G. Lefebvre, "1789 - Introduction to the French Revolution" Summary and Comments - A great book to learn more about why the French Revolution happened!
Today we will introduce G. Lefebvre's "1789: Introduction to the French Revolution," translated by Takahashi Kohachiro, Shibata Michio, and Osozuka Tadami, published by Iwanami Shoten Publishing.
Previous ArticleThe following is a rough, but not rough, summary of the French Revolution based on Masashi Jinno's "Sekai Shishi Gekijo," Theatre of World History: The Torrent of the French Revolution.
Although the French Revolution was an event with a complicated course of events, "Theatre of World History: The French Revolutionary Upheaval" explains it in an easy-to-understand manner.
I think this one book is more than sufficient to understand the main idea.
However, to learn more, it is also important to look at the French Revolution from different perspectives written by other authors.
Therefore, I would like to introduce G. Lefebvre's "1789: Introduction to the French Revolution," which is considered a classic in the history of the French Revolution.
Let's take a quick look at the book.
The French Revolution was not a single revolution. This book reconstructs the first years of the Revolution as a drama in four acts, in which the Aristocrats, the bourgeoisie, the urbanites, and the peasants developed their respective revolutions one after another, and describes the political, economic, and social reality of the Revolution in concrete and vivid terms. This is a monumental book that set the trend in the study of the history of the French Revolution.
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The groundbreaking aspect of the book is that it does not simplify the process of the French Revolution, but uses data to explain in detail how the revolution was caused by a combination of various factors.
Here are some examples.
First of all, the aristocrats (also called "aristocrats" or "aristocracy") were a major character in the French Revolution, but the question is whether they can be lumped together as aristocrats in the first place.
The word "aristocrat" can be used to describe a wide range of people, from the very best to the very worst.
The lives and ideologies of the upper class and the country aristocracy are naturally different.
The country nobility, despite their title of nobility, were apparently quite poor.
And I was surprised to read in this book that a certain number of the aristocracy had the attitude that they were willing to concede some privileges if they could maintain the country.
If we can maintain this structure, some loss is unavoidable. If we lose everything, we have nothing to lose.
This was the intention of the privileged class, he said.
Aside from the upper nobility, the lower nobility would lose their means of livelihood if their privileges were eliminated. That is why they absolutely wanted to avoid radical destruction of the social order.
It became zero or 100 through the revolutionary process, and it became a battle against a third status.
The aristocrats' intentions took an unexpected turn and led to the revolution. Of course, there was a desire to protect the privileges that had been used to line their pockets, but it seems that the privileged aristocrats were not the incarnation of complete greed. It seems that they were also trying to protect their own lives and order in their own way.
Next, let us look at the bourgeois class.
They were the instigators of the French Revolution and representatives of the Third Estate.
Author Lefebvre shows here again that the bourgeois is a collection of people from various professions and positions, and explains the social needs of each.
I would like to quote from one part of the article that I found very interesting, which summarizes the ideology of the bourgeois people.
In the Middle Ages, the Church did not condemn the pursuit of an easy life, but stressed the need to prepare for death and life after death, that the material conditions of this life were meaningless in themselves, and that self-sacrifice and asceticism had value. This was a view of life and society that could be called static, in which technological and scientific progress was considered useless, at least for the salvation of the soul. The bourgeoisie, on the other hand, emphasized the need to increase earthly happiness and human dignity by controlling the forces of nature through science and channeling them into a general increase in wealth. They believed that the way to achieve this was to give complete freedom to the spirit of research, the spirit of invention, and the spirit of enterprise, which were stimulated by the lure of personal gain and the fascination of discovery, competition, and adventure. This was a dynamic conception that sought to stir all people, regardless of their birthright, to the universal competition that was the source of limitless human progress.
Iwanami Shoten Publishing Kohachiro Takahashi, Michio Shibata, Tadami Osozuka translation by G. Lefèvre, 1789: An Introduction to the French Revolution, p. 98
Many upwardly mobile people emerged in this period who had departed from this ascetic medieval ideology and endorsed "universal competition, the source of mankind's infinite progress."
And their frustration lies in the lack of fulfillment of that desire for upward mobility.
The position they desired was out of reach for those without the title of nobility. (Of course, back roads do exist.)
