The French Revolution was a monumental historical event. Somehow, however, the causes of this conflict are often forgotten among all of the chaotic events. However, the causes of this revolution are exactly what will be discussed in this essay. The three most paramount issues which caused the French Revolution were the inequality in estates, the ignorance of King Louis XVI, and the political system. The first cause of the revolution to be discussed: the inequality in estates. To understand this, one must first understand the meaning of the word estate. An estate was a form of social classes made up of the first estate (clergy), the second estate (nobles), and the third estate (peasants and bourgeoisie). The problem with these estates was that the third estate was taxed much more heavily than the second estate, while the first estate was not taxed at all. This led to poverty and starvation as “the price of bread has risen above people’s ability to pay” (Doc A). Even worse for thee third estate, while they were starving and fighting to provide for their families, the first two estates were going on about their lives without concern for those dying of preventable causes. …show more content…
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
The revolution resulted, among other things, in the overthrow of the Bourbon monarchy in France and in the establishment of the First Republic. It was generated by a vast complex of causes, the most important of which were the inability of the ruling classes of nobility, clergy, and bourgeoisie to come to grips with the problems of state, the indecisive nature of the monarch, impoverishment of the workers, the intellectual ferment of the Age of Enlightenment, and the example of the American Revolution. Recent scholarship tends to downplay the social class struggle and emphasize political, cultural, ideological, and personality factors in the advent and unfolding of the conflict. The Revolution itself produced an equally vast complex of
The French Revolution of 1789 had many long-range causes. Political, social, and economic conditions in France mad many French people discontented. Most disaffected were merchants, artisans, workers, and peasants. The ideas of the Enlightenment thinkers brought new views of government and society. The American Revolution also influenced the coming of The French Revolution. Therefore, The French Revolution of 1789 had several causes not only due to political, but also due to social and economic issues and problems as well that made France ripe for revolution. The most important long-range causes of this revolution, however, were the ideas of the Enlightenment, the unfair taxes, the gap between the rich and poor, and the American Revolution
In France in 1789, A revolution began. The people of France were fighting for their inalienable rights such as freedom from serfdom , equality between the classes. Within this chaos in France, Napoleon, a new thinker, came about and changed France in many ways. Napoleon's policies can be seen as preserving the legacy of the French Revolution by giving equality to the lower classes and creating a governmental system that helped to put the people in charge of their sovereignty, however it can be seen as hurting the legacy by protecting the ideas of absolutism.
During the time of the French Revolution in 1789, there were many tensions across political, social, and economic classes. There were extreme divisions between the 3rd Estate and the 1st and 2nd Estate, leading to multiple removals and reinstatements of leaders. While many issues were involved with the French Revolution, there were three that were the most vital to it actually occurring. The three most critical causes of the French Revolution were the Enlightenment, the oppression of the Third Estate, and the general fiscal crisis of France.
The French Revolution was a series of struggles regarding economic and social issues under rule of Louis XVI in 18th century. As a result of the Revolution, there was a shift towards radical changes apropos to the desire for a new historical beginning in revolutionary France. The adoption of the new calendar was created to in hopes to introduce these new republican values, bring about new ideas of de-Christianization, and to celebrate a new marking in French history. This progressive era was a time of radical change in France, where the traditional values and practices were slowly being abolished, which caused many contrary reactions to break out within the people.
The revolution resulted, among other things, in the overthrow of the Bourbon monarchy in France and in the establishment of the First Republic. It was generated by a vast complex of causes, the most important of which were the inability of the ruling classes of nobility, clergy, and bourgeoisie to come to grips with the problems of state, the indecisive nature of the monarch, impoverishment of the workers, the intellectual ferment of the Age of Enlightenment, and the example of the American Revolution. Recent scholarship tends to downplay the social class struggle and emphasize political, cultural, ideological, and personality factors in the advent and unfolding of the conflict. The Revolution itself produced an equally vast complex of
There are many reasons for the late edification of the French people after the Revolution had started, one of these being that the more educated people saw the anger of the poor as an opportunity to justify the total reform of their presently corrupt government. So, what we have are these secret societies that would meet together and essentially philosophize about what basic human rights are, and the role of a government in protecting those rights.
