HISC26H3 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Philosophes, Great Fear, Manorialism
Document Summary
So inevitable yet so completely unforeseen. - alexis de tocqueville. There was no precedent for the events that would occur in the french revolution. Print media became important: elimination of government censorship, explosion of daily newspaper which featured events of the day. Like the orbiting of the planets: revolution as a new beginning. Before the french revolution, the term usually had a circular connotation. Even the philosophes did not envision a completely new beginning for society and government. The pre-revolution of 1787-89: conflict arose over the state"s finances. Almost continual welfare had created great national debt. How would the debt be repaid: harvest failures in 1788-1789 contributed to unease. The convocation of the estates-general: hadn"t met since 1614, king reluctantly agreed to double the deputies from third estate. The estates general met in may of 1789: voting issue had not been settled, deputies of the third estate refused to proceed until voting question was resolved, six weeks of stalemate.
