The outbreak of the French Revolution of 1789 was the cumulative result of the variety of factors, of which the enlightenment or awakening brought about by a group of intellectuals or philosophers among the various sections in the French society regarding the degenerate conditions of the time -- political, social, economic, religious and moral-- was an important factor.
The administration in France was far from satisfactory. Various administrative units possessed ill-defined and over-lapping jurisdictions. The French government was arbitrary at all.The Emperor was liable to do whatever he liked and the people were bound to obey him whether he was right or wrong. He paid no attention to the sufferings of the subjects. Different laws prevailed in different parts of the country, and as Prof. Hayes opines, "What was lawful in one town might be illegal in a place not far away."
The French society also possessed too much of inequality. The society was formed of three groups. The First Estate, comprising of the clergymen, was a privileged class. This estate performed the spiritual services. The Church was supposed to be the guardian of the souls of the people. The condition of the lower clergy was highly miserable and was neglected and exploited by the higher clergy, whose life was full of luxury and comforts. The Second Estate was also a privileged class and was formed of the Nobility. The Third Estate was the unprivileged class and all those who were neither the clergymen nor the nobles, came in this class. Generally it was formed of the bourgeoisie, artisans and the peasantry.
The French finances were in a deplorable state of affairs. Owing to the series of expensive wars, the French finances were completely upset and the financial bankruptcy was on its peak. As the clergymen and the nobles were exempted from taxation, the burden of taxation fell on the Third Estate, and whatever the State earned was highly spent on the royal family.
Such was the state of affairs when the philosophers and the writers influenced the depressed masses of France with the might of their intellect.
Montesquieu, a member of the nobility of robe, an eminent lawyer and a judge of the Parlement of Bordeaux, started a philosophic movement and "revealed the batteries of criticism and satire" which were to strike at the foundation of the ancien Regime in France. He supported the constitutional monarchy like that in England. He believed in the supremacy of law. He wanted all the three powers to be put into different organs, because "liberty is impossible without the separation of powers." The combination of any two or all the three powers in one organ resulted in tyranny. L' Spirit des lois, published in 1748 A.D., was a study in political philosophy, an analysis of the various forms of Government known to men, a cold and balanced judgement of their various characteristics, merits and demerits.
Voltaire proved himself an accomplished poet, historian, dramatist and even scientist. His power of spirit was seen in everything he wrote. He deeply hated the Old Regime. He had been thrown into prison many times by the odious and arbitrary lettres de' cachet. The main target of his attack was the superstitious church. He considered it the storage of superstitions, the enemy of free thinking, the persecutor of innocent persons who differed from it, and the supporter of narrow and bigoted prejudices. He stood for religious toleration. His views were, "Since we are all steeped in error and folly, we must forgive each other for our follies." He was not an atheist. He used to say, "If God did not exist, it would be necessary to create Him. He was not a political thinker in general. As an institution, he was satisfied with monarchy. His ideal of government was a benevolent despotism, but not democracy. He used to say, "I would prefer to be ruled by one lion than by a hundred rats."
Rousseau opened up the springs of emotion. He wished for the total reorganization of the society. The reason was that the present system had become too tolerable to render liberty. He was not in favour of the historical studies and did not care for knowledge. He felt that studies, art and knowledge degraded one.
In his fundamental thesis, he declared that man, naturally good and just and happy, had been corrupted and degraded by the very thing he called civilization. So he appealed to the people, "Sweep away, therefore, all the false fabric of society, the world of ugly want and insolent riches miscalled civilization, the oppression miscalled order, the error miscalled knowledge. Level its inequalities, repudiate its learning, break its function, shatter its chains. Let men return to the simplicity of ancient days, to the idyllic state, when uncorrupted instinct only ruled them. .... Immortal and celestial voices, of reasons, seek the high paths of felicity of life." He awakened the people telling them that all the concessions and privileges in the society were reserved for the First and Second Estates only. "They get lucrative employments, and if they murder anybody, no action is taken against them, while the unprivileged is given harsh punishment even for a minor fault."
The Social Contract summarizes his ideal on social and political organization. He proposed the idea of the sovereignty of the people. "Man is born free and yet everywhere he is in chains." As the sovereignty rested with the people, no Government had the power to seize it from them and people had the full right to revolt against the Government. He was not in favour of the representative form of Government and demanded that people should directly make the laws themselves.
