The causes of the French Revolution are many. Here is a simple summary of some of the circumstances behind the revolving event.
Causes of the French Revolutions
The French state needed money
At the end of the 18th century, France was Europe’s strongest state and most populous country with about 25 million inhabitants. But the wars, mainly the Seven Years War and the American War of Independence , in which France had participated in the second half of the 18th century, have cost the state enormous sums of money.
The flag’s three color fields symbolize freedom, equality and brotherhood.
Painting by Léon Cogniet (1794-1880).
To be able to fill the empty treasure chests sounded the French nske King Louis XVI to increase taxes for the third estate consisted of peasants and burghers , which together accounted for 98 percent of the country’s population . The other two estates, the nobility and the priesthood, were completely exempt from paying taxes. Since most of the country’s capital was owned by the first two estates, especially by the nobility, the king had to find ways other than taxation that could give money to the state.
The king gives the nobility more power
The old feudal nobility had once been a powerful power factor in the kingdom. But the group had long since weakened militarily, economically and politically. Since the Treasury was in dire need of replenishment, the nobility was given the opportunity to regain much of the power they lost. The royal power therefore allowed the nobility to buy offices, privileges and land in order to make payments on France’s large national debt.
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The sale of state property and powers of power to the aristocracy meant that the king’s position of power was undermined and weakened against the nobility and clergy. Louis XVI, however, was not so interested in ruling. In his subsequent history writing, he has often been portrayed as a weak and slightly skinny king who would rather devote himself to luxurious court life and hunting than to rule his kingdom.
Birth of Nationalism, History of French Revolution
An unforeseen and unplanned result of the French revolution was that the desire to rebel against the old order L’ancien regime spread with Napoleon’s armies to countries other than France. All over Europe, people began to become aware that they belonged to a nation and a people and were prepared to fight for their new-found ideals. This certainly contributed to the enlightenment of the possibilities of the free citizen.
They gathered around the declarations of the revolution: freedom, equality and fraternity and the declaration of human rights and around new national symbols such as flags and national songs ( Trikoloren and Marseljäsen ).
Slowly, the thoughts formed that all people who spoke the same language and who shared the same story and experience they belonged to a common people. Nationalism had seen its birth.
The popular dissatisfaction is spreading
Through the newly acquired offices, the nobility gained greater influence over the bureaucracy and the country’s courts, which resulted in the nobility being able to limit the strong royal power and prevent new reforms that could damage their own interests. The new positions of power also gave the nobility the opportunity to reintroduce old feudal rights, such as customs and ownership of mills and wine presses, as well as hunting and fishing rights.
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Large parts of the French peasant population were renters and thus had obligations to the nobility. As the kingdom sold land to the nobility, the number of peasants who became taxable to the nobility also increased. Many of the peasants were therefore severely affected by the increased tax burden of the nobility, which resulted in the “third state” soon perceiving the weakened royal power as an ally with the nobility and priesthood. The people’s dissatisfaction thus grew stronger.
Poverty and misery in the History of French Revolution
The people, i-e the remaining 98 percent of France’s population, had as their social duty to support the royal house, the aristocracy and the priests.
So it had been for over a thousand years …
As a result of the declining purchasing power of the population, the French industry suffered major closures. The industry was also harmed by the fact that the British industry was more efficient and sold its goods cheaper ( the industrial revolution had started in the UK ). This further aggravated the economic situation as many of the urban and rural workers became unemployed and ended up in poverty.
At the end of the 1780’s, France suffered from several years of growth which led to price increases, starvation and reduced farmers’ incomes. The dissatisfaction among the population now became more and more noticeable, which was expressed, among other things, in an open popular disgust at society’s injustices manifested in the noble lifestyle of the nobility and the royal court in Versailles with all its splendor, luxury and political power.
Paris had become a gunpowder and at the end of the 1780’s France stood on the brink of a revolution.
