French Revolution

William Doyle and 'Origins of the French Revolution'

The French Revolution, which included the major transformation of the political system and the society of France, began in 1789. However, there were many hints of the reform to come in the years (even decades) prior to 1789. William Doyle outlines his thoughts regarding the events in his book titled "Origins of the French Revolution." Throughout his book, he refers to some of the factors leading to the revolution, including the struggle between a monarchy and the people, the financial problems facing France, the eventual breakdown of the Old Regime, and the American Revolution.

As Doyle discusses, the most common cause of the Revolution has always been interpreted as the rising of the middle class in France, the bourgeoisie. It has been said that the bourgeoisie overthrew the Old Regime in order to gain rights and freedoms they felt were being kept from them, while power and privilege were freely given to the other classes of the clergy and nobility. It would seem that their motivations were social and economical. The price of commonplace items in the marketplace such as bread had caused unrest among the poorer classes. In the 1770's, there was also a severe recession taking place in France as a result of the costly wars France had participated in, such as the American Revolution and the Austrian Succession. France also did not have a national bank or any kind of central treasury. In addition, the wealthier classes paid a significantly lower tax than the poorer classes. The revenue that was brought in by these taxes usually had to go to their outstanding debts. The government tended to spend more than they brought in, always leading to more loans as a country. All of these factors easily pointed to social unrest and economic downfall for the entire country.

Despite the obvious truths associated with the above theory, many scholars feel that the Revolution most likely occurred because of political factors. The monarchy of the French was coming into question, despite how successful the monarchy had been in defending France militarily and keeping things peaceful domestically as well. As Doyle discusses, the French citizens were angered by the unequal taxes and the overall rise in taxes. Other problems existed with the Monarchy as well, including the persecution of those who were in the minority regarding religious beliefs. This discontentment was coupled with the outdated ways of the court system. In fact, many who worked for the Old Regime were publicly unhappy with much of the legislation and decrees handed down by the King. The most public of these was the parlements, the thirteen regional royal courts led by the Parlement of Paris. The parlements were in charge of registering the royal decrees and often disagreed with those they thought would infringe upon the rights and civil liberties of the people. They distributed publications that denounced the entire monarchy for their imposition of new taxes and for forcing their religious views into the government.

Doyle brings up that reform was attempted financially before the Revolution began in 1789, whose failed attempts might have been what pushed normally non-violent citizens to have to take matters into their own hands.

Restrictions on grain sales were lifted in the hopes that the sales and eventually government revenue would increase.

Between 1777 and 1781, the treasury system was reformed in the hopes of restoring some faith in the system, but most of the reforms were reversed due to pressure from different financial groups. The government was forced to keep borrowing money at high interest rates despite these "reforms" through the 1780's. In 1786, the new minister of finance proposed a similar plan to the first, asking for floating loans to cover expenses, to revoke some tax exemptions, remove even more grain restrictions and replacement of several taxes with updated ones. The plan was never approved because of a lack of support and eventually dismissed. Parlements were eventually abolished as well, with the restructuring of the judicial system. These actions led to the violent reaction of many of the people. The idea of despotism, or the oppression of a people by an arbitrary ruler was gaining momentum in France, leading most citizens to perceive activities of officials as shady. When the King got rid of what some considered their "voice" (Parlements), the reaction was strong. They called for a meeting of the Estates-General, which was representatives of the three social classes, or the clergy, nobility and commoners.