Background to the Revolution:
In order to understand the origins of the French Revolution, it is important to first understand what in fact a revolution is and the two main factors which trigger it. A revolution is primarily any change that takes place in the socio-economic and political setup of a country or society, over a relatively short period of time. According to Karl Marx, the nature of a state is simple. It is, he said, ‘but a committee for managing the whole affairs of the bourgeoisie.’ This is, in essence, a very apt description of the events that transpired in France during the years 1789-1799. France at the time of the late seventeenth century was characterized by aristocracy and a deteriorating class of French peasants who were …show more content…
1) Social Causes
France during the seventeenth century was divided into three main ‘estates’. The first two estates consisted of the clergy and nobles while the third consisted of the commoners. The privileges of the clergy dated back to the medieval times when the Church was considered to be the ‘guardian of the souls of the people’ and therefore, in lieu of this spiritual service, the clergymen were granted a number of large estates and the Church owned a great deal of landed property. As a result of these privileges, the clergy and the nobles often found common cause with one another in both social and political matters and all attempts to impose taxes on them were resisted. The clergy too enjoyed a number of privileges. They were a hereditary caste who owned large castles and forced the masses to treat them with respect. Moreover, they monopolized trade and commerce, were rich, and lived in great style. Believing themselves to be a superior class, they perpetrated all sorts of atrocities on the peasants who could not even appeal to the nobles against them and so the gap between the nobles and the masses began to grow steadily. The peasants on the other hand were subjected to triple taxation and were forced to encounter a number of indignities and for the slightest show of disrespect, severe punishments …show more content…
While France was passing through a financial crisis, Marie Antoinette, the King’s wife, was extravagant and unsympathetic towards the French people. She continued to spend lavishly upon her own desires and took no notice of the miseries that the common man was forced to face. Therefore, in short, the monarchy was incompetent, corrupt and unable to solve the growing financial as well as the growing food crisis in the country. Thus, allowing the political condition to drift and deteriorate. Moreover, France was also characterized by a centralized government where everything and anything was decided by the council of Versailles which hardly had any time to devote to the affairs of the state. As a result, there was a great deal of confusion and effective action was rarely taken. To make matters even worse, there was no national institution to represent the views and feelings of the people, nor to help the monarchy in passing laws and resolutions on matters such as taxation. Although there was a medieval institution known as the Estates General, this had not met since 1614 and therefore did not possess the necessary power to legislate laws and taxes. An ancient rule of the Estates General also restricted any input of the third estate which was allowed only one
In order to understand the origins of the French Revolution, it is important to first understand what in fact a revolution is and the two main factors which trigger it. A revolution is primarily any change that takes place in the socio-economic and political setup of a country or society, over a relatively short period of time. According to Karl Marx, the nature of a state is simple. It is, he said, ‘but a committee for managing the whole affairs of the bourgeoisie.’ This is, in essence, a very apt description of the events that transpired in France during the years 1789-1799. France at the time of the late seventeenth century was characterized by aristocracy and a deteriorating class of French peasants who were …show more content…
1) Social Causes
France during the seventeenth century was divided into three main ‘estates’. The first two estates consisted of the clergy and nobles while the third consisted of the commoners. The privileges of the clergy dated back to the medieval times when the Church was considered to be the ‘guardian of the souls of the people’ and therefore, in lieu of this spiritual service, the clergymen were granted a number of large estates and the Church owned a great deal of landed property. As a result of these privileges, the clergy and the nobles often found common cause with one another in both social and political matters and all attempts to impose taxes on them were resisted. The clergy too enjoyed a number of privileges. They were a hereditary caste who owned large castles and forced the masses to treat them with respect. Moreover, they monopolized trade and commerce, were rich, and lived in great style. Believing themselves to be a superior class, they perpetrated all sorts of atrocities on the peasants who could not even appeal to the nobles against them and so the gap between the nobles and the masses began to grow steadily. The peasants on the other hand were subjected to triple taxation and were forced to encounter a number of indignities and for the slightest show of disrespect, severe punishments …show more content…
While France was passing through a financial crisis, Marie Antoinette, the King’s wife, was extravagant and unsympathetic towards the French people. She continued to spend lavishly upon her own desires and took no notice of the miseries that the common man was forced to face. Therefore, in short, the monarchy was incompetent, corrupt and unable to solve the growing financial as well as the growing food crisis in the country. Thus, allowing the political condition to drift and deteriorate. Moreover, France was also characterized by a centralized government where everything and anything was decided by the council of Versailles which hardly had any time to devote to the affairs of the state. As a result, there was a great deal of confusion and effective action was rarely taken. To make matters even worse, there was no national institution to represent the views and feelings of the people, nor to help the monarchy in passing laws and resolutions on matters such as taxation. Although there was a medieval institution known as the Estates General, this had not met since 1614 and therefore did not possess the necessary power to legislate laws and taxes. An ancient rule of the Estates General also restricted any input of the third estate which was allowed only one