Radical French Revolution

iksad publishing house, 2022

According to Historians Robert Darnton and Francois Furet, revolutionary ideas were spread into French political culture through pornography and porous state borders, while Jergen Habermas mentioned about French public sphere that helped to allow social change discussions among the periodical press, learned societies etc. that was created due to cultural changes of commercialism and consumerism in France. Class struggle was made due to a toothless monarchy that could not advocate and represent millions of people, which finally created a power vacuum. Social mobility was another reason for class struggle, through which Bourgeoisie was beginning to feel self-confident in their merits and self-privileges while the poor class was showing protested the feudal landlords (anti-seigneurial) by their bad attitude. The French monarchy was in a deep financial crisis due to the worldwide conflict with England due to the seven-year war (1756-1763). France lost its colonial power throughout the world and surrendered against the British allied group. Public debt was in full swing, making the monarchy disrespectful, suspicious, unskilled, and less confidential. The crisis in France finally created Enlightenment as one of its narratives for the French Revolution. It raised the right of people sovereignty mentioned in Rousseau's Social Contract long ago. The paper's objective is to discover the socio-economic-political consequences, of course, while the outcome is to achieve in-depth knowledge about French Revolution. Books and academic journals are information sources for a paper's methodological process. The feature question is, what are the discredits of French monarchies that brought the Revolution in 1789?

The outbreak of the French Revolution in 1789 was the result of a combination of factors that historians still debate. Over the course of the 18th century, France experienced the unfolding of pathetically sad developments and unprecedented public outcry. The prime cause of this was indeed the abuse of people by the existing system of government: the practises of what came to be called the ancient regime . These malpractices thwarted the fundamental freedoms and liberties of the people. Historians have identified key issues inherent in the ancient regime that caused the revolution. Social injustice, inequality, socio-economic and political mismanagement, the King’s despotism, financial crisis and unfair taxation among many other factors have all been cited as chronic problems that caused discontent. So chaotic was the system of arbitrary arrests and the elaborate class stratifications. In these circumstances, the enlightenment ideals or writings of the philosophers that condemned the ancient regime came as a catalyst rather than a cause in literal senses. The influence of philosophers came only as a blow that aggravated a deep discontent that had already been felt*.

In this study will focus on the reasons and the consequences of the French revolution. We know that the French revolution is one of the most important event in the modern history of Europe. As a political science student, it is very important to know about the context of the French revolution which has a great impact on the political science discipline. Therefore, the causes and consequences behind the French revolution can be explained in social, economic, political perspectives. However, this paper will explain the four political causes of the French such as absolutism, inequalities of right, the influence of enlightenment scholar and bankruptcy of the government.

Defining the concept of "Revolution" in the context of France, analyze the principal causes of the French Revolution of 1789.