The French Revolution
Anatomy of a Revolution
- The French Revolution passed through distinct stages, each of which
an be found in every major revolution
- Crane Brinton: American historian, created a theory of the nature of
revolution (based on the French Revolution); wrote Anatomy of a
Revolution which said:
Conditions that are present BEFORE a revolution
1. People from all social classes are discontented
2. People feel restless and held down by unacceptable restrictions in
society, religion, the economy, or the government
3. People are hopeful about the future, but they are being forced to
accept less than they had hoped for
4. People are beginning to think of themselves as belonging to a social
class and there is a growing bitterness between social classes
5. The social classes closest to one another are the most hostile
6. The scholars and thinkers give up on the way their society operates
7. The government does not respond to the needs of its society
8. The leaders of the government and the ruling class being to doubt
themselves; some join with the opposition groups
9. The government is unable to get enough support from any group to
save itself
[Link] government cannot organize its finances correctly and is either
going bankrupt or trying to tax heavily and unjustly
Life of the revolution:
- Impossible demands made of the government which, if granted, would
mean its end
- Unsuccessful government attempts to suppress revolutionaries
- Revolutionaries gain power and seem united
- Once in power, revolutionaries begin to quarrel among themselves,
and unity begins to dissolve
- The moderates gain the leadership but fail to satisfy those who insist
on further changes
- Power is gained by progressively more radical groups until finally a
lunatic fringe gains almost complete control
- A strong man emerges and assumes great power
- The extremists try to create a “heaven on earth” by introducing their
whole program and by punishing all their opponents
- A period of terror occurs
- Moderate groups regain power
- The revolution is over
Compares a revolution to a fever or a disease (using language of pathology):
- The revolutionary “fever” begins with the appearance of certain
“symptoms”
- It proceeds by advances and retreats to a crisis stage (“delirium”)
- The crisis ends when the “fever” breaks
- A period of convalescence follows, interrupted by a relapse or two
before the recovery is complete.
Causes
Main Causes
1. Dissatisfaction with the Ancien Regime
o The government isolates itself from the problems of the poor
2. Inequality amongst the estates
o Each estate had only one vote per
o 1st and 2nd estates could (and did) outvote the 3rd
o Vast social inequality
o No real social mobility for the greater majority
3. Unfair tax system
o Only the 3rd estate taxed (not proportional to land ownership)
4. Enlightenment ideas
o Freedom, rights, limited power of the king
5. Struggle for power
o Nobles wanted a larger role in government
o Nobles tried to limit power of king
6. Economy
o France bankrupt
o 7 years war
o Support for American Revolution
o Upkeep on Versailles
Enlightenment Connection
- Refusal to UNCRITICALLY accept authority
o Thinkers (scientists, writers, philosophers) sought to free
mankind from “arbitrary” authority by embracing REASON
So: Just because someone says he’s king and has got
some DIVINE RIGHT to tell you what to do >> do not
mindlessly accept his claim
+
- Scientific successes created great confidence in the power of reason
+
- Use of reason to find laws that governed the physical world >> use
reason to discover natural laws that govern human nature
+
- Question superstition, ignorance, and tyranny
=
THE FRENCH REVOLUTION
Revolution Timeline
Phases of the Revolution:
1. Absolutism: Louis XIV Marie Antoinette
2. Limited constitutional monarchy
o Legislative Assembly (middle class is in charge)
o Declaration of the “Rights of Man and of the Citizen”
o Civil Constitution of the Clergy
o Constitution of 1791
3. First French Republic
o National convention
o King and queen executed
o France engaged in foreign wars against the First Coalition
4. Radical phase
o “Reign of Terror” under Robespierre
o Committee of Public Safety
o Jacobins
o Sans-culotte (revolt of the lower classes in the cities)
5. Thermidorian Reaction:
o Directory
o Weak, with little support outside of the military
o Government in the hands of the property owners who did
nothing to relieve the problems of the lower classes
(conservative reaction to the radicalism of the Terror)
6. The Consulate
o “Enlightened” despotism of Napoleon Bonaparte
Results of the French Revolution
- Established democratic ideals: Liberte, Egalite, Fraternite (woo)
- Intensified French nationalism
- Influenced peoples and other societies throughout the world
- Alarmed people as other societies throughout the world
- Destroyed a hereditary society and a political structure based on rank
and birth
- Established a society based on civil equality
- Established representation as a principle of practical politics
- Eliminated feudal obligations of peasants
- Destroyed guilds and other obstacles to the growth of French Industry
and agriculture
