Essay on French Revolution

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Essay on Roman History

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Introduction- French Revolution
According to Goodwin (2016, pp.23), the French Revolution, also called as the Revolution of
1789, was a milestone episode in European history. The nuanced history of French Revolution
relates to the beginning of a new reign and the ascent of Napoleon Bonaparte in the late 1790s.
As opined by Lefebvre and Tackett (2015, pp.24), the agenda of this major historical event was
to destruct and restructure the political landscape of France uprooting absolute monarchy and the
feudal system. Due to the ages old constitution, poor economic policies and monarchial rule by
King Louis XVI caused rage among the revolutionaries resulting in attack on the prison in
Bastille on July 14th, 1789. This chaotic bloodbath witnessed the downfall of the French
government and led to the establishment of Napoleon Bonaparte’s French Consulate. Before the
revolution, France was divided into social groups and people belonged from different such social
groups called ‘Estates’. This social classification of the population acted as a catalyst for the
Third Estate to revolt for their rights and demanded change in their favor.
Causes of French Revolution
The dramatic series of events in French society unleashed a chaotic process of revolution and
reactionary blowback. The revolutionaries demanded change and create an entirely different kind
of society that supports ideas including liberty and freedom for the commoner. However, there
are three main causes of French Revolution leading to the revolt by the commoners. According
to Doyle (2018, pp.311), the political cause was due to autocratic monarchy by the French
Monarchs who had unlimited power and declared themselves as the Representative of God.
Nevertheless, this autocratic rule was not in favor of the commoners resulting in defective
foreign policies and poor economic condition of France. The people in power were entirely
focusing on leading an extravagant lifestyle without considering the later consequences. This led
to the political cause of the French Revolution.
As opined by Rothkrug (2015, pp.241), during the 18th century, social conditions of France were
miserable while people occupying the lower position in the society faced even worse situations.
The royal clergyman and nobles lived in extravagant life and also did not pay any tax to the king.
Eventually the burden was pushed down on the common people comprising of farmers, sweepers
and cobblers leading a miserable life. However, a ray of hope was installed within the Third