The French revolution also called the revolution of 1789 was one of the revolution that shook France. The revolution was not different from the revolutions that had already happened in the west. The causes were all common and this was by far the most violent revolution. The main cause of the French revolution was the social structure of the West. The French Revolution was an event that was caused by modern European History it later ended in the late 1790s with the beginning of the rule of Napoleon Bonaparte. During the French Revolution, the French Nationals eliminated their countries old institutions and abolished the feudal system that ruled most of the European Nations. However, the Feudal system had disappeared in most parts of Europe. This was because of the rising numbers of the prosperous elite of wealthy commoners and so the feudal system was weakened systematically. The French Revolution was also caused by the poor economic policies by King Louis and his monarchy. The French evolution played an important role in showing the world the importance of people’s will and it also played a crucial role in shaping modern nations especially those around Europe.
The main causes of the French Revolution were the political, social and economic cause. Due to its autocratic monarchy, France was the center of attention in entire Europe. The French Monarchy had extravagant spending and it involved itself in the American Revolution. The regime had imposed heavy taxes and that caused people to riot loot and strike. They arrested any person who opposed the monarchy at any time and had them imprisoned. The Monarchy paid no attention to the French citizens it was serving. At some point King Louis referred to himself as the state, he was a dictator and a confident ruler. The extravagant nature of the King and His wife formed the political cause of the French Revolution (Stromberg, 2006).
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The Social Cause also caused the French revolution. The French society at that time was divided into three classes, the clergy, nobles, and the common people. The top clergies did not pay any tax to the Monarch and they belonged to the first state. The clergies manipulated the common people in so many different ways. They contributed to the extravagance nature of the Monarchy, the other clergies who were also referred to as the lower clergies served their people with determination and lived in a miserable life. The second Estate belonged to the Nobility; the nobility did not pay taxes to the king and thus making the life of the commoners and the peasants difficult. Majority of the Nobility also lived in luxurious ways and contributed to the extravagant ways of the nation. The heterogeneous class, the commoners, formed the Third Estate and the peasants, the farmers belonged to this class. The paid taxes and performed all manual labor in the country. They worked for clergies and nobles and yet they would then be taxed of their income while the clergies and nobles did not pay any kind of tax. This led to people in the common class be rebellious and they aroused and influenced the revolution.
Economic causes also caused the French revolution France became poor due to the extravagant ways and multiple foreign wars that were ignited by King Louis. The King at some point was asked to tax every social class but did not take that to advice. Due to the economic instability in France at that period the French fell and led to the French revolution. The upheaval discontent with the French Monarchy caused the death of King Louis by guillotine; the King was killed alongside his wife.
The American Revolution the French Nationals purposely wanted to do away with the Monarchy inspired the French revolution greatly; it had caused so much pain and restrictions to French Nationals. They also wanted to gain rights and freedoms this was because the King kept arresting people who opposed the monarchy rule. They also wanted a democratic government that had fair representation for all people and most importantly, they wanted a constitution. This was specifically the pros of the revolution, the French achieved all that their goals. The revolution caused many failures for the government, the government went into instability. Peasant insurrections were also the cons of the war. The period was characterized by a reign of terror, many people died. It was a chaotic period, the peasants revolted against the property owners and nobles and many anti-revolutionaries were murdered, many people were murdered in this period (Kisch, 2012).
Though the high number of deaths in this period the absolute monarchy was completed overthrown. The French had a new leader under Napoleon. The French Nationals had gained the right vote and freedom of speech. The French revolution played a crucial role in shaping the modern European world. The revolution had a positive significant impact to the French people, it ended cruelty, the commoners mainly experienced the cruelty, and poor political systems were replaced by a modern system that favored most people in France. Civil rights were established that oversaw that the French enjoyed their rights. The revolution inspired many countries in Europe to establish better political systems and governments, the death of King Louis served as an important lesson to leaders who ruled with an iron fist and those that saw that the government belonged to them; it was the beginning of a new era in the French political system (Campbell, 2012).
References
Campbell, P. (2012). Rethinking the Origins of the French Revolution. A Companion to the French Revolution , 1-23. doi:10.1002/9781118316399.ch1
Kisch, H. (2012). The Impact of the French Revolution on the Lower Rhine Textile Districts-Some Comments on Economic Development and Social Change. The Economic History Review , 15 (2), 304. doi:10.2307/2599000
Stromberg, R. N. (2006). Reevaluating the French Revolution. The History Teacher , 20 (1), 87. doi:10.2307/493178
