Although there is not a consensus among scholars as to the cause of the French Revolution, it has often been asserted that the French Revolution “was a bourgeois revolution” (Moore 1966) and that any analysis which ignores class misses a key part of the analysis. Other scholars, disagree, however, contending that state weakness provides a better explanation of the French Revolution (Skocpol 1979). Was the French Revolution a “bourgeois revolution”? Why? Why not?
do the following:
1) Summarize class based explanations of revolution and discuss what is meant by the phrase “bourgeois revolution” (i.e., Moore 1966).
2) Summarize state capacity arguments of revolution (i.e., Skocpol 1979)
3) Identify what evidence would be consistent with the contention that the French Revolution was
a “bourgeois revolution” (i.e., What needