Who started the French Revolution?
1789 A graffic picture of the treatment of ordinary people before the Revolution
Who started the French Revolution?
The working man is on his hands and knees, in chains and blindfolded. The king uses exaggerated spurs to draw blood. A nasty whip is used to force him forward. There seems no escape possible.
The French Kings had managed to avoid the changes taking place elsewhere in Europe regarding liberty and rights. The French author Beaumarchais published a book in 1773 exposing some of the rights of the royals and nobles. It naturally fell foul of the King’s Censors but some issues scraped through, largely on the basis that this was a comedy. One issue was picked up by Mozart and used in his opera the Marriage of Figaro. A group of young woman thank the Count for giving up the practice of requiring girls getting married to lose their virginity to him before their own wedding.
The people began to speak openly of their problems; they were starving and abandoning children by the roadside because they could not feed them. The French economy was not in good shape and two events crystallized the revolt. The King sent troops to America believing this would damage England without understanding the cost. Two bad harvests then found him without any means to alleviate widespread starvation in France even supposing he might have had the humanity to do so.
France did have a feudal parliament called the Estates General but French Kings had avoided calling it since 1614.
In the face of the chaos, the Estates General was called for the last time in 1789. The King’s address said he was “the people’s friend” but in the end he refused to accept that the people of France should have the ability to vote on issues like taxation. An intelligent King like Louis XIV might well have fared better but a stupid king in a dangerous situation just lit the fire.
The genie was out of the bottle in France at least and the fat King is responsible.
Unknown to the King, a young man from Corsica had already joined the French Military Academy. His name was Napoleone Buonaparte and he will play a big role securing the success of the French Revolution.
