Assignment

The French Revolution

Anirudh Shukla

1489

BA(Hons) History III Year

Introduction

The French Revolution began in July of 1789, but the factors that led to the unrest and their
associated symptoms were visible much long ago. The French Revolution represented a
point of change in modern European history, and its influence had far-reaching
consequences. In general, the real causes of the Revolution must be located in the rigid
social structure of French society during the ancien regime. George Rude compared the
French eighteenth-century society to a pyramid, envisioning a stratified division of three
conflicting groups of people: the peasants at the base, the bourgeoisie in the middle or
central layer, and the Court and aristocracy at the apex. Similarly, France was divided into
three orders or estates: the First Estate (clergy), the Second Estate (nobility), and the Third
Estate (commoners). The First Estate consisted of the clergy and the Second Estate the
nobility. Together, these two Estates accounted for approximately 500,000 individuals. At the
bottom of this hierarchy was the vast Third Estate which basically meant everybody else or
about 25 million people. This social structure was based on custom and tradition, but more
importantly, it was also based on inequalities which were sanctioned by the force of law. At
the core, the French Revolution was a result of a class struggle as the poor fought for
greater economic and political freedom and equality.

Causes

French society in the period leading up to the French Revolution was highly sophisticated
and had remained practically unchanged because those who had power and wealth passed
it on to their offspring. The peasants and common people were required to support those in
the upper classes and be the workhorses of the nation, earning little for themselves and their
families.

The government of France relied on older traditions at the time of Louis XVI’s coronation.
There was no official constitution, and there were 39 constituent provinces with their own
local customs. In one town alone, there were 53 courts. In short, there were no universal
laws that applied to every citizen of the country. The king proclaimed his absolute power
through divine right, and proudly stated, “I am the state.” Even though the king was
simultaneously head of state and representative of God, the monarchy was still responsible
for his finances. This meant that the king could not waste royal capital to the point of
exhaustion or give it to unworthy subjects who were attempting to rob the king of his wealth.
Indeed, the monarchy relied on the revenue gained from taxing the poor and loans taken
from aristocratic lenders. The watchful eyes of the public during the French Revolution would
eventually expose the material trappings of Louis XVI and his inadequate expertise at
governing a failing nation.

A brief examination of France’s queen, Marie-Antoinette, lends support to the contention that
the French monarchy was surrounded by an egotistical and indulgent atmosphere. Although
she was apparently well liked in the beginning of her reign, the French people ultimately
came to dislike her. Marie-Antoinette was obsessed with maintaining her beauty and
commanding her friends. She was also particularly whimsical and would intervene
inappropriately in government business. Furthermore, she held lavish balls and feasts
without thinking about the financial cost of her extravagance. At one point during her reign,
she had gambled millions away in card games and went through 200 formal gowns and
country dresses. Marie-Antoinette’s mother, Maria Theresa, saw the danger in her
daughter’s frivolous spending and wrote that she was “heading straight for disaster” and had
“lost all sense.”

The clergy or First Estate was made up of approximately 130,000 members of the Catholic
Church, and, like the nobility, they were exempt from paying certain taxes. They also owned
ten per cent of the land, and some had familial ties with nobility, which probably aided them
in not having to be responsible for government taxation. Additionally, the relationship with
the higher members of French society increased the likelihood of their sympathizing with the
nobility rather than the peasants and commoners more often than not. Clergy members
selected from their own ranks those who should hold the most power in the church. Little
could thwart the clergy since they reflected the entire establishment of the Catholic Church
and ecclesiastical duties. Furthermore, the king supported the collecting of tithes from the
Third Estate, making the clergy a formidable party.

The nobility represented the Second Estate and consisted of figures of power in the arenas
of government, military, law, and high church offices. This sector was made up of
approximately 350,000 individuals who owned between 25 to 30 per cent of the land. The
aristocracy was largely disliked because its members possessed certain inherent rights by
being born with power and were not required to pay the “taille” or “cut,” which was a
particular kind of tax. This was very unpopular since the wealthiest individuals did not owe
money to the government while the poorest individuals were required to give substantial
amounts of their income without question. Furthermore, the nobility required the peasants to
pay certain fees for using the community facilities that they owned, such as the mill, oven,
and winepress, thus earning additional revenue from the already-sapped lower classes.

