Violence is an inherent part of human nature, the minute we picked up sticks and stones they were fashioned into weapons. In progressive society one could claim there is no need for violence, but in the case of the French Revolution, when voices were ignored and people were oppressed, violence was a necessary move for a greater future. Before the revolution, France was still governed by a dated monarchy, comprised of three rigid social classes called Estates. With ensuing poverty and political strife, the people required change. However it could be argued that it may well have been taken too far, especially when considering the extensive violence. To understand the Third’s adoption of violence as a form of political action, it is important to identify the standards of life which led them to such drastic measures. The most notable instigating occurrences for the people were the unstable political …show more content…
The violence of the Third Estate was, by far, the most graphic, poignant, and therefore condemned, of the revolution. It’s important to remember that the third estate contained roughly 98% of France’s population, and the majority of the third estate was made up of the rural peasantry, who were at the mercy of their wealthy landowners and nobles. Before the revolution began it was only the Third Estate who were taxed by the crown, yet they still held no political representation. This was one of the major motivating reasoning for the ‘Bourgeois Revolution’ against the monarchy. Jacques Necker was appointed finance minister by King Louis XVI, and won the people over with his tax reforms and transparency with the crowns finances. He prompted the king to take the nobles and clergy too, to help bring France out of their mounting debt. The king ordered a meeting of the Estates-General to decide on this issue, the first meeting in 175 years. Regardless
The first source is a political cartoon that is about the three Estates of France, pre-1789. The cartoon shows the different members of the three Estates and their perceived roles. The Third Estate (commoners), Second Estate (nobility) and the First Estate (clergy). This source advocates the idea that the First and Second Estates overpowers the Third Estate, resulting to their suffering. The old man (Third Estate) is drawn with bigger body shape than the other two people riding him (First and Second Estates), this shows that the whole body or population of the Third Estate were a lot bigger than the First and Second Estate. Although they had way bigger population than the other two Estates they were
This oppression of the Third Estate along with the financial problems that fell on the common people would lead to the French Revolution. Overall, the people of France revolted against the monarchy because of the unsuccessful estate system and the inequality it led to, because of the new enlightenment ideas that inspired them, and because of the failures of the monarchy.
With the Estates General, Tennis Court Oath, and The Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen (Robinson 6), they worked against the King to make their own decisions about the future of France. The bourgeoisie’s choice to form the National Assembly was the first successful coup d'etat in French history. Because the majority of the country’s populace was comprised of the this group, they were able to effectively declare themselves France’s political authority. This made them influential in altering the country’s future and furthering the French Revolution because they shifted sovereignty from the monarchy to the people. Sovereignty continued to shift further from the monarchy as the Revolution progressed. In Article One of the August Decrees, the National Assembly abolished the feudal system which had assigned King Louis power above all people (Robinson 2). The statement made by the bourgeoisie was a final component in the destruction of France’s monarchy. Together the group’s actions in overtaking sovereignty in France would deem them the most influential people in furthering the French
Historian Albert Mathiez states that “The middle class… was sensitive to their inferior legal position. The revolution came from them- the middle class. The working classes were incapable of starting or controlling the Revolution. They were just beginning to learn to read.” The middle class were not able to have a class on their own; they were still considered peasants. In the illustration it showed how much people and land each estate held, the Clergy was one percent of the population which owned ten percent of the land. Nobles were two percent of the people that owned thirty-five percent of the land. The middle class, peasants, and city workers were ninety-seven of the people owned fifty-five percent of the land. This means that if the third estate were to riot, this would cause havoc. There was a lot during that time; the website Macrohistory and World Timeline shows that “The population of France had grown to between 24 and 26 million, up from 19 million in 1700 without a concomitant growth in food production. Farmers around Paris consumed over 80 percent of what they grew, so if a harvest fell by around 10 percent, which was common, people went hungry. There was insufficient government planning and storage of grain for emergency shortages”. If there were approximately 26 million people, there would be 25,220,000 people in the third estate, 520,000 people in the second estate, and 260,000
In this essay I shall try to find whether the Terror was inherent from the French revolutions outset or was it the product of exceptional circumstances. The French revolution is the dividing line between the Ancien Regime and the modern world. After France the hierarchy that societies of the time had been founded on began to change and they began to sweep away the intricate political structures of absolute monarchy, but however to achieve this was the Terror absolutely necessary? And was it planned/ or was it just the extraordinary circumstances, which the French had lead themselves into once they had deposed of Louis the sixteenth. Whatever way it is looked at, the political ideology of the rest of the world was going to change after the French revolution. The conflicting ideology's of the French revolution from socialism to nationalism would now be mainstream words and spearhead many political parties in years to come. The French revolution had been in high hopes that a peaceful transition could be made from absolutist to parliamentary monarchy, but what went wrong? Surely the terror could not have been in their minds at this time? Surely it was not inherent from the start.
Louis' ministers Turgot, Necker and Calonne all agreed that France needed reforming if it was to get out of the massive debt it had accumulated. In February of 1787, Louis called the Assembly of Notables as France was in dire need of tax reform due to its debt. Louis suggested tax reforms to bring government expenditure in line with government income but because he had lost his authority as a king, he could not persuade the first and second estates to agree with a tax reform and they did not wish to bear the burden of increased taxation. This showed Louis to be weak and unable to make decisions about France's future. Shortly afterwards on the 5th May 1789, the Estates General was called and Louis' absolute power over France was all but over. This was one of the main events that led to the start of the French revolution an...
