French Revolution Essay

This essay analyzes the French Revolution, comparing and contrasting it with the American Revolution. It explores the political, social, and economic causes of the French Revolution, detailing its three main phases: the moderate phase, the radical phase (the Reign of Terror), and the Directory. The essay concludes by comparing the outcomes of both revolutions, highlighting the differences in their contexts, violence, and ultimate goals. The essay uses scholarly sources to support its arguments, citing works by Acemoglu, Doyle, and McDonald.

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Introduction
The essay will be focusing on the main theme that is French Revolution. It has been observed
that the American Revolution was born in 1776 and it ended in 1783. The main motivation of
this revolution was political as well as economic taxation without the representation of the
tyranny. On the other hand, the French Revolution was born in 1789 and it was over by 1799
as well as the main motivation of this revolution was political and social- ending the nobles
and clergy’s privileges (McDonald). Furthermore, this essay will be highlighting the main
causes behind the French Revolution, the main phases of this revolution and the conclusion
will be based on contrasting French and American Revolutions outcomes.
Discussion
Causes of the French Revolution
The three important causes of the revolution will be highlighted in the below segment
Political cause- It has been observed that during the eighteen Century France was one of the
main elements of the autocratic monarchy. The power of the French Monarchs was unlimited
and they also stated themselves as the God’s representatives.
Louis XIV and his reign from 1643-1715 was regarded as one of the most powerful Monarch.
Louis XIV was also confident, strong, efficient as well as the hardworking leader. He had
gathered experience in the wars. It can be said that the autocratic monarchy, the huge amount
of expenditure as well as the faulty administration gave birth with regards to the political
causes for the French Revolution (Doyle).
Social cause- It can be said that the social condition of the France during the 18th century was
not at all good. The French Society at that time was mainly divided into the three main

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classes namely common, clergy and the noble people. The Clergy people were the people
belonging to the first class and they were mainly divided into two groups such as lower and
the higher clergy. The higher clergy were the people for whom the top-most position in the
society was occupied. These are the people that did not pay anything tax to the monarch. The
common people were exploited by these people to a great extent. The higher clergy people
always lived in a luxurious manner. The higher clergy people always received hatred from
the common people. However, the provincial people were always concerned with the
problems of the common people but they did not receive the same privileges like the Clergy
Nobles. The common people became quite rebellious and the lower clergies joined them as
well as the bourgeoisie. Hence, the French Revolution is also as the “Bourgeoisie
Revolution”.
Economic cause- The France economic condition was another cause for the French
Revolution. At that time the condition of the France was not at all good because Louis X1V
did some foreign wars and all of the wars were quite expensive and it continued for almost 7
years. Therefore, it is quite evident that the instability in the economic was one of the vital
reasons for the French Revolution (Acemoglu).
Phases of the French Revolution
There were main stages of the French Revolution and this will be discussed in this segment.
The moderate phase- The French Revolution took place with the moderate phase, at least by
contrasting with what would happen later on. Furthermore, The Third Estate had created a lot
of trouble that they had been barred from the assembly but they were not at all ready for
giving up. The National Constituent Assembly could not do anything for solving the
economy problems of the country and the conditions were becoming poorer. The king also

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became the prisoner in his own country on a sad note and France entered into the War with
Prussia and Austria.
The second phase wanted a lot more revolution in a more radical manner but it turned into the
blood bath. One of the most important representatives of this phase was M.Robesierre and it
is the phase that followed constitution in the paper as well, but however in the reality a lot of
laws were imposed by the revolutionary tribunal and they suspended a lot of basic rights such
as the right to appeal (Acemoglu).
The third phase is directory and during this time the third constitution was born. Furthermore,
this specific constitution led towards the five man directory which was made up of the middle
class. The middle class were the people that helped in terms of creating peace between some
of the countries but not everyone was at peace with France at that time.
Conclusion
Outcomes of the two revolutions- The outcomes of both the revolution were quite similar still
there were a lot of differences between the two wars. One of the main differences was the
context of the war. Throwing light on the above-mentioned discussion it can be said that one
of the main causes of the American Revolution was because of the population of America
became unhappy with regards to how they were ruled by the Britishers. One of the main
focuses of the American Revolution was gaining as much independence as possible. On the
other hand, another main difference in the outcome was that the French Revolution saw a lot
more bloodshed and it was violent unlike the American Revolution. The French Revolution
took place in the year 1789 and it was over by 1799 and the main motivation of this
revolution was political and social- ending the nobles and clergy’s privileges. The three main
causes of the revolution social, political and economic cause and all of them had a serious

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effect on the French Revolution. Lastly the essay highlighted that there were some of the
major differences among the outcomes of American and French Revolution.

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Works Cited
Acemoglu, Daron, et al. "The consequences of radical reform: The French
Revolution." American economic review 101.7 (2011): 3286-3307.
Doyle, William. The Oxford history of the French revolution. Oxford University Press, 2018.
McDonald, Joan. Rousseau and the French Revolution 1762-1791. Bloomsbury Publishing,
2013.
Pinkney, David H. French Revolution of 1830. Vol. 5512. Princeton University Press, 2019.