The course of the revolution was influenced by his two forthcoming principles --- the sovereignty of the people and the political equality of all the citizens.
Rousseau's political influence progressed not only in France or Europe, but in various parts of the world.Lord Morley praised him, "He spoke words that can never be unspoken, and kindled a hope that can never be extinguished."
Despite this three joint of philosophers, there were still a number of intellectuals. Though of small stature, they influenced the thoughts of the people with their writings and powerfully contributed to the destruction of the Old Regime. Diderot, the Editor of the Encyclopedia, to which many writers contributed, desired for the improvement of mankind.
The Physiocrats also played an important part in the economic sphere. Adam Smith, Mirabeau, Say, Quesnay and Turgot were the chief representatives in this field. They attacked the prevailing mercantile system with its insistence on State control of trade and commerce. Their slogan was laissez faire. They wanted complete free trade and wanted all taxes to be reduced to a single land tax. Mirabeau remarked that those principles were sufficient to "set everything right and renew the age of Solomon." As the Controller General of Finance, Turgot also attempted to establish freedom of trade within and beyond France.
The other intellectuals known only to the name of history are Beaumarchais, Helvetius, Holbach, the Abbe de Raynal, and the socialist publicist Abbe de Mably.
There is a great controversy regarding the contribution of philosophers towards the revolution. A group of writers refuse to believe that among the philosophers and intellectuals lies the real cause of the revolution and insist on believing that the philosophers have only the secondary role in it. Such historians, however, ignore the fact that how without dignified leadership and illuminating thought provoking ideas, any movement could have risen much less a revolution in France.
Further, a question which is often raised 'why there was revolution only in France and not in any other country of Europe', signifies the fact that the grievances in the world of Europe were of similar nature. There was not any sort of enlightenment anywhere except France and that is a reason why the revolution broke out in France only.
Cambridge History (Vol. XI) states, "The ideas had been there even before the Encyclopedia was published and before Rousseau and Montesquieu gave their logic to the masses." In the words of Prof. Hazen, the writers did not cause the revolution, still they were the factor instilling and infusing the new ideas by their criticism and comparisons, agreements and logic which made the French public understand their despicable position. The principal features of the revolution were engraved on the lips of the French people. These were Equality, Liberty and Fraternity, the ideas which every nation desire, which every human loves, and which nobody achieves, and up to this time nothing as such could had been achieved. In the psychology of the greatest philosopher of the modern times, B. Russell, "Tear a plant, cut it and it would still grow more." The more the people were being crushed, the more desire to spare themselves from the evils grew and there were born the writers, poets, thinkers and philosophers with new ideas, new outlook, new passion, which were to work for a time; the social evils and the diseases which otherwise were incurable.
The Fourth Estate also played a significant role in the propagation of new ideas. The publication of new journals from Paris ---Journal de' Paris and Journal de' Politique --- lit the flames in the hearts of the suppressed and depressed and impressed them. In 1763 A.D., Rousseau published his concern over the gravity of the french situation. In 1764 A.D., Diderot in one of his plays, indirectly helped imposing the so-called Revolution and the free distributing of Quesnay's pamphlets made the situation from bad to worse. The three joints of the French revolution --- Montesquieu, Voltaire and Rousseau--- appeared on the scene. For Rousseau, it has been confirmed, "But for Rousseau, there could have been no revolution." The phrase of Carlyle can never be missed, "Though Rousseau, practically an idealist, caused discontent, thesis no revolution; it was he who led the revolutionary era through the proper channel, and guided the palm who held it in great difficulty and who spoilt it with sufficient zeal." On firm foundations, Rousseau proved that Equality, Liberty and Fraternity were not just the maxims on paper, they are to be practised and implemented.
The ambers of the revolutionary data that had been secretly smouldering was burst into an open obligation when the philosophers dominated the french State. It were they who instigated and inspired the few who led, who provided them with logical logic, who watered them with the happy future and always warning them that if they left the field, they would be no more either in body or in spirit.The Revolution had, thus, its work in the seeds sown by the philosophers and these seeds fortunately fell upon fruitful soil. Hence the philosophers had happy dreams with a new vigour, new vitality, new emotions, new aspirations, as if they were championing the cause of the oppressed and the depressed, dejected and rejected, the people of France, nay of the world.
