French Revolution During 18th Century - Essay Example

Shaantanu Purab 03 June 2009 Historical Events during 18th and 20th Century French Revolution During 18th Century Since the evolution of life, human beings have sacrificed too many things for what we are experiencing today. It cannot be without the efforts of saints, we are following different religions. European character to conquer the world started from twelfth century onwards which became dominant during 16th century conquering many of the South East nations and exporting its wealth to their countries. The efforts of various human rights activists, freedom fighter and philosophers cannot be forgotten. Many revolutions took place during 18th Century which laid the foundation for stable and civilized state. Rise of French Revolution French Revolution during 18th century is one such event that shook France between 1787 and 1799 which took its violent form when the Controller General of Finances, Charles-Alexandre de Calonne proposed to design the reform to eliminate budget deficit by increasing the taxation of privileged classes by summoning the assembly by 'notables' like prelates, and some representatives of bourgeoisie. Other causes that led to rise of revolution are strong resent by the prosperous elite groups of wealthy commoners to their exclusion from political power and positions of honor. The peasants unaware of the feudal working system did not supported, the philosophers were read everywhere around France, the participation of France in American Revolution led to bankruptcy and bad harvesting led to unrest among the population. (www.bookrags.com) The political and social inequalities coupled with bankruptcy of the government played their part in igniting the revolution. Apart from that the works of enlightenment thinkers like Montesquieu, Voltaire and Rousseau inspired the people to protest against their King. And moreover the success of American Revolution in throwing British rule encouraged French to fight for their freedom. All these factors led to outbreak French Revolution which started with Fall of Bastille. (www.thecorner.org) The Revolution Alexis de Tocqueville argues that various attempts to reform the ancien regime by Louis XV and Louis XVI led to their demise and their failed attempt evoked revolution that swept France. (Lind Frey, 2004) The immediate cause of revolution was financial crisis that originated due to war in America that was financed through borrowing by Necker and same method was adopted by Calonne to pay off the arrears which increased the deficit. Fiscal administration was so confusing that the rough analysis of financial statements of March 1788 of Old Regime budget estimated expenditures at about 629 million livres and receipts of 503 million leaving behind the deficit of 126 million or 20% which was attributed to court wastefulness and financers profit. The emptied treasury resulted in cutbacks of pension and stockholders Bank of Discounts were made legal tender. (Georges Lefebvre, Elizabeth Moss Evanson and Paul H. Beik) Ronald Schechter presents the argument of Furet wherein it is mentioned that the revolution of 1787 marked the first capitulation of the state to the demands of the sharing the power between the administrative officials and elected representatives of third estates. (Ronald Schechter, 2001) Kings under capability of handling the situation of crisis after the war made him a weaker leader. Louis XVI was not able to control the deficit and adopted the same method that Necker used to finance the war in America. And moreover the new taxation policy by imposing the tax on elite groups like notables, and other merchants ignited the sense of revolt among the Third Estate members to which they disagreed. These factors sparked the beginning of revolution in France. The revolt from elite groups created an excitement among the commoners, notably lawyers and they supported the nobles in revolt against king even though he was authorizing them to plead his case. The Patriot Party was formed which provoked counter argument using brochures with cautious skills invoked provincial assemblies rather than representatives of Third Estate. (Georges Lefebvre, Elizabeth Moss Evanson and Paul H. Beik) The factors that spurred the revolution throughout France were resentment of royal absolutism, resentment of seigneurial system by peasants, wage earners, and bourgeoisie, arise in enlightenment ideals, ever increasing national debt which was not managed properly resulting in unequal taxation system among different sections of the society and gross scarcity of food before the revolution. Royal absolutism was the result of Hundreds Years War which was succeeded by Kings taking back all powers from the nobility. France was without parliament an unpopular form of government which brought dissent among the nobility. It was during this period that the enlightenment ideals of equality and freedom of individual propagated by the philosophers like Voltaire, Denis Diderot and Turgot. (http://bonjourlafrance.net) The long war in America which was financed through borrowing led to bankruptcy in France. It is reported that by 1789, Louis XIV was paying off the debt incurred during the wars of 17th and early 18th century from the money collected peasants, wage earners, professionals and business class which created social unrest among the population. (http://bonjourlafrance.net) The support led by the French troops in American War and the formation of republic in the 1780s played an important role in the development of French Revolution. During this period, the French armies were constantly in touch with the American revolutionaries and were fascinated by the American political experiment against Great Britain. The American revolutionary ideals had strong impact among the French groups which sensitized the issue of mind, liberty, equality, private property and representative government. The initial stage of revolution was moderate with the meeting of Estate General in July 1788 called by Louis XVI due to mounting financial crisis. The meet of Estates General at Versailles ensued stalemate over the procedure of electing deputies as First and Second Estate had more privileges as compared to Third Estate in terms of voting. Third Estate argued that three estates voted individually. Third Estate was the first to break the stalemate and invited First and Second Estate to participate and on June 17, 1789, Third Estate began the revolution declaring itself as the National Assembly. (Steven Kreis, 2004) Effects of French Revolution The French revolution had several effects related to social, political, economic and religious which spilled out France and effected global change. Before the revolution, France was considered as one of the backward nation as it was not at par with the social change. After the revolution, French intellectuals who led the revolution issued the Declaration of the Rights of Man that emphasized on giving basic human rights