Some people like Emmanuel Sieyès, middle-class writer who was taken by the Enlightenment ideas, believed that all of French Society lay on the backs of the third estate. On the contrary, Robespierre, the monarch at the time, believed that the third estate did not have the power to do anything important to society. The third estate had to pay taxes like the Gabelle and Taille while the first and seconds estates did not have to pay any taxes to the king. Also, the third estates had less of a representation in voting. The first and second estate could outvote the third estate every time and this was a huge inequality. The condition of the third estate was horrible but a good portion of this third estate was the bourgeoisie. The bourgeoisie had some wealth and social class, so they influenced the rest of the third estate about their rights, while also inspiring some lower clergies and provincial nobles and thus led to a group of rebellious people to fight the monarchy. This fight for political representation and political rights was only one cause of the French Revolution. Another causes lies in the French Monarchs: Louis XlV, Louis XV, and Louis XVl. When Louis XlV was ruling, the monarchy had unlimited power and was known as a
As the Reign of Terror in France grew and invoked fear the internal threats became more radical and deadly. The French Revolution began in 1789 as an attempt to create a new and fair government. (Doc A) As year four of freedom lurched the thirst for power in Maximilien Robespierre stirred and the hunger for more blood provoked him urging him to create the Reign of Terror. 1793, the first year of the Reign of Terror, Robespierre grasped on to his new power and as the revolution spun out of control the Jacobins Club established a new way to “fight enemies” by constructing a Committee of Public Safety and a Tribunal Court. (Doc A) This new government was working swell it contained counterrevolutionaries in the Vendée Region, and it smothered and ferreted the internal threats. (Docs A, C, G) The counterrevolutionaries adopted a name that meant trouble – the rabble. (Doc D) In a letter written by a city official of the Town of Niort a...
The declaration of the Terror was a direct result of the growing discontent and ravenous violence that had been occurring since 1789. Revolution could have occurred in an orderly member as it was obvious that Louis XVI was a weak leader but the French citizens set the tone early on with the Storming of the Bastille. This event shows that the French were inclined to achieve their desires through violence and not negotiations. The Bastille was attacked as a response to Louis’ addition of troops in Paris and the fear that they would be attacked. Munitions were transferred to the poorly guarded Bastille just a few days before the attack. A mob descended upon the Bastille on July 14 of 1789. The Governor of the prison Launay tried to reassure that
Some causes are financial crisis and high taxes, the stamp act, the war with the French, tarantella rule, and the navigation act. Symptoms are angry protesters. In the national assembly each estat got 1 vote and each member received a note. The Tennis Court Oath swore to create a new constitution and Oath taken at the tennis courts to make a better government for French. Storming of the Bastille, King Louis use military force to break up the National Assembly, by the people. The guards were hacked to death and heads out on display. This became the ultimate symbol that the revolution had ...
The French Revolution was a period of radical social and political upheaval, lead by the lower class of France, which began the decline of powerful monarchies in France and the rise of nationalism and democracy. In A Tale Of Two Cities, written by Charles Dickens, he highlights these aspects of the war between classes and makes them personal to the reader. Throughout the novel, Dickens’ establishes and develops several symbols in order to help the reader better understand the Revolution and the way people acted during this time. He shows that while emotion, desperation, and irrationality run high, humanity, justice, and morality are scarce. The blue flies, Madame Defarge’s knitting, and the sea are three of Dickens’ symbols that develop his theme of man’s inhumanity to his fellow man throughout the novel.
During the eighteenth century, France was one of the most richest and prosperous countries in Europe, but many of the peasants were not happy with the way France was being ruled. On July 14, 1789, peasants and soldiers stormed the Bastille and initiated the French Revolution. This essay will analyze the main causes of the French Revolution, specifically, the ineffectiveness of King Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette, the dissatisfaction of the Third Estate, and the Enlightenment. It will also be argued that the most significant factor that caused the French Revolution is the ineffective leadership of King Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette.
Their desperation led them to action. They overtook the largest fortress in France, the Bastille, in search of weapons. Members of the Bourgeoisie had formed the National Assembly three weeks prior to the storming of the Bastille to begin to address the grievances of the peasants (Dabney). On August 4, the National Assembly met in Paris, and, with one enthusiastic fell swoop, they agreed to abolish the feudal system forever, thus gaining the support of the mob. “The Decree of the National Assembly Abolishing the Feudal System” created equality between the nobility and citizens, ended the Church’s authority over the state, and pledged to work with King Louis XVI to rectify the injustices of the people.
“Society was cut in two: those who had nothing united in common envy; those who had anything united in common terror.” The French Revolution was a painful era that molded the lives of every citizen living in France and changed their ways of life forever. Beginning in 1789 and lasting ten years until 1799, the people of France lived in a monarch society under King Louis XVI’s rule. He was a very harsh ruler and had many restrictions placed on his people. They eventually overthrow him and become a monarch society. Among his deceptive ways, the people also experienced “The Reign of Terror,” which was a period where many lives were taken by the guillotine. Other revolutionary events included rebellions, constitutions, and groups. One of the popular groups that contributed greatly to the French Revolution were the Jacobins who were led by Maximilien Robespierre.
The French Revolution had many causes. According to the historian, French people revolted because they were, “intelligent, free, and prosperous to be critical of the existing conditions.” In other words, this historian is saying that the people of France knew what was going on in their country. I agree with this historian and this quote. There were conditions that existed in France the people were aware of. The ideas of the Enlightenment, social classes, and tax system contributed to the French Revolution. The French Revolution was based mostly on the Third Estate’s desire to obtain liberty and equality.