French Agriculture and the Industrial Crisis of 1788

Brought about by the reforms in the taxation system, the agrarian crisis during the years 1788-1789 became the cause of disorder due to the resulting food shortages. Due to the food shortage, there was an increase in demand for food, which, in turn, resulted with a increase of prices. Because of the reformed tax system, the poor were unable to afford food, thus causing a mass hunger within their social class. As a result, the ones in poverty began forming their own revolutions against this crisis of hunger.

During the French Revolution, there was a wide gap between the social classes. While the middle class remained influential during these times, there were people known as the Revolutionaries in the Streets. Due to the wide gap between the rich and poor, the poor received low wages and had a fear of unemployment. Due to their dislike and distrust of the wealthy, the feared the possibility of conspiracy, whereas the rich feared the revolution of the poor and the abolition of the nobility. These revolutions further inspired more revolutions from the poor that would eventually re-shape the French.

Because of the troubled political and financial situation France was in at the time, King Louis the XVI summoned the Estates General in 1789, a general assembly representing the French estates of the realmthe clergy, the nobility, and the commonersto propose petitions and solutions to the government's problems (Wilde). This assembly last convened in 1614, which signified the severity of the matters to be discussed in 1789 (Chisholm).

The First and the Second Estates were the clergy and the nobility, who were generally exempt from taxes. The burden of the French government's financial problems therefore rested upon members of the Third Estate, who were required to pay taxes. King Louis XVI's plans of heavier taxation which generally affected members of the Third Estate were met with extreme dissent from the members of this assembly.

Before the session on 5 May 1789, it was already agreed upon that the Third Estate shall have double representation, meaning that they would have twice the number of votes as the other two estates. When the Estates-General finally convened at Versailles, however, it became apparent that this double representation would not be of any meritinstead, the vote of the Third Estate would be weighed equally with the vote of the other Estates.

This led to an impasse among the Estates, who instead of discussing propositions for taxation and the government's finances, debated and argued over their own structures and hold of power (The First Revolution). This eventually led to Abbe Siey??s urging members of the Third Estate (now named the Commune) to verify their own power, and to invite the other Estates to take part in this change. They declared themselves the National Assembly who were an assembly of the People, not of the Estates. Support eventually poured in from the clergy and the nobility.

One may say that France, before the revolution, is synonymous to 'extravagance.' The monarchy thrived in rich, luxurious lifestyles that eventually proved to be their downfall. To support their lifestyle, the upper class had to greatly tax the common people. Coupled with the debt their extravagant lifestyle gave them was the already tumultuous amount of debt that France had while participating in the American Revolution against the British. (The French Revolution) And so, even with the high taxes imposed on the peasantry, they needed more money to pay off all the debts they've incurred. Of course, high taxes on the already poor people and produce would crush and drive an economy to the ground.

As was mentioned before, the monarchy lived extravagantly while the rest of the populace struggled with the heavy taxes imposed on their produce. However, the clergy was exempt from taxes, due to a very impractical allocation of taxes. Hence all taxes were focused on the common folk, and ignoring the nobles and the clergy.

Louis XVI tried to resist this new power, closing down their meeting place at Salle des Etats. A furious National Assembly then assembled at the king's nearby tennis court (now known as the Tennis Court Oath) and pledged that they will not separate until they have given France a constitution. They reconstituted themselves as the National Constituent Assembly on July 9 1789.

The National Constituent Assembly gained tremendous support from the Parisian people. So much so that the King ordered troops to be present at the venues at which the Assembly convened; he also offered to move the Assembly to Noyon or Soissons, (notably in between two armies) where it would be far from the support of the people of Paris. This sparked outrage among the people which eventually led to the Storming of the Bastille, symbolically the start of the French Revolution (Mignet).

The Great Fear (Grande Peur) during 1789 in the French Revolution was a period of panic and distress by the people especially peasants. This was due to the rumors of a conspiracy by the aristocrats and the privileged which may result to the overthrowing of the Third Estate. The killing of the peasants and the seizing of their property were also part of this conspiracy. This resulted to fear among the Parisians but this fear also gave way to their revolt to prevent the conspiracy. They attacked Bastille to be able to get guns and gunpowder. During the attack, they were able to kill the commander and some of his men and frightened the king as well since he was not only opposed by the citizens but the military as well. In addition to this, feudalism and the Old Regime was also taking place during that time. However, the upheaval of the peasants also made the aristocrats realize that they could no longer protect the Old Regime. The nobles gave up their feudal rights one after another so on August 4, 1789, the National Assembly announced the end of feudalism in France. The Church's right to demand taxes and the nobility's right to take fees were removed. More reforms were implemented along with the Declaration of Rights of Man and Citizen. With all of these, feudalism and the Old Regime reached its end.

