The French Revolution
To understand the French Revolution at the end of the 18th century, we must know the reasons why there was a revolution. We should also know something about the most important events, the names of some people and dates that were important. But also what changes the revolution brought with it in France.
We study history to understand why societies change and to see what we can learn from it. The thoughts and ideas behind the French Revolution led to major changes far beyond France’s borders. Even if a dramatic event takes place in one country, it can have major consequences for other countries.
Det franske flagget som ser gammelt og slitt ut.
The king made all the decisions
France in the 18th century, was a dictatorial monarchy. This means that the king decided everything and had absolute power. The people and the king himself believed that he had got this power from God, and thus no one could blame the king for anything. He was apparently as perfect as God himself.
The king decided on the laws of the land, on who should pay taxes, and how much tax they should pay.
📷 Replica of one the masks belonging to Louis XIV. He was the king of France from 1643 to 1715.
The tax money was often used for war, because the French kings had ambitions to make France a great power. They challenged many other countries in Europe and participated in the American Revolutionary War (1775-1783). They supported the colonists who wanted to liberate themselves from Great Britain during this war. Although France won several battles, they experienced that the war broke the country’s economy completely.
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Kong Ludvig 14. med gullmaske pyntet med papegøyefjær.
Class society
The French people were divided into different groups or social classes. If you were born into a class, you would probably stay in it your whole life. The class system was called the States General, and the classes were called clergy, nobility, and the commoners.
The clergy such as priests and bishops were in the first estate. The second estate consisted of nobles who had often inherited wealth, property and titles such as count or duke. In the third estate, there were workers such as farmers, industrial workers, craftsmen and tradesmen.
Those in the first and second estates were very rich and had special advantages. None of them had to pay taxes, so they kept everything they earned themselves. That way they didn’t have to share with the rest of society.
In the third estate, both rich and poor were included, while those who were homeless lived in great misery. Here the difference between life and death was not that great.
Payment of tax
The king decided that the third estate and those who didn’t fall under any class had to pay taxes. As if this was not unfair enough, they were also not allowed to take part in deciding what the money should be used for. The farmers had to pay as much as 80 percent of what they earned in taxes! The money was spent by those who were already rich, or it was spent on war. The farmers had very little left to live on.
Food shortages and poverty
With a shortage of goods, poor crops and large groups of children, the poor suffered great misery. There were no legal arrangements in society that took care of the poor. Many had to manage almost without food, and at the same time they saw that the rich spent money on luxuries for themselves.
The poor therefore began to ask some critical questions. They wondered if it was right that they should be so poor so that others could live a life of luxury.
Critical questions
It was dangerous to ask critical questions, because you could be thrown into prison. The people had not rebelled before, because they believed that power had been given by God, and because they had no way of complaining. No one took the side of the poor.
Now the people began to question whether this could be true. They also discussed how society could become fair, and they wanted reforms. We call this time the Enlightenment period, because it became important to focus on the value of man and the resources of the individual.
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Illustrasjon om klasseskillet i Frankrike på 1700-tallet der den fattige bærer de rike på ryggen.
The introduction to the revolution
One of the triggering causes of the revolution was the economic situation in France in the 1780s. The country had spent an enormous amount of money on war, especially against its archenemy Great Britain. The tax system meant that the rich did not have to pay to the state, and the moneylenders did not want to lend more money to the state. All this left the treasury empty. To compensate for this, the king introduced new taxes that would apply to everyone, but would mostly affect the poor.
The king loses power
In order to change the tax system, the king gathered a state assembly where only men were allowed to participate. Here the classes were to vote on various proposals. The third estate had the most people, but the others refused to accept this. The third estate appointed itself a national assembly, and the king gave in to this. The monarchy disappeared, and the king entered into a partnership with the third estate. France had gained something that looked like a democracy.
The king repents
It didn’t take long before the king wanted to reintroduce the monarchy where he had all the power. The third estate became angry at the king, and on July 14, 1789, a riot broke out. The king’s soldiers attacked the citizens of Paris to protect the king. Most people had little to offer against the king’s soldiers. They didn’t have many weapons, but someone shouted that there were both bullets and gunpowder in the Bastille prison. The people stormed the Bastille, killed the guards and got hold of weapons. It was on this day that the revolution really began. The people’s riot became a serious challenge for the king and was to change the future of France.
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Angrepet på fengselet Bastillen i Paris i 1789.
Liberty, Equality and Fraternity
The worries continued in the country after the attack on the Bastille, because the third estate wanted everyone to be treated equally and fairly. Everyone should be given the freedom to choose the work they wanted and not be forced with heavy financial burdens. The king was given limited power, and the slogan for the revolution became “liberty, equality and fraternity”.
