The French Revolution: Social Causes

On the morning of July 14, 1789, a mass of about 80,000 Parisians in search of weapons, marched toward the Bastille, which was a royal arsenal filled with weaponry and ammunition. This was when the French Revolution began. The French Revolution was a major event in history. France was transformed from a monarchy with feudal privileges for the aristocratic and Catholic clergy, to a republic with equally free citizens, based on Enlightenment principles of life, liberty, and property. Its effects were widespread inside and outside of France. Of course this couldn't’t be done easily, Blood was spread, and heads were chopped off, not-to-mention, the effect of Napoleonic wars, but all for a good cause.

King Louis XV ruled and he was a great king and ruled under great control. But then he passed away, and Louis XVI took his place. He was a complete bad choice for the job. He ruled poorly, was very lazy, and also his wife, Marie Antoinette, splurged on an everyday basis. At that time, France ran under the Old Regime. French society was broken up into three estates. There was the First Estate, which consisted mainly of the Catholic Church and its clergy, the Second Estate was the nobility, who was the rich and aristocratic, and then there was the third Estate, while all the commoners and everyone else. The First Estate was excused from taxes, only having to pay a “voluntary” contribution every five years. They made up only one percent of the population. The Second estate also had tax exemptions, and while they held 30% of the land, they only made up of about 2% of the population. The Third Estate basically paid all the taxes. They made up more of the population than any other estate and yet they had no say in the government.

The first thing to actually “trigger” the French Revolution was the storming of the Bastille. After three hours of commoners fighting, the garrison of about 115 men gave up. The commoners in rage, beat marquis de Launay to death, cut of his head, and then carried him around the city with pride. When King Louis XVI heard of this, he asked, “Why, is this a revolt?” The duke who told him replied, “No sire, it is a revolution.” After that, the Reign of Terror began, which was when the French Revolution really got bloody with a stream of executions by the guillotine. This lasted about 10 months. During this time, it is said that about18, 500 to 40,000 people were executed.

At the end, a stream of women came pouring into Versailles, where King Louis XVI lived, carrying a varied assortment of house materials such as brooms, pitchforks, and etc, and took both King Louis XVI and his wife Marie Antoinette, away They were made prisoner. Both him and his wife were executed by the guillotine.