French Revolution: Causes and Stages 1789-1799
The French Revolution
In 1789, France was in a deep economic and social crisis. Since 1760, poor harvests had caused food prices to augment. The bourgeoisie, enriched by the economic growth of the eighteenth century, was dissatisfied with its political marginalization, since only the privileged could have positions of power and social recognition. Following Enlightenment ideas, the bourgeoisie wanted to end the Old Regime.
The monarchy was in a financial crisis caused by the expenses of the state court and French aid to the independence of the United States. The solution was a tax reform that forced the aristocracy to pay taxes.
The revolution began in 1789 with a revolution of the aristocracy. The privileged refused to pay taxes and demanded that Louis XVI convene the States General, the only body able to approve a fiscal reform. The States General was formed by the nobility, the clergy, and the Third Estate.
The Third Estate demanded double representation, joint deliberation, and vote per person, because they constituted the majority. National sovereignty was at stake; accepting that all the disputed states represented the general will of the nation.
The monarch and the nobility only accepted the dual representation. On June 20, members of the Third Estate gathered at the Jeu de Paume, where they were erected into the National Assembly (representatives of the nation) and pledged to draw up a constitution for the French people.
The people of Paris supported the Third Estate and, on July 14, assaulted the Bastille. In the countryside, riots caused aristocratic residences and documents to be burned. On August 4, the National Assembly decreed the abolition of feudal privileges and enacted the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, which recognized freedom and equality before the law and taxes.
Stages of the French Revolution (1789-1799)
After the creation of the National Assembly, France began to transform into a liberal system, despite the opposition of the king and the privileged.
- Constitutional Monarchy (1789-1792): It had the support of conservative bourgeois, who aspired to reach an agreement to abolish the Old Regime and impose liberalism.
- Democratic Republic (1792-1794): Promoted by radical bourgeois and popular sectors, who wanted more equality and democracy.
- Bourgeois Republic (1794-1799): Return to power of the conservative bourgeois, enshrining the dominance of the National Assembly, initiating a process to convert France into a constitutional and parliamentary monarchy.
The 1791 Constitution exemplifies political liberalism: the separation of powers, national sovereignty, and legal equality of citizens, reserving for the King the right to veto. It established indirect and census suffrage, dividing citizens into active (with wealth) and passive (without wealth). A Legislative Assembly was formed in which laws were drafted for equal citizens, torture was abolished, the nobility paid taxes, and unions were abolished. A new army was created to defend the revolution (National Guard). To solve the financial crisis, Church lands were expropriated and sold to individuals and declared national assets (seizure). The Civil Constitution of the Clergy separated Church and State.
The 1789-1791 reforms satisfied bourgeois groups (constitutional monarchists) but did not please the nobility. The popular sectors were disgruntled because they favored the rich and restricted life. The most prominent revolutionaries were the Girondins, Jacobins, and Cordeliers, along with the sans-culottes, who aspired to a republic.
The royal family fled Paris and joined the Austrian army, which wanted to invade France and restore absolutism. The monarch was returned to the capital. In April 1792, the Legislative Assembly declared war on Austria. On August 10, 1792, the royal palace was attacked, the monarch was captured, and the republic was proclaimed in September.