"Causes of
the French Revolution." Causes
of the French Revolution. Web. 06 Mar. 2012.
<http://www.mtholyoke.edu/courses/rschwart/hist151s03/french_rev_causes_consequences.htm>.
French Revolution Social 20-1 242
Monday, 12 March 2012
Historical and Social
Historical
On another note, the event that symbolized the motive
of the entire rebellion was officialised through the storing of the bastille.
After being locked out by the estates general, the 3rd estate was determine to not disband
until they reached their motives of freedom - this was through the tennis court
oath. A sense of nationalism emerged in the 3rd estates and the spark of revolution
was ignited as peasants took power into their own hands when the storming of
the bastille was instigated. The bastille was a prison which held political
prisoners, so taking control over this area had to become a historical symbol
over this area had become a historical symbol for the oppressed society. This
is celebrated by the French people every year on July 14th.
Moreover, another historical event which motivated the
French citizens to strive for equality was when the king and queen were
charged.
Social
- Decentralization gave the citizens more power
- 1st and second estates
depended on the 3rd estates
- 3rd estates were
exploited and worked to the bone
The third estates were deprived of their fundamental
rights through exploitation of their rights because of their lack of speech.
This was questioned by the third estates and new ideas emerged and due to the
idea of freedom they wanted a decentralized government. The Jacobin party was
formed after the tennis court oath and that gave equal power to everyone. Until
the king was decapitated the Jacobins started decapitation people against them.
The reason the Jacobins were decapitating people against them is because they
were diplomats and were power hungry.
The New Justice?
The system had avoided to charge the nobles and the clergy from taxes, an ad valorem tax on land. The tax burden,
therefore, devolved to the peasants, wage-earners, and the professional and
business classes, also known as the third estate. Further, people from
less-privileged walks of life were blocked from acquiring even petty positions
of power in the regime. This caused further resentment.
Robespierre - Hebert
Another anti-clerical uprising was made possible by the installment of the Republican
Calendar on 24 October 1793. Against
Robespierre's concepts, Hebert’s concepts led to a religious movement.
The Reign of Terror had rusted the revolutionaries, while temporarily
ending internal opposition. The Jacobins expanded their intake for army, and Carnot replaced many aristocratic officers with soldiers who had demonstrated
their patriotism, if not their ability. The Republican army was able to throw
back the Austrians,Prussians, British, and Spanish. Near
the end of 1793, the army had started to break apart and they had lost their
hold. The Ventose
Decrees proposed the confiscation of the goods
of exiles and opponents of the Revolution, and their redistribution to the
needy; and the policy was never actually implemented.
Jaques Necker.
Swiss at birth, Jacques was a finance minister of Louis XVI, a post he had held before the start of the French Revolution. He was one of Louis most trusted men’s and he also managed most of his political work. He had talk to Louis about the peasants wanting justice and also warned him about the outcome if he had chosen to ignore it would cause an uprising. Necker was seen as the savior of France while the country stood on the brink of ruin, but his actions could not stop the French Revolution. He advocated doubling the representation of the Third Estate to satisfy the people. But he failed to address the matter of voting — rather than voting by head count, which is what the people wanted; voting remained as one vote for each estate
Political Factor
Geographic Causes of the French Revolution
Geographic Causes of the French Revolution
While the king demanded more taxes of the common people, France had severe weather patterns which included harsh cold and piles of snow which blocked commonly used roads used for trade and travel. This also stopped wagons carrying wheat and food supplies. Food was already scarce in the 1780’s and the harvest of the two years prior to the revolution (1788-1789) was poor due to the weather. Scientists link this awful weather to a strong El Nino cycle, which was most likely caused by the Laki eruption in Iceland, in 1783. This volcano spewed sulphuric dioxide into the atmosphere which caused a drop in weather all over the northern hemisphere and caused crop failure all over Europe.
When the snow finally melted, it caused floods. In the summer of 1789, a prolonged drought hit France, with blazing hot weather and extremely dry conditions. These two factors combined worsened the situation of the food, destroying the already damaged crops and further worsening the grain supply. Other parts of Europe had adopted the potato as a staple crop, because it was sturdier, could survive a lot more than wheat could, like hail storms, cold weather and even scorched earth tactics used by the military. However, it was hard to transport and store, and considered “exotic” and dirty. Many individuals even tried to replace wheat with the potatoes as a staple crop in France, but wheat remained most popular. Parts of France even banned the potato on the belief that it caused leprosy. When the famine hit, the wheat was hit a lot harder than potatoes, but most of France used wheat. This contributed even more to the famine.
At the same time, rumours were circulating that the wealthy and the aristocrats were purposely withholding bread from the civilians and it was all a big plot against them. They believed the wealthy were plotting against them. Many people blamed the Austrian born “foreigner” Marie Atoinette (Louis XVI’s wife) for spending lavishly on unnecessary things. She also apparently said “Let them eat cake” when asked what to do with the hungry peasants. She of course did not say this exactly but her words were twisted and spread like wildfire. This common enemy united the people against the French court. The gap between the rich and the poor had begun to grow. The factors of hunger, due to crop failure and weather, the increase of the price of bread, and a hatred for the court are all geographic factors that started and fuelled the French Revolution.
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