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What are the economic causes of the french revolution
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During the French Revolution which lasted from 1789 until 1799, the French government experienced three different types of rule: the National Assembly, the National Convention, and the Directory. This ten year period in France saw tremendous change from the government trying to give the revolution a purpose for happening when the people of the country became angry. Five years after the end of the revolution, Napoleon Bonaparte declared himself as the emperor of France, and reigned as such for the next ten years, the same amount of time the revolution occurred for. Even though Napoleon only lead one type of government during his ten year reign as emperor, he brought about more positive change than the three different governments of the French Revolution. Both of these ten year period in French history were supposed to bring …show more content…
about the positive change in France that the citizens wanted, whatever they may have been. Once the French Revolution started, the third class of France banned together to write a constitution for the country, forming the National Assembly.
Under their rule, the lives of those in clergy were changed. The land of the church was confiscated to help pay for the financial crisis France found themselves in leading up to the revolution itself. The clergy had to swear their allegiance to the National Assembly and no longer had any allegiance to the Pope, the man who was the head of the Catholic Church which was the predominant religion of France. This lead to problems in the clergy because they were forced to change their allegiance from a man who believed in the same thing as they did, to a movement they were now forced to agree with whether they truly did or not. The social life of the people changed when they adopted a new calendar, which included a ten day week, and the citizens had to work for nine of them. This didn’t lead to a positive change because it did decrease productivity; the people weren’t made to work for approximately twenty-seven days out of thirty, so they couldn’t perform their jobs when they were worn down from
work. While there is the negative of the National Assembly, there were positive changes that happened during the rule of this government. It was during this time that the storming of the Bastille, where the French citizens forced the king to recall the finance minister he had dismissed, break up his troops, and made the king lose the city altogether. The Great Fear also occurred under this government, which helped the French peasants, since they ransacked the manors and burned their feudal papers. Because of this, they were no longer bound to the land, and wouldn’t be forced to work. These, however, did not happen because of the National Assembly itself. What they did was create a constitutional monarchy, which limited the power of the king, while also writing the Declaration of Rights of Man and the Citizen. It’s because of this document that the French men were able to enjoy freedom of speech, popular sovereignty, and a representative government. But this was only good for the men of the country, the women didn’t get these rights as their male counterparts did. What was positive change for some was not positive change for all.
The French Revolution was a period of political upheaval that occurred in France during the latter half of the 18th century. This revolution marked an end to the system of feudalism and the monarchy in France and a rise to democracy and new Enlightenment ideas. By 1789, when the revolution began, France was in a deep financial crisis due to the debt they had obtained over many years of reckless spending and France was nearly bankrupt. These financial issues fell almost completely on the bottom social class or the Third Estate which made up a majority of the country. Because of this financial trouble, the common people were heavily taxed, leaving many of them in poverty.
...poleon was in power. Many important civil liberties were taken away, like the freedom of speech and press. Slavery was reestablished, to the chagrin of many. Women’s rights were dealt a huge blow. After the gains women had made during the revolution, they were stripped away by Napoleon and women were once again expected to be subordinate and subservient to the men in their household. The biggest loss was the loss of a republic. No longer were the rulers of France selected by the public. The king had been replaced by a king in all but name.
Beginning in mid-1789, and lasting until late-1799, the French Revolution vastly changed the nation of France throughout its ten years. From the storming of the Bastille, the ousting of the royal family, the Reign of Terror, and all the way to the Napoleonic period, France changed vastly during this time. But, for the better part of the last 200 years, the effects that the French Revolution had on the nation, have been vigorously debated by historian and other experts. Aspects of debate have focused around how much change the revolution really caused, and the type of change, as well as whether the changes that it brought about should be looked at as positive or negative. Furthermore, many debate whether the Revolutions excesses and shortcomings can be justified by the gains that the revolution brought throughout the country.
One of the main results of the revolution was the ancient regime was abolished. This started to make France’s people more equal. A document was created that outlined France’s peoples rights, it was called the declaration of the rights of man and the citizen. People were to be born with equal rights (doc 4). Many of the “rights” given in this document were not truly given to the people of France. There was supposed to be freedom of speech, (doc 6) but the papers were monitored and people could not support certain things without fear of imprisonment. People were arrested for having different views from those in power (doc 5).This did not create complete equality in France but it was a start. Also, a republic was set up in France for a very brief time. The republic was in place after the death of Louis XVI, and then after Napoleon was removed from power. The French revolution not only had affects on people in France, but also in many of the surrounding countries. The French revolution had many impacts on the countries outside of France. When Napoleon came to power in 1799 he started a conquest. He was able to conquer much of Italy and germany among the many other countries he was able to take control of. When he took power somewhere he imposed his own political code. Even after the countries were freed from France, some did not immediately get rid of his laws. Some cities like Naples kept is for a while (doc 7). This was just one of the several ways in which the French revolution affected surrounding
During the French Revolution many exciting things were happening, the government was reforming and The Directory was trying to direct the country when that wasn’t working Napoleon, a military general at the time stepped in to lead the country to a better place. People were sick of getting walked over by the nobles so they took charge. There were many revolts and a lot of death, some thought they just need a leader to get them out of a slum, Napoleon was there guy.
