Peasant and noble lives alike were also threatened by a failing agricultural economy. A stalemate between peasants who wanted to preserve traditional methods of cultivation and the monarchy’s efforts to advance new agricultural methods resulted in a complete failure to modernize.18 Recurrent crop failures caused peasants to hoard their
harvests, and they refused to trade with areas where famine was more pronounced. Fear of starvation was abundant, especially among the poor farmers who could not afford to buy food if their own crops failed. The traditional land-ownership system, or métayage, in which large farm owners leased parts of their land to tenants for a portion of the harvest, also frequently included feudal taxes due to the land owner. Those whose crops failed, but who still had to pay their taxes to their lord, found it extremely difficult to survive. Many lost faith in the system that put them in such a position with no chance of advancing.
Enlightenment ideas also had a large influence on the French Revolution. Philosophes such as Montesquieu, Voltaire, and Jean-Jacques Rousseau produced essays that considered the ideal forms of government, religion, economy, and society. Enlightenment writers’ criticisms of the established system, such as the monarchy and the Catholic Church, awakened literate French people to the need for reform.19 “By the second half of the eighteenth century, there was a yawning emotional void, left by the discredited notions of God and king. And the idea of the nation, la patrie, was beginning to fill this void.”20 People began to see the flaws and corruption within the government and the Church, and turned to the idea of a secular ‘motherland’ that reflected the will of the people.
The writings of the Baron de Montesquieu, particularly his The Spirit of the Laws, reflected the criticisms of French politics that were common in the Enlightenment. He argued that there was no single legitimate political system, but that the system of government should reflect the social, cultural, and geographical conditions of the country. He also advocated for divisions of power within the government…
Montesquieu expressed the view that an absolute monarch was in danger of becoming a tyrant when he/she had absolute power. By separating the government’s power, Montesquieu thought to limit the possibility of France’s monarchy becoming a tyranny. Critiques of absolutism throughout the eighteenth century repeated and spread his ideas about the need for independent institutions capable of limiting the power of the king and ministers in France.22
Another writer who espoused the ideas of the Enlightenment was Voltaire. He was heavily critical of the Catholic Church, championing freedom of religion, of expression, and of the press.23 He brought into question the privileges of the church, and its close political ties with the monarchy and nobility. Through his vocal criticisms of the church and the ‘unenlightened’ state, the concept of la nation, untainted by ridicule and suspicion, met a growing need amidst the educated people for an outlet for their love of country.24
An important pre-Enlightenment writer who also influenced the French Revolution was John Locke. His ideas on the social contract revolved around a separate sense of ‘the people’ vs. ‘the government,’ which enabled the unified people to stay separate from the government. The people reserve the right to challenge and to transform state institutions if these do not meet their needs.25 And if the government is replaced, the people still remain a united whole. Locke also introduced the idea of a right to rebellion, if the government failed to fulfill the needs of the people, as the French Old Regime clearly did. The idea of a sovereign, united people clearly supports the ideals of nationalism, especially in France where the concept of national identity was not so much about the physical nation as it was about identifying as a ‘Frenchman’ and being loyal to the nation.
