During the late 1700’s, the citizens of the Third Estate in France suffered from a severe economic crisis caused by deficit spending, failed harvests which led to famine, and tax inequality across the three estates. In June of 1789, the poor, hungry citizens of France rose up in revolution against the monarchy and overthrew the king’s rule in pursuit of a constitutional government. While the eventual arrival of the Age of Napoleon brought relative peace in France, his rule strayed from the constitutional monarchy the revolution demanded for. For this reason, many have argued on whether or not the French Revolution truly succeeded in achieving its goals; however, evidence suggests it was much more unsuccessful than it was successful. The French
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Though there were many key causes of the French Revolution, replacing the absolute monarchy with a constitutional monarchy was arguably the main goal of their revolt. One of the statements from the Declaration of Rights of Man decrees that a government or social order where “guarantees of rights are not assured nor the separation of powers determined has no constitution” (Doc. 7, ...). Just as the French Revolution was first developing, it was already established how one of the main goals for the Third Estate would be to ultimately live under a constitution. Everyone involved fought rigorously for this government system to be put into place, and for a few, small periods of time, they did succeed. However, by the revolution’s final stage, it was evident that keeping this form of government was unsuccessful. Napoleon forcefully took power over France by overthrowing the Directory, crowning himself as an emperor with absolute power. Evidently, “1799 brought in a dictatorship” with Napoleon taking the throne with no intention of dividing power between him and the government (Doc. C, French Revolution Documents). By the time the French Revolution was brought to an end, the constitution the National Assembly attempted to implement became excluded from the government. With no constitution and one person on the throne, holding all of the power for his own, France had ended up back where they began, proving their efforts were ultimately futile. The lack of a constitutional monarchy and the presence of another absolute power contributes to the French Revolution’s overall
Though there were many key causes of the French Revolution, replacing the absolute monarchy with a constitutional monarchy was arguably the main goal of their revolt. One of the statements from the Declaration of Rights of Man decrees that a government or social order where “guarantees of rights are not assured nor the separation of powers determined has no constitution” (Doc. 7, ...). Just as the French Revolution was first developing, it was already established how one of the main goals for the Third Estate would be to ultimately live under a constitution. Everyone involved fought rigorously for this government system to be put into place, and for a few, small periods of time, they did succeed. However, by the revolution’s final stage, it was evident that keeping this form of government was unsuccessful. Napoleon forcefully took power over France by overthrowing the Directory, crowning himself as an emperor with absolute power. Evidently, “1799 brought in a dictatorship” with Napoleon taking the throne with no intention of dividing power between him and the government (Doc. C, French Revolution Documents). By the time the French Revolution was brought to an end, the constitution the National Assembly attempted to implement became excluded from the government. With no constitution and one person on the throne, holding all of the power for his own, France had ended up back where they began, proving their efforts were ultimately futile. The lack of a constitutional monarchy and the presence of another absolute power contributes to the French Revolution’s overall