EUROPE’S POLITICAL REVOLUTION
THE THREE ESTATES
THE CAUSES OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION
NAPOLEON BONAPARTE
THE FRENCH REVOLUTION
The unequal distribution of wealth and power among the three states or estates of French society became more acute in the eighteenth century. The clergy (first State) and the nobility (second State) were the privileged: they did not pay taxes, they owned most of the land, they received fees and alms from the peasants. The third State or plain State lacked privileges and had to pay taxes.
The ideas of the Enlightenment were among the bourgeoisie, a movement of thinkers who applied reason, believed in the dignity of human beings, denied that power came from God, claimed that the true sovereign was the people, proposed the separation of the three powers (Executive, Legislative and Judicial), and the equality of all citizens before the law, abolishing all privileges. It was a time of political and social rebellion in France that began in 1789 because of the inequalities that existed between the rich and poor.
During the reign of the monarchs in France, there were three estates, with everyone belonging to one. The Estates are social classes consisting of: the First, Second, and Third Estates. In the First Estate were the clergy or leaders of the Church. The Church-owned land and individuals took care of this land for them, however, they were not responsible for paying taxes on this land.
The First Estate was responsible for the spiritual and moral welfare of the nation, including educating the children. The Second Estate consisted of the nobles. These people were born into this position of wealth and prestige.
They paid very little in taxes, despite their wealth and they had rights over peasant lands and received priority in getting top jobs in government. The Third Estate included everyone else from the middle class down, from doctors to lawyers to the homeless and poor.
Cultural: The Enlightenment philosophy desacralized the authority of the King and the Church, and promoted a new society based on "reason" instead of traditions
Social: The emergence of an influential bourgeoisie which was formally part of the Third Estate (commoners) but had evolved into a caste with its agenda and aspired to political equality with the clergy (First Estate) and the aristocracy (Second Estate).
Financial: France's debt, aggravated by French involvement in the American Revolution, led Louis XVI to implement new taxations and to reduce privileges.
Economic: The deregulation of the grain market, advocated by liberal economists, increased bread prices. In a period of bad harvests, it would lead to food scarcity which would prompt the masses to revolt.
Political: Louis XVI faced virulent opposition from provincial parliaments which were the spearheads of the privileged classes' resistance to royal reforms.
Napoleon was the general who welded the French armies into a combat force that defeated the other armies of Europe for 20 years, from 1795 to 1815. His division contained infantry, artillery, and cavalry. He assembled two or three divisions into a corps to make larger units for battle. He expanded France`s Empire.
The terror will end in July of 1795, with a reaction that displaced the Jacobins and took Robespierre himself to the guillotine. The Convention elaborates a new Constitution, dissolves the Assembly and installs a Directory, executive power composed of five members.
REVOLUTIONARY CYCLES OF 1820, 1830 AND 1848
Napoleon was defeated by the combined army of England, Prussia and Austria (Waterloo, June 1815), after which the kings decided, in the so-called Congress of Vienna (1815), restore the Old Regime, with the same dynasties that had been on the thrones, and curb in line with liberal ideas.
But ideas cannot be locked up and in 1820 liberal revolutions were held in Spain, France, Germany, Portugal, Piedmont (northern Italy), Naples, the Russian Empire, and Greece. A new revolutionary wave came in 1830. The absolutist monarchies managed to return to power three times: after defeating Napoleon and after the revolutions of 1820 and 1830.