Causes and consequences of the French Revolution. Summary and chronology of events, context, phases and protagonists. Short explanation.

The Causes of the French Revolution

The French Revolution began in 1789 and radically transformed the social and political structure of France. This historical event marked the end of monarchical absolutism and laid the foundations for the modern ideas of liberty, equality and fraternity. The revolution found fertile ground thanks to two fundamental pillars:

The economic crisis that began during the reign of Louis XVI was mainly due to the debts that the State had with the banks , as well as the crazy spending of the nobility, the King, and also the costs of the wars. The clergy and the nobles did not pay taxes, which had brought the country almost to bankruptcy. The crisis was then followed by two famines that caused an agricultural crisis that made the citizens lack basic necessities.

 The States General

In 1788, a minister made public for the first time the ruinous state budget, arousing public indignation. It was necessary for the king to arrange the convocation of the so-called Estates General, a plenary meeting in which all three social classes that made up French society at the time would participate. The meeting was set for May 5, 1789 .

• The King wanted to make the clergy and nobility pay taxes;
• The nobility and the clergy wanted to maintain their privileges and continue not to pay taxes;
• The Third Estate , made up of the bourgeoisie and the peasants, demanded the “per capita” vote, that is, one vote per person for each deputy, and not the “per census” vote, which however the King did not grant.

 The National Assembly

It was then that the deputies of the Third Estate made a sensational gesture and proclaimed themselves the National Assembly , abandoning the Estates General. The King tried to quell the rebellion by locking them in a room of the palace, but the smartest bourgeois deputies, however, moved to the so-called Tennis Court and did not separate until they had obtained the “per capita” vote and transformed the Absolute State into a parliamentary monarchy.

A few days later they proclaimed themselves the National Constituent Assembly : it was precisely the Tennis Court Oath that started the French Revolution and brought about the end of the Estates General , which the king tried to clear out with the army.

The Beginning of the French Revolution

On July 14, 1789, the Third Estate took over the Bastille , a prison in which numerous political prisoners were locked up. A crowd of artisans and shopkeepers looted the shops and stormed the Bastille.

Shortly after, between July and August of the same year, a violent revolt broke out in the countryside that went down in history as a great fear . The peasants, supported by the Constituent Assembly, wanted the abolition of all feudal privileges, the elimination of personal servitude, corvée and taxes : to obtain this, they sacked and burned the castles of their lords.

 The Declaration of Fundamental Rights of Man and of the Citizen

A few days later, members of the National Constituent Assembly defined the principles on which they wanted to found France. This discussion led to the birth of the Declaration of the Fundamental Rights of Man and of the Citizen , an Enlightenment document that was based on the principles of liberty and equality.

In essence, this code will be the basis of many modern constitutional charters.

Louis XVI refused to sign the declaration: the National Assembly then completely destroyed the feudal system. On 4 August 1789, the Ancien Régime , based on bonds of servitude, was officially ended .

 French Revolution and the Church

However, the problems that had given rise to the Revolution had not been resolved at all: famine and debts were still there. In an attempt to urgently find money, on 2 November 1789 the Assembly decided to proceed with the confiscation and sale of Church property. In  1790 the Civil Constitution of the Clergy was born, according to which: ecclesiastical offices are distributed by the State .It has a strong symbolic value, because it establishes the superiority of the State over the Church .

The Constitutional Monarchy and the Republic

The Constitution of ’91 marked the transition from absolute monarchy to constitutional monarchy and was based on the separation of powers .

It was established that the King should swear an oath of loyalty to the nation and the Constitution retained some important prerogatives of the monarchy: among these, the power to oppose a suspensive veto on all proposed laws for a maximum of two times. There was also no lack of reforms on rights in the name of freedom and equality. 

Among other things, an electoral law based on census was approved, meaning that only a minority of the Third Estate could vote .

 Birth of the Republic

The King had attempted to flee but was stopped and arrested in Varennes . This episode had naturally divided the revolutionary forces, even more so when Louis XVI ‘s plan to ally himself with Austria, Prussia and Spain to stop the revolutionaries was discovered. It was then that, having lost confidence in the King, the revolutionaries decided to establish a Republic .

In 1791 the Constituent Assembly was dissolved and a Legislative Assembly was formed to effect the transition of the State from a Constitutional Monarchy to a Republic. The new Parliament was formed by:

• right : pro-monarchist
• swamp : revolutionaries + moderates
• mountain : center, most extremist revolutionaries.

In 1792 the National Assembly together with the King declared war on Austria, with Prussia on their side. In panic the crowd proceeded to arrest the royal family and new elections were imposed with universal male suffrage that elected the male National Convention.

On September 21, 1792, the French Republic was proclaimed .

French Revolution: Listen to the podcast episode

Listen to our podcast episode that summarizes the French Revolution in just over five minutes:

• When did the French Revolution begin and end?

  The French Revolution begins on July 14, 1789, with the storming of the Bastille , and officially ends on November 9, 1799 (18 Brumaire), when Napoleon Bonaparte stages a coup d’état and establishes the Consulate.

• What happens on April 20, 1792 in France?

  On April 20, 1792, France declared war on Austria, marking the beginning of the French Revolutionary Wars. This decision was driven by revolutionaries, who saw the war as an opportunity to spread revolutionary ideals and consolidate the new regime.

• Why did the French Revolution break out?

  The French Revolution broke out in 1789 due to deep social inequalities, a serious economic crisis and discontent with the absolute monarchy of Louis XVI. The ideas of the Enlightenment and the desire for freedom, equality and justice pushed the people to rebel against the Ancien Régime.