The events that have transpired in the early years of the revolution caused tension between France and other countries that were considered to be its traditional rivals. One of these was Austria. They saw that the Revolution caused the weakening of France. However, not only these countries were still experiencing fear due to the revolution but France as well. France feared of a Counter-Revolution by Austria to support the emigres (nobles who fled the country). Their main aim was to restore the old way of government and to prevent their own governments to be destabilized. The prevention of rebellion beyond French borders was also one of the reasons why Counter-Revolution took place. So, on April 20, 1792, France declared war on Austria. Austria got support from Prussia and invaded France afterwards. They threatened to destroy Paris if ever the king and queen were harmed. Of course, France got angry due to this threat. The Parisians attacked the palace which killed hundreds of guards and servants. The birth of a temporary government called the Commune commenced. The king was imprisoned and the election of a new assembly took place.

During the course of the revolution, the French republic faced crisis. Conditions became desperate due to the jump in food prices. As an effect, the looting of stores took place. A counter-revolutionary movement by the nobles and the peasants also came about. Even among the revolutionaries themselves, conflict and violence became so apparent. So, the leaders of the Mountain lead by Georges Danton and Maximilien Robespierre from the political club Jacobins established the Committee of Public Safety. Although the leaders came from the bourgeoisie, a realization came about that they needed support from the common people that time since there were plenty of them. The committee that they established aimed to help the poor by regulating the prices and supply of the goods which are necessary. The regulation and setting-up of industries to produce weapons for the army was also established. This committee also called on the whole nation to partake in the war efforts. All able-bodied men were drafted for army service. This implies that the nation became more mobile since everyone had tasks to do. Women worked in hospitals and children helped by collecting old clothes to make bandages. There was efficiency present. Even the elderly helped by making sure that patriotism would arise by giving speeches. Overall, France became truly prepared for war and was more mobilized than before not only due to the participation of all the people but also the crisis was stopped from rampantly spreading further.

Feudalism is an idea that enforces a ruler that would have power based on the territory he has. And, with his power, he could employ workers that would work for him in the hopes of attaining land, thus, attaining power. This introduced a system that demanded the workers to work harder in order for them to attain power. This system could be abused by the rulers, or even those who attain power and give it to others. During the Revolution, this power was then put to challenge by those who were under.

The revolution introduced the people to different new things. Workers, who realized that they had more power than what they had thought, started to fight back and rebel against the nobility. The nobility, afraid of any more opposition, declared the August Decrees, which liberated the workers of any control of their landlords. Economy-wise, this step would pull down production of any landlord's plans of producing crops. Workers were freed and thus left the production of any agriculture.

Dominating Frane, the sans culottes were the laborers that created the foundation of the French Revolution from 1792-1794. As wage earners, they had to thrive with maximum effort for survivability. Inflation rose throughout the nation, making money even harder to come by. With their financial state at an all time, the sans culottes were forced to project more effort than they already gave to put bread on the table. The overload of work pushed them to the realization of the injustice of it all.

Their lifestyle was harsh but the state of it was caused by the monarchy. Of course, with the higher classes being given all their resources without even lifting a finger, the sans culottes were outraged at the fact. They wanted to be able to go through life without working till their deathbeds just to be fed. Jacobins also shared this idea but they were more radical, wanting more and demanding more. He then began to work with them, forming a group called the Mountain. They began taking control of the convention and reformed the state of monarchy. With that, they were able to put Louis XVI on trial.

In an attempt to reform the impractical measures of taxation, the Estates General was convened. This was a gathering of France's three main social classes. The first estate was the clergy, the second is the nobles, and the third is the rest of the population of France, peasants and the like. (REFERENCE) In a failed attempt to outvote the other two Estates for a fair form of taxation for all, the Third Estate refused to be treated as an inferior member and formed the National Assembly. They wanted a fair way of representing the vast majority of the French people, and sought to change the voting per delegate, not per estate, which would give the Third Estate more power over the two others. This did not bode well for the National Assembly and was locked out of the courtroom while drafting their constitution. The monarchy, sensing a possible power struggle, threatened to use force against the Third Estate delegates, but the people of France revolted, and what happened next was the sacking of Bastille. (REFERENCE)

As for the effects in culture, because of the revolutions, some beliefs have been changed. An example of this would be the empowerment of women. Before 1789, ideas such as women's rights for education, and taking active positions outside of the home were looked down upon and casted aside. However, even though women never gained full political rights during the French Revolution, they still actively participated through various forms such as: rioting over the price of food, joined clubs organized by women, attending meetings of political clubs, joining clubs organized by women, and taking part in movements against the Revolution. At the end of it, even though women's political activism were rising and falling, they were seen as symbols of revolutionary values. Most of the revolutionary values: liberty, equality, fraternity, reason, the Republic, were represented by female figures.