Lefebvre describes the situation as follows
Because the door-lo is blocked, an ideology arises that seeks to break it down. When aristocracy has become a caste, intent on monopolizing public office for those of good family background, the only solution is to abolish privileges based on bloodline and let the "able-bodied" take their seats. Of course, self-esteem was also at work here, and the mere pretense of discrimination by the poor and impoverished aristocrats was enough to make the bourgeois wounds of pride tingle. Thus was created between the various kinds of bourgeois a bond that no one could break, a hatred common to the Aristocracy.
Iwanami Shoten Publishing Kohachiro Takahashi, Michio Shibata, Tadami Osozuka translation by G. Lefèvre, 1789: An Introduction to the French Revolution, p. 97
The bourgeoisie were indeed "able men. They already had enormous assets and practical skills, and the French state and the nobility had to borrow from them, and without their help, the country would not be able to run.
But they cannot go up because of their lack of status.
Even the poor aristocrats add insult to injury.
This will cause hatred to build up.
But interestingly so, and yet the bourgeoisie wanted to be aristocrats.
They only thought about rising in that hierarchy.
Perhaps because of this, even within the bourgeois hierarchy they would bring up the class system, take pride in their own family backgrounds, and cling to the same hierarchy as the aristocrats.
I'm not like you."
This may be all that is needed. Lefebvre also stated that
In short, the bourgeoisie, while despised by the higher classes, imitated them as best they could. (P96)"
I felt that the fascination of studying history lies in the thought of the backstory behind the simple flow of history, or rather, in the thought of each person's position and sentiments.
Now, let me conclude by talking about farmers.
As I mentioned briefly in the last issue, the peasants were living a harsh life of life or death to begin with due to heavy taxes.
To make matters worse, there was a serious food shortage at the time of the French Revolution.
France is an agricultural country. Food production is almost entirely self-sufficient, and food is brought to Paris from rural villages.
However, due to record crop failures, little food is available.
This will inevitably drive up the price of food in Paris.
Then Parisians would take most of their living expenses just to buy food.
What would happen if this is the case?
Naturally, other expenses will be cut down as well.
This, in turn, will cause the economy as a whole to deteriorate. This is because people will not be able to afford to buy other things, which will result in a decline in sales in all sectors of industry.
In 1789, France was in the midst of a great depression in which there was no longer anything to eat.
That is why Marie Antoinette has become such a hated figure.
The situation of having nothing to eat drives people to insanity.
At the very time when all these circumstances were in place, the Third Estate waved its banner of "equality, freedom, and the overthrow of absolute monarchy" to rally the people.
Let's hear what Lefebvre has to say about this.
This extraordinary event awakened a brightly shining, yet somewhat unfocused hope for a national rebirth, a new era of greater happiness for the people. In this respect, the French Revolution can be compared to religious movements in terms of its inception. In their early years, many religious movements also made the poor hope for the promise of a return to an earthly paradise. And it is in this very hearth that revolutionary idealism was nurtured.
Iwanami Shoten Publishing Kohachiro Takahashi, Michio Shibata, Tadami Osozuka translation by G. Lefèvre, 1789: An Introduction to the French Revolution, p. 176
This is indeed an interesting observation.
He says that the French Revolution can be compared to the founding period of religion.
Indeed, it is in times of despair, even hell, that new hope is spoken. It is in such times that the ideal shines brighter and people are guided by it.
The French Revolution, too, pointed people to a new ideal in a desperate situation.
If there had been neither a food crisis nor a great depression in France, perhaps the ideals set forth by the Third Estate would not have been looked upon.
People were not looking for "ideals and equality" but for "a secure environment in which to eat and live. But the bourgeoisie successfully incited and won them over. The bourgeoisie, however, were able to incite and win them over to their side, convincing them that overthrowing the monarchy would make everything all right.
However, this worked too well, and people became obsessed with frenzy and madness, leading to an uncontrollable riot. This became an unimaginable problem for the Third Estate. This is how the French upheaval continued.
Well, it has been quite long, but there are still more and more interesting facts coming out in this book.
The more you know about the French Revolution, the more interesting it is. It has a ridiculously mixed background.
And by unraveling each of them, the flow of history takes on a different appearance.
Masashi Jinno's "World History Theatre: The French Revolutionary Currents," which we introduced in the previous issue, was an excellent book to learn more about the revolution itself, and Lefebvre's book provides an even more detailed background to the revolution.
The synergy between these two books is fantastic in my opinion.
I would highly recommend it to anyone interested in France.
This is "G. Lefebvre, 1789 - Introduction to the French Revolution" - A great book to learn more about why the French Revolution happened! The above is "G. Lefebvre's 1789: An Introduction to the French Revolution!
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