10 CAUSES AND CONSEQUENCES OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION - HISTORY - 2024

The causes and consequences of the French Revolution reflect the troubled society of the time. Among the main causes, economic instability stands out, and one of the most important consequences was the recognition of human rights.

The French Revolution began in 1789 with the Storming of the Bastille. During the 10 years that followed the government of France went into crisis, its king was executed and groups of revolutionaries fought for power.

To understand the causes of the French Revolution, you have to understand how France worked. It was a monarchy ruled by a king, who had total power over the government and its people. The French were divided into different social classes: the clergy, the nobles, and the commoners. The commoners were exploited and did not have the privileges of the higher classes.

In 1789 the government entered an economic and political crisis. The famine, coupled with a weak king and new political ideas, caused the revolution to begin. As a consequence, the first Constitution was created and the Democratic Republic was born. Additionally, revolutionary ideas spread to America.

Causes of the French Revolution

Economic instability

The economic condition of France was poor due to the wars of previous rulers, such as Louis XIV and Louis XV. Additionally, during the reign of Louis XVI the royal treasury was emptied due to the extravagant expenses of Queen Marie Antoinette.

To improve his condition, Louis XVI hired various finance ministers who tried to improve the situation, but all failed. Charles de Calonne was eventually appointed as finance minister in 1783, who adopted the loan policy to meet the expenses of the royal court.

But because of this policy, France's national debt increased from 300 million francs to 600 million francs in just three years. For that reason Calonne proposed to impose a tax on all classes of society, which was rejected by the king.

In this situation, the king called a kind of general assembly that only brought more economic instability and that was one of the important causes of the French Revolution.

The ideas of the Enlightenment

For hundreds of years people in France had blindly followed the king and accepted his lowest position in society. However, during the 1700s the culture began to change; the idea of ​​a society based on reason and not on traditions was promoted.

The Enlightenment presented new ideas, such as freedom and equality. The bourgeois of the nobility began to question the whole system, also taking inspiration from the American Revolution.

These new ideas began to spread among the educated classes and it was concluded that a revolution was needed to apply the ideas of Voltaire, Rousseau and Montesquieu.

Famine among the population

Food shortages, especially after the agrarian crisis of 1788 and 1789, generated popular discontent: commoners mainly ate bread to survive.

France was experiencing a great famine at that time. Due to the deregulation of the grain market, the cost of bread increased and people were hungry and desperate. This caused the masses to rebel and create riots.

Loss of king power

King Louis XVI had been losing power within the government. He was a weak king who did not realize the seriousness of the situation the commoners found themselves in.

The upper class formed a national assembly to force the king to make reforms, but in the end the king did not comply. So not only was the king in conflict with the commoners, but he also could not agree with the nobles to make reforms.

Fight between classes

A part of the clergy (the high clergy) exploited the commoners in various ways while living a life full of luxury and extravagance compared to the misery of the third class.

That is why ordinary people felt contempt for them. And on the other hand, the nobles also paid no attention to the needs of the commoners.

But the bourgeois (lawyers, doctors, writers, businessmen, among others) were an emerging and educated social class with more status and money than the commoners; they had previously belonged to the third class of ordinary people.

The bourgeoisie sought to achieve social equality with the clergy and nobles, which is why they also influenced and drove the commoners to start a revolution.

As a result, the common people became rebellious and were supported by the bourgeoisie and the lower clergy who did not agree with the wasteful life of others.

Consequences of the French Revolution

Domino effect in other revolutions

During the French Revolution all French men were released and considered equal citizens under the law. This inspired slave revolts in America and independence movements.

In Latin America, Simón Bolívar and José de San Martín liberated the majority of South America. By 1830 most of the Latin American countries were free.

In Europe there were also similar riots. The French Revolution was the spark that started subsequent revolutions around the world.

Development of the republic and democracy

One of the consequences of the French Revolution was the development of the republic, not only in France, but also in many other countries.

The nation, and not the king, was recognized as the greatest source of authority in the state. In France this became official with the establishment of the republic in 1792. Written constitutions introduced a representative assembly and a legislature elected by popular vote.

