The Ancien Régime: The Cause Of The French Revolution
The causes of the French Revolution is a significant subject of historical debate. France in 1789, although facing some economic (and especially fiscal) difficulties, was one of the richest and most powerful nations in Europe;[1] further, the masses of most other European powers had less freedom and a higher chance of arbitrary punishment. At the time Louis XVI called the Estates-General of 1789, he himself was generally popular, even if the nobility and many of the king's ministers were not.[2]
Nevertheless, the Ancien Régime was brought down, partly by its own rigidity in the face of a changing world, partly by the ambitions of a rising bourgeoisie, allied with aggrieved peasants and wage-earners and with individuals of all classes who …show more content…
Plus, he had problems as the parlements had felt threatened by the calling of the Assembly of Notables, which was originally a way to get round the objections and blocks that the Parlements had been raising. They also demanded an Estates General.
Historians disagree about the political and socioeconomic nature of the Revolution. Under one interpretation, the old aristocratic order of the Ancien Régime (The Ancien Régime, a French term rendered in English as "Old Rule," "Old Kingdom," or simply "Old Regime", refers primarily to the aristocratic, social and political system established in France from (roughly) the 15th century to the 18th century under the late Valois and Bourbon dynasties King Louis the fourteenth, for example). The administrative and social structures succumbed to an alliance of the rising bourgeoisie, aggrieved peasants, and urban wage-earners (The poor guys). Another interpretation asserts that the Revolution resulted when various aristocratic and bourgeois reform movements spun out of control. According to this model, these movements coincided with popular movements of the new wage-earning classes and the provincial peasantry, but any alliance between classes was contingent and
Nevertheless, the Ancien Régime was brought down, partly by its own rigidity in the face of a changing world, partly by the ambitions of a rising bourgeoisie, allied with aggrieved peasants and wage-earners and with individuals of all classes who …show more content…
Plus, he had problems as the parlements had felt threatened by the calling of the Assembly of Notables, which was originally a way to get round the objections and blocks that the Parlements had been raising. They also demanded an Estates General.
Historians disagree about the political and socioeconomic nature of the Revolution. Under one interpretation, the old aristocratic order of the Ancien Régime (The Ancien Régime, a French term rendered in English as "Old Rule," "Old Kingdom," or simply "Old Regime", refers primarily to the aristocratic, social and political system established in France from (roughly) the 15th century to the 18th century under the late Valois and Bourbon dynasties King Louis the fourteenth, for example). The administrative and social structures succumbed to an alliance of the rising bourgeoisie, aggrieved peasants, and urban wage-earners (The poor guys). Another interpretation asserts that the Revolution resulted when various aristocratic and bourgeois reform movements spun out of control. According to this model, these movements coincided with popular movements of the new wage-earning classes and the provincial peasantry, but any alliance between classes was contingent and