French_Revolution

The 1789 french revolution The 1789 French revolution was, to a certain extent, caused by the despotic ruling style of king Louis XVI. However, the 1789 revolution had multiple other reasons for its occurrence. Among the many catalysts for the beginning of the revolution, financial crisis, the innovative ideology known as the enlightenment and the war in America significantly influenced and contributed to the revolution and its success. Firstly, the despotic way in which king Louis ruled ultimately caused the french public to lose support for the french monarchy, and as a result conceptualize revolutionary ideas. Louis XVI made many decisions as a leader, most of which disregarded the well being of his people and separated him from them in a very distinct way. France was governed by Louie from a magnificent, thousand-room palace of Versailles, 18km outside of Paris. He rarely left his palace and made no effort to make contact with the people he was governing. Another reason for the common dislike of the king was his weak governing style and his spontaneous decision making. An example of this is Louis sealed letter policy. This policy involved the issuing of letters by the kings ministers for the exile or imprisonment of those addressed. This meant that the king or his ministers had the power to exile or imprison anybody that they wanted or needed to, sometimes for unnecessary reasons. As stated by H.R Cowie (Revolutions in the modern world, 1979, p. 15) “The country was ruled under personal despotism”. This quote clearly indicates and highlights Louis dictatorial ruling style and how it contributed to the 1789 french revolution. Although the despotic ruling of king Louis majorly fueled the beginning of the revolution, it was the development of new controversial and innovative ways of thinking which in the end resulted in the eruption of revolt. This new common ideology, known as the enlightenment, helped the middle class citizens of France, such as the bourgeoisie, believe that they could change their futures. The fundamental concept of the enlightenment was that human beings possessed freedom of thought, which was the most powerful gift of all. It was philosophers such as Voltaire, Montesquieu and Rousseau who encouraged the general turning point in thinking “freely”. Rousseau disagreed particularly with the way France was ruled, and it was Rousseau who specifically expressed that it was possible for the common mediocre man to rise into a dominant position of power, not because of birth or status, but because of his popularity and leadership qualities. These pioneers of the enlightenment led the way in this evolution of ideological intelligence. They encouraged concepts such as freedom of speech, and strongly discouraged the way king Louis ruled. Philosophers conveyed their ideas through publishing them using the newly invented printing press, the bourgeoisie and the quickly rising literate population. As described by historians Dylan Rees and Duncan Townson (France in Revolution, 2001, P.7) the teaching of theses philosophies “attacked all the assumptions on which the ancient regime rested.” From this quote it is easy to see that the enlightenment played a major role in the initiation of the 1789 french revolution. The Enlightenment contributed significantly to the want and need for revolution, however it was other issues such as the financial crisis that ultimately forced the outbreak of revolutionary desires. Finances were unacceptably chaotic and it was this that launched France into crisis. France was 161.5 million livres in debt in 1786, and debt continued to increase each year. The courts unrestrained spending, Marie Antoinette military mission to America and the interest which gathered from the general foreign debt situation launched France into an unstoppable spiral of debt. The other major financial issue was the issue of Frances unsatisfactory taxation system. The taxes at the time divided into two categories. Direct tax which was paid directly to the government and indirect tax which people paid whenever they bought goods. Then, as now Tax collectors who were assigned by the monarchy to collect taxes, didn't always return all tax money collected to the monarchy. They commonly collected the extra indirect tax, paid the standard lump sum to the monarchy and kept the rest of the money for their own personal use. The peasant community of France paid almost all of Frances taxes as the nobles and church associates were exempt from paying any taxes at all. Tax's were paid by the whole of the third estate. The third estate, being the poorer of all three estates, found it difficult to survive and make enough money to sustain themselves or their families. According to Rees and Townson (2001, p.16) “the most important of the immediate causes of the French revolution was the financial deficit being amassed by the state”. This clearly indicates that it was Frances crisis in finance which led to the demise of the social system leading to revolution. The financial crisis alongside with King Louis Despotic ruling style and the Enlightenment clearly caused the revolution in France during 1789. However, the American revolution played a key role in the inspiration for the french revolution also. In 1774 thirteen nations in north America joined to break free from the British empire. Many french troops were sent over to America by King Louis to Aid in the overthrow of the British Republic. On return the french public discovered the new found concept of revolt however the philosophies and concepts such as the enlightenment were only ideas which were circulating society. The revolution in America confirmed that these theories of revolution were possible, however the french at first wished to achieve the revolution peacefully. After the American revolt was seen as successful in using weaponry and violence the french realized that military force was necessary in order to remove power from the monarchy and end King Louis ruling successfully. As Cowie (1979, p.15) Suggests “[t]his successful revolution was the first practical rejection of the 'old order' in European politics – the breakthrough in the struggle against privilege and traditions.” This quote clearly indicates that without the contribution of the American revolution the French revolution may have never been conceptualized let alone successful. It was this revolution which encouraged the french that such a feet was possible All in all it is obvious that all of these factors contributed majorly to the revolution in 1789. Those major causes were the despotic ruling of king Louis the sixteenth as it inspired the demise of Frances respect for the monarchy, the enlightenment as it encouraged a new ideology thus changing the way french society felt, the financial crisis because it destroyed the quality of society, and the American revolution because it encouraged the final push of determination which contributed to a successful revolution in France. Bibliography: H.R. Cowie, Y. 1979, Revolutions in the modern world, Thomas Nelson Australia, South Melbourne. Dylan Rees and Duncan Townson, Y. 2001, France in Revolution, Bookpoint Ltd, Hodder and Stoughtoun Educational. Gregory Fremont-Barnes, Y 2004, The French Revolutionary wars, Osprey. Author Unknown, 2011, purple booklet.