The people are making revolution
The French Revolution began in June 1789 by leaving the members of the Third State to the called Parliament, which was otherwise dominated by the first two States, and instead proclaimed itself the country’s National Assembly. The National Assembly abolished all the nobility’s privileges and instead proclaimed human rights : freedom, equality and fraternity.
On July 14, the Parisians stormed the old prison Bastille as part of their dissatisfaction with the ruling power .
The king, Louis XVI, initially held good mine, but then began to conspire with counter-revolutionaries both inside and outside the country.
The horror – the revolution is over
When war broke out in 1792 between France and neighboring countries, the political climate intensified. The royal family was imprisoned and many royal believers were killed. Under the revolutionary leaders Danton, Robespierre and Marat, the revolution was further radicalized. This time the king, as well as later the queen , Marie Antoinette was executed . Tens of thousands of real and imagined revolutionaries got rid of their heads in the guillotine . This horror was broken by a coup in 1794, which brought the revolution into a quieter period. With Napoleon Bonaparte’s seizure of power in 1799, the French Revolution was finally over.
The ideas of enlightenment gave the revolution its mentality
From an idea-historical perspective , it must also be added that the mentality embedded in the French Revolution was largely inspired by the political ideas of the Enlightenment . Above all, the idea of natural law that power should be based on the people; and the idea of human rights – that no man is worth more than anyone else.
The political consequences of the French Revolution
The revolution in France in 1789 was an event with immediate political consequences . The royal monarchy and the aristocratic standing society were abolished and replaced by a new social system that instead relied on the Enlightenment’s ideas of popular rule and equality before the law. In addition, the privileges of the nobility were abolished, which meant that society’s career paths were now open to all – merits became henceforth more important than burdens.
In connection with the Napoleonic Wars at the beginning of the 19th century, the ideas of the French Revolution spread throughout Europe. After that, it was not long before the old European standing community began to crack in the joints and be transformed to the new ideas. Against this background, the French Revolution can be seen as one of the most significant events in our world history.
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French Revolution for Kids
Useful Concept about French History Revolution
Revolution: A rapid or profound change, a complete transformation of a country’s political, economic and / or social system.
Reform: To reshape, improve. A change to a new and better state of society.
Radical: Someone who seeks major change.
Position: Community group, social strata, social class
Feudal: Structure in a society with marked supremacy and subordination.
Aristocracy: The highest and most powerful social stratum (upper class / nobility).
Privileges: Privileges , special benefits, benefits
Monarchy: A state of state in which public power is exercised by a monarchy ruler with absolute (complete) power , e.g. a dictatorship .
Capital: Assets in the form of e.g. money, real estate and ships.
Treasury: The state’s access to money.
Government debt: Money owed by the state to other countries or to individual organizations / actors.
Tax / taxation: A mandatory fee that companies and individuals pay to the state / government.
Office: Higher service, position, profession with powers of authority within the state.
Bureaucracy: A structure and set of rules created to govern a larger organization.
Lease: A lease is when e.g. a landlord allows someone to use land for compensation in the form of money, in kind or day labor.
Versailles: The castle where the royal family and court lived.
The Bastille: A fortress from the Middle Ages that in the 18th century was a prison. The Bastille was badly liked and stood during the revolution as a symbol of the old hateful feudal society.
National Assembly: Second Chamber of the French Parliament. Its most important task during the revolution was to abolish state privileges, noble titles, the national church and redeploy the royal army, and to adopt the constitution of 1791. It was the third state that declared itself the National Assembly. They had the goal of making France an equal society. The political right-left scale derives from the first National Assembly (1789-1791) when the revolutionaries sat to the left of the President’s table and the Conservatives to the right.
Constitution: The Constitution, or the Constitution (the constitution of the country), establishes the basic principles for how the country should be governed.
