Causes and Effects of the French Revolution

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Causes

The bourgeoisie resented being excluded from positions of power.

Peasants were aware of their lowly place in society and became less willing to support the remaining elements of the feudal system.

Philosophes—intellectuals—argued for social reform and were widely read in France.

Assisting in the American Revolution had helped push France to the brink of bankruptcy.

France’s population had recently exploded in number, and crop failures in much of the country on top of economic difficulties added to the people’s discontent.

The French monarchy, no longer widely viewed as divinely ordained, was unable to adapt to new political and societal pressures.

Effects

The Estates-General was convened for the first time in more than 150 years. That led to the formation of the National Constituent Assembly.

The Assembly issued the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen.

The Assembly was replaced by the National Convention, which abolished the monarchy and established the French republic.

The events of the revolution worried other European countries, leading to war between France and Austria, Prussia, and Great Britain.

King Louis XVI and his wife, Marie-Antoinette, were executed for treason.

When the Jacobins seized control of the National Convention, they unleashed the Reign of Terror in which suspected enemies of the revolution were executed.

Girondins who survived the Reign of Terror approved a constitution that created a bicameral legislature and a five-member Directory. The Directory relied heavily on military, led by Napoleon Bonaparte, to maintain their authority. Bonaparte overthrew the Directory, ushering in the Napoleonic era.

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