Tag Archives: french

The causes and outcomes of the French Revolution

The article has been written upon request to provide an easy-to-read account of what caused the French Revolution and its consequences focusing on those areas of relevance to today’s Uganda. Because of this narrow scope, the coverage will be selective. The revolution was a manifestation of what had been going on for many years dating back to the death of Louis XIV in 1715. He left the country saddled with financial difficulties because of expensive wars and extravagant lifestyle at his royal court. Louis XV and Louis XVI made the situation worse, undermining and ultimately causing the Old Regime to be abolished during the French Revolution of 1789-99. The enlightenment thinkers’ ideas and American Revolution influenced and enhanced the course of events.

In Europe the 18th century was characterized in large part by radical intellectual thinkers known as philosophers who challenged the way people thought about government and society dominated by tyranny, injustice, superstition and intolerance. They wanted a world based on reason, tolerance and equality and in which people knew their rights and freedoms. They railed against moral decadence and inequality. They pointed out that man had been born free but was in chains everywhere. The philosophers examined the shortcomings of royal absolutism and called for limited monarchy, separation of powers between the executive, the legislature and the judiciary as well as representative government. They underscored that if the contract between the people and the government had been breached the people had the right to remove that government from power. These ideas contributed to the American Revolution which, in turn, had a direct influence on the French Revolution.

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The causes and outcomes of the French Revolution

The article has been written upon request to provide an easy-to-read account of what caused the French Revolution and its consequences focusing on those areas of relevance to today’s Uganda. Because of this narrow scope, the coverage will be selective. The revolution was a manifestation of what had been going on for many years dating back to the death of Louis XIV in 1715. He left the country saddled with financial difficulties because of expensive wars and extravagant lifestyle at his royal court. Louis XV and Louis XVI made the situation worse, undermining and ultimately causing the Old Regime to be abolished during the French Revolution of 1789-99. The enlightenment thinkers’ ideas and American Revolution influenced and enhanced the course of events.

In Europe the 18th century was characterized in large part by radical intellectual thinkers known as philosophers who challenged the way people thought about government and society dominated by tyranny, injustice, superstition and intolerance. They wanted a world based on reason, tolerance and equality and in which people knew their rights and freedoms. They railed against moral decadence and inequality. They pointed out that man had been born free but was in chains everywhere. The philosophers examined the shortcomings of royal absolutism and called for limited monarchy, separation of powers between the executive, the legislature and the judiciary as well as representative government. They underscored that if the contract between the people and the government had been breached the people had the right to remove that government from power. These ideas contributed to the American Revolution which, in turn, had a direct influence on the French Revolution.

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How French soldiers saved the National Assembly

In 1789, the king of France convened the Estates General (parliament) to find a solution to the nation’s fiscal problems. The meeting took place in the midst of food shortages, rising poverty and unemployment. The commoners (the Third Estate) demanded changes in the voting pattern and sitting arrangement which had advantaged the First (clergy) and Second (nobility) Estates. The King refused, insisting that each estate must meet separately and vote as before. This arrangement had always benefited the First and Second Estates that voted together defeating the Third Estate 2 to1. The commoners who constituted 98 percent of the total population of France decided they were the nation of France. They established a National Assembly to draw up a new constitution for France that would level the playing field. The king ordered it to disperse. It refused.

Because the king did not trust his royal troops, he mobilized mercenaries. When the people of Paris who had been protesting food shortages and rising prices heard that mercenaries were coming to Paris, they decided to arm themselves in defense of their city. They stole arms from a military hospital and proceeded to the Bastille prison (used as jail for political prisoners) to get more weapons and gun powder. The prison guards began to shoot and some of the rioters were killed. The commoners loaded their weapons and fought back. The prison guards had heavier weapons and pounded the commoners who had light weapons.

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Corruption, poverty and the 1848 French Revolution

Lessons for Uganda

King Charles X was overthrown in large part because he wanted to reintroduce the ‘divine right of French kings’, indemnify French nobles at state expense for property lost in the 1789 Revolution and impose press censorship. On July 26, 1830 Charles attempted to remove the legislature and to abolish all freedoms to discuss royal authority. The king had become too much even for the poor, tired and revolutionary-weary Frenchmen. He had to go. For three days – July 27, 28, and 29, 1830 – the French people rose up and served notice that the royal services of Charles X were no longer required. He abdicated and departed for England on July 30.

Democracy became the buzz word in France. The middle class that had long complained about the abuses of political power by the aristocracy felt that its moment had come to take charge of France’s public affairs. In the discussions that ensued, some French wanted a republic, others a monarchy. In the end they opted for a restricted monarchy and Louis Philippe, a member of the Orlean’s family and cousin to the Bourbons became the “Citizen King” or “The July Monarch” (G. Roche 1993).

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A new revolution for Africa

Countries that have developed into mature societies characterized by economic and social progress and exercise their human rights including the right to elect their representatives freely and hold them accountable went though difficult times: recall the Glorious, the American and the French Revolutions. The people in these countries made huge sacrifices in human lives and property. They were laying a solid foundation for their future generations. They faced many obstacles but worked hard to overcome them – and they did overcome them.

In Africa, the political struggle for independence was hardest in countries with settler communities. Recall the experiences of Algeria, Angola, Kenya, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe. One of the reasons that Belgium – which never thought Congolese would become independent – granted independence so readily in the wake of the 1959 bloody riots in Leopoldville is because it did not want to get dragged into the Algerian-type situation. Those of us who witnessed the struggle at close range in some of these countries, it was very tough but worth it.

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