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Immediate causes of french revolution
What caused the French Revolution
Immediate causes of french revolution
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The French Revolution started July 14, 1789 in France and endured till Nov 9, 1799. The French Revolution lead to the abolishment of a monarchy and turned it into a republic. The fundamental causes of the French Revolution were social imbalance, political injustice, and economic instability. Socially, France had an unequal distribution upon the 3 estates. Politically, the monarchy was over thrown and turned into a republic.
If It Ain’t Broke, Don’t Fix It The Bible says that God created the world in six days, and as an example to us, rested on the seventh. Whether you believe this or not, it set a good framework for the appropriate length of the week. In 1793 during the French Revolution, the National Convention tried to stray from this by creating a new calendar based on the decimal system. The year still consisted of 12 months split into thirty days, but these days were split into ten hours, and these hours split into one hundred minutes, and those minutes split into one hundred seconds.
The high taxes, high prices on goods, and unequal distribution of wealth in France were reasons why the French Revolution started. There were three estates in France; the first estate was the clergy, the second estate were the nobles, and the third estate was made up of of three groups; average French workers, Bourgeoisie, and peasants. The French Revolution led to many wars; Louis XVI was a very weak leader, and he was executed. Napoleon Bonaparte became emperor, and the revolution came to an end. The main causes of the French Revolution were the difficult life of the peasants; the issues between the three estates; and the unfairness of the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen.
Have you ever wondered how a king can be so terrible that his own people want him dead? The French Revolution stemmed from people's demands that were influenced by Enlightenment ideals. These ideals were the positions and thoughts the Enlightenment philosophers supported. With the influence of Enlightenment ideals people wanted more. John Locke, an English philosopher, had ideas that influenced revolutions, more notably, the French Revolution.
He had poor leadership skills and that was what led to many of the causes of the French Revolution as well as the effects. Long story short, it all began with the three social class system. France was divided into the three social estates. The first estate was the clergy, then the nobility, and the lowest estate, the commoners, also known as the peasants and bourgeoisies. For instance, in document 4, it shows a picture of the clergy and nobility standing on a rock with a bourgeoisie under it.
During the French Revolution it changed many things and as well as people. Many people from the middle class struggled as the French Revolutionaries' were plotting some changes. In the French Revolution many causes happened like many unfair conditions, the Monarchy being thrown, and the ideas from the enlightenments. A cause for the revolution to start was that middle-class people start to struggle, unfair conditions, and taxes.in document 1 it says, "the poor people seem very poor indeed." (document 1).
The Constitution of 1791 reflected the goals of the Enlightenment: ensured equality for male citizens, ended Church power in government rule, protected private property, supported free trade, abolished guilds, and forbade labor unions. The constitution put the power of government into the hands of "the people," which was a major effect of the revolution. As power was progressively being stripped away of royalty, Louis XVI decided to flee from Paris after many urgencies from his wife. The king and his family were disguised as common people: a servant, a governess, and royal children.
The French Revolution had a major impact on Frances society. Revolutions can be contagious; the American Revolution inspired the French in their revolution. Many conditions led up to the French Revolution. Political, social, and economical conditions caused anger and rage to people of the third class. The views of the Enlightenment inspired new ways of government and ways of living to society.
France started out with a terrible king that didn’t give the people many rights. In the end of the Revolution people gained some rights, but the people still had a king named Napoleon. There were many changes to France during the French Revolution, but the end result was similar to the beginning, regarding the leader of their country, this is why the French Revolution can not be truly called successful. In pre revolutionary France the people wanted a lot of things, but they mostly wanted the power, they also wanted more freedom in their lives, but the absolutist monarch didn’t give the people any rights.
The first cause of the French Revolution was poor leadership. It started with King Louis
Like modern day politics, 1790’s France had different groups with conflicting ideas on how their government should be run. In the French society, the rich wanted to stay rich and not have to deal with taxes and other responsibilities. The poor people in the society realized this was happening and declared they wanted change. The difference of opinions created a lot of conflicts because each group both had strong opinions on how the country should be run. During the immediate period prior to and during the French Revolution, the demands and interests of different groups caused social conflict.
Imagine a country of rigid hierarchy, and restricted rights, brimming with conflict, and chaos to come. This was Pre-Revolution France. The French Revolution was brought on by the French people’s desire for equality and liberty for all estates, and their anger at the current monarch King Louis the 16th. It was largely influenced by the ideas of Enlightenment thinkers such as John Locke and Jean-Jacques Rousseau, with some of the main goals being equality, freedom, and ending feudalism. Feudalism was a social system, widely used in pre-revolution France, where peasants worked for the lords in exchange for land and protection.
Black, Elias. “Causes of the French Revolution.” HISTORY CRUNCH - History Articles, Biographies, Infographics, Resources and More, https://www.historycrunch.com/causes-of-the-french-revolution.html#/. “The Estate System in France.” Students of History Teaching Resources, https://www.studentsofhistory.com/the-estate-system-in-france#:~:text=They%20had%20very%20little%20rights,of%20their%20income%20in%20taxes. “Enlightenment Influence on the French Revolution.”
The French Revolution occurred due to the curtailing of the estates’ rights under King Louis XIV, who attempted to rule as an absolute autocrat and was later executed for this. The Enlightenment made it permissible for people to speak and question the rights of the time. After the Enlightenment, social rights, religious rights, and gender rights were expanded and advanced. Document one speaks of natural rights that extends to all of humanity with natural rights being any right that doesn’t hurt another, “You have the most sacred natural right to everything that is not disputed by the rest of the species.” By being a natural right, it couldn’t be denied to anyone, no matter gender, race, or time period.
Europe and France during the 17th to 18th century faced a multitude of challenges and improvements. As a new era allowed economic development to grow, colonies in Europe started expanding their political control to new continents. In the meantime, the French Revolution spurred many rebellions as citizens strive to adopt not only new sets of government policies, but also to establish new democratic systems. Another crucial challenge to the nations during this time was the fight for nature of citizenship. During the Enlightenment and French Revolution, the marginalization of women, slaves, and Jews from the society can be attributed to debates about gender roles, natural human rights and religious conflicts.
