Origins of the French Revolution

ORIGINS OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION The causes of the French Revolution of 1787-1789 (Solé 3) is a subject worthy of investigation because the revolt is an event of crucial importance in Western History. It marked the end of feudalism and the beginning of democracy in France, and can be seen as a turning point for liberty in Europe. To quote the German author Goethe, ‘From this place, and from this day, commences a new era in the world’s history’ (Wright 2). In 1774 when Louis XVI ascended the French throne, he had the potential, if he exerted strength, to rule absolutely over France (Hampson 24), a powerful European nation. Less than twenty years later his monarchy had been replaced by a revolutionary government (Rudé 34), and he was executed at the guillotine (Wright 65). The opening stages of the revolution are often regarded as an ‘unfolding’ of three minor rebellions. The aristocratic revolution, or révolte nobilitiare, involving the elite, was a reaction against the monarchy’s attempt to remove their privileges (Hampson 31) and ended with the calling of the Estates General on August 8th 1788 (Wright 19). The bourgeois revolution, or révolte bourgeois, was an uprising of the bourgeoisie against the aristocracy and the monarchy which began in the meetings of the Estates General (May 1789) (Hampson 64). It was a Parisian insurrection, led by the bourgeois, carried out largely by the urban poor, and is the most commonly known and romanticized phase of the entire affair. Less known is the popular revolution, a nationwide peasant uprising against high food prices that became a battle against seigneurial privileges (Rudé 37). This ‘backdrop’ revolution began in December 1788 during the Aristocratic revolt and continued during the bourgeois rebellion of 1789. There are two major schools of thought concerning the origins of the French Revolution. The Marxist/Orthodox School was