The French Revolution is an essential event in the western history in the 19th century. At first, it proved to be successful but later on it was fruitless. This revolution was one of the events that played a vital role in making France’s history as drastic steps were taken to secure the country’s freedom since it was financially ruined. The French citizens were fighting for equality, fraternity and liberty. The revolution violently changed France from a monarchial state to a modern nation. It turned out to be one of the traumatic events in the human history due to the Reign of terror whereby many people ended up being executed at the Guillotine. During the French revolution, the revolutionaries were seeking to resolve the fundamental government crisis and create a more stable nation both internally and externally.
The Estates General of 1789 caused the French revolution as France was divided into invidious distinctions and unjust privileges in the society for the first estate. The French citizens not only wanted liberty but they also wanted equality. The revolution was mainly a battle for equality and to do away with the oppression in their country. The French people wanted equality and since their ruler disagreed, they started the French revolution. They were willing to give up their political liberty to gain equality because the old French regime’s equality only consisted of the First Estate and Second Estates (nobles and clergy) and third estate (Doyle 34). The nobles and the clergy men were exempted from direct and land taxes and majority of the taxes were paid by the Third Estate which included the artisans, merchants, peasants and professional men. The revolutionaries wanted all the people to pay taxes without any exceptions since the amount the three estates paid taxes were not equal. The revolutionaries wanted equality in all the three estates and in addition, demanded reforms and a constitution. In addition to liberty and equality, the French people came together to create a brotherhood to achieve equality, fraternity and liberty. They protested and used violence to voice their quest for freedom. After splitting form the Estates General, the Third Estate which was now the National Assembly convened at a nearby tennis court and took a solemn Tennis Court Oath which demanded that the group remains indissoluble until a new constitution was created (Christopher 112). After the revolution, there was a finished constitution and a new form of government was created however it led to dictatorship.
One of the main reasons for the course of the French revolution was Louis XVI Financial crisis and irresponsibility. The country was bankrupt and could no longer pay its debts resulting from their participation in the American Revolutionary War and so people were being overtaxed in order to sustain the nation. The main complaint during this revolution was high taxes. The artisans, merchants, peasants and professional men were being overtaxed to pay for King Louis XV interest payments on previous loans that made the financial crisis in France worse and they had to do something about it. King Louis XV had participated in the war with the colonies and the war was costly leaving the nation in debts. Moreover, King Louis XV was an ineffective ruler who only cared about his family and the bourgeoisie. He was unable to deal effectively with the problems facing his nation and so the citizens revolted against him because they resented him.
The General Estates meeting on 5 May 1789 in Versailles took a pivotal role in the French revolution. After the meeting many representatives from different estates united to solve the serious political problems that faced their nation. Maximilien de Robespierre a lawyer who represented the rights of the vulnerable and the poor represented the Third Estate and this was a perfect opportunity for them to be heard by the King since he opened the meeting. Maximilien de Robespierre was an influential figure in the revolution and he is the man behind the Reign of Terror. He used terror as a tool to fight the enemies of the revolution and to prevent any emergence of counter-revolution (Brophy et al. 258). Enemies of the revolution were executed at the guillotine. Moreover, those who spied on the revolutionaries and spoke about the revolutionary government was killed at the guillotine. The guillotine was a symbol of the revolutionary cause and it was used for mass executions. However, Maximilien de Robespierre lost control of stopping chaos that had emerged and ended up under the guillotine himself. Robespierre was accused of tyranny and arrested and after being denied the right to self defense, he ended up at the guillotine.
The food crisis played a vital role in the outbreak of the French Revolution. There was poverty and hunger all over the nation and people were starving and tired of paying high taxes and increased food prices and thus starting the revolution. Crops planted failed because of the hail storm causing food shortages in the nation and this led to an increase in bread prices. There was food supply crisis which led to consumer desperation leading to an outbreak of the revolution in order to save themselves from the disaster. The French citizens from the third estate suffered a lot of hunger and food scarcity forcing them to riot since they were getting no relief from the hunger and starvation facing them. Bread was scarce in the land yet they had a habit of eating bread always. Additionally, there was an increase in diseases caused by food shortages and the French citizens had to put an end to the economic hardship by starting the revolution in order to save their nation. Also the unemployment rate was on the increase and prices of commodities like bread went up and so a lot was spent on food than on areas of the economy.
The French revolution transformed the whole meaning of political change and the contemporary world. Different from other colonies, France had a classic old regime that had aristocratic privileges and monarchy, the revolutionaries were able to socially and politically create a stable nation by destroying the legitimacy and effectiveness of the old regime. The revolution was more violent and decisive and this helped them in wiping out the old regime. The peasants rose against their landlords pillaging, burning and even murdering in order to be able to destroy their records of manorial duties. Due to this violence from the revolutionaries, the Assembly was undecided between force and concession and so they conceded. The nobles and the clergy denounced tithes, manorial dues, unequal taxes, feudal privileges in the Assembly and the old regime was completely transformed. The revolutionaries brought great changes to France. They were able to abolish feudal privileges and serfdom. Moreover, they created a uniform system of governance of equality and liberty.
One of the problems the revolutionaries faced in achieving their goals was lack of trust. The lower class mistrusted the Assembly as they were not represented. They launched a revolution against the governor as they were angry. Additionally, they failed to secure neither liberty, nor fraternity nor equality at the end of the 19th century which let their people cynical and disillusioned. Moreover, they were unable to establish a durable governance system thus dictatorship. In conclusion, the French revolution was the most important period in the history of Europe and France as it marked the end of monarchies around Europe. It was started to establish equality, liberty, a relief from taxes and the hope of a new reconstruction. The people had undergone so many years of oppression and fiscal mismanagement and this gave them a cause to unite and fight for liberty in their country. The changes made during the French revolution were made possible the people wanted a better place to live and work in without giving the majority of their money to the government to pay for fiscal problems. The revolutionaries encountered a few problems in meeting their goals but they were able to realize some changes in their nation. The French revolution transformed France both politically and economically.
Works Cited
Brophy, James M., Cole, Joshua, Robertson, John, Safley, Thomas Max and Symes, Carol. Perspectives from the Past: Primary Sources in Western Civilizations: From the Age of Exploration through Contemporary Times. New York, NY: W. W. Norton & Company, 2011. Print.
Christopher, Hibbert. The Days of the French Revolution. New York: Morrow Quill Paperbacks, 1981. Print.
Doyle, William. The French Revolution: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001. Print.
