Most Important Factors In The French Revolution example essay topic

On 4th of May 1789 the French king, Louis XVI, called the Estates General, in an attempt to rescue France's ailing fortunes. This set the ball rolling down the road to revolution. The causes of the revolution had not appeared over night but were the result of many years of poor governing. This was the last straw, and on the 14th of July the patience of the Parisian workers hit boiling point and the Bastille was stormed, it was demolished brick by brick, around the country other peasants had had enough and were also revolting, this marked the beginning of the French revolution. By the end of the revolution France would emerge as a democracy, run by the people, for people, and the feudal system would have been abolished.

Nobles would have been stripped of their powers and privileges, and the king would have been beheaded. Long-term political woes played a part in the French revolution. In France before 1789 the system of government was an absolute monarchy and the French people were encouraged to believe that the king was all-powerful. This system was not in itself a cause for revolution, and there is not much evidence that the French had a problem with the system, but absolute monarchy relies on a strong monarch. Louis XIV was a strong king and promoted growth in manufacturing in France, making it the envy of Europe, but his successors, Louis XV and Louis XVI were not strong governors. Both took part in long costly wars and suffered brutal defeats, for example the French army was crushed by the Prussians, and also the Seven Years War against Britain (1756-63).

This system of government particularly began to show weakness in the run up to 1789, French farmers suffered a series of awful harvests, and the country had acquired huge debts to foreign creditors, this drove the King to increase taxes on the poor and to have to cut spending which angered peasants. Intellectual causes were a factor in the French revolution. France sent soldiers to fight in the American war of independence to get back at the British after losing the Seven Years War, this may have worked against France though because thought the British were defeated, many French soldiers cam back talking of the wonders of democracy and the freedoms it brought. Many of theses soldiers may have wondered why they were fighting in another country for freedoms they did not have in their own. Again I do not think that this was one of the principal causes of the revolution because the soldiers fighting were not from the 3rd estate, but most of the people who revolted were.

I think that it was more an example of what a revolution could achieve, and set a framework for any possible revolution. Most importantly it put the ideas of revolution into the minds of French people, who would probably have had no idea of how else a country could be run. Social causes were one of the most important factors in the French revolution. The poor were angry because they were being forced to pay ridiculous amounts of tax, while the rich were not asked to pay anything at all.

Also the middle classes, or beurgoise, were becoming angry because they had more and more wealth but absolutely no power. Essentially both the middle classes and the peasants / working classes were looking out for their own interests but the aims were similar. I think that social causes were one of the most important factors in the French revolution because the peasants were angered so greatly by the gross unfairness that existed in French society and that drove them to revolt and form a democracy. Social causes also helped ensure enduring change because the French peasants and to and extent the middle classes wanted to make sure that power would stay in the hands of the people rather than just go to another dictator. One of the other main factors in the French revolution was long-term economic causes.

Peasants were being forced to pay more and more in feudal dues, in a bid to free France of its debts, but they were earning less and less as greedy factory owners and land owners cut wages, this meant that peasants had less and less money. Between August 1788 and July 1789 peasants went from spending just 50% of their income on bread (the French staple food) to spending 75% of it on bread. This was one of the principal causes of the French revolution because for many it was a question of where the next meal was coming from, they did not have any long term vision but were driven to revolution by the severity of the situation. The revolution did benefit the poor, but the poorest, while not having to pay any taxes, where denied the right to vote, they were referred to as passive citizens. I think that if the situation had not been so dire, and people were not starving, the revolution may not have happened. One of the short-term triggers of the French revolution was the economic slump in France.

For the years preceding 1789 France had a series of poor harvests, which, combined with the long-term economic weakness, made the situation desperate for many peasants, not only were waging being reduced and taxes increased, but the price of bread was increasing. This affected every one, even those who may have been un-affected by the long term economic problems, both self-sufficient farmers and town workers were affected by the poor harvests. It also led to a reduction in the exportation of products like silk in those years, which meant France found it even harder to repay debts and so increased taxes, in a vicious circle. I think that this was an important trigger because it pushed many over the edge. It was the last straw and left the country balancing on a knife edge.

The other main short-term trigger was the calling of the Estates General. On 4th of May 1789 Louis XVI called together representatives of the three estates, the nobles, the clergy and the proletariat, in a final-ditch attempt to avoid a conflict. In the run-up to the summit people were asked to write complaints they had, this led people to complain about all sorts of things, in fact every thing that they could remember being bad was put down, this gave the king a ridiculously long complaint list which was of little use. Nobody in France would have been alive when the last Estates General had been called over a century earlier and this may have led to grossly inflated expectations of what it would achieve, this was not helped by the fact that people had been encouraged to believe that the king had been chosen by god and so was all-powerful. The calling of the Estates General also, unfortunately, coincided with the death of Louis's son. Louis was not particularly focused and failed to propose any major reforms which left the first and third estates with a bitter taste in the mouth.

Following the calling of the Estates General the 1st and 3rd Estates decided to band together and set up the National Assembly. The members of the National Assembly swore a famous oath not to disband until they had achieved their aims. I think that the calling of the Estates General and the forming of the National Assembly dictated when the revolution took place, but without the other causes would have been unlikely to lead to a revolution. I think that while all the causes where important, the long-term economic and social causes were the most influential, because they infuriated the peasants.

They made the situation seem desperately unfair to the poor. I think that the social causes were also important because they roped the middle classes into the revolution, and because the middle classes were often better educated than the proletariat and were able to put ideas of revolution into their heads. I think that the intellectual and political causes were less important because many generations had lived under feudal systems in France and other countries for eons without revolting, and only a handful of the French people would have seen the benefits of democracy in America. I think that of the short term triggers the economic slump was the most influential because it compounded existing problems and drove the proletariat to desperation.

I think that the calling of the Estates General and the forming of the National Assembly decided when the revolution happened and so were also very influential.