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Causes Of The French Revolution Dbq

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The French Revolution in 1789 was a time of vast change in France. Before the French Revolution, France was a monarchy under rule of King Louis XVI and was split into three Estates. As a result of the extravagant spendings of the king and queen, France was sent into debt. The King’s solution to the financial crisis, in addition to taxing the Third Estate, the king decided to tax the nobility to pay off France’s financial burdens. This new tax was questioned by the nobility, so they made King Louis hold the Estates General. After a couple meetings the King sided with the nobility and ended the meetings. As a result, the Third Estates wanted power and to be heard so they formed the National Assembly. The Nation Assembly took an oath vowing that …show more content…
The National Assembly decided to adopt some revolutionary ideals, and made the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen in 1789. In Doc. 4 the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen states, “The aim of every political association is the conservation of the natural rights of man; these rights are liberty, property, security, and resistance to oppression.” By the National Assembly making this historical document, it allowed the citizens of France to have a document that could protect their natural rights, one of them being liberty. Thought they failed to do this because in order to give one liberty free from restriction of authority, including political views. The French citizens did not have liberty when Maximilien Robespierre, a Jacobin leader, started gaining power. Him and his followers decided to wipe away any trace of France’s past. Although the National Assembly wanted to be free from the monarchy, they never took any large measures like Robespierre. Robespierre decided that the first step to wipe away France’s past was to kill any remaining monarch believers or those who challenged his leadership. This began Robespierre’s Reign of Terror. During his reign he believed in a republic of virtue. In Doc. 7 Robespierre says, “without which terror is baneful; terror without which virtue is powerless.” Robespierre’s Reign of Terror came to an end when he was condemned and …show more content…
Overall, the French Revolution achieved many of its goals. Although there were many failures when trying to obtain power, and the failure of obtaining liberty for the citizens of France. The French Revolution helped to provide equality of the Estates because of the new government. The French Revolution had also allowed the citizens to work out the issues that had been seen or already found in society. Moreover, even though there was failures and successes the French Revolution had achieved most of the main goals of liberty, equality, and

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