Taking a Look at the French Revolution

When people think of the French Revolution, they immediately think of the country of France and how the Revolution affected it. What most people do not think about however, is how the Revolution affected other countries, specifically the country of England. England was affected positively and negatively by the Revolution in that there was an increase of political involvement, but there was a collapse in the economy due to war declared by France.

For my book review, I have read and evaluated Sylvia Neely’s history book entitled A Concise History of the French Revolution published in 2007 by Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. Neely’s purpose is to gives an overview of the French revolution with the most important events, the most prominent people and the essential terms. We can see that the author proved her thesis by explaining the background causes of the revolution such as the ancient regime with Louis XVI. Also she described all important events in chronological orders which made it easier for the reader to understand. Neely’s book is at the same time an history book, but also an kind of encyclopedia because she included all essentials terms which were use during that time period, such as “dérogeance”, which means the loss of nobility.

France ,before 1789, was governed by an absolute monarchy. In an absolute monarchy the king’s word was law and only person who could change the powers was the monarch himself (tames). King Louis XIII and Cardinal Richelieu altered France's feudal monarchy into an absolute monarchy. Absolutism within France was a political system correlated with kings such as Louis XIII and, especially Louis XIV. A succession of wars drove them to tax massively and borrow heavily. The nobles and priest did not pay taxes, and approximately the whole taxation fell on the peasants and the middle class. They [middle class] noted themselves as the most useful part of society, because they worked and established wealth. The new king, Louis XVI, was too dense to provide

In the late 1780s France divided everyone into three social classes or estates. The first estate was the clergy which was the highest, the second estate was the nobles, and the third estate was the commoners, or the peasants. France was in a deep financial crisis. King Louis XIV had left France in debt. The government began to barrow millions of dollars that went to paying the taxes. Food prices started soaring because of bad harvests which brought hunger to many of the poor peasants. The government had to increase taxes and reduce expenses to stop this financial crisis but the nobles and the clergy tried to stop anything to not pay their taxes.

France under the rule of Louis XVI was an absolute monarchy. The country had remained wealthy, but was beginning to crumble under its many financial issues. Both Louis XVI and his predecessor Louis XV had not adopted a financial system that would benefit all the classes of the ancien régime as well as the nation. This in turn, resulted in an uproar among the estates. Moreover, the social classes were divided into three sections, the First Estate, which was the clergy, the Second Estate, which was the nobility, and the Third Estate, which were the bourgeoisie, the peasantry, and, town residents. Due to the fact that the ancien régime had stayed stagnant in changing their financial predicament many issues began to develop, such as the disagreement between the estates and the profound hate towards the king. All these events resulted in the rise of the Third Estate and the end of the Old Regime. This paper will focus on the issues that helped elevate the Third Estate and how they brought about a new form of government.

In the late 1700’s, France was running into a bunch of major troubles. Their society was divided into three social classes: the Clergy, the Nobles, and the Bourgeoisie. The third class, the bourgeoisie, made up approximately 98% of the population but had a little say in the government. Other than the problems with their society, France was having financial as well. Louis XIV left France deeply in debt, and Louis XV did no better by adding more to the debt during his rule. As more problems added up, the people realized it was time for a change.

The Law of the Maximum was an enactment ordered by the National Convention that imposed general price controls on all of France’ products. This was a result of the Convention’s response to the mass demonstration in Paris that demanded new polices to ensure food supplies for the sans-culottes on September 5.

France in the 18th century was a rich and populace country, but it had a systemic problem collecting taxes because of the way the society was structured. They had a system with kings and nobles we now call the “Ancien Regime”. For the majority of the society, the system of government was unfair and damaging because the clergy never paid taxes, the third party did all of the work while the rich would bathe in their riches.

King Louis XVI, his wife Mary Antoinette, and the Roman Catholic Church were all major sources of power abuse. Mary Antoinette used the funds of France to serve her own purposes, and lead to significant debt. King Louis XVI approved the levying of taxes against the Third Estate, despite their extremely poor economic state, causing revolts. The Roman Catholic Church and the Pope also exercised their power and superiority over the Third Estate and limited the working class’ power for unequal representation. The First and Second Estates also utilized social discrimination to their advantage. They lived lavish lifestyles without taxes, and forced the suffering upon the poor. The actions of these people and groups led to an increase in protest and disapproval, and led to the French Revolution. Therefore, the abuse of power played a major role in France’s change from peace to

The revolutions that occurred in France and Spain were in different time periods and sought to change their country in different ways. Despite this, there are many parallels in the ideologies and histories of their revolutionary leaders. Looking at this, one might ask how the backgrounds and styles of the leaders affected the outcome of each revolution? Napoleon Bonaparte of the French Revolution (hereafter Napoleon) and Francisco Franco of the Spanish Civil War (hereafter Franco) came from similar backgrounds with a heavy influence on education and military training. Both men fought with a primary motivation of forming a military dictatorship under their rule. One notable area that where they differed is in their leadership: Franco led through fear and intimidation whereas Napoleon led by gaining the respect of his people.

Throughout the 18th century, France had a plethora of problems, all of which stemmed from the formation of the estates. The Third Estate was populated with middle class and the lesser. These citizens were heavily taxed, alienated of food supply, and dealt directly with fixed controlled prices. All of this coupled with economic depression from ongoing wars and lavishness by the Royal Family resulted in several movements that lead to the enlightenment, which ultimately spurred the revolution.

Absolute Monarch- Absolute monarch is a ruler with complete control over the government and peoples lives. They are the ones with the highest power. The had the power to raise taxes, make people starve and end peoples lives. For example, Louis XIV was an absolute monarch.

By providing a mostly chronological style to her text, Neely seeks for her book to act as an “introduction to the French Revolution” by acquainting “the reader with the most important events, the prominent people, and the essential terms (xvi).” In her introduction, Neely discusses how the Revolution is still a hot-topic discussion amongst French-people and even how at the Bicentennial, there was still no definitive answers as to the “how” and “why” of the Revolution. Neely’s text is a great supportive source for a typical undergraduate French Revolution survey course. Neely utilizes a variety of general history sources, such as the Oxford History of the French Revolution and dictionaries such as Samuel Scott’s and Barry Rothaus’ 1984 text Historical Dictionary of the French Revolution. She also utilizes a variety of sources focusing purely on King Louis XVI, the French armies, and the various revolutionaries. I believe this combination of general and specific sources allowed for Neely to provide the reader with the most complete introductory narrative of the French Revolution.

Before the Revolution, France’s government, entitled the Ancien Régime, consisted of an absolute monarchy. Under this system, no person had any rights. The people of France were not citizens, but rather subjects of the King, at the mercy of his will. The King held all of the power with no legal protections in place for the French people. For example, the First Estate, consisting of the clergy, and the Second Estate, consisting of the nobility, paid no direct taxes. This provision existed because Louis XIV had implemented a tax system that exempted these two estates. Therefore, the entire tax burden of the country fell on the Third Estate, the common people. This unjust and disproportionate system existed because the King’s word was the law, with no legal means to appeal his decisions.

King Louis XVI was next in line for the throne in 1774 and gladly inherited it from Louis XIV to become the ruler over France. He drastically changed the whole country and put its people through ghastly conditions. There was not a soul left unharmed. In Paris, nearly half of its population in 1788 was unemployed. They produced no crops due to them not growing and had extremely high prices on food. With the whole nation already furious with his doings, he decided to marry Marie Antoinette who was foreign. They decided to blame her for