The first act of the French Revolution, 1789
Review of The Coming of the French Revolution by Georges Lefebvre
This is an introduction to the French Revolution in its early stages. It begins with the catastrophic state of the Old Regime and concludes with the Rights of Man and Citizen, i.e. before the murderous excesses and fanaticism that came later. If academic in tone, it is clearly written with incisive analyses and often takes the form of a narrative.
In 1787, France was in economic crisis. Not only did debt from Louis XVI's support of the American Revolution threaten bankruptcy, but a series of bad harvests raised the specter of famine. Unfortunately, in his sincere attempts to address this crisis, Louis XVI proved as thoroughly incompetent as his reputation. First, in order to raise funds, he made timid attempts to diminish aristocratic privileges, which were many, but without actively forging links to the rising bourgeoisie. Angered that they would have to give up their income as well as manorial and other privileges, the aristocrats rebelled, calling for an Estates General (a kind of feudal assembly to approve taxes, consisting of the clergy, aristocracy, and commoners), the first in over 150 years. The King quickly acquiesced. This would bring the “rest of France” into a deliberative body.
Once the “Third Estate” was brought in, events immediately slipped from the King's control. Most of this group consisted of the bourgeoisie, i.e. the entrepreneurs and others who worked for a living in the growing cities. They demanded greater representation and power, allying themselves with the King. This led to fundamental changes in parliamentary procedure, alienating most Aristocrats. As the situation deteriorated, Louis XVI began to resist all of them, leading to his virtual imprisonment and his withholding of “promulgation” of the new laws, including the Rights of Man and Citizen; the Rights subscribed to ideals similar to those of the American Revolution, but also abolished privilege and simplified the tax system enormously – instead of the feudal rights that kings granted in a concatenation of obscure actions and grants, everyone became equal before the law.
It was only when the King was threatened by citizen revolt that he capitulated and promulgated these documents. A number of violent actions followed, presaging the excesses that were soon to come. This brought in the peasants, who disagreed to a large extent with the bourgeois who were supposed to represent their interests. They wanted strict regulation of grain markets to prevent hoarding and speculation, guaranteed prices for bread, and similar conditions. Their anger towards the other classes was absolute and volatile, soon to be harnessed by populist demagogues such as Marat and later Robespierre.
Here, in 1789, is where the author leaves the story, in which the Rights of Man and Citizen had effectively supplanted the feudal remnants in the Old Regime and reduced the role of the King to a near-ceremonial constitutional monarchy. Throughout, the King missed every opportunity to build bridges to other members of society and to shape his own role. He was astonishingly stupid and maladroit in any and all situations.
To find out what happens next, the reader will have to look elsewhere. The great strength of the book is its delineation of the various forces in the society as they interacted and one thing led to another. I loved the book and recommend it to any American who wants to understand how the French Revolution was more profoundly social and economic than our own.
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