The French Revolution was the revolutionary period of social and political upheaval that shook France from 1789–1799, starting of with the ruling of absolute monarch Louis XVI and ending with the ascent of dictator Napoleon Bonaparte. During this time citizens destroyed the foundations of the “Old Regime” in France, which was done through changing political ideals, and uprooting centuries-old institutions such as absoluatte monarchy and the class systems. The causes of the revolution are still being debated among historians. But the demands for change were influenced by many of the Enlightenment ideals. Which were formulated through the leading Enlightenment thinkers Baron de Montesquieu, Voltaire, and Jean-Jacques Rousseau.
The French Revolution was a period of upheaval in France, during which the French governmental structure and Catholic clergy underwent a large change due to Enlightenment ideas. The commoners of France began to revolt after hearing the ideas of famous philosophes like Voltaire. Voltaire was a deist who believed that the Catholic Church and its doctrines were not to be trusted since they used propoganda to get followers rather than the actual religion. He believed it was unfair that there wasn’t any religious freedom since you were expected to be a Catholic. He spoke openly about this, which of course got him into a lot of trouble. Nevertheless, the French commoners took his word into thought and decided to act upon what he said by revolting against the church. Voltaire’s ideas also critized royal absolutism because they had, in his opinion, too much power. He favored an elightened absolutist, which is an absolutist who adopts Enlightenment ideas. Once again, the French commoners took this to heart and agreed with Voltaire that the French government was too ...
The middle class during this time had started to become wealthy by; trade, manufacturing, banking, and contracting. The lower class during this time had consisted of people who were tradesmen, laborers, and government officials. Louis during this time had believed that he had ruled by the will of god and by the divine rights of the king. The courts during this time had also been in debt and it had led to Louis to reinstate parliament. The parliaments that Louis had set up were made up of aristocrats. What the parliaments had did was ask Louis to return to France rule to the estates general, and eventually Louis had given in.” “The estates were made up of three different estates; The first estate had consisted of the clergy and had about 130,000 people. The church had owned about ten percent of the land and clergy had been radically divided” (Spielvogel page. 567-568). “The second estate had consisted of the nobility, and had composed of no more than 350,000 people who had owned about 25 to 30 percent of the land. The nobility during this time had played an important role in French society and had held on to
The French Revolution evokes many different emotions and controversial issues in that some believe it was worth the cost and some don't. There is no doubt that the French Revolution did have major significance in history. Not only did the French gain their independence, but an industrial revolution also took place. One of the main issues of the Revolution was it's human costs. Two writers, the first, Peter Kropotkin who was a Russian prince, and the other Simon Schama, a history professor, both had very opposing views on whether the wars fought by France during the Revolution were worth it's human costs. Krapotkin believed that the French Revolution was the main turning point for not only France but for most other countries as well. On the other hand, Schama viewed the French Revolution as unproductive and excessively violent.
In all of the documents listed, liberty and equality are described with regards to the French Revolution. These concepts are shown to have evolved over the course of the revolution, and this is proven by the documents chosen. Liberty and equality were emphasized as either major or minor ideas in the documents, and although some were only alluded to, it is evident that the ideas of liberty and equality changed during the years of the French Revolution. Also, some of the terms used connoted different things at the end of the Revolution than the original Revolutionaries of 1789, which demonstrates the transformation of the use of words which were symbolic at that time.
For one, the monarchy was making decisions not in the favour of its people and inevitably leading the French to its death. The wealthy didn’t have to pay taxes that were unfair and brought down the middle class. 97% of French were middle class and struggled to survive. In Europe the quality of life was determined by the status you held, and to get an upper class status you had to be born into it. You couldn’t earn a higher status no matter how hard you tried.
The French Revolution began in 1789,1 when France was divided by regions and religions. The one thing that the French people had in common was that they shared the belief that they should serve the king. The revolution changed this, and at the end of the revolution in 1799, the people saw each other as citizens rather than subjects of the king.2 France had been experiencing economic hardship, and the people became discontented because of food shortages. Ideas of reform spread after the Enlightenment, and the people wanted a constitution.3 The French Revolution greatly increased nationalism in France. Before the revolution, there was little nationalism in France. It is evident that nationalism was created when one looks at the formation of the
...s on who should have power. Rebellions broke out across France and turned the nation against itself. The major revolutionary revolt was The Storming of Bastille. The third estate demanded for a republic. King Louis was killed, along with his wife Marie Antoinette to pursue the ideas of changing society. Maximilien Robespierre ordered their deaths by the violent and horrific machine, the guillotine. He was also killed shortly after, but provided the Jacobins a leader in his efforts to overthrow the monarchy. Napoleon was the last to save the revolution as it came to a close. The French Revolution has changed history and the lives of everyone in France up to today. Many people sacrificed themselves to change the country for others today. This revolution was life changing and inspired many others around the world to stand up for their beliefs and fight for a democracy.
The French Revolution represents a period in history that brought about a major change in not only Europe but the entire world. The French revolution spanned from 1789 to 1799. It brought about several key changes in not only the economic state of France but also the perception of the Christian church, specifically the Catholic church in France. Its impacts both economically and religiously are still felt to this day. The French Revolution may have temporarily destroyed Christianity in France, however, it acted as a savior for the future of Christianity.
The French Revolution, which occurred from 1789 to 1799, was a time where the monarchy was overthrown, a republic was formed, and limits were put on the church. The French Revolution ended with the rule of Napoleon Bonaparte in 1799. The French Revolution created France’s legislative assembly, which is still in place today. Many would argue that the Enlightment was a cause of the French Revolution, but the Enlightment was not one of the main drivers for the Revolution. The bad living conditions, France’s monarchy, and the involvement in the American Revolution and other wars caused the French Revolution.