Jlnuremberg.Wps French Revolution

Equally Important Issues

The French Revolution of 1789-1799 was one of the most important events in the history of the world. The Revolution led to many changes in France, which at the time of the Revolution was the most powerful state in Europe. The Revolution led to the development of new political forces such as democracy and nationalism. The French Revolution also questioned the authority of kings, priests, and nobles by revolting and speaking out against the corrupt government. The text that we have chosen to read in this class by Michael Walzer and the authors of The West focus mainly on three events; the storming of the Bastille and the trial of Louis XVI. The revolution was caused by the different views of the contrasting social classes and their different ideas of reform. There is no single most important event that stands out in the French Revolution. These two events are equally important to the revolution and contributed equally to the liberation of France.

The Revolution also gave new meanings and new ideas to

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the political ideas of the people. To understand the escalation of reform, one must first understand the structure of 17th Century France and the people who lived in this period. At this time in French history, the social classes played an important role in the lives of the people. The social structure of France was divided among three groups: the First Estate, the Second Estate, and the Third Estate.

Each social group had a varied type of people within their structure, which presented the different views of the people. The First Estate was the Church. During the ancient regime, the church was equal in terms of its social, economic, and spiritual power. The First Estate owned nearly 10 percent of all land in France. It paid no taxes but, to support church activities such as school running and caring for the poor, they collected a tax on income.

The Second Estate in French life was the nobility. They enjoyed extensive rights and privileges. They made up less than 2 percent of the population. They, like the First Estate, paid hardly any taxes. Economically, the nobility was characterized by great land wealth. Nobles were generally the richest members of the society. Typical sources of income were rents and dues for the use of their

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farmland. The First and Second Estates were grouped together because they had similar political beliefs.

The Third Estate consisted of the commoners. It included the bourgeoisie, peasants and city workers. The bourgeoisie, or the middle class, were by far, the wealthiest. In the bourgeoisie, there were the merchants and manufacturers, lawyers, and doctors. Peasants made up the largest group within the Third Estate. They were forced to pay outrageous taxes, tithes to the church, and rents to their landlords for the land that they lived on.

The third estate was fed up with the lifestyle they led and the disrespect that they received from the upper classes. Every political order that King Louis gave just pushed the peasant class farther over the edge toward a revolution. The Storming of the Bastille was the beginning of the end of French absolutism; as an angry mob of hundreds demanded that the governor compromise to their demands.

On July 14th, 1789 the people of Paris stormed the Bastille. The Bastille was more than a building to this mob, it was a symbol of totalitarian power. "This event marked the shift from a parliamentary revolution to a

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popular Revolution" (Bastille)

The authors of The West open the chapter on the French Revolution with a painting that shows the storming of the Bastille. They stress strongly that this was the single, most important influence on the French Revolution by going into great detail about the blood spilt. "After three hours of fighting and the death of eighty-three people, the governor surrendered. His captors then led him; bearing the arms they had seized, to face charges... The Crowd, crying for vengeance against their oppressors, attacked the soldiers and crushed them one by one underfoot. The Governor was stabbed hundreds of times, hacked up to pieces, and decapitated...The crowd then placed the heads of the two men on spears and paraded through the city." (The West) This is a very important topic to understand because