The new constitution

The revolution broke the hegemony of the feudal monarchy and opened the way for the issuance of a new constitution that determined the constitutional monarchy as a form of government; the power would no longer reside in God but in the people.

The new constitution ended up constituting the pillars of a great declaration for the world: the rights of man. Among them were considered basic such as freedom, equality and fraternity, the so-called principles of the Republic.

The Declaration of the Rights of Man promotes in its articles individual freedom of thought, press and belief; equality, which demands to be guaranteed to the citizen by the State in the legislative, judicial and fiscal spheres; and the guarantee of security and resistance against acts of oppression.

Serfdom, the privileges of the clergy and the nobility came to an end with the new constitution and the separation of the three public powers: executive, legislative and judicial was returned to the country.

Elimination of hierarchical society

It ended the hierarchical French society divided into social classes, in which the nobility was privileged.

The concept of citizenship and equality before the law began to be included, so the official positions of the State began to be delivered - at least in theory - based on individual merits. This caused new men to be in positions of authority throughout France.

Separation of Church and State

Church and State, united for centuries, were separated. Freedom of religion was established and non-Catholics achieved civil equality. Civil marriage was introduced in 1792 along with divorce, and a small increase in gender equality between the sexes was achieved.

Establishment of human rights

The French Revolution led to the Declaration of the Rights of Men in France, which led to many discussions and deliberations around human rights, including the rights of slaves and women.

The rights of men, borrowed from the ideals of the Enlightenment, were formally proclaimed. The French Revolution was said to be the first revolution to be founded on the theory of the rights of humanity.

The slogan of "liberty, equality and fraternity" was one of the most representative revolutionary symbols for French society.

Thanks to the French Revolution, the basis for the recognition of human rights was formed, by creating movements to fight against slavery and support feminism around the world.

From the feudal economy to the capitalist economy

The feudal economy model had to adjust to a capitalist economic system that works in France to this day.

In the feudal model, the court and its friends were the owners of the land and whoever wanted to work it had to pay for this, thereby establishing a series of hierarchical social divisions.

The feudalists offered protection in exchange for hard work and the profits from the production on the land belonged to the owner, in this case the feudal lord.

The protection that these gentlemen offered to the peasants meant that they lost practically all their rights; they lived to serve their masters. With the new form of government, a system was created to distribute the lands and make them productive under a model of equity.

The bourgeoisie and the peasants received parcels as payment for their contribution to the project of the revolution and, incidentally, their fidelity to the new political model was ensured.

Nationalization of church assets

The French Revolution contributed to the separation between Church and State; in this way citizens no longer had to obey the Church if their conscience so dictated. The Church as an institution lost all power and much of its privileges.

Under this new context it was possible to seize ecclesiastical assets and proclaim them national assets. Many of these properties were sold and the money was used to pay for state expenses.

Likewise, the payment of a salary to priests was approved to force them to comply with their tax obligations like the rest of the French.

A new Emperor is born

Although the French Revolution brought airs of freedom and democracy, it also awakened the ambition of Napoleon Bonaparte.

In his endeavor to bring new ideals throughout the world, he became a new Emperor, who was led by power towards the creation of a kind of dictatorship that the enlightened ones of the time never imagined.

Napoleon's conquests had such a great impact that the revolution and the ideas of nationalism, patriotism and democracy spread throughout Europe.

End of the mayorazgo

With the new rights, the heirs began to have equality in the distribution of assets. The idea of ​​considering indivisible assets to be inherited by a surname represented in the eldest son of the family, was abolished.

Power in the hands of the bourgeoisie

The enlightened who participated in and promoted the French Revolution would then dispute for power. The attempt by a political sector to maintain some of the privileges that supported the monarchy, caused that many of the most capable men died in confrontations and finally the bourgeoisie ruled.

This bourgeoisie, made up of civil servants and merchants who helped the revolutionary cause, remained in power under the Napoleonic empire.

A new metric system

The need to build new institutions under a purely rational scheme, led the scientists of the time to create a new measurement system to standardize commercial and tax matters.

In 1799, the meter and kilogram standards were introduced and were introduced in France in 1801, to later be extended to the rest of Europe.

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