Home > Causes of the French Revolution
The causes of the French Revolution, the uprising which brought the regime of King Louis XVI to an end, were manifold. France in 1789 was one of the richest and most powerful nations in Europe; only in Great Britain and the Netherlands did the common people have more freedom and less chance of arbitrary punishment. 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 were influenced by the ideas of the Enlightenment. As the revolution proceeded and as power devolved from the monarchy to legislative bodies, the conflicting interests of these initially allied groups would become the source of conflict and bloodshed.
1 Absolutism and privilege
France in 1789 was, at least in theory, an absolute monarchy, an increasingly unpopular form of government at the time. In practice, the king's ability to act on his theoretically absolute power was hemmed in by the (equally resented) power and prerogatives of the nobility and the clergy, the remnants of feudalism. Similarly, the peasants covetously eyed the relatively greater prerogatives of the townspeople.
The large and growing middle class — and some of the nobility and of the working class — had absorbed the ideology of equality and freedom of the individual, brought about by such philosophers as VoltaireFrancois-Marie Arouet ( November 21, 1694— May 30, 1778), better known by the pen name Voltaire was a French Enlightenment writer, deist and philosopher. Biography Voltaire was born in Paris to Francois Arouet and Marie-Marguerite Daumart or D'Aumard., Denis DiderotDenis Diderot ( October 5, 1713 July 31, 1784) was a French writer and philosopher. Born in Langres, Champagne, France in 1713, he was a prominent figure in what became known as The Enlightenment, and was the editor-in-chief of the famous Encyclopedie''., TurgotAnne Robert Jacques Turgot, Baron de Laune often referred to as Turgot ( May 10, 1727 ? March 18, 1781), was a French statesman and economist. Born in Paris, he was the youngest son of Michel Etienne Turgot, "provost of the merchants" of Paris, and Madele, and other theorists of the Enlightenment. The example of the American RevolutionThe American Revolution refers to the series of events, ideas, and changes that resulted in the political separation of thirteen colonies in North America from the British Empire and the creation of the United States of America. The American Revolutionary showed them that it was plausible that Enlightenment ideals about governmental organization might be put into practice; furthermore, contact between the American revolutionaries and the French troops who had assisted them resulted in the spread of revolutionary ideals to the French. They attacked the undemocraticA democracy is a form of government under which the power to alter the laws and structures of government lies with the voting citizenry (referred to as "the people", because in modern times it usually consists of all people over 18 years of age), and all nature of the government, pushed for freedom of speechFreedom of speech is the right to freely say what you please, as well as the related right to hear what others have stated. It is self-explanatory. Recently, it has been commonly understood as encompassing full freedom of expression including the freedom, and challenged the Catholic Church and the prerogatives of the nobles.