The bourgeoisie or middle class represented approximately eight per cent of France’s total
population or approximately 2.3 million individuals. In society, they accounted for the
merchants, industrialists, bankers, physicians, public officers, writers, and lawyers. The
middle class owned a sizable amount of land, which totaled between 20 to 25 percent of
France. Although the bourgeoisie reflected some professional disciplines, they were still not
allowed many of the privileges that the nobility enjoyed, so the middle class became
increasingly disgruntled with the prevalent social order of French tradition. The bourgeoisie
argued in favor of Enlightenment ideals, which defiantly opposed the customs of the old
order that focused on birthright instead of a person’s ability to improve his financial outcomes
through hard work and new economic methods.

By 1789, the bourgeoisie had numerous grievances they wished addressed. They wanted all
Church, army and government positions open to men of talent and merit. They sought a
Parliament that would make all the laws for the nation. They desired a constitution that would
limit the king's powers. They also desired fair trials, religious toleration and vast
administrative reforms. These are all liberal ideas that would certainly emerge after the
summer of 1789.

France’s peasants lived in a dismal and pitiful state of existence. The peasants made up the
Third Estate, which accounted for almost two-thirds of the population, and they were
despised by almost everyone. With poverty being the nation’s most visible social concern, it
was obvious to many that the plight of the peasantry was almost inescapable. Desperate
because of the limited opportunities for employment and assistance, many poor people
chose to shamelessly beg in the streets by faking illnesses. Others chose prostitution and
crime to make an income. These hard-pressed individuals mainly consisted of the very
young and very old who could not work. Even those who could hold a job were at a loss
when crop failures increased since the cost of living had risen so dramatically while average
wages remained fairly constant. Charitable funds were also dwindling rapidly since the influx
of city dwellers created an unwieldy number of indigent men, women, and children.

They were the poorest citizens, but they were expected to give most of their income to those
with more financial stability. They were required to pay the “taile,” which was a basic tax, in
addition to taxes on such common goods as salt and soap. Taxation for the running of
monasteries cost the peasants more than eight percent of their income. The feudal system
was an artifact from medieval times, and the feudal taxes were required even when the
harvest was less than satisfactory because most peasants rented the land that they farmed
from the more affluent landowners. Taxes for peasants were variable throughout France and
ranged from a few cents to a quarter of one’s income. The dues the peasants owed were
infinite since the feudal lords controlled the land they rented. The peasants were further
hampered by the responsibility of the “corvee” program, which required them to build and
maintain France’s roads.

They demanded that the old feudal structures be abandoned; they desperately wanted the
idea of privilege to be renounced. The privilege of the upper classes over the peasants was
a despised principle since it allowed those who were wealthy enough to replace standing
officials by buying them off. Those who cried for social change promoted the idea that
opportunities for the elevation of employment should not be based on such privilege but on
an individual’s talents. In turn, people would benefit from greater equality of work status and
civil duties. The renunciation of privileged hunting rights, private courts, and tolls were also
suggested. No more could the wealthy individuals who gained their advantages through birth
assume power irrefutably; supremacy must be earned through hard work and natural ability.
Consequently, a record of grievances and aspirations that the people conveyed (i.e., cahier
de doléances) was set forth. This ultimately represented the seeds of the subsequent
revolution because the public opinion reflected the need for social and political
transformation.

Secondly, the French economy was in trouble for several reasons. Although it seemed like
they were conducting their businesses perfectly fine, the high taxes the businesspeople had
to pay created difficulties in receiving more revenue than the taxes they had to pay. This
heavy tax created trouble for business people because when taxes where only collect from
the merchants and the poor people. These poor people, thus, had no chance to start a new
business and drive France’s economy forward. The severe shortage of food was also
another problem because it led to serious inflation. People didn’t have enough money to buy
food and started suffering. Building a grandiose palace and leaving debt to his successor,
Louis XIV left a great burden to his descendants. Not only that but by sending the French
army to the American Revolutionary War, Louis XVI and his queen got France into a bigger
debt. They learned the idea of revolting against the unfairness from the Americans and
applied it to their own country. These sufferings the French face made them more interested
in the Enlightenment ideas and started to question about revolutionary actions.

Louis XVI was a weak king who wasn’t able to make strong and decisive actions for his own
country. He didn’t listen to the advisors for their suggestions but he chose to listen to his
queen, Marie Antoinette, who gave him bad advice. Marie, not only influenced Louis XIV in a
bad way, created more debt for France by spending money extravagantly. She, then, got the
nickname “Madame Deficit”. Louis XVI did not really pay much attention to govern his own
country and failed to rule it. One of the worst decisions he made was to not solve the
problem from where it started but he imposed a bad solution like forcing the second estate to
start paying taxes. This idea of his set things into chaos and solved none of France’s
problems. Being a weak and ineffective king, Louis XVI himself was one of the causes of
French Revolution.