Human rights
The French National Assembly gathered at the Palace of Versailles outside Paris. This is where they worked further and made a declaration on human rights. They used the ideas of the Enlightenment in the design of the Declaration of Human Rights.
The declaration said that everyone was free and should have the same rights. No one was to be punished because of their opinions, and the state had to protect its citizens and make sure that no one was put in prison without law and judgment.
📷 The palace of Versailles with the Dragon Fountain in the foreground.
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Sorthvitt tegning av slottet og stor fontene i Versailles utenfor Paris.
The women’s march on Versailles
Although things had improved, people still didn’t have food. The women were unhappy with the long breadlines and high prices, and they marched in protest to the king in Versailles outside Paris. This is where the king promised that he would give more food.
The women also demanded that the king move closer to the people of Paris, but he refused to do so. So they stormed the castle and took the royal family to Paris. This event is called the Women’s March on Versailles. Although the women had few rights, they could accomplish a lot when they came together.
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Mange kvinner i tog der de drar på en kanon.
Was the king a traitor?
The king was strongly against the revolution and wanted to return to the power he had had before. Among other things, he spoke with Austria, which sent soldiers to control the riot. At the same time, others wanted to spread the revolution to more countries. So war broke out in France, and the king was accused of being a traitor. The people didn’t like the king’s use of foreign soldiers to put down the people’s demands.
The death of the king
In 1792 those who supported the revolution stormed the king’s palace in Paris, set it on fire and took the royal family prisoner. The people got rid of the royal flag and found their new flag – the tricolor.
The National Assembly decided that the king should no longer rule the country. When the royal family tried to flee the country, they were caught, and both the king and queen were thrown into prison. King Louis XVI and Queen Marie Antoinette were beheaded in 1793. This was the end of monarchy in France.
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The night of horror
Did everything go well after the king was dethroned? No, not at all. Now there was a bloody battle between all those who wanted to gain power. It ended with many thousands of people being killed, and people were terrified of what we now call the Terror. You never knew who would be arrested or killed, and an awful way of killing people was to use a guillotine.
📷 The guillotine in use in Paris.
One of those who wanted to gain power was the lawyer Maximilien de Robespierre. During his rule, 30,000 people were killed. He thought it was necessary to use terror, and that one had to kill the country’s enemies. But Robespierre himself was sentenced to death, and the Terror ended in 1794.
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En stor folkemengde ser på at en person blir ført fram til giljotinen som kappet hodet av folk.
The army gains great power
During the Reign of Terror, the authorities started an army of over one million soldiers. The revolution had shown that the country needed a professional army to put down riots and attacks on the country’s leadership. At the same time, France still had ambitions to conquer more countries and was eventually considered a major power in Europe. This was because of the young general Napoleon Bonaparte.
📷 Napoleon leading his men after they were defeated in the battle of Laon in France in 1814.
Napoleon i front av en gruppe med soldater til hest.
The meaning of the revolution
In France, the revolution resulted in the cancellation of the monarchy and class society. The big differences between people became significantly smaller, and women earned more rights. The country eventually became a republic, where the country’s leader is chosen through a democratic election. The revolution marks the beginning of modern French history.
The revolution gained big importance beyond the borders of France, because it took place in Europe’s most powerful and populous state (after Russia). The whole rich part of Europe spoke French, and many of the French ideas were carried on to new countries.
The French Revolution’s biggest influence probably lies in the French ideas of democracy and human rights. The Norwegian constitution of 1814 was inspired by this, and many other countries in the world have a political government where this stands as a cornerstone. The cause and purpose of the revolution have had great importance for the development of world history.
When Chinese Prime Minister Zhou Enlai was visited by US President Nixon in 1972, Nixon asked his host for an assessment of the historical importance of the French Revolution. Zhou Enlai replied: “It is too early to say”.
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Det ytterste leddet på en kjetting omgjøres til en fugl.
Sources:
- Østberg, Kai Peter; Tønnesson, Kåre: Den franske revolusjon i Store norske leksikon på snl.no.
Hentet 22. november 2021 fra https://snl.no/Den_franske_revolusjon
- Bastillen i Store norske leksikon på snl.no. Hentet 22. november 2021 fra https://snl.no/Bastillen
- Krefting, Ellen: opplysningstiden i Store norske leksikon på snl.no.
Hentet 22. november 2021 fra https://snl.no/opplysningstiden
- Østberg, Kai Peter: Ludvig 16 i Store norske leksikon på snl.no.
Hentet 22. november 2021 fra https://snl.no/Ludvig_16
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