Describe the circumstances leading to the outbreak of revolutionary protest in France.
The circumstances are described below:
(i) The French Revolution was an uprising of the French people against autocracy and aristocracy. The French society was a feudal one ridden with inequalities. The clergy and the nobles belonged to the privileged class. They led a life of luxury and they exploited the common people. The peasants and workers, which consisted of the vast population, were compelled to live a wretched life. They were forced to pay heavy taxes and to do forced labours.
(ii) The social inequalities and luxurious life of the clergy and nobles created discontentment and restlessness among the common people. The kings of France were absolute rulers. They believed in the Theory of Divine Rights of Kingship. They claimed themselves to be the representatives of God on earth.
(iii) There were different laws in different areas and absence of any uniform system made the confusion worse confouned. People were really fed up with such a rotten system of government.
(iv) In the second part of the 18th century, there was an intellectual Renaissance in France. The Great French philosophers like Montesquieu, Rousseau and Voltaire exploited the social shortcomings. They fanned the flame of revolution. The American Revolution and Declaration of Independence by American revolutionaries roused the people of France to overthrow the oppressive king and his nobility.
(v) In 1788, there spread a severe famine in many parts of France. People suffering from hunger assembled in streets of Paris. The state treasure had fallen empty. Emperor Louis XVI was compelled to summon a meeting of the Estate General in 1789 after a lapse of 175 years. The first two Estates i.e., the clergy and nobility refused to have a common meeting with the Third Estate. It generated much excitement and lost their temper. With the meeting of Estate General on the 5th May, 1789 the French Revolution began.
