Revolutionary Ideas: The French Revolution

A revolution is when a group of people fight against their leaders to make changes that will benefit the group’s social, political, and economical standings. The French revolution is an example of this, the lower classes of France were not valued as much as the two higher classes and their opinions of the affairs of France were disregarded. Even though social inequality was a big part of the start of the french revolution, there were numerous other things that factored into it, such as ideas from the Enlightenment, poor leadership, and the unsatisfactory economic standings of France.

Before the French Revolution, the Age of Enlightenment was in full swing. The ideas of Enlightenment thinkers such as John Locke and Voltaire quickly spread throughout France and started influencing people to think for themselves. These ideas also made people start to realize all men were born with
The ideas from the Enlightenment led the 3rd estate to believe that there should not be estates and everyone should work and provide things for themselves. Along with the Enlightenment Ideas, King Louis XVI’s poor leadership fueled the 3rd estates thoughts of a revolution. King Louis was given the throne at a very young age, even though he was educated enough to be in charge, he had no experience. His decisions were rash and he often ignored his political advisors and listened to his wife, who was just as unqualified to being a leader as he was. Marie Antoinette was notorious for spending a great deal of money on unnecessary things like dresses and ridiculous hairstyles. She also gambled quite when she was bored. With the help of Marie Antoinette, King Louis decided to fund the American Revolution. When King Louis decided to fund the American revolution, he exposed France to what was going on. As the 3rd estate learned more about the other country’s revolution, it encouraged them to work towards a revolution of their own. Funding