French Revolution: Causes, Phases, and Outcomes
The Causes of the French Revolution
In 1789, France was in a deep economic and social crisis. On one hand, since 1760 there had been poor harvests, which led to a rise in food prices and popular discontent. On the other hand, the bourgeoisie, enriched by the economic growth of the eighteenth century, was unhappy with their political marginalization. Only the privileged could hold positions of power and enjoy social recognition. Encouraged by Enlightenment ideas, the bourgeoisie sought to end the entire system of absolutism and the Old Regime. In addition, the monarchy was plunged into a deep financial crisis caused by the high costs of the state and the court, and also by the cost of French aid to the independence of the United States. The solution involved a tax reform that would force the aristocracy to pay taxes, but the absolute monarch feared dissatisfying the privileged, who were their primary social support.
The End of the Old Regime
The people of Paris took to the streets in support of the representatives of the Third Estate. Fearing that the royal troops would detain the deputies, on July 14th, they assaulted the fortress of the Bastille, took up arms, and prepared to defend the revolutionary process by force. The revolution spread to the countryside in the form of an anti-seigneurial revolt (the Great Fear), which led to the burning of many noble residences and the destruction of stately documents. Faced with the radical popular uprising, on August 4th, the National Assembly passed the abolition of feudal privileges and enacted the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen, which recognized individual and collective freedoms, as well as equality before the law and taxes, as inalienable rights.
The Phases of the Revolution
After the creation of the National Constituent Assembly, the process of transforming France into a liberal system began. But this task was not easy, due mainly to the opposition of the king and the privileged. The Revolution went through stages that corresponded to various proposals for organizing the state and society within the liberal framework:
- Constitutional Monarchy (1789-1792): It had the support of the conservative bourgeoisie, who aspired to reach an agreement with the king and the privileged to abolish the Old Regime and impose liberalism.
- Democratic Republic (1792-1794): It was driven by the radical bourgeoisie and popular sectors, who aspired to a deeper transformation of society in a democratic and egalitarian sense.
- Bourgeois Republic (1794-1799): It meant a return to power of the conservative bourgeoisie, which enshrined the dominance of the propertied class.
The Bourgeois Republic
The conservative bourgeoisie again seized control of the Revolution. They drew up a new constitution that granted executive power to a collegial government, restored limited suffrage, and established a legislature with two chambers: the Council of Five Hundred and the Council of Elders. It faced opposition from both the aristocracy and the popular classes. In 1799, a young general, Napoleon Bonaparte, with the support of the bourgeoisie, staged a coup that ended the Directory and inaugurated the Consulate (1799-1804).