French Revolution

Jacqueline Hoang (Brendan O'Kelly - Section 1E)
- 1789-1799
- During the revolution the French governmental structure went from an absolute monarchy (with privileges for the aristocracy and Catholic clergy) to a radical change based on Enlightenment principles of nationalism, inalienable rights, and citizenship.
- Accompanying these changes were the Reign of Terror (rival factions became violent and had mass executions of enemies of the revolution) and the French Revolutionary Wars (a series of major conflicts in which the French Revolutionary government fought several European states)
- The economic factors in the cause of the Revolution are:
-Louis XVI added to the debt incurred by Louis XV (fighting numerous wars) by providing support to the colonists in the American Revolution.
-Inefficient financial system which couldn’t manage the national debt; worsened by its system of taxation.
-Roman Catholic Church, being the largest landowner, levied a tax on crops which worsened the troubles of the poor because suffered from malnutrition.
-The noble class’s continued extravagant lifestyle despite the financial burden already placed on the people.

-The social and political factors (focused on through the rise of Enlightenment ideals):
-Resentment of royal absolutism
-Resentment by peasants, wage-earners, etc. towards the nobles who had privileges only possible to them.
-Anti-clericalism
-Large Protestant minorities’ continued hatred of Catholic control and influence on institutions.
-Also, Louis XVI’s overall failure to deal with these problems effectively contributed to the Revolution’s beginning.

-In the summer of 1789 there was the Storming of the Bastille and later in the fall of the same year there was the “Women’s March on Versailles” in which they responded to their harsh economic situation, especially bread shortages. There was also violent repression of the Catholic clergy who had to either give an oath of loyalty to the new government or would suffer imprisonment and massacres. When the royal family was captured later there was a compromise that Louis XVI would still be king but his powers would be limited and shared with the legislative assembly. But disagreements rose and problems intensified. Politics of the time inevitably drove France to war with Austria and its allies. Then a few months later, insurgents kidnapped the king and queen. They then declared the nation a republic. The next year Louis XVI was executed followed a few months later by Marie Antoinette. Circumstances provided the Jacobins to seize power and the Reign of Terror began. They put Maximilien Robespierre in power, but only a few months later he began to execute many Jacobins. His support dwindled and he was arrested and executed later. After the Terror had ended, a constitution was voted upon and passed as the new constitution for the nation.