Causes And Effects Of The French Revolution Essay, Research Paper
Causes and Effects of the French Revolution
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Revolution? The major cause of the French Revolution was the disputes between the
different types of social classes in French society. The French Revolution of 1789-1799
was one of the most important events in the history of the world. The Revolution led to
many changes in France, which at the time of the Revolution, was the most powerful
state in Europe. The Revolution led to the development of new political forces such as
democracy and nationalism. It questioned the authority of kings, priests, and nobles.
The Revolution also gave new meanings and new ideas to the political ideas of the
people.
The French Revolution was spread over the ten year period between 1789 and 1799.
The primary cause of the revolution was the disputes over the peoples’ differing ideas
of reform. Before the beginning of the Revolution, only moderate reforms were wanted
by the people. An example of why they wanted this was because of king Louis XIV’s
actions. At the end of the seventeenth century, King Louis XIV’s wars began
decreasing the royal finances dramatically. This worsened during the eighteenth
century. The use of the money by Louis XIV angered the people and they wanted a
new system of government. The writings of the philosophes such as Voltaire and
Diderot, were critical of the government.
They said that not one official in power was corrupt, but that the whole system of
government needed some change. Eventually, when the royal finances were expended
in the 1780’s, there began a time of greater criticism. This sparked the peasants notion
of wanting change. Under the Old Regime in France, the king was the absolute
monarch. Louis XIV had centralized power in the royal bureaucracy, the government
departments which administered his policies. Together, Louis XIV and the bureaucracy
worked to preserve royal authority and to maintain the social structure of the Old
Regime.
At this time in French history, the social classes played an important role in the lives of
the people. The social structure of France was divided among three groups: the First
Estate, the Second Estate, and the Third Estate.
Each social group had a varied type of people within their structure, which presented
the different views of the people. The First Estate was the Church. During the ancien
regime, the church was equal in terms of its social, economic, and spiritual power. The
First Estate owned nearly 10 per cent of all land in France. It paid no taxes but, to
support church activities such as school running and caring for the poor, they collected
a tithe, or a tax on income.
About one-third of the entire clergy in France served as parish priests. Also included in
this estate were the nobles. Some of the nobles lived in luxury in major cities in France,
such as Versailles or Paris. Parish priests usually lived a hardworking life. This Estate
was the minority of the people in France, having approximately 1 to 2 per cent of the
population.
The Second Estate in French life was the nobility. They enjoyed extensive rights and
privileges. They made up less than 2 percent of the population. They, like the First
Estate, paid hardly any taxes. Economically, the nobility was characterized by great
land wealth. Nobles were generally the richest members of the society. Typical sources
of income were rents and dues for the use of their farms or estates. The First and
Second Estates were grouped together because they had similar political beliefs.
The Third Estate consisted of the commoners. It included the bourgeoisie, peasants
and city workers. The bourgeoisie, or the middle class, were by far, the wealthiest. In
the bourgeoisie, there were the merchants and manufacturers, lawyers, doctors and
others similar to those types of professions. Peasants made up the largest group within
the Third Estate. They were forced to pay hefty taxes, tithes to the church, and rents
to their landlords for the land that they lived on. The last group within the Third Estate
were the city workers. They were servants, apprentices, and household maids.
The major cause of the Revolution were the differences these three groups had.
However, there was another important factor during these times. France suffered from
harsh economic problems. Poor farm harvests by farmers hurt the economy, and trade
rules from the Middle Ages still survived, making trade difficult. However, the most
serious problem was the problem facing the government during this time. The French
government borrowed much money to pay for the wars of Louis XIV. Louis still borrowed
money to fight wars and to keep French power alive in Europe. These costs greatly
increased the national debt, which was, at the time, already too high.
When King Louis XVI came into power, he realized that these problems existed. At first
he did not know what to do, until he found a man by the name of Robert Turgot. He
eased the financial crisis of France, but he had difficulties when he tried to introduce a
major reform, that of taxing the nobles. He had such difficulties because the king could
not tax the nobles unless the Parliament approved of the new tax laws. The people in
the courts that voted on these laws were the nobles, called nobles of the robe, and
therefore rejected Turgot’s reform. After Turgot was rejected, the king fired him from
his office. This led Louis XVI to summon the Estates General in 1789. The Estates
General was the place where representatives from each social class could be
represented. Here, many issues would be discussed, and at this time in French history,
it would be centered around the economic crisis. When the Estates General met in
1789, the deputies, or representatives, from the Third Estate demanded that the three
estates meet together, with each deputy having an equal vote. That way, the First
and Second Estates could outvote the Third Estate. When the king heard of this, he
demanded that the three estates meet separately. This caused anger within the Third
Estate. The deputies from the Third Estate declared themselves the National Assembly.
Louis XVI quickly rejected these deputies from the meeting hall. After a while, Louis XVI
decided that it would be best if the three estates met together. He ordered the other
two estates to join the Third Estate in the National Assembly.
Although now the three estates met together, there were divisions among them. Some
wanted to protect their rights, while others wanted to establish a limited, constitutional
monarchy. This sparked some change in the French people.
Immediately after the National Assembly secretly began working on a constitution, the
peasants and workers expected relief from taxes and other dues that they paid. Little
happened, and they still faced their same problems of unemployment and inflation. Then
there were reports that Louis XVI was bringing troops to Paris. This increased the
peoples’ fears.