When people did not receive equal treatment and when the economy, government, and king
were not working properly, people came up with the idea of revolution in order to improve
their living condition. Learning the ideas from Enlightenment philosophies, the third estate
who lost benefits from the system of the Old Regime started to make revolutionary moves.
With economic problems and debt of the country, people learned that they had to do
something to solve the problems when the people in authority couldn’t do it. French were
quite unlucky because the monarch wasn’t working properly. Their weak king got too much
influence from his queen and made many wrong decisions. He was also incapable of solving
the national problem. All these factors, therefore, led French into actions to protect the own
rights and to solve all the problems they were facing.

France was starting to lose control over the ability to maintain a powerful, influential, and
competitive system internally and externally. Financial difficulties were seen even at the level
of the monarchy, and this increasingly became the norm after expensive wars generated
high levels of debt and consumed much of the annual revenue. Technological revolutions
outside of France joined with an agriculturally-based economy resulted in mounting trade
deficits when natural disaster struck, and other European nations continued to produce
goods at rates unseen before.

France acquired substantial debt during the Seven Years’ War or French and Indian War
and lost almost all of the American colonies to England. By the end of the Seven Years' War,
the federal deficit reached 50 million livres. The additional debt was accrued during the
American Revolution when France backed the American colonies against Great Britain. To
supplement its war efforts, France was forced to take a loan for over 500 million livres, which
excluded the amount spent on naval operations. All in all, the total sum of the American
Revolution for the French has been evaluated at 1.3 billion, which was added on to the
amount still owed for previous war debts. Debt service was approximated to be at fifty per
cent of the nation’s annual revenue. No one wanted to contribute to reducing the national
debt with his own money. For this reason, some recommended that France should declare
bankruptcy as it had done during previous periods of enormous debt. However, bankruptcy
was viewed as a highly dishonourable practice, which ruined credibility and frightened away
investors. Therefore, the only other option was to increase taxes even more in a nation
where the people were already the most heavily taxed in Europe.

France anticipated that an alliance with America would create more trade prospects.
However, aiding the American Revolution depleted finances to such an extent that France
could not participate in its other international associations. The French felt that their
deteriorating funds were more important than defending the Dutch, who called for French
support when the Prussian army invaded the Dutch Republic in 1787. The country could not
uphold its obligation to assist in military efforts, and the French monarchy was left in a state
of dishonor. Consequently, loyalty waivered when morale decreased because of France’s
inability to defend its Dutch ally.

The textile industry suffered due to increasing competition from Prussia, Switzerland, Italy,
Spain, and England. Furthermore, wealthier French citizens were choosing to limit their
overall spending on textiles, and by 1789, the textile industry’s productivity was at half its
previous rate. When the demand for textiles decreased, unemployment rates increased, and
those without work flocked to the cities where they met others who were in similar situations.
By this time, the city of Paris held 700,000 citizens and included many young and sometimes
even literate homeless individuals. The widespread unemployment rate contributed to an
anxious and fearful atmosphere in which the inhabitants exchanged songs, pamphlets,
posters, and conversations about social and political change.

Not initially apparent, social unrest began to foment as a consequence of diminished

incomes and limited welfare opportunities for those who were presented with financial
difficulties. The wine business endured hardship when the return on sales reached only half
the expected amount before the revolution. This was the end result of an overproduction of
wine and subsequently lowered wine prices that occurred between the years 1775 and 1778.
In effect, wine production was an extensive French affair at the time. It is estimated that the
wine consumption constituted approximately a liter per day for urban residents during the
period preceding the revolution. Furthermore, there were thousands of wine producers who
were considered specialists in their trade and even more peasant wine producers who were
simply trying to earn some extra money. The overproduction greatly affected the peasant
class since the side business of cultivating grapes for wine afforded them the additional profit
that allowed them to subsist on their meagre incomes and meet their living expenses.
Without the supplementary income from the production of wine, the peasants were at risk of
increasing financial struggles since rentes (taxes) were always collected.

