What Caused The French Revolution?

In Timothy Tackett’s When the King Took Flight, it’s explained how Louis XVI’s flight to Varennes resulted in escalating events to happen in the French Revolution that changed and shaped the history of France. In his flight to escape the revolution and upon his capture, he unintentionally created a domino effect that rippled throughout France with consequences that were far from his original plans when attempting to escape the country. This essay will explain how the flight to Varennes radicalized the revolution by further weakening the monarchy and its authority along with its image, that the most significant reaction was that it opened ideas to new forms of government, and that the seeds for this radicalism was already present.

“Let them eat cake” is a very popular quote that you may have heard before. It was supposedly said by the Queen of France, Marie-Antoinette, during the late 18th century in the middle of an outbreak known as the French Revolution. There were many causes that lead to the Revolution, including the third estate´s predicament. They struggled with being denied basic rights, over taxation, and neglect from the monarchy.

While historian Gordon Wood won a Pulitzer Prize arguing that the American Revolution was radical, it is in my opinion that this war was no more radical than any other war ever fought. By reviewing the war from different angles such as the causes, leaders, economic state, and social movements of the war, it becomes clear that the war was indeed not radical.

When analyzing the French Revolution, the idea of political transformation and citizen involvement play a huge role in actually understanding how the revolution altered from enlightened conversations in salons to its completion, resulting from the French “voice” uniting to halt The Terror that Paris had become. Reflecting back on this event, historians still debate on the specific moment this aristocratic revolution of 1789 turned into the blood-bath radical revolution due to the momentum and contingency that each event has on the overall Revolution. The two authors, Jeremy Popkin, and Timothy Tackett, explain their historical opinion on this period of French history, in which both share a similar

From then on it was far harder for anyone to believe or have faith in Louis’ words, leaving the success of the constitutional monarchy in dire question. Though the National Assembly put out a story that Louis had been kidnapped and reinstated him as King upon his acceptance of the constitution, his number of allies dropped, and those who had already been in support of the Revolution were now far more opposed to him. Thus, this shift in opinion played a vital role in opening the way to more radical revolutionary aims and their fulfillment, conditions from which the Terror would later emerge.

This can be seen through one of the main focuses of the French Revolution, liberté (how citizens participate in the government), which was increased then decreased over the course of the revolution. In 1789 France's government was an absolute monarchy. The King, Louis XVI, was seen by many as a bad ruler. Many people believed this because he spent money recklessly, was in slow making decisions, and altogether he was not very interested in ruling France (Murphy 11/13). Since the government was an absolute monarchy, there was no voting, no freedom of speech, and no fair trials -- the King could imprison whomever he wanted. This resulted in there being close to no liberté in 1789, the year the French Revolution began. Later in the revolution, it was declared “law is the expression of the general will. All

Paul Hanson and Barry Shapiro have both devoted writings to the origins of the French Revolution. Hanson devotes the first full chapter of his book Contesting the French Revolution to discussing whether the French Revolution was inevitable. He uses “the tension between individual liberty and the growth of state power” and Louis XVI’s inability to resolve these issues as a major theme of his book and a reason for why the events of the Revolution unfolded as they did. Shapiro, in his introduction to Traumatic Politics, also looks towards the beginning of the revolution, to see why the Constituent Assembly and the king could not reconcile when much of the Assembly were reformists and moderates. In it, Shapiro seems to blame the events of the summer

During the time of the revolution, there were many fears going on at the same time, and mostly dealing with the army, troops coming into Paris. These fears were increasing by the actions of the king and him ordering the troops to come to Paris. What the king didn’t know about what he was doing was that he was going to make it worse, and having revolts would come from this order. What made the king bring the troops to Paris, was that he wanted to make sure to have control over the crowds from food riots from the rising grain prices, them not having enough bread to feed the people of Paris, and bring back of order to the city. This action of having them on standby, was in the minds of the people was increasing fear of the army, when they were moving closer to the city. What the people thought of this actions, was a conspiracy against them. The kind of the fears they had were of the other side, and it was escalating very fast, and it was becoming more violated over time.