Another change of belief within the French Revolution would be the view of the people towards the monarchs. In line with the women's protests about food shortage, the mob managed to take the royal family to come with them two Paris and had Louis sign the Declaration of the Rights of Man (1789). Even still, though they had an eye on the monarchs, the people still remained suspicious of them. And at the end, in an act of misguided duty to the monarchies of Europe, Prussia's Duke of Brunswick wrote that he would raze Paris to the ground if the king were harmed. The Parisian press printed the letter for the whole city to see, enraging the people. The royal family were seen as traitors.

The Declaration of the Rights of Man showed its importance also in the cultural aspect as it gave the people ideals of liberty and equality. Though the declaration neither addresses women nor slavery, it is a precursor to international human rights. With this, the people have gained a natural right to property, liberty, and life.

In 1793-1794 however, there was a period called the Reign of Terror. The purpose was to eradicate France of enemies of the revolution and to protect the country from foreign invaders. In this period of nine months, seventeen thousand people were guillotined. This was seen as an emergency response to a crisis situation aimed at eliminating political crimes that threatened the state. With this and the passing of the ""law of suspects"" in September 1793, the government moved farther away from the liberal ideas of the early revolution, and more towards a police state.

Due to the Revolution, different ideologies and beliefs were conceived that helped with the unity of the country. One of these would be nationalism. Nationalism can be put in many simple manners. A strong definition would be a country in arms. This would be a united country with one goal. The revolution exposed different oppositions within and outside the society. This may consist of external threats that may capture or cripple the power of the military. The internal threats could cripple the system from the inside through corruption, disunity and opposing ideas.

Different personalities brought up the need to establish nationalism. Jean-Paul Marat, whose newspaper attacked the nobility and politicians, showed the internal fight between the people. Outsiders who threatened the country through invasion and war would be the external examples. The point is, nationalism was brought up in order to resolve the inner and outer threats of the country. And, because of the experiences of the people, the leaders then established nationalism as a solution and guide to unity.

The abolishment of absolute powers was a necessary action to be taken in order to balance the rights and privileges of the people. Absolute powers not only limited the power of the people, but also their spirit. It can be seen that the improvement of society began during the Renaissance, when the freedom of intellectual discovery was introduced to the common people. These made the majority open up and eventually conceive the greatest minds in modern society. Feudalism showed another limit for the common people. The advantage of rulers with land is that land was equal to the power that each ruler had.

The two ideas that were abolished showed one thing: monopoly - power that only FEW people could have. So, through the abolishment, power was then given to those the people had appointed and therefore gave the people a say to who is in power and why they wanted them to be.

Containing those who identify themselves as the middle class, the bourgeoisie unified as the National Guard the same time the sans culottes stormed Bastille. Seeing as how there were unable to defend themselves, the power passed on to the bourgeoisie. With power at hand, they became stronger with further events such as the marching of women on October 6. They reached the royal palace of Versailles and demanded bread. With force, they were accompanied back to Paris with the king himself. Since the power became strong enough to have administrations crash all throughout France, all regional and local power were then given the bourgeoisie.

They were able to abolish indirect taxes and all internal custom duties. With no financial revenue, they sought out help from the church. By the agreement, the church was then taken part of the counter-revolution.

The revolution had realized one of its goals by bringing down the monarchy, but the government with which they tried to replace it with was one with weak influence and power. Even in its early stages, the revolution's governmental body, the National Assembly, did not have enough influence to control the masses in chaotic times. Peasants in the countryside had taken matters into their own hands, which brought about the Great Fear, wherein manors were ransacked and burnt down by peasants intending to escape their feudal contracts (Reference). The Assembly was unable to control such violence, showing their weak influential power.

The Assembly eventually changed to a new body, called the Directory. However, the Directory lacked strong leaders as most of the leading personalities of the revolution were executed in the Reign of Terror. Due to its ineffectiveness as a governmental body, the Directory was eventually disbanded (Reference).

Without the aid of the government, the already poor economy of France continued to decline. In spite of the changes brought about by the National Assembly, the masses continued to experience poverty and hunger. The failure to address such issues was what had lead the women to march to Versailles (Reference). The quality of life in France after the revolution had not improved significantly, especially with the damage brought about by the wars against neighboring countries (Reference).

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