Louis XVI (1754-1793): King of France
Marie Antoinette (1755-1793): Queen of France
Counter-revolutionary: Person who worked against the revolution
Napoleon Bonaparte: French (from Corsica) officer who quickly climbed the ranks and later got crowned French emperor.
Nation: A collective of people united by common factors such as language, religion , ethnicity, lineage, history, culture, traditions, common governance and social norms. A state built around and associated with a nation is a nation state .
Nationalism: A worldview that takes its starting point in the community within the borders of nations. Nationalism pays homage to the nation, culture, history, and watch over the nation state and its interests. Anyone who confesses to nationalism is called a nationalist. Nationalism emerged in Europe during the 18th century and in the 19th century led to the creation of the nation states, as we know them today.
Interesting facts about the French Revolution
Did you know that:
- In 1789, when the French Revolution began, Louis XVI was king of France. Ludvig was a small, near-sighted and wily man. His main interests were food and hunting. Before he hunted, he could eat four chops for breakfast, one chicken, one plate of ham and six eggs in sauce. In addition, he drank one and a half bottles of champagne. Ludwig’s nearsightedness made it difficult for him to see the prey, but the peasants were instructed to push the animals in front of the chair the king was sitting in the woods.
- The Queen of France, Marie-Antoinette, was mainly interested in clothes, jewelry, parties and card games. She came from Austria and married at the age of 16 with Ludvig, who was then 19 years old.
- It was popular with large intricate wigs during the time of the French king Louis XVI. Some hairstyles were over half a meter high and decorated with bird nest or ship models. Some of Queen Marie-Antoinette’s wigs were so tall that she was forced to take off her wig when traveling in a covered wagon.
- On July 14, 1789, the people of Paris stormed the medieval fortress Bastille. The storming of the Bastille became a symbol of the people’s victory over the oppressors. Therefore, July 14 has become France’s national day.
- There were many rumors and horror stories about the Bastille and its terrible dungeons, but when the fortress was stormed, only seven well-behaved prisoners were found and none of them were imprisoned for political crimes. Four of the prisoners were counterfeiters. Two were insane, one of whom thought he was Julius Caesar .
- The physician Joseph Guillotin proposed in 1789 to introduce an execution instrument that was more humane for both the sentenced and the executioner. Earlier, the sentenced were executed with a short ax, which meant that the executioner had to chop several times before the head was separated from the body. Now Guillotine wanted his head cut off quickly and painlessly and the tool came to be called Guillotine.
- The guillotine was used to execute the doomed in the years 1792-1981 in France. During the French Revolution, 17,000 people were guillotined in public.
Tasks and questions
Questions for the text:
- The causes of the French Revolution are many. What causes are mentioned in the text?
- Which do you think is the main cause of the French Revolution? Motivate your answer.
- How did the revolution start? In what ways did the people revolutionize?
- Why do you think that a period during the revolution is sometimes called ” horror “?
- Why were the ideas of enlightenment important to the French Revolution?
- Mention some consequences of the French Revolution.
Find out:
- Select five important events during the revolution and arrange them in time.
- Why did France’s neighbors want to stop the revolution?
- Why is July 14, France’s National Day?
- Tell us briefly about the royal family’s escape from Paris.
- The thinker Montesquieu felt that the king would not decide alone in one country. Power would instead be shared between different institutions. What were these three institutions?
Discuss:
- Which do you think is the main cause of the French Revolution? Motivate and compare with your friends.
- Did the revolutionaries succeed in creating a just society?
- What was the best thing about the revolution and what was the worst?
- Through the French Revolution, the former became instead a citizen of France. What is the difference between being a citizen and a citizen? Write down your definition. Then decide whether you are a subject or a citizen of Sweden.
- Compare the French Revolution with any other revolution, e.g. in the 20th century , and try to find similarities.
Note In the section on the Napoleonic period, you will find facts and questions about the events shortly after the French Revolution as Napoleon’s armies spread the ideas of the revolution across Europe.
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