Which would make an effective thesis for an essay on the cause of the French Revolution

Answer 1

Hi,

From what I know the causes are a series of very bad harvest years for France, which led to actual famine in the country. The other cause is that Louis XVI was a kind person but he was weak and didn't know how to reign. Let's not forget that Louis XiV had ruined France during the longest reign of all the kings of France and the country was still suffering from an economic crisis.

For more info see:

Les causes de la Révolution - Maxicours

Best of luck,

Partial translation:

1. A deep political and social malaise

a. The crisis of the monarchy

- The critics of the Enlightenment

The philosophers of the Enlightenment, without being republicans or democrats (except Rousseau), rejected absolute monarchy. In their works, they denounced the excesses of the long authoritarian reign of Louis XIV and affirmed their preference for a controlled monarchy in the manner of England. The philosophers agreed that sovereignty should be given to the people. These ideas spread among the educated elite.

- The deep financial crisis

The monarchical state suffers from a serious weakness: it seems unable to solve the financial problem that arises throughout the 18th century. France was heavily indebted, and this situation worsened during the reign of Louis XVI, because of the participation in the War of Independence of the United States. The solution was to reform the tax system, but the privileged did not accept it.

- Opposition of the Parliaments

For several years, the monarchical power had to face the opposition of the Parliaments, and in particular that of Paris. Originally a simple court of justice, the Parliament of Paris was composed of nobles who wanted to have real political powers as in England. They were in charge of registering the edicts (i.e. decisions) of the king, but they did not hesitate to oppose the king and to refuse the registration of these edicts.

Under Louis XV, the Parliament of Paris revolted in 1770 and went on strike; this coup de force was repressed by the king and his minister Maupeou, who abolished the Parliaments. But the new king Louis XVI reversed this decision and re-established the Parliament of Paris. However, he did not have the same authority as his predecessor and the conflict turned to the advantage of the Parliament in the years 1787-1788.

b. Social tensions at the end of the 18th century

- A frozen society

French society in the 18th century was divided into three orders: the clergy, the nobility and the Third Estate. The clergy and the nobility represented only 2% of the population, but they held the wealth and possessed honorary, judicial and, above all, fiscal privileges: they escaped paying most taxes. This situation was criticized by the philosophers of the Enlightenment; it was increasingly resented by the Third Estate, which bore all the financial burdens.

- The difficulties of the rural world

Peasants represented 85% of the population. They had many demands: they wanted a fairer tax system and the abolition of certain feudal rights such as the seigneurial monopoly on hunting. The peasants were vulnerable, because their harvests were subject to the vagaries of the weather; and even when the harvests were good, the profits were low, once the taxes owed to the king, the lord and the clergy were paid.

In the countryside, unrest was therefore frequent and the peasants regularly revolted against their lords.

- The crisis of the elites

The noble and bourgeois elites turned away from the regime and no longer had confidence in the absolute monarchy. The nobility aspired to a certain aristocratic liberalism. Won over by the spirit of the Enlightenment, they would like to participate more in political power.

The high bourgeoisie, enriched and conquering, sees its ascension stopped by the nobiliary reaction. This noble reaction is characterized by the refusal of the nobility to see bourgeois accessing the places reserved until then to the nobles. The bourgeois could not have access to the great jobs of the State and the great commands in the army.

Thus, for different reasons, the bourgeois and noble elites aspired to reforms. On these fragile political and social bases, a strong crisis breaks out, which precipitates the country towards the Revolution.

2. The immediate causes: a conjunction of crises

a. A triple crisis

- An economic crisis

The reign of Louis XVI corresponded to a difficult economic situation: a drop in agricultural prices, a slump in the textile industry. The rains and floods of 1787, the drought and then the hail of July 1788 resulted in a very poor harvest in 1788. The winter of 1788-1789 was very harsh. In the spring of 1789, the poor grain harvest of the previous year caused prices to soar throughout France. In Paris, the price of bread doubled.

- A social crisis

The soaring prices forced the French to spend all their income on bread. Craftsmen and manufacturers were unable to sell their goods. Textile production dropped by half in 1789. Bankruptcies multiplied, creating unemployment. Vagrancy and begging increased. Unrest broke out everywhere.

- A political crisis

In this particularly troubled period, Louis XVI did not have the qualities of a great monarch...