Oppression During The French Revolution Essay

“...Often (in revolutions) oppression is replaced by oppression,” Although this quote, stated by Simone Wiel, is known to be covering the ideals and state during the French Revolution, this dialogue can be used for any state or place undergoing the same issues. Contrary to popular belief, prior to the French Revolution, France was experiencing serious problems with their economy and societal standard. Many believe that the issues during the French Revolution stemmed from human nature and what it can do to destroy others. Humans are power hungry and greedy; they want to rule over every other human, but once they grasp that power, it starts to go over their heads. This is what has happened to every ruler of France. Each time a replacement was

This began with the payment of taxes in the Old Regime. While peasants were still forced to pay all of the taxes given to them, the nobility and the clergy were exempt from these taxes. These differences caused an economic crisis that needed help from the Estates General for the first time in 175 years. Despite this fact, Louis XVI’s attempts were worthless in the end. In short, most people assumed that the nobles would outvote everyone else; despite the fact that they made up a very small amount of the population, they also made up two thirds of the estates. However, the Third Estate had a huge growth point during 1789, which scared Louis XVI into closing the meeting from the Third Estate. This inspired them to revolt and think of new and contemporary societies, bringing the ideas of equality, liberty, and fraternity to the table. They wanted all three of these important ideals to be represented and put into place, however they weren’t successful with these ideas. Despite the fact that the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen declared that “all men were born and remain free and equal in rights” Robespierre revoked all of these ideals, creating more oppression after one form of oppression was “fixed.” The people revolting simply caused more issues that they were trying to