summary of the outbreak of the french revolution
Answers
Louis 16 was an autocratic ruler who couldn't give up his luxurious life. He led a very luxurious life. He was called the throne of France. He married the princess of Austria, Marie Antionette. The royal treasury was empty as the war drained a lot of financial resources and the people who gave credits for the war began charging high interests. The maintance of the palace Versailles also drained a lot of money. The french society was divided into three estates where the third estate had to pay state taxes.
Answer:
1. Political causes
a. Louis XVI came to power in 1774 at the age of 20.
b. Long years of war had drained the financial resources of France. So the French treasury was empty.
c. LouisXVI helped the thirteen American colonies to gain theirindependence .
d. moneylenders who began to charge 10% interest.
e. To meet its regular expenses, such as the cost of maintainingan army, the court, running gov. offices , the ruler was forced to increase taxes.
2. Social causes
a. French society in the eighteenth century was divided into three estates- Clergy, Nobility and Common People.(I, II and III Estates)
b. Clergy and Nobility were 10% of the population but possessed 60% of lands. III Estate was 90% of the population but possessed 40% of the lands.
c. Clergy and Nobility enjoyed many privileges based on birth. The church collected taxes from people.
d. They were exempted from paying taxes. Nobles collected feudal dues from III Estate people.
e. Peasants were obliged to render services to the Clergy and Nobility to work in their houses, fields, servein the army or to participate in building roads.
3. Economic causes
a. The population of France rose from 23 million to 28 million in 1789.
b. This led to rapid increase in the demand forfood grains.
c. Production of grains was less because drought or hail reduced the harvest.
d. Most workers were employed as labourers in workshops. Owners of the workshopsdid not increase the wages of workers.
e. This led to a subsistence crisis which occurred frequently in France.
4. Growth of Middle Class and influence from USA
a. The eighteenth century witnessed the emergence of social groups, termed the middle class, who earned their wealth through trade and professions.
b. They were influenced by declaration of independence of the USA.
c. They were also influenced by fundamental rights given to the citizens of the USA.
d. All of these were educated and believed that no group in society should be privileged by birth
e. They also believed that French society should be based on freedom, equality and equal opportunities for all.
5. Role of Philosophers in the French Revolution
a. John Locke, in his book the Two Treatises of Government,
criticizedthe doctrine of the divine and absolute right of the monarch.
b. Jean Jacques Rousseau, in his book Social Contract proposed aform of gov. based on a social contract between peopleand their representatives.
c. Montesquieu in his bookThe Spirit of the Laws, proposed a division of power within the government betweenthe legislative, the executive and the judiciary.
d. The ideas of these philosophers were discussed intensively in salons and coffee-houses and spread among people through books andnewspapers. The news thatLouis XVI planned to impose further taxes generated anger and protest against the ruler and system.
Outbreak of the French revolution
Louis XVI called a meeting of the Estates General to pass his proposals to increase taxes. The Estates General was a political body to which the three estates sent their representatives. The first and second estates sent 300 representatives each and III estate sent 600 representatives. III estate representatives demanded individual voting right but king refused to grant so they walked out.
2. On 20 June they assembled in the hallof an indoor tennis court in the grounds of Versailles and declaredthemselves a National Assembly and swore not to disperse till theyhad drafted a constitution for France that would limit the powers ofthe monarch. Mirabeau,a noble and Abbé Sieyès,a priest joined with III estate representatives
3. While the National Assembly was busy at Versailles drafting a constitution, the rest of France was in tension.After spending hours in longqueues at the bakery, crowds of angry women stormed into theshops and looted the stock.
4. At the same time, the king ordered troops to move into Paris. People of Paris organized a militia and broke many buildings in search of weapons. On 14 July, the agitated crowd stormed and destroyed the Bastille.
5. In the countryside rumours spread from village to village that thelords of the manorhad hired bands of brigands who were on theirway to destroy the ripe crops. Common people attacked nobles’ houses, looted hoarded grain and burnt down documents containing records of manorial dues.