France did not undergo a vast technological revolution during the late eighteenth-century.
During this time, the French still relied on older means to produce goods, what modern
historians call “proto-industrial.” The production methods involved in the proto-industrial
system were more sophisticated than the cottage industries of the medieval era and relied
on domestic workers who supplied raw materials to the merchants who, in turn, relied on
money from bankers. Finished goods were then transported to America or other countries in
Europe. Although this method sounds like a productive way to provide goods efficiently to
desiring buyers, the new techniques of mechanization of goods surpassed the traditional
industries. The technological revolution allowed those countries who embraced new systems
to produce goods quicker and cheaper. The modernization of work came in the form of mule
and spinning jennies, with Great Britain utilizing the most machines and thereby creating a
clear lead in economic power.

During the Age of Enlightenment, social and political thought focused on exploring the ideas
of natural rights and social contract theories. In fact, the very foundation of philosophical
thought concerning ethical and social values was formulated by introducing the relationship
of how an individual’s rights influence practical politics and form a new, better type of
humanity. These concepts eventually became the basis of the subsequent French
Revolution since the prevailing monarchy was viewed as failing to follow the social contract
popularized by these new theories.

The philosophes were a mostly unorganized group of individuals (namely, Voltaire,

Montesquieu, Locke, Diderot, Alembert, Rousseau, Hume, Gibbon, Smith, Lessing, and
Kant) living in eighteenth-century Europe who were concerned with the application of the
science of reason to all social practices. Although each of the philosophes had a different
opinion about how government and society should be reformed, their primary desire was to
promote human liberty. Peter Gay asserts that the philosophes’ common goals involved
“freedom from arbitrary power, freedom of speech, freedom of trade, freedom to realize
one’s talents, freedom of aesthetic response, freedom, in a word, of the moral man to make
his way in the world.” The peasants relayed the enthusiasm to induce a state of freedom so
that they could have the opportunity to actually “be something” in life. The nullity in politics
that the peasants possessed was specifically described by Abbé Sieyès in his pamphlet
“What is the Third Estate?” In this document, he suggested that the moving force of the
common people would be the potential for greater political, social, and economic
significance.

The effect of the Enlightenment on the French Revolution has created a debate which will
not soon be resolved. But, in general, it can be said that there is no causal relationship
between the philosophes of the Enlightenment and the outbreak of the French Revolution.
Few philosophes, if any, advocated revolution and the reason is fairly clear. No philosophe
advocated the violent overthrow of the existing order of things because violence was
contrary to human reason. But because the philosophes of the Enlightenment attacked the
established order together with authority of any kind, their ideas helped to produce what can
only be called a revolutionary mentality.

Lastly, the American Revolution of the 1770s and the formation of a republic in the 1780s
served as a profound example to all European observers. Hundreds of books, pamphlets
and public lectures analyzed, romanticized and criticized the American rebellion against
Great Britain. For instance, in 1783 the Venetian ambassador to Paris wrote that "it is
reasonable to expect that, with the favourable effects of time, and of European arts and
sciences, [America] will become the most formidable power in the world." American
independence fired the imagination of aristocrats who were unsure of their status while at
the same time giving the promise of ever-greater equality to the common man. The
Enlightenment preached the steady and inevitable progress of man's moral and intellectual
nature. The American example served as a great lesson - tyranny could be challenged. Man
did have inalienable rights. New governments could be constructed. The American example
then, shed a brilliant light. As R. R. Palmer put it in 1959 (The Age of Democratic
Revolution: The Challenge): It got people into the habit of thinking more concretely about
political questions, and made them more readily critical of their own governments and
society. It dethroned England, and set up America, as a model for those seeking a better
world. It brought written constitutions, declarations of rights, and constituent conventions into
the realm of the possible.”

Conclusion

The challenges that led to the eventual French Revolution were vastly complex. To some
extent, the spheres of society, politics, philosophy, and economic thought contributed to the
disruption and overturn of the government. The question of inequality raised during the
pre-revolutionary period amounted to the belief that the majority of France’s citizens the
peasants were being suppressed by taxation and poverty to such a degree that they could
not continue to live in squalor without rising up to protect the few shreds of dignity that they
did possess. Decades of indulgence by the monarchy and privilege among the upper
classes led to their being held in contempt and a call for equal opportunity for public
employment and terms of office for those handling government affairs. Already-established
Enlightenment ideals were championed as the solution to France’s social inadequacies to
provide a better country for every citizen, not just those were born wealthy. Although time
would reveal the “reign of terror” that the French Revolution would entail, few would question
the necessity for reform so that France could become a nation of “liberty, equality, and
fraternity.”
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