French revolution

• French Revolution key information:
• French Revolution led to the end of monarchy in France
• Society based on privileges gave way to a new system of governance
• Declaration of the Rights of Man during the revolution announced the coming of a new time
• Idea that all individuals had rights and could claim equality became part of a new language of politics
• Notions of equality and freedom emerged as central ideas of a new age
• Anti-colonial movements in India, China, Africa, and South America produced innovative ideas that gained currency from the late eighteenth century
• French Society During the Late Eighteenth Century:
• French society divided into three estates: clergy, nobility, and peasants/artisans
• Peasants made up about 90% of the population, but only a small number owned the land they cultivated
• Members of the third estate paid taxes, while the first two estates enjoyed privileges by birth and were exempt from paying taxes
• Peasants had to render services to the lord, pay taxes to the state, and were burdened with financing state activities through taxes
• Struggle to Survive:
• Population of France rose from about 23 million in 1715 to 28 million in 1789, leading to a rapid increase in demand for foodgrains
• Production of grains could not keep pace with demand, leading to a rise in bread prices
• Wages did not keep pace with rising prices, widening the gap between the poor and the rich
• Subsistence crisis occurred frequently in France during the Old Regime
• Growing Middle Class Envisages an End to Privileges:
• Emergence of the middle class in the eighteenth century, including merchants, manufacturers, lawyers, and administrative officials
• Middle class believed in a society based on freedom, equal laws, and opportunities for all, rejecting privilege by birth
• Ideas of freedom and equal laws put forward by philosophers like John Locke and Jean Jacques Rousseau
• In 1787, Young criticises the situation and dangers he senses in the context of the monarch's activity
• Rousseau proposed a form of government based on a social contract between people and their representatives
• Montesquieu proposed a division of power within the government between the legislative, the executive, and the judiciary
• The American constitution and its guarantee of individual rights was an important example for political thinkers in France
• Louis XVI had to increase taxes and called a meeting of the Estates General to pass proposals for new taxes
• Louis XVI called together an assembly of the Estates General on 5 May 1789 to pass proposals for new taxes
• The third estate demanded that voting in the Estates General be conducted by the assembly as a whole, where each member would have one vote
• On 20 June 1789, the representatives of the third estate declared themselves a National Assembly and swore not to disperse till they had drafted a constitution for France that would limit the powers of the monarch
• The National Assembly completed the draft of the constitution in 1791 to limit the powers of the monarch and made France a constitutional monarchy
• The Constitution of 1791 vested the power to make laws in the National Assembly, which was indirectly elected
• The Constitution of 1791 began with a Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen, establishing rights such as the right to life, freedom of speech, freedom of opinion, and equality before the law
• Jean-Paul Marat commented on the Constitution drafted by the National Assembly, expressing concerns about the influence of wealth on the law and the need for the poor and oppressed to improve their situation
• Louis XVI signed the Constitution but entered into secret negotiations with the King of Prussia
• Neighbouring countries were worried by the developments in France and made plans to send troops to put down the events since the summer of 1789
• National Assembly voted in April 1792 to declare war against Prussia and Austria
• Thousands of volunteers joined the army, seeing it as a war of the people against kings and aristocracies all over Europe
• The Marseillaise was composed by poet Roget de L’Isle and became the national anthem of France
• Revolutionary wars brought losses and economic difficulties to the people
• Constitution of 1791 gave political rights only to the richer sections of society