1789: The Emergence

How did the government emerge and what conditions led to its implementation?


Thesis: Governments of French Revolution emerges from the discontent of the impoverished majority due to France's deficit spending, the rise of the ideas of the Enlightenment and the inequality in the society fostered by the dominant system of social classes.


The Great Deficit


France, 1789 is plagued with dilemmas 3rd world nations faced today. Famine and warfare ravaged the ex-powerhouse of 17th century Europe, leaving it in ruins. Constricted by the debt, France suffocates upon heaps of interest that piled on them. France's collapse is a certainty. Before one could dwell into the bloodstained epilogue of this debacle, one must inquire on the causes of this phenomenon.
France in the end of the 18th century was an impoverished nation, tended by a despotic monarch, Louis XVI (a synopsis of Louis XVI is available in the previous blog entry). His fathers left him with a nation knee deep in debt due to war and the lavish court spendings, notably the construction of the Versailles, that does not simply correlate with France's income. France's intervention in the New World may have brought the Americans their independence, but that costed France greatly for raising an army is a costly affair, which increases France's debt exponentially. Crop failures and inflation caused food prices to rise beyond preceded levels, thus making starvation of the peasants a common dilemma. To make matter's worse, Louis XVI is a man of extravagant appetite that insisted on retaining the court's spending, without having to realize that those around its perimeters are starving.


A Flawed Foundation


 Feudalism, is the reality of the 18th century France. The structure of the French society prior to the revolution is comparable to those of an estate. The French society is classified in three rudimentary social classes, the First, Second and Third Estate.


At the apex of the society, or should we call it the roof, would the clergy. France is a devout Catholic nation, deeply bound to their faiths, thus giving the clergy numerous privileges including the ability to impose church tax on the people, which made those in the upper hierarchy ridiculously wealthy. To make matters worse, the clergy's tax was waived for they had paid such sums in prayer for the king and country.


The nobility made up the Second Estate, which, similar to those of the First Estate, enjoyed privileges in the society. Unlike many's perception, a noble's wealth varied for titles of nobility are inherited. Some nobles are close associates to the king, giving them ample power to wield. The most significant perks of the nobles are that they possess a large portion of France's land. Land exemplifies the nobles power through debt of sharecroppers that formed the bulk of the Third Estate. Peasants are tethered to the noble's land by debt, thus reviving the romantic scenario of the feudal age in France, where these 'serfs' and 'vassals' break their backs serving the Lord of the manor. Since the members of the Second Estate are either appointed by the king or inherited their status as a noble, they are not subjected to taxation.


As buildings today are designed to hold what we called, the dead and the live weight. During the French Revolution, the peasants held the entirety of such a load for they made up the bulk of the French society. They are called the Third Estate, which consists of peasants and businessmen who lacked the titles of nobility. Having the burden as the sole payer of the nation's tax and no say in government, the Third Estate is liable for any punishment the First and the Second Estate could throw at them. Abused, excessively taxed and are often conscripted into the military, the Third Estate grew ever poorer. Fed up of these conditions, the Third Estate demanded radical changes in the society, and thus, this very rationale will drive the French Revolution forward.

A political cartoon reflecting the French society in the 18th Century portraying the Third Estate was  squished by  the First and the Second Estate. The slate on the man from the Third Estate states "Taille (church tax), Impots (good taxes) et Covee (force labor)". This suggests the torment of the Third Estate bearing the weight and duties of the Third and the Second Estate.

The Winters of 1789

The French never expected the harsh, deadly and cruel winter that arrived in the year of 1789. The freezing winds tore through the lands, withering crops and smothering the growing seeds. Crops failed in every field during that winter. Wheat died, which meant that the French food stores took a massive blow. No grain meant no bread. The price of the basic food of the French people skyrocket, leaving the peasants and the laborers starving. People died of starvation, or froze to death. France became a dead, frozen land.

