The French Revolution: From Monarchy to Republic
Causes of the Revolution (1789)
France faced a deep economic and social crisis. Poor harvests since 1760 caused rising food prices and popular discontent. The bourgeoisie, enriched by 18th-century economic growth, resented their political marginalization. Encouraged by Enlightenment ideals, they sought to end absolutism and the Ancien Régime. The monarchy faced a financial crisis due to high state spending, including aid to the United States’ independence. Tax reform or taxing the aristocracy were solutions, but the monarch feared alienating the privileged class, his main social support.
The Beginning of the Revolution (1789)
The revolution began with the aristocracy refusing to pay taxes and demanding Louis XVI convene the Estates-General, the only body that could enact tax reform. The Estates-General opened at Versailles in May 1789, with the king presiding. It consisted of representatives of the nobility, the clergy, and the Third Estate. Traditionally, each estate had equal representation and a single vote. The Third Estate demanded double representation, joint deliberation, and votes per person, claiming to represent the majority. This raised the question of national sovereignty – the idea that all deputies represented the nation’s will. The monarch and nobility only accepted double representation. On July 20, the Third Estate deputies met in Paris, declared themselves the National Assembly, and vowed to draft a constitution reflecting the will of the French people.
The End of the Ancien Régime
The people of Paris supported the Third Estate. Fearing royal troops would arrest the deputies, they stormed the Bastille on July 14, seizing weapons. The revolution spread to the countryside as an anti-seigneurial revolt, with burning of aristocratic homes and documents. Amidst this radicalization, the National Constituent Assembly abolished feudal privileges on August 4 and promulgated the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, recognizing individual and collective freedoms, equality before the law, and taxation.
Constitutional Monarchy (1789-1792)
The Reform Process
By autumn 1789, the king and nobility accepted the new situation. The National Assembly began reforms to create a constitutional monarchy. The 1791 constitution embodied Enlightenment ideals: separation of powers, national sovereignty, and legal equality, though the king retained veto power. Indirect suffrage based on wealth was established, dividing citizens into “active” (with voting rights) and “passive” (without). A Legislative Assembly was formed to create laws ensuring equality, prohibiting torture, ending feudal taxes, and abolishing guilds. A National Guard was created to defend the revolution. To solve the financial crisis, church property was nationalized and sold, with the state guaranteeing religious worship. A Civil Constitution of the Clergy separated church and state.
Political Factions
The reforms satisfied the bourgeoisie, granting them political rights and economic freedom. Opponents included the nobility, the clergy, and the monarchy. Popular sectors were dissatisfied with limited suffrage and rising living costs. Revolutionary groups like the Girondins, Jacobins, and Cordeliers, supported by the sans-culottes, sought deeper reforms and a republic.
Failure of the Constitutional Monarchy
The royal family’s opposition culminated in their flight to Varennes in June 1791 to join Austrian forces poised to invade France and restore absolutism. The discredited king was returned to Paris. In April 1792, France declared war on Austria. The Austrian invasion and the political climate led to the sans-culottes storming the royal palace on August 10, 1792, imprisoning the king and proclaiming the republic in September.
The Fall of the Jacobins (1794)
By summer 1794, domestic unrest was quelled and French armies were winning against the foreign coalition. However, the Reign of Terror and Jacobin dictatorship provoked opposition. The Thermidorian Reaction in July 1794 overthrew and executed Robespierre and other Jacobin leaders.
The Bourgeois Republic (1794-1799)
The conservative bourgeoisie regained control. The 1795 constitution established a five-person Directory, reinstated census suffrage, and created a two-chamber legislature (Council of Five Hundred and Council of Elders). The government aimed to return to the 1791 constitution’s principles, repealing the Jacobin constitution of 1793. This angered both the aristocracy and the working class, who suffered from rising prices. Amid economic and social crisis, and ongoing war, the army gained prestige. In 1799, General Napoleon Bonaparte, backed by the bourgeoisie, staged a coup, ending the Directory and establishing the Consulate (1799-1804).