Long-Term Causes of the French Revolution

Long-Term Causes of the French Revolution

• Ancien Régime: France's social structure, divided into three estates (Clergy, Nobility, Commoners), deeply unequal and unfair with the Third Estate bearing the brunt of taxation. This created resentment and social unrest.
• Economic Inequality: The burden of taxation fell disproportionately on the Third Estate, while the privileged First and Second Estates were exempt. This created widespread poverty and unrest, weakening the financial health of the nation.
• Enlightenment Ideas: Philosophers like Voltaire, Rousseau, and Montesquieu promoted liberty, equality, and democracy, challenging traditional authority and inspiring revolutionary change, but also led to divisions within society.
• Inefficient Monarchy: Louis XVI's inability to reform the tax system and costly wars exacerbated financial crises and eroded public trust.

Short-Term Causes of the French Revolution

• Financial Crisis: War debts from the American Revolution and disastrous harvests led to widespread food shortages, high bread prices, and hunger, pushing the nation towards a crisis.
• Failure of Reform: Louis XVI's attempts at reform through the Assembly of Notables and the Estates-General, instead of resolving the crisis, further exposed the weakness of the monarchy and heightened revolutionary tensions.
• Social Unrest: Growing resentment within the Third Estate over unequal taxation, poverty, and privilege fueled revolutionary sentiment, leading to widespread unrest and peasant revolts.
• Immediate Spark: The Storming of the Bastille on July 14, 1789, became a powerful symbol of defiance against royal oppression and sparked widespread violence.

Events of the French Revolution (1789)

• Meeting of the Estates-General (May 1789): Louis XVI called the Estates-General to resolve the financial crisis, but the Third Estate declared itself the National Assembly, sparking a revolutionary change in political power
• Tennis Court Oath (June 1789): The National Assembly vowed not to disband until a constitution had been established, demonstrating revolutionary determination.
• Storming of the Bastille (July 14, 1789): This pivotal moment marked the start of revolutionary violence as a symbol of defiance against royal oppression.
• The Great Fear (July-August 1789): Peasant uprisings against feudal dues and landlords led to the abolition of feudal privileges.
• August Decrees (August 1789): Abolished feudal privileges, ending centuries of inequality.
• Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen (August 26, 1789): Established fundamental rights like equality before the law and freedom of speech, but excluded women and other marginalized groups.

Events of the French Revolution (1790-1791)

• Civil Constitution of the Clergy (1790): Brought the Church under state control, creating divisions within France by alienating devout Catholics.
• Flight to Varennes (1791): Louis XVI's attempted escape heightened distrust in the monarchy and the revolutionary movement became radicalized.
• Constitution of 1791: Created a constitutional monarchy with a Legislative Assembly, moving France towards more democratic governance.

Napoleon Bonaparte

• Rise to Power: Napoleon's military successes, including the Siege of Toulon and Italian Campaign, established him as a military genius. His coup of 18 Brumaire (1799) overthrew the Directory and consolidated power as First Consul.
• Consolidation of Power: The Napoleonic Code established legal equality but curtailed some women's rights. The Concordat of 1801 reconciled the Catholic Church with the state. Napoleon's centralized administration improved governance, but placed power in his hands.
• Napoleonic Wars: The Continental System aimed to weaken Britain but damaged the European economy. The disastrous Russian campaign (1812) weakened Napoleon's military, marking a turning point in his imperial ambitions.