommodate to their lists of commands. (Doc 2) There was also a struggle between the nobility and monarchy over reform of the tax system, where they weren’t able to agree and make decisions. During this time in France there were also major social issues. There was discontent between the first, second, and most prominently, the third estate. The third estate people, consisting of middle class and peasants, were being unfairly taxed and mistreated. (Doc 10) This led to anger in the people of the third

After helping the colonists defeat the British in the American Revolution, France faced incredible debt. The king looked to an Assembly of Notables for help in repaying this debt, but they refused to aid him. Out of options, the king called the Estates General so that they would levy taxes in France. The Estates General was formed by members from each of the three Estates: the 1st Estate, which was comprised of the clergy; the 2nd Estate, which was comprised of the nobility; and the 3rd Estate, which was representative of everyone else in France. Excited by the prospect of getting involved in government, the 3rd Estate representatives did not just want to levy taxes for the king. The representatives from the 3rd Estate wanted to become a permanent fixture in government, so they broke off from the Estates General and called themselves the National Assembly. The National Assembly took an oath -- the Tennis Court Oath -- to not disband until they had created a constitution for France. They established a constitution and the legislative assembly convened, and they were in charge for about a year. However, once the National Convention abolished the monarchy and the King was executed, the government faced being controlled by radicals who would implement a Terror. The Terror officially began when the Convention declared it, but some events leading up to the Terror that could be considered a part of it happened before that declaration. The purging of the Girondins from the National

of government, so vicious in itself, has become even more so…The Assembly, by means of its committees constantly oversteps…Nearly all the cities…have been founded in defiance of the laws…” Louis XVI did not agree with the opinion that France could be governed by a ‘National Assembly’ because of its importance and sheer size. “He placed his confidence in the wise men of that Assembly who would recognize that it is easier to destroy a form of government than to reconstruct one on totally different principles.” The king could not see any value in what was being discussed by the National Assembly and was convinced they would eventually crumble as a political system. He then goes on to ask the French public whether or not they were happy with

During the late eighteenth century, the people of France began to feel a sense of dissatisfaction towards the government due to a number of causes. Many scholars argue that the nobility and bourgeoisie, or middle class, had internal conflicts with each other or that the two classes had similar interests and formed an educated elite. In addition, France was very poor at the time and sported a massive financial debt due to the nation’s participation in the American Revolution. This in turn led to famine and popular unrest within the citizens of France. Although many monarchs, such as Louis XIV and those of Prussia and Austria, opposed the idea of a revolution, the citizens, influenced by Enlightenment ideas, realized that kings were unnecessary and overthrew

The clergy and nobility started to join the Third Estate, and the National Assembly challenged Louis XVI’s authority because they questioned his government and did not support his power (Neely 66). . On June 27, majority of the clergy and forty-seven of the nobility had joined the National Assembly (Hibbert 62). The National Assembly’s meeting in the tennis court, as well as their other meetings, supported the revolution because of their objection to the monarchy. At the meeting, the Commons agreed to try and form their own government. Their oath stated “never to separate” until an acceptable constitution was established “on a solid foundation,” and that wherever it’s members were gathered, the National Assembly would exist and try to “maintain the true principles of the monarchy” (Mason and Rizzo 61).

Here the representatives took an oath that they would not leave the nearby indoor tennis court until they written a new constitution for France. King Louis was worried about this constitution so he ordered representatives from the first and second estates to join this National Assembly. It wasn’t long until the revolution began filled with battles and bloodshed. Everyone was debating the social ill of France and what form of a new government should take place. King Louis and Marie Antoinette were forced to fled for their lives to Austria which led to a war with France.

By 1789, the French were suffering under severe financial conditions. Many people were fed up by the way King Louis XVI was ruling France and demanded for liberty and equality. Soon many revolutionaries rose to power as a result of Louis failing to better the economic and political situation.

On June 17th 1789, the Third Estate became the National Assembly and had tasked itself with ensuring that the people’s rights were protected. They began to form a constitution, which would eventually lead to the downfall of the monarchy. The king reacted this this threat by not recognizing the legitimacy of the National Assembly. In a show of strength, he sent troops to Versailles and Paris. The general public of Paris, having decided to take control of their political future, realized the government’s impending crackdown on all they had achieved.

King Louis XVI required cash. His money related crisis constrained the French ruler to reluctantly meet the Estates General with a specific end goal to require another land tax that would ideally settle his financial hardships. It had been basically 175 years since a last meeting of this deliberative body. That included delegates of almost three Estates: the First involved the ministry, the Second contained the nobility and also the Third involved the lower and middle classes. The Estates started their meeting at the Versailles on 5th of May, 1789 and immediately went into a force battle. The Third Estate soon proclaimed itself the "National Assembly" that was illustrative of the general population.