When Louis brought troops to Versailles, many citizens feared that he wanted to get rid
of the National Assembly. As a result, they stormed the Bastille. Other disturbances
also broke out. People were caught up in what was called the “Great Fear”. Rumors
passed from village to village that robbers were destroying homes all over France. When
no robbers showed up, the peasants turned to their landlords. They destroyed grain
towers, and destroyed tax records, showing that they will never pay any taxes, fines or
dues ever again.
These events forced Louis to summon the National Assembly on August 4th. They
people discussed possible reforms. On this day, the National Assembly ended serfdom.
Towards the end of August, the National Assembly adopted the Declaration of the
Rights of Man. It stated that democratic principles would be the basis for French
government. The job of turning these ideas into a constitution still remained.
While the constitution was in the process of being made, an angry crowd in Paris
rioted, forcing the National Assembly to recognize their demands. Some of these rioters
were women. They were angry about food prices. They also thought that the king and
queen were going against the National Assembly. They demanded that Louis return to
Paris where they could watch him. To prevent any further uprisings, he agreed.
Throughout France, all ancient customs were thrown away by the revolution. The
National Assembly called for freedom of worship and abolished all special activities and
privileges of the Catholic Church. To raise money that was needed, the government
began selling off church lands, which angered many Catholics.
In 1791, the National Assembly brought forward a new constitution. It made France a
limited monarchy and established a system of separation of powers. Under the
constitution, the old distinctions between the clergy, nobles, and commoners
disappeared.
Few people were satisfied with the constitutional monarchy. Louis XVI was frightened
at the actions of the National Assembly. He fled the country with his wife, but he was
later arrested and brought back to accept the constitution. After this action by the
king, moderate revolutionaries still wanted to preserve the constitutional monarchy,
while the radicals distrusted the king and wanted a republic. These were the causes of
the French Revolution. Many peoples’ lives were changed during this time. Peoples’
ideas also changed.
After the war between France and Austria and Prussia, prices increased dramatically,
and food shortages occurred. When Louis XVI and his wife fled to the Legislative
Assembly, they were imprisoned. They called for a national convention to write a new
constitution. The National Convention met in September. The National Convention tried
and convicted Louis XVI of treason. He was sentenced to death.
News of his death spread all throughout Europe. Monarchs of European nations feared
that the Revolution would spread. By 1793, the French armies occupied the Austrian
Netherlands and were about to invade Prussia. But, in 1793, Great Britain, the Dutch
Netherlands, and Spain went along with Prussia and Austria in a war against France.
With these five powerful nations fighting against France, the French were outnumbered
and outmatched. This one war was very hard for France. This war caused many deaths
at home due to starvation. At this point in the Revolution, some people thought that
the Revolution had gone too far and should be put to an end.
In the effort to restore temporary peace in the society, the National Convention made
a constitution that created a Committee of Public Safety. It campaigned against people
who were considered enemies of France. Maximilien Robespierre led the Committee of
Public Safety. He wanted to create a “Republic of Virtue”. The Committee went all over
France to help other groups find traitors to France. During the Reign of Terror, trials for
the people were held often. Many people were brought to the guillotine and killed. Most
of the victims were commoners. This time of terror had scared the people, and their
revolts towards the government ended. The Committee of Public Safety organized new
and powerful armies to protect itself from foreign invasion. The Committee also set
limits on prices and salaries.
By early in 1794, the French armies were winning battles again, but supporters were
asking if these executions of the people were still needed in society. The National
Convention then arrested Maximilien Robespierre, and executed him, which ended the
Reign of Terror.
Between the years of 1789 and 1794, French life had changed dramatically. There were
changes in the lifestyle of the people, as well as in clothes and art. The monarchies
were gone, and the king no longer ruled. The National Convention abolished all feudal
customs and ended all slavery. Revolutionary leaders also established the metric
system. They wanted to set up free public schools, but that never came about, due to
the economic problems. In 1795, after the total ending of the Reign of Terror, the
National Convention established another constitution. It established a new system of
government called the Directory. This Directory, however, faced many problems. The
legislative deputies begged and “bought” political votes, and prices rose sharply,
something which the poor classes of society didn’t like. Along with these problems, it
still followed a foreign policy. It built the largest army in Europe during this time. This
army were headed by a great military leader, Napoleon Bonaparte.
In 1793, Napoleon won many battles against the British, and at this time, he was a
general. He next won battles over Italy, and in 1798, he invaded Egypt. He defeated
Egypt’s army, but he had to pay for his victory. At sea, the Egyptian Navy, led by
Horatio Nelson, destroyed the French fleet at the Nile river. This loss meant that the
fleet could not take the soldiers back to France, so, Napoleon left them there and he
went back to France. Unbeknownst to the people of France about the tragedy in
Egypt, he was still welcomed as a hero. When talking to the people at home, he found
that many people were not satisfied with the Directory. With the help of troops, he
overthrew the government in 1799.
Under this new government, Napoleon was called the First Consul. His military talents
helped him to win popular support. With his support, he was named the dictator of
France. This time in French History was important to the people of France because of
the different types of government they had. Socialism, liberalism and nationalism all
were results of the French Revolution. It gave people the idea that if they tried, they
could reorganize a society whenever it was needed. The greatest legacy of the French
Revolution, however, was that people could change anything that they wanted with
political ideas, words and laws.