Radical Nature Of French Revolution

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What Made The French Revolution So Radical? The French path to democracy was not easy and many were killed during this time of transition from an absolute monarchy to a democracy. When studying the French Revolution, one quickly finds out that this conflict was filled with violence and bloodshed between countrymen. While there are hundreds of reasons the revolution was so radical, it is possible to identify and narrow down the most important causes. With France as an absolute monarchy in which the king, queen, aristocrats\noblemen, and clergy greatly benefited. These people were part of the first and second estate which held all the political power and money of France. Women, the middle class, and lower class made up 99% of the population. This inequality stemmed back to medieval times. In comparison to the American Revolution, history-world.org states “ Unlike the American colonies, France had a classic Old Regime, with aristocratic privilege and monarchy. Instead of being far removed from the centers of civilization, it was the most populous and cultured state of western Europe. Its revolution, therefore, was more violent and more decisive”(history-world.org). This brings up one of the reasons that the French Revolution was so violent. The third estate wanted vengeance for these centuries of oppression. Due largely to the Philosophes, the third estate rebelled on July the 14th of 1789, with the attack on the Bastille. This lead to widespread violence and raids by the third estate. The best example of this vengeance though comes from Robespierre and the “Reign of Terror”. One issue that can't go without mention is the radical ideas of this revolution and the people of the Enlightenment period. Almost every ides of the Philosophes and the third estate completely contradicted what had been in place for ages. The people of France wanted real change and to
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