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¶ … French Revolution was the consequence of four interrelated issues. These were France's financial condition, social class tension, inept monarchy, and the Enlightenment. It resulted from the convergence of France's poor economy, social injustice, inept monarch, and enlightened thinking. However, there may have been no revolution if there was social justice.
A person was born into one of three classes (or estates) in pre-Revolution French society. The first and second estates were the aristocracy and the clergy. The third estate, which comprised most of the population, was the middle class (bourgeoisie) and the peasants. The first and second estates were exempt from taxes. The entire burden of state rested squarely on the bourgeoisie and the peasants. The first and second estates, numbering 300,000 owned three-fifths of the land, in a country with 25 million citizens. The third estate was collapsing under their unjust tax burden.
In addition to their...
They were further aggrieved by their inability to criticize the government and their lack of religious freedom.
The injustice of the class system in France is closely related to the economic causes of the revolution. At that time, half of the monarchy's income was paid out for interest on their huge debt. The imprudent policy of taxing only the third estate and the monarchy's enormous and foolhardy expenditures ultimately bankrupted the government.
In 1788, bad weather plagued the countryside. Crops were ruined and famine further assaulted the poor. Winter of the following year was even more severe and it had devastating results. Peasants moved to the city, but they remained jobless and penniless. Mobs of unemployed people formed in the cities demanding food and jobs.
At the same time, French soldiers…
Kant, Immanuel. "What Is the Enlightenment?" (1784): Web. . These are excerpts from journal entries and speeches by Immanuel Kant. He was a renowned German Philosopher, and he was commonly known as being the first to make use of the word enlightenment. During the enlightenment period, he was among the many innovational thinkers. These excerpts will assist in providing brief descriptions of the enlightenment period, as it was a formidable historical
French Revolution and its Enlightenment ideas about nationalism, universal rights and equal citizenship for all was extremely influential at the time it occurred, and was widely studied and imitated afterwards. Liberals and radicals in Europe, and increasingly the rest of the world, always recognized that the French Revolution was somehow uniquely theirs, especially in its attempt to end feudalism, state-supported churches, and the entrenched privileges of monarchs and aristocracies. It
The bourgeoisie was about to grow as commerce increased and the industrial revolution had a larger and larger influence. Appreciation of the individual was a far stronger trend in the French Revolution than class (Furet, 1989). Instead of class struggle and growing communist ideas, the French Revolution was arguably most influenced by the Enlightenment, particularly as expressed by Rousseau (Censer, 2003). Some historians view industry and commerce as being the
The Analysis However, it is the not past this point that this study needs to go, rather it is at this point that we need to stop and take into analyze the information that is cited here, and to see if that analysis takes us in other directions. There is really very little detailed information about the discussions and debate that might have surrounded the creation of the Civil Constitution of
French Revolution was the greatest revolution of the 18th century. It was the revolution that started the modern era of politics and had its origins in the financial problems of the government. In the 1770s and 1780s, a protracted war with England left the government of France depleted of money. France's national debt was high and bankruptcy and increased tax rates became inevitable. "The government's yearly income from taxation and other
French Revolution An Analysis of the Radical Phase of the French Revolution The French Revolution was almost extinguished in 1792. The economic reforms prompted by the Cahier of the Third Estate of Dourdan (29 March 1789) had only appeared to benefit the middle and upper classes of the Third Estate. Meanwhile, fearing the spread of revolt throughout all Europe, Prussian and Austrian forces were marching towards Paris to cut it off at