Peasants, knowing that they will never be able to cultivate any plants, understood that they would have to act or die. So, many chose to take action. Bakeries were raided, and food stores were broken into. A loaf of bread was worth fighting and dying for. The country erupted as the people fought with teeth and nail to get to the nourishment they needed. Everything was in turmoil. You couldn’t go out at night, for fear of being attacked. Staying home, though, did not truly make you safe. Homes were broken into and stolen from. France was a deathtrap, one that the poor citizens could not escape from.

People who did not work as farmers were not safe from the failing economy and the famine. Their wages were also at risk. As crops fail, farmers were kicked out of their rented land as they did not meet their required quota. Dejected and famished, they trudged out of their farmlands and into the cities. This happened all around the country. Cities were flooded with waves of peasants arriving in droves. Owners of factories would grin and rub their hands together in excitement. For them, the hordes of the poor were a gold mine, and they would reap all the benefits they can from it. The increased workforce meant that the employers would only choose the people who asked for the lowest wage. This meant that salaries were lowered until it wasn’t even enough for food. The winters of 1789 had driven France to the verge of collapse.


Ideas of Enlightenment

Philosophers call Paris “The City of Lights”. Ideas of enlightenment were born in this great city. Ironically, though, the people of France were thoroughly oppressed by the monarchy. Paris is supposed to be a place of revolution, an advanced city, flourishing in its knowledge. In reality, though, people were under the rule of a monarch that do not care for them, and the social structure goes against nearly all the ideas of enlightenment. That, though, was going to change soon.

The monarchs of France were known as opulent and extravagant people, who cared little for the citizens of their country. When the cold winters crushed the French economy and people, the couple happily lived on in their majestic palace of Versailles, oblivious to the hardships of their own people. One of the great philosophers discussed in the salons of Paris was John Locke. People revered him, and agreed with him. But contrary to his idea of government’s purpose, which is to protect the people’s rights, the French monarch practically ignored their citizens. As winters ravaged them, and as they were abused by the social structure, the monarchs acted as if they did not exist. They continued to hold lavish feasts and enjoyed their wasteful ostentatious dresses. This directly goes against the respected opinion of John Locke.This caused much anger in the population, and became one of the major causes of the French Revolution.

John Locke, an Enlightenment philosopher who greatly influenced the French and the preceding American Revolution. His ideas are evident in the foundation of many republics around the world. 

The Declaration of the Rights of Man 1789


The ideas of The Enlightenment bears fruit in the French Revolution when the National Assembly passed the Declaration of the Rights of Man in 1789, which derives mostly from Locke's idealism of the natural rights of man. The Declaration of the Rights of Man, a set of legislations that proclaim the rights of the individual's, written by the bourgeois of the Third Estate in the National Assembly in 1789, believes in the concept of liberty in society for every man are born equal and is naturally entitled to inalienable rights, and ultimately, power comes from the people. The Declaration of the Rights of Man resembles the British and American Bill of Rights, which, this resemblance is no coincident. The French involvement in the American Revolution had exposed the French the concept of equality and liberty in society that is transcribed into legal documents.


"1. Men are born, and always continue, free, and equal in respect of their rights. Civil distinctions, therefore, can be founded only on public utility. " - The Declaration of the Rights of Man 1789


This is the first point made on the declaration, and as seen here, liberty and equality is emphasized in this document. The second sentence refers to the social statuses, or distinctions, which according to this document, could only be made for the sake of the society, and thus, titles of nobility are appointed in vanity and must be eliminated for it did no good to the society. The French had done just that in the months following the creation of this declaration (please refer to the timeline).

Outside Influence

All the causes of the French Revolution does not come from inside the country itself. Other countries were also a major influence upon the change in government. For example, the British. England now is ruled by a parliament, and does not have an absolute monarchy. Also, they had the Bill of Rights, which is a set of laws that dictate the rights of the people that the king cannot ignore. As the French looked towards the British, they saw that they were flourishing. Then, they looked at their own country and saw that they themselves were upon the edge of destruction. Their country was collapsing, and they realized that the king was the crux of the problem. England had helped them realize the problems of their own country.