French Revolution Dbq

When asked if an event was successful or not, one must take into account every aspect of the event. “Success” is a very subjective and imprecise word. In history, when one power or group feels that they have succeeded in their goal, the opposing group will most likely feel that they have failed. During the French Revolution (1789-1799), there were many successes and failures that took place in the stages of the revolution that led to an eventual failure for the middle-class bourgeoisie and a moderate success in its attempt to achieve its goals for the poor lower class.

In order to fully comprehend what aspects of the French Revolution were successful and which were not, one must first have knowledge as to what the goals of the revolutionaries

were. At the beginning of the Revolution, in 1789, a list of grievances from the Third Estate, titled “Cahiers de Doleances” (Source 1:3), was written under command of King Louis XVI as his way to find out what it was that his people wanted.

What he expected to be a short list ended up being pages of complaints and calls for reformation. Throughout the “Cahiers”, a common theme of Enlightenment ideals was prominent. One point in the article demanded natural rights, saying that their rights “should be consecrated as fundamental principles of the monarchy.” (Source 1:3). This idea of equal and infallible rights for all people was a key part of the Enlightenment movement that greatly influenced the French Revolution. Another grievance noted in the “Cahiers” was the unfair taxation across the three Estates. As shown by Source 1:2, a graph representing the population, land ownership, and government taxation percentages in Pre-Revolutionary France for all three Estates, the Third Estate was paying 100% of the country’s government taxes. A call to order in the “Cahiers” was made regarding the corrupt taxation occurring in France, stating that “No order, corporation or individual citizen may lay claim to any pecuniary exemptions….All taxes should be assessed on the same system throughout the nation.” (Source 1:3). This point clearly states that the people wanted fair and binding taxation for all of France, not just the Third Estate. Additionally, the “Cahiers”

expressed the people's desire to be a part of their government, stating that “the nation should hereafter be subject only to such laws and taxes as it shall itself freely ratify.” (Source 1:3). In this quote from the article, the people are requesting that only laws and taxes that they themselves ratify are placed upon them. Finally, the people request that the National Assembly does all thing for the people and for peace in “all matters that may accord with the beneficent views of his Majesty, the welfare of the kingdom, the union of the three estates, and public peace.” (Source 1:3). This point is a call for protection from their government, not just from outside offenders, but also from those within; it is a call for brotherhood among all of France. From the grievances in the “Cahiers de Doleances”, the goal of the French Revolution is quite clear; liberty, equality, and fraternity were what the people of France wanted, and they would do anything to get it.