Did people's cultural differences cause the French revolution?

Answer 1

It is very hard to say what all French people thought of the revolution. It was a violent time with many different opinions and many different clashes of opinion between French people. Most of the records we have are from the wealthy and well-educated politicians and leaders of the revolution, not the common people themselves.

It is fair to say that before the Revolution (ie. before 1789) the average French person desparately wanted reform of the government. The royal government asked all French people to contribute their complaints in special books known as cahiers de doléances. Copies of these books have survived and list the many problems that ordinary people had with dealing with the government.

The French crown was basically bankrupt - not because France was a poor country, but because its inefficient financial system taxed ordinary people at exhorbitantly high taxes on basic essentials like bread and salt, while leaving the people who owned the bulk of land in France - the Catholic Church and the nobility - completely tax-exempt.

A bulk of famines had left the ordinary people even poorer and worse fed than usual.

Most French people, especially those outside of the big towns, were mostly illiterate farmers. They didn't have a good understanding of the notions of democracy and liberal philosophy - but they did expect the government to protect them from harsh treatment, and it was obvious to them that this wasn't happening. They believed it was the king's job to protect them from the local nobles and from unscrupulous landlords. And they were suspicious of Queen Marie-Antoinette, an Austrian foreigner who seemed to be showing off her wealth (in reality, she was struggling in a royal court that required ridiculous formality, protocol and elaborate clothing.)

A lot of the violent strife that took place during the revolution was because of the many different competing interest groups who wanted different things. For example, the artisan population of Paris was much more radical than the bulk of the country, and they would essentially hold the legislature to ransom by invading the chambers and even murdering politicians they disagreed with.

There were certainly a great many leaders - people like Mirabeau, Robespierre, Lafayette, and others - who were popular when they called for massive changes in government. But it is hard to say firstly whether they enjoyed mass popular support outside Paris, and secondly if the people who supported them did so because they believed in the ideals of liberty, and the philosophy which they advocated, or whether they were simply tired and angry about not having enough to eat.

A large factor in drawing support for the revolution was the fact that France was at war with pretty much every other country in Europe from 1792 onwards. People may not have had much stomach for the Revolutionary governments, but they did fear foreign invaders, and they were patriotic, so they rallied behind the government.

Eventually a perception grew - particularly after Robespierre and the Reign of Terror - that the Revolution had gone too far. This sparked a more conservative government under the Directory, and eventually under Napoleon Bonaparte, who gained power as a popular general during wartime but became Emperor because he promised stability and prosperity while still upholding the revolution's reforms to government.

Answer 2

Indeed the cultural differences had a major effect on the French Revolution but the economic and the social difference played a huge role in the french revolution as well.