Crucial Elements Leading to the French Revolution

The French Revolution is known to be one of the major events in the world history. The revolution was led by some reformers in the government who demanded some changes in the political system. The purpose of the revolution was to eliminate the power of king and the rich people who owned most of the lands, and to have a government that is elected by the citizens. Although the revolution started as a movement for government reforms, but it turned out so violent that led to the execution of the royal family. The French revolution made a major change in France and inspired some other revolutionary movements throughout Europe. Three

The Enlightenment was a time of change in Europe. There were many new ideas, and various influential thinkers that inspired new invention and also inspired revolutions. All of these thinkers had different views on people and government and different views of people and how they act. Many of these authoritative individuals thoughts still influence us even today. Many of their ideas are used in government and also as guidelines for people to live their lives by.

The Enlightenment was a period in the eighteenth century where change in philosophy and cultural life took place in Europe. The movement started in France, and spread to Great Britain, Italy, Spain, Portugal, and Germany at more or less around the same time, the ideas starting with the most renowned thinkers and philosophers of the time and eventually being shared with the common people. The Enlightenment was a way of thinking that focused on the betterment of humanity by using logic and reason rather than irrationality and superstition. It was a way of thinking that showed skepticism in the face of religion, challenged the inequality between the kings and their people, and tried to establish a sound system of ethics. The ideas behind the

The Enlightenment era was a new intellectual movement that stressed reason and thought and the power of individuals to solve problems. Even though different philosophers approached their goal differently, they achieved it none the less. They all approached their goal differently due to their different upbringings, their different backgrounds, and most importantly their different environments. A few among the many enlightened thinkers were Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, Baron Do Montesquieu, and Jean Jacques Rousseau. While some of their idea’s are not used in modern society, they were all instrumental to the modern society we live in today.

The Enlightenment was a movement which focused on logic and individualism instead of tradition lasting between the 17th and 18th centuries. Ideas from Enlightenment influenced the uprising within the American colonies, France, and Latin America throughout the 1700’s. Thomas Hobbes thought the best government should have single ruler. John Locke thought that people should rule themselves instead of kings. One of the main ideas is that people should be governed by reason, not by tradition.

In 1789, an event would take place that would shake a nation. This event further altered the country of France’s history and drastically changed its future. This event was known as the Storming of the Bastille, the first violent instance to instigate the French Revolution and the formation of a rebel alliance to overthrow French monarchy. However the motives of the renegades is far and wide. The question must be asked; What were the major reasons for the French Revolution? Many elements of France’s infrastructure were created to suppress the qualms of the people. However, the major influences that caused the French Revolution were the new ideas of the enlightened thinkers, powerlessness of the Third Estate, and famine crises. Without these factors within French society, a governmental collapse may not have occurred.

The French Revolution was a period of time from 1789 to 1799 in France where there was political instability. It officially began on the 14th of July, 1789, when the Bastille, which was a symbol of the King’s harsh policies, was stormed. The King, Louis XVI, the Queen, Marie-Antoinette and about 40,000 people were all brutally murdered. But there was also a positive side, the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen was formally adopted on August 1789 and feudalism was abolished. This essay will address the issues of the three estates system, food shortages and the fiscal crisis. It will also be argued that the most significant cause of the French Revolution was the social inequality that stemmed from the three estates system.

The enlightenment was a movement during 17th to 18th century Europe that encouraged the use of logic and science over the traditional religious way of thinking of the past. This helped pave the way for modern day thinking in areas such as politics and philosophy; this brought about great change in way people thought about the world and how it should function.

The French Revolution was the catalyst for the Enlightenment and was the first of its kind. It had a great impact on society because it changed its’ structure when the power shifted from religion and the feudal system into the hands of the people. “This was the first time people were seen as citizens and not servants” (Lectures). It was a time that challenged the traditional ideologies that were deeply rooted and controlled by religion and carved a new framework of society and the roles that humans played in it. The previous social structure left little to no room for people to exercise their intellect because the

During the eighteenth century there was one central political cause for the French Revolution. King Louis XVI was a weak ruler who endured a lavish lifestyle. He disregarded the people’s needs, leaving much of the French population in discontent. Prior to the revolution the form of government was Absolute monarchy led by Louis XVI. The problem with absolute monarchy was that people were denied basic rights, and a say in government because the divine right theory was abused. The King ruled by the divine right of theory which

During the Age of Enlightenment, 18th century France was a hotbed of changing political and intellectual thought. Many people began to question how things work and look to reason and science rather than superstition and metaphysical thought for answers. Nontraditional thinkers known as philosophes began to make their radical ideas public and soon European society was taken by an intellectual storm.

The origin of the enlightenment came from England and spread rapidly throughout France. It began because of large resentment and discontentment of the French monarchy in the late 1600s. During King Louis the XIV’s reign, which lasted from 1643-1715, wealthy intellectual upperclassmen bean to gather in salons and complain about the state of their country.

Liberté, égalité, fraternité was the cry of freedom that countless people used to propel them through, and to the end of the French Revolution. This long period of social, political and economic change in France lasted 10 years, starting in 1798 and ended with Napoleon Bonaparte. The French Revolution greatly affected all of Europe at the time and continues to represent the embodiment of revolution to this day. This constant struggle between the heavily taxed, burdened, and unrepresented third estate and those higher created an environment of monumental change for everyone. In the years leading up to the French Revolution, new beliefs and ideas were reaching every corner of Europe creating the thought that men should live free of oppression. However, in France the leader Louis XVI lead like a tyrant leaving the people impoverish and angry. Through the analysation of numerous circumstance present during the Ancien Régime, such as an inferior fiscal leadership, massive debt, and the forthcoming of new ideas during the Enlightened period, it can be concluded that the means for this revolution were justified as it is in our essence to revolt for a change.

Both Bossenga and Andress offer interesting and well-supported perspectives on the origins of the French Revolution and the reasons it came about. Bossenga purports that the public fervor of the time had little to do with the actual revolution, other than providing bodies for insurrection. Rather, the institution of the royal state was an inherently flawed one by the reign of Louis XVI, to the extent that only a full revolution would effectively produce solutions to the problems of the ancien regime. Andress places a greater emphasis on the will of the people as an effective mechanism for change. His belief is that the French Revolution offered an effective convergence of enough political, social and economic turmoil to incite a popular

The French Revolution began as an expression of rebellion against centuries of absolute rule in France. After an interim of experimental liberalism under the rule of Jacobins and Girondins and then the infamous reign of terror, the people of French were drawn to a man who promised them a return to stability, and  honor through the expansion of empire. France and it’s people had long yearned for this sens eof honour, it had seemed, and could finally sens eit in a lasting rpesence under the rule of their prodigious, unbeatable general, Napoleon Bonaparte. He would soon take the reigns of civil government as well and become yet another Absolutist ruler, yet this