French_Revolution

Introduction The French Revolution was an important event that altered the history of France for all time. It was a time of political and social mayhem and revolutionary change in France. The French governmental structure underwent on a radical change for the single monarchy with a system of benefits for the aristocracy and Catholic clergy to a new system based on the Enlightenment principles such as citizenship and inalienable rights. The effects to these modifications were vast bloodshed, upheaval in France, and raging war with the other European powers of that time. All these events took place to shape a new modern day France. 1 Causes of the French Revolution Many historians question the grounds of the revolution. The majority agree as to the events that led to the Revolution, but oppose as to the relative significance. There are many different critical factors that lead to what is known as The French Revolution which began in 1789. France at the time was in economical and social anguish under the ruling of King Louis XVI, and the load came mainly upon the productive classes. Since King Louis XVI had basically destroyed the roots of feudalism, by consolidating absolute monarchy which made outward feudal forms very problematical. Malnutrition and famine was a great factor to the Revolution; due to the extreme price of bread and other products it caused disease and hunger in France. One of the greatest well thought-out factors that lead to the Revolution was the financial condition of France. King Louis XVI fought many wars, The American Revolution in particular and he carelessly spent a lot of money bringing France to the brink of bankruptcy which in turn caused a heavy taxation on the lower classes. The country of France was in great disorder due to these unfortunate events over time. Economic conditions seem to have been even more important. Poverty grew and the economic failure of the monarchy irritated the situation. A few more factors such as the rising of economic significance of the bourgeoisie and their desire for political power, and the Enlightenment which had raised risky new ideas about liberty and equality all contributed to the rising of thee economic conditions. Had France's economy been stronger and had the peasantry and urban poor not been dealing with such economic privations the debates of the Enlightenment might have stayed in the salons of Paris. 2 Passing from the Estate General to the National Assembly On May 5th, 1789 the gathering of the Estates General took place at Versailles to deal with France's financial crisis, but promptly fell to squabbling over its own structure.The assembly included a group of representatives from three estates, The 1st Estate, which was made up of clergy of Roman Catholics the 2nd Estate was made up of rich nobles, and the 3rd Estate was made up of urban lower class and peasant farmers which had the power to influence the government. On the day of May 5, 1789 when the meeting took place they were informed that all the voting that would take place would be done only by estates not by head, so their double representation was to be meaningless in terms of power. Of course they refused this and continued meeting separately. Immediately following the meeting the representatives of the 3rd Estate began to meet on their own, calling themselves the Communes and continued with their "verification of powers" independently. From June 13 to June 17 they began to be joined by some of the nobles and the majority of the clergy and other people such as the peasants. On the day of June 17 and after some controversy over the name, this Estate made it known that National Assembly which was said to be an assembly not of the Estates but composed of "the People" was set. They invited the other orders to join them, but made it abundantly clear that they were going to conduct the nation's affairs with or without them. This newly formed assembly quickly clung itself to the capitalists which were the main sources of the credit needed to fund the national debt and help the common people. They began to maintain the public debt and made it known that all existing taxes have been illegally imposed. This action renewed the confidence of the capitalists and gave them a very strong interest in keeping the Assembly in session. As for the common everyday people, the Assembly established a committee of subsistence to deal with all the food shortages that was taking place all over the country. 3 The Role of the Monarchy The role of the Monarchy in France around 1789 was known to be at least in theory, an absolute monarchy which was an increasingly unpopular form of government at that time. The king's ability to act on his absolute power with the help of the nobility and the clergy made it what is was. Similarly, the peasants covetously eyed the relatively greater prerogatives of the townspeople. The large and growing middle class -- and some of the nobility and of the working class -- had absorbed the ideology of equality and freedom of the individual, brought about by such philosophers as Voltaire, Denis Diderot, Turgot, and other theorists of the Enlightenment. Furthermore, they had the example of the American Revolution showing that that it was plausible that Enlightenment ideals about governmental organization might be put into practice. They attacked the undemocratic nature of the government, pushed for freedom of speech, and challenged the Catholic Church and the prerogatives of the nobles. 