Positive Outcomes of the French Revolution

A common theme of the historical French Revolution of the 1790s is the bloodshed associated with a new execution device, the guillotine. This negative connotation of the Revolution resides in the minds of the French and foreigners alike. However, although the French Revolution has contained a fair amount of bloodshed, its aftermath on the French has been overall positive.

To begin, there were several contributing factors to the Revolution. Even though theorists have divergent opinions on the factors that started the rebellion, there are three widely accepted causes: financial status of the country, rapid overpopulation, and the relative unfairness of the French political system (“French Revolution,” Columbia). The French government was in great debt because it had assisted America in the American Revolution in the 1770s. Moreover, the underclass, made mostly of peasants and manual workers, worked increasing longer hours for less food. In addition, due to France’s bankruptcy, taxes increased, but some upper class citizens and institutions were exempt (Kreis). An increasing lack of food was primarily responsible due to an overpopulation of rural communities in the 1700s – over 80 percent of the twenty plus million French were concentrated in the rural areas (“Social Causes”). Furthermore, there was a series of relative droughts in the late 1700s, and one of the biggest occurred in 1788, just a year before the beginning of the Revolution (“French Revolution,” Encyclopaedia Britannica 1). Inversely, members of the upper class Bourgeoisie, composed of the nation’s small minority of noblemen, clergy, merchants, and professionals, found increases to their wealth due to an overall economic growth in the 18th century. Because of these tr...

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...ol Edition. Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc., 2011. Web. 27 Oct. 2011.

Like the previous entry, this article explains the rising of the revolution and its events, but with more emphasis on the causes of the revolution.

Kreis, Steven. "Lecture 11: The Origins of the French Revolution." The History Guide. Steven Kreis, 30 Oct. 2006. Web. 30 Oct. 2011.

Steven Kreis created The History Guide for high school and undergraduate students; this particular article focuses on the social factors that sparked the revolution.

"Social Causes of the Revolution." Liberty, Equality, Fraternity: Exploring the French Revolution. Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media, 16 July 2001. Web.

29 Oct. 2011.

This entry focuses on the negative social causes of the revolution, but with more depth and emphasis on the lower class in France late 1700s.