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The French Revolution : A Period Of Social And Political Turmoil

Decent Essays

Spencer Gray
Mrs. Scharfeld Period 11
28 August 2015
The French Revolution The French Revolution was a period of social and political turmoil in the late 1700s that caused thousands of deaths in France. Important political leaders, such as Philippe Égalité, Marie Antoinette, Madame Roland, and even King Louis XVI, and his son, Louis XVII, were killed during the Reign of Terror from 1793-1794 . The revolution looked like it was a failure after Napoleon took power in 1815, but later in French history a second republic was established, and the feudal system in France was over. Many factors, including financial crisis, the bourgeoisie, the Enlightenment, and France’s ineffective ruler contributed to the bloody revolution in France from 1789 to 1799.

The French Revolution was fueled mainly by the Enlightenment, a movement that promoted new ways of thinking and new forms of government, caused many people in France to question the monarchy and how they ruled. John Locke’s “Two Treatises of Government” (1690) introduced the idea that the people had a right to overthrow the monarch; Rousseau’s theory of direct democracy also helped kindle the French Revolution. Another factor that contributed to the French Revolution was the fact that the relatively new King Louis XVI had little experience and came to power when the state was close to bankrupt. The middle class (called the bourgeoisie) was also unhappy with the taxes put on certain products, as they had to pay more taxes than the

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