Which would make an effective thesis for an essay on the cause of the French Revolution ?
Answers
The causes of the French Revolution can be attributed to several intertwining factors:
Cultural: The Enlightenment philosophy desacralized the authority of the monarchy and the Catholic Church, and promoted a new society based on reason instead of traditions.
Social: The emergence of an influential bourgeoisie which was formally part of the Third Estate (commoners) but had evolved into a caste with its own agenda and aspired to political equality with the clergy (First Estate) and the aristocracy (Second Estate).
Financial: France's debt, aggravated by French involvement in the American Revolution, led Louis XVI to implement new taxations and to reduce privileges.
Political: Louis XVI faced strong opposition from provincial parlements which were the spearheads of the privileged classes' resistance to royal reforms.
Economic: The deregulation of the grain market, advocated by liberal economists, resulted in an increase in bread prices. In periods of bad harvests, it would lead to food scarcity which would prompt the masses to revolt.
All these factors created a revolutionary atmosphere and a tricky situation for Louis XVI. In order to resolve the crisis, the king summoned the Estates-General in May 1789 and, as it came to an impasse, the representatives of the Third Estates formed a National Assembly, against the wishes of the king, signaling the outbreak of the French Revolution.
The french revolution was the event of great importance in the world history.It perused certain goals and even achieved some of them.
There was absolute monarchy reigning in France in the XVIII century. The power was concentrated in hands of the First and Second Estate, while the Third Estate did not have enough influence to participate in governing the country. Such a situation led to the discontent of middle, lower and working class that wanted to be heard. Consequently, the French Revolution of 1789-1799 pursued the following goals: reaching justice and equality in society, limiting power of the monarchy and aristocracy, extending influence of the lower class, creating a constitution. Not all the goals were achieved but there was a great success on the way to reaching them.
King Louis XVI was forced to provide the Third Estate with power and influence by the storm of Bastille. Bastille is the largest and the most famous French prison, which had been a symbol of suppression of lower classes for ages. A group of commoners dared storm the prison on 14th of July in 1789. This event provided the Third Estate with more power.
However, freedom and equality were not reached. The Third Estate developed and introduced the Civil Constitution, which appeared quite radical, providing the lower class with rights and freedom and limiting influence of monarchy and aristocracy. This means that the French Revolution succeeded in getting rights and relative freedom for the lower class but it did not reach the whole goal. For example, freedom for slavery in French colonies led to a disaster because slaves did not know what to do when they got this freedom.
Despite of all the achievements, the French Revolution gradually failed. The Third Estate, which was named the National Assembly, tried to protect the ideas of revolution and to save own power by pursuing people, who criticized the revolt, sentencing them to prisons and to death. This led to mistrust and disappointment of the lower class.
To sum up, the French Revolution was not successful at reaching all the goals but it was a great step to creating a democratic society, which influenced history of the whole humanity.