4 Fear of Peasantry bringing about the mass uprising Fear of peasantry binging about mass uprising was also known as the The Great Fear. This event during the French Revolution occurred from July 20 to August 5, 1789. Rural disorder had been present in France since the worsening grain shortage of the spring, and the grain supplies were now guarded by local militias as rumors that bands of armed men were roaming the countryside in hundreds. The fearful peasants reacted by arming themselves in order to be able to defend themselves. In many other areas, peasants attacked many of the manor houses. The rumors that were spread throughout the county differed from region to region, in some areas it was believed that foreign forces were burning the crops in the fields while in other areas it was believed that bandits were burning buildings. Because they were in fear that the peasant would revolt a decision was made on that night to abolish feudalism. 5 The varying roles of institutions within the French Revolution The French Revolution produced many powerful insurrections in Paris between 1789 and 1794. Those massive explosions of political displeasure were by no means unplanned, spur-of-the-moment affairs. An enormous deal of association was necessary to give them shape and focus. The political organizations that could assemble the power of the sans-culottes, call them into the streets, and give them political direction were essential to the revolutionary process. During the year 1789 when the power of the French monarchy began to fall apart, the people of Paris suddenly exercised the right of free association by forming political groupings of their own choosing. The best known of these was the Jacobin Club, The Jacobin Club better known as The Society of the Friends of the Constitution in Paris came to debate the very strong issues of the day, they listened to the most popular leaders and cheered and hissed. This organization put a high amount pressure on the elected deputies in the National Assembly and they also mobilized the public opinion and acted as a main focal point to channel dissatisfaction. There were several other political groups that rose to fame during the Revolution such as, The Cordeliers, Feuillants, Girondins, Montagnards, Enragés, Dantonists, and Hebertists, but none of them were as popular as the Jacobin Club. 6 Attack by external power Due to all the turmoil going on in France the politics of the period unavoidably drove France towards war with Austria and its allies. The King, the Feuillants and the Girondins specifically wanted to wage war. The King"s thoughts at that time along with many of the Feuillants with him anticipated that a war would increase his personal popularity and give him a chance or opportunity to exploit any defeat others, in the end their train of thought lead them to believe that this action would make him stronger. The Girondins wanted to export the Revolution throughout Europe and only a few of the radical Jacobins opposed war, wanting to secure and expand the revolution at home. War with Austria/Prussia The time came when France declared war on Austria. On April 20, 1792it all began, sadly the French armies lacked organization and discipline, and many noble officers left the country. The allied Austrian and Prussian forces under the rule of Charles William Ferdinand, duke of Brunswick, rapidly crossed the frontier and began to march on Paris. At this time the duke issued a manifesto shocking and threatening them that he would raze Paris should the royal family be harmed. This manifesto infuriated the French and contributed to the deferment of the king in August of 1792. 7 The end of the revolution In time and when the Revolutionary Wars increasingly went against France, and as regions became more and more angry at the attacks on the church the revolution became extremely radicalized and the National Convention created a Committee of Public Safety to run France in 1793. After a fight between political factions called the Girondins and the Montagnads was won the bloody measures called The Terror began. This was when when over 16,000 people were killed in extreme ways. Still during the year of 1794 the revolution again changed, this time turning against the Terror and Robespierre. The Terrorists were detached in a coup and a new constitution was drawn up and created by five men. This constitution remained in power thanks to rigging elections and eradication. A few years later and thanks to the army and a general called Napoleon Bonaparte, a new constitution was created in 1799 which designated three consuls to rule France. Because Bonaparte was the first consul and he managed to bring the revolutionary wars to an end he eventually declared himself consul for life. In the year 1804 Napoleon Bonaparte crowned himself Emperor of France and the revolution was over and a new empire had begun. 8 CONCLUSION The outcome of the French Revolution, helped ensure the power of the people. It also helped strengthen the democracy. Citizens went through hard times, where the government was bounced around from constitutional to democratically; in the end they came supporting each other. All of these events helped the democracy by giving the people a chance to speak out and be heard. Even though, some of the occurrences didn’t help directly, in the long run it was a big step near the government we have right now.