The wars of Louis XIV, Louis XV, and Louis XVI all led to an increasing amount of anger from the people as there were unfair taxes for the Third Estate to pay the war debts. The Third Estate were already devastated
Firstly, the Royal Family was pivotal in creating an unfair estate system which caused inequalities contributing to the French Revolution. One example, the Third estates were the only Estate which had to pay taxes. The Third Estates taxes were increased 28% (Source C) and “Car les tailles et les droits nouns ecrasent,”
Before we analyze what factor most influenced the start of the French Revolution, it must be acknowledged that although many factors had a role in the outbreak of the Revolution, not all factors were equally responsible. I believe that the political and social discrepancies within the country of France were the most significant element in leading up to the French Revolution. As explained before, many historians believe that the French Revolution was a result of the tensions felt within the Third Estate. This emphasis on a singular group in France’s political system limits one’s ability to fully analyze the tensions of the time. Instead, by taking place during a period of Enlightenment, the time of the French Revolution was a dynamic point in European History. Many accredit this enlightening as being what allowed the French commoners to evolve from being obedient laborers of the state to leaders of a countrywide revolt. However, regardless of what infused a sense of revolution in France’s societally-recognized lesser class, without general stratification of the country and the conditions that bred inequality, the newfound furor to revolt would not have sparked any interest. Others magnify the situation even moreso than looking at just the First or Second or Third Estate and look directly at the rule of Louis XVI as being the determining factor in the Revolution. Although the king ruled over France and held the most power, and even though
The Revolution of 1789 began long before the Women’s March on Versailles or the Storming of the Bastille. It was the result of decades of neglect by the French monarchy and aristocrats and horrendous financial instability. To understand how the nobility lost control of the Revolution in its early days, one must first understand why the Revolution began. The French nobility lost control of the revolution due to the economic stress placed on the people of France and the inflamed ideas of the Third Estate.
Little by little, the old world crumbled, and not once did the king imagine that some of the pieces might fall on him During the time that King Louis XVI was running France, he caused numerous chaos, these chaos composed by him creating financial crises leaving his country bankrupt, meaning that France had no impulsion to pay back the money they owed. The outcome of King Louis XVI causing his country to become bankrupt created many prices to increase, the increasing of prices jeopardizes the lives of many people but especially to the peasants and the urban poor. Those who could barely afford bread to feed their families were not able to do so with the increase in price. Not just did food prices increase, but as well as the taxes that people were demanded to pay in order to get the resources that were needed. These aspects created The French revolution, The French Revolution dealt with the people wanting monarchy to end ordinarily they were in crisis. After the Revolution ended it led to the Industrial Revolution in Great Britain allowing it to spread as well as having a social impact. The
The causes of the French Revolution were many: the monarchy's severe debt problems; high taxes; poor harvests; the influence of new political ideas; and the American Revolution, to mention only a few. Starting as a movement for government reforms, the French Revolution rapidly turned radical and violent, leading to the abolition of the monarchy and execution of King Louis XVI. Though the monarchy was eventually restored for a short period of time, the French Revolution changed France and the rest of Europe forever. It inspired a number of revolutionary movements of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries that put an end to institutions such as absolutism, feudalism, class privilege and legal inequality, and spread the principles of natural right, equality and freedom throughout the world. One significant change that benefited all aspects of French society was the abandonment of the rigid class structure. While one theme that remained in constant during the French Revolution was the people’s desire for the government to change. These concepts will be the basis of this paper.
The French Revolution was caused by a number of different short-term and long-term factors. As argued by Georges Lefèbvre, in a Marxist approach, who often interpreted the causes of the revolution from a peasant's perspective and was of the opinion that class struggle was the main cause of the revolution. In his eyes, the aristocracy prevented monarchical reform in order to keep their privileges. The bourgeoisie, wishing to reform the justice system and the tax system due to the unfair tax burden that only the Third Estate had to carry in times of economic hardship and the confusion reigning due to the Estates-General meeting. The urban revolution, most present in Paris, notably the Storming of the Bastille which truly marked the rise against the monarchy. In addition, it can be argued that the revolution resulted from peasant anger due to the harvest failures fuelling the revolutionary sentiment by leaving the nation short of food crops, which created bread shortages and drove up prices, impacting peasants more than any other social group. Furthermore, François Furet viewed the democratic ideas of Enlightenment philosophers as the soul of the revolution. However, and in my opinion most importantly, the revolution was caused by the numerous mistakes made by King Louis XVI, as William Doyle also argues.
Leading up to Revolution itself was the growing social inequality. With the centralization of the French state due to the efforts of French kings such as Louis XIV, French common citizens found themselves subjected to the will of a nobility that became increasingly hostile to any sort of concessions. Many families were struggling to make ends meet while seeing those at the top of society turn a blind eye. Warfare contributed to this as well, notably the Seven Years War in which France lost much of it’s New World territory and the American War of Independence after which the French came away with little spoils, not nearly enough to make up for the money spent on the war. With their country on the verge of economic collapse, French prices soared, forcing French commoners into an increasingly small box.