Social Causes Of The French Revolution

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French Revolution A revolution is a rapid expression of change. It is the end product of change that may be slow or instantaneous. It is a phenomenon that changes society primarily across three frontiers: economic, social and political. A revolution aims to overthrow the existing order and replace it with a system that is better suited for that time and environment Backdrop leading to the French Revolution 1. Ferment across the European continent: Europe in the 18th century was experiencing a sea of change. This is often called the ‘Age of Enlightenment’. On the political front we had Hobbes and Locke and their definitions of the State which gave rise to the ideas of democracy which would eventually supersede monarchy. On the economic front…show more content…
France experienced the revolution first because it had all the seeds of a revolution which were respectively 1. Social Causes: The French society of the 18th century had a very unequal division. It had three classes the clergy, the nobility and The Third Estate which principally comprised of peasants and had doctors, lawyers and businessmen as well. Despite being 6o percent of the population the Third Estate did not enjoy proportional representation in the Estates General where their vote had only half the value as that of the clergy and nobility despite having double the members and being 97% of the population (The clergy and nobility had 300 members each whereas the Third Estate had 600). Another social cause for the revolution was the rise of a new middle class which wanted an end to privileges, this middle class was made up of the richer members of the Third Estate (lawyers, industrialists and doctors etc.). They gained their wealth from manufacturing and overseas trade, they believed in a society without privileges where everyone was equal by birth. Eminent philosophers like John Locke in his Two treatises of the Government refuted the doctrine of the divine and absolute right of the monarch, Jean Jacques Rosseau in his book Social Contract (1762) proposed a government based on social contract between people and their representatives, Montesquieu in his Spirit of Laws proposed a division of power into the legislature, executive…show more content…
Economic Causes: Numerous wars with other European powers and the extravagant costs to maintain the palace of Versailles had resulted in an empty treasury for Louis XVI. Due to the American War of Independence the debt rose to 2 billion livres which rose to 4 billion livres by 1789. The population of France rose from 23 million in 1715 to 28 million in 1789 this led to a rapid increase in demand for food grains. As a result production could not keep pace with demand which led to food scarcity and the price of bread which was a staple food rose rapidly. Most of the workers were fixed wage labourers whose wages could not keep pace with the rise in prices which led to a subsistence crisis, something which was very common in France during the Old Regime. Another problem was of taxation, all the taxes were paid by the Third Estate. The clergy levied taxes called tithes from the peasants where they collected one-tenth of their produce and there was also the taille which was a direct tax to be paid by all the members of the Third Estate along with other indirect
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