from the Church to State government. The government was totally under control of all the religious proceedings by passing the Civil Constitution of the Clergy that authorized the selection of pastors and bishops. Aftermath the revolution, the rebel groups dethroned the monarchy. (www.kwintessential.co.uk) Though the main cause of revolution was the economic crisis during Louis XVI, but even revolutionary government didn't do any extraordinary contribution to develop the economic condition of the country except for some industries. (Gwyne Lewis) The revolution affected the cultural heritage of the world as the French gained religious tolerance which allowed every religion to go to state school. The government organized and implemented various systems to assist the poor and downtrodden. (www.socyberty.com) The revolution showed its effect not only in France but on other countries too. The monarchs of Europe feared the exchange of radical ideas through export showed the signs of enmity towards France. The nation engaged in war with Austria and Britain after the revolution and also naval war with American government to whom the French supported in their revolution. US government viewed the French Revolution as dangerous and chaotic. (Jerry Curtis) The revolution greatly affected the clothing trends as citizens began to dress more modestly. The customs changed drastically as men no longer raised their hats to ladies which was a termed as symbol of respect, obscenity was witnesses everywhere in form of graffiti. (Michael Padbury) Conclusion The French Revolution was the major event during the 18th century that shook the entire world and economy of France. It laid the foundation for human rights through Declaration of the Rights of Man which provided equal status to poor and downtrodden on par with nobles and clergy. It was the Estates General meeting called by Louis XVI to elect the deputies that led the revolt among the Third Estate. The revolt intensified when Third Estate broke the stalemate and spread the revolt across France inviting First and Second Estate to join the rebel. The peasants' war broke out resulting in loss of human life. Aftermath of the revolution, the French government implemented various provision and policies to cope with the economic crisis. The French revolution had various effects in forms of economy, society, political and religion. There were no differences maintained in the state school and government authorized the positions of pastor and bishops. France received dramatic response from neighboring countries in the form of war including America. French traded the chaos for the security and 'Liberte, egalite fraternite' gave way to 'Vive L'empereur!' (Jerry Curtis) Repulicanism evolved from Absolutism after revolution which reduced the power of single by transferring it to the citizens. The revolution changed France from absolute monarchy to republic promoting equality and freedom. However, the revolution could have been prevented if the King Louis XIV had taken some effective measures to control the economic crisis. The economic crisis arise as the government was not able to make profits from the investments they have made and this increased the national debt resulting unrest among the social and political class. Government didn't even have the backing of peasants at the time Third Estate broke the stalemate.(www.123helpme.com) The revolt established the democratic systems like elections, representative government and constitutions that later created three federal governmental system. (Michael Padbury) The revolution inspired Russian Revolution as well as Tiananmen Square protests. Anyhow, French revolution played an important role in the present civilization and development of the economy. The French revolution had significant impact on its neighbouring countries. The revolutionary armies under the leadership of Napoleon conquered major parts of Europe which brought radical institutional changes. It is estimated that the revolution doesn't have too many negative effects as it destroyed the powers of oligarchies and elites which paved the way for new economic and industrial opportunities during 19th century which laid the foundation for strong growth of economy in future. (http://ideas.repec.org) The revolution which shook the entire European nations initially did bring some great revolutionary changes in the social, political, economic and religious departments. The theme of equality started to spread and system of elections marked the beginning of democracy. The revolution could have been if the then Kings had taken precautionary measures to control the economic crisis, prevent the unnecessary bloodshed termed as Reign of Terror and the differences between peasants and nobles that divided the society. The revolution was inevitable from the time it introduced the law that imposed taxation on the nobles which created unrest. The French revolution is termed as political movement aimed at liberty, abolition of serfdom, slavery, inherited privilege and judicial torture and to free the nation from hands of few royals to democratic society. It also promoted nationalism which was also adopted by Italy and Germany under Napoleon and influenced most of the European countries to adopt parliamentary democracy. Such was the impact of the revolution that evolved the democratic form of government which is followed almost by all the countries in world today giving equal rights and opportunity to each and every citizen irrespective of race, religion, social and financial status. Works Cited 1. "European History - Was the French Revolution Preventable." 123HelpMe.com. 05 Jun 2009 . 2. "From the American to the French Revolution1776-1789" 05 Jun 2009 < http://www1.pu.edu.tw/bmon/Ppt/Revolution.ppt.> 3. "The Consequences of Radical Reform: The French Revolution" 05 Jun 2009 4. Bonjourlafrance.net. France History - Causes of the French Revolution. 04 June 2009. 5. BookRags. French Revolution. Encyclopedia Britannica. 2009. 03 June 2009 http://www.bookrags.com/eb/french-revolution-eb/ 6. Georges Lefebvre, Elizabeth Moss Evanson and Paul H. Beik. The French Revolution: from its origins to 1793.Ed. 2 Translated by Elizabeth Moss Evanson 2001. Routledge. 7. Gywne Lewis. The French Revolution had largely negative effects on the Economy. The French Revolution. BookRags. 8. Jerry Curtis. Effects of the French Revolution. Helium. 9. Kwintessential. Effects of the French Revolution. 04 June 2009. 10. Linda Frey. The French Revolution. 2004. Greenwood Publishing Group. 11. Michael Padbury. Effects of the French Revolution. Helium, 12. Ronald Schechter. The French Revolution: the essential readings. 2001 Wiley-Blackwell 13. Socyberty. Effects of French Revolution by Skam255. 11 May 2009. 04 June 2009 14. Steven Kreis. Lecture 12. The French Revolution: The Moderate Stage, 1789 - 1792. Lectures on Modern European Intellectual History. The History Guide. 15. The Corner. Causes of French Revolution. 03 June 2009 Read More