Almost a century later, this mental enlightenment greatly influenced the French Revolution. Desperate for equality, radicals demanded action, threatening the power of the monarch. Louis XIV, King of France, attempted to escape his kingdom in order to protect his position. He was captured, however, and it was later disclosed that he was planning to go to Austria and lead a counterattack on his nation. The citizens, having been abandoned by their King who had turned against the Revolution and his nation, realized that the King was in fact their enemy. Faced with enemy countries who were nervous about the spread of Revolutionary ideas, along with rebels protesting within France, Robespierre called for an attack, saying, “we must stifle the internal and external enemies of the Republic” (Robespierre, 46). These “internal and external” struggles forced the citizens to demand radicalization in order to create a Republic, and sever themselves from old beleifs in order to gain freedom for all.

The French Revolution is often regarded by historians as one of the most controversial periods in history. During the tumultuous upheavals after the eradication of the absolute monarchy, a new republican government was established in France. What was originally a plan to bring order to an already complicated situation became a rapid descent into chaos, paranoia, and insurrection. Despite this, the question still remains: can the events of the Terror be justified upon the notion that it was solely out of necessity? While the occurrences of the Reign of Terror may seem to have been in excess, the measures taken were based on good intentions, and some force was required in order to keep France secure from its enemies. Terror was necessary to bring

A second cause of the French Revolution was the unlimited power of the monarchs.During the eighteenth century, France was the center of absolute monarchs. French Monarchs had unlimited power and declared themselves as having the divine right, where God has basically blessed this individual as being worthy to be king, Louis XIV was the exponent of this view.They engaged themselves in luxury and extravagance at the royal court of Versailles, they enjoyed unlimited power.By the letter de cachet, they arrested any person at any time and imprisoned them.They paid no attention to their starving

What caused the French Revolution? Many things contributed to it evolving. But only three were the most important. The influence dates back all the way to the Age of Enlightenment, the ideas definitely had an effect on the French citizens. The American Revolution ties with the Enlightenment as well. The political inequality of the three estates played a huge part in the disruption. In addition to that, the Economic inequality also influenced France. The French Revolution is a big and memorable part of history; yet curiosity of the human mind grabs the attention of it evolving in our world history.

Radical regimes are actually needed to overcome the problems faced in all revolutions which build up to a crisis. (Edwards, 1970) The radicalism imposed upon by the creation of the Reign of Terror was actually necessary because it ensured the idea of never going back to the old order or the Ancien Regime. The violence involved in the Terrors and the destruction the wreaked guarantees that the old ways of doing things, whether politically, socially, economically, or culturally, can never be as they were before the revolution. (O’Kane, 1991) Without the chaos, there can be no

Timothy Tackett believed that the night the king suddenly appeared in the small town in Northeastern France is arguably one of the most dramatic and poignant moments in the entire French Revolution; people started questioning the authority and the loyalty of their beloved king. According to the author, Timothy Tackett, “The King’s Flight to Varennes” - has marked a major turning point of the French Revolution. As the French citizens were in the midst of terror and destruction of the Revolution, King Louis XVI attempted to flee Paris to Belgian frontiers almost succeed, but fortunately he was stopped just miles away from the frontier. At first, the people thought they had rescued him from abduction; but after they learned the truth of his flight, people of different regions across France, expressed their frustration, anger, sorrowness, and fear of counter-revolutionaries.. “For better or for worse, it helped set the nation on a new and perilous trajectory toward the future.” (Tackett 223)

In the late eighteenth century one thing was very clear; the world was drastically changing. Inspired by the efforts of the American revolutionist, and fed up with the poverty and injustice, the common people of France made the noble decision to band together and fight for freedom and equality. While this did come eventually, it came with many sacrifices, upwards of 17,000 were executed in a chaotic time known as the reign of terror (History.com). When the French peasants gained equality in 1799 Europe was never the same again (Emerson Kent.com). It showed neighboring countries that liberty is not only obtainable but also is a right that everyone should have, and soon