The beginning of The French Revolution
In every country, someone is always dissatisfied with life. When and how does the French Revolution arise in France? French Revolution in France is a result of the long dissatisfaction of the masses of the population with their lives, power, and laws. The revolution involves uniting in the dissatisfaction of various segments of society.
They usually have different goals, different interests, but there is one desire – to get rid of the life that is now. The rebellion against the existing order is the main link between all the threads of the revolution. But for the revolution it is also important to have another: there must be people who do not just want to destroy the existing one, but they also know how to replace the destroyed. Each revolution has its own ideas of new life, truth, and justice.
A topic on The French Revolution essay is quite popular in higher educational institutions, as there are many interesting questions and answers. It violates many important issues of French timeline of the 18th century: the crisis of the three estate systems, declaration, the convention, regents and more.
The introduction of the Great French Revolution was the capture of the Bastille on July 14 – the place of torture and the imprisonment of numerous political prisoners. Interestingly, in the 1920s, this date was celebrated in the Soviet Union as a holiday, considered an official day off for workers and peasants, and was called the day of the Paris Commune.
The revolution, the revolt of the lower classes and the capture of the Bastille led to anarchy in the country and the so-called “Jacobin terror”. The new rulers resorted to the physical annihilation of supporters of the monarchy and the class of aristocrats. For example, the victim of terror was Count Beauharnais, an innocuous drinking officer, the husband of Josephine, the future companion of Napoleon’s life.
French revolution argumentative essay stages
At the first stage of the Great French Revolution (1789-1791), an absolute monarchy was overthrown in France and a constitutional monarchy with limited suffrage was established.
At the second stage of the revolution (September 1791 – August 1792), revolutionary wars began, as a result of which Louis XVI was overthrown.
At the third stage of the revolution (August 1792 – May 1793), a republic was established in France, in which at first the majority were Girondins, and then the Jacobins. The Jacobins established a regime of dictatorship, organized important, in conclusion, successful reforms for the peasants and the army.
The fourth stage of the Great French Revolution (1793-1794) ends with the overthrow of the Jacobin dictatorship as a result of the Thermidorian coup.
At the last, fifth stage of the revolution (1794-1799), power was in the hands of the “new rich”, the influence of generals increased. The new Constitution envisaged the creation of a new government – the Directory. The main role in this period was played by Napoleon Bonaparte, who completed the Great French Revolution with a coup d’etat of 18 Brumaire.
The main reasons for The French Revolution
There were three thematic causes for the beginning of the Revolution:
- Limiting of the industry development.
In the 1770s and 1780s, the population of France increased to 26 million people, while cities grew more and more rapidly, new manufactories and trading companies arose. Many government decrees did not allow the sale goods in the production of which technical innovations were used. The development of a single market in France was also hampered by the facts that in each province, as in the case of feudal fragmentation, there were measures of weight, and feudal aristocrats retained the privilege to collect duties for the transportation of goods through their possessions.
- Compensations from the peasants.
The French Revolution was because more than 84% of the French population were peasants. The supreme owner of the peasant land was the lord, the earl, the Marquis, the knight-nobleman. Therefore, as in the Middle Ages, after collecting grain, every peasant had to take every 20th or even every 6th sack of grain to the lord’s castle, and every 10th – to give to the Church.
- The position of the bourgeoisie.
At the same time, a big bourgeoisie, which included bankers, owners of the largest trading companies and manufactories appeared. The average and petty bourgeoisie were more numerous: merchants, manufacturers, owners of artisan workshops, lawyers, scientists, artists who had a good income and their own homes, and peasants who had grown rich on trade. The number of urban lower-middle-class people, who lived in small rooms and rented apartments, grew on the working fringes of cities. They were hired workers, poor artisans, street vendors and other poor people that were involved in simple daily work. The social inequality appeared.
The nobility and the clergy were less than 1% of the French nation, but they still retained their privileges – for example, not paying taxes while doing business. The king listened to the opinion of the feudal aristocrats, adopted laws convenient for them, gave them higher public offices and even paid their huge debts, collecting special taxes from the third estate. The indignant bourgeois expressed their support for carrying out reforms, but in conditions of absolute monarchy, they had no right either to participate in the publication of laws or even to demand this from the king.
What were the results?
In the autumn of 1799, the revolutionary events were over. The new board of the Directory, which replaced the deposed absolute monarchy, plunged the country into a series of military failures. Moreover, it failed to cope with the economic crisis that followed the revolution and the conclusion by the Director of a very unfavorable trade agreement with France for France.
Marxist ideology prompts interpreted it as a great positive event, the liberation of the underprivileged from the oppression of those in power. The revolution undoubtedly contributed to the spread of progressive democratic views around the world. But historians often say that after the end of the revolution France came to the same thing that happened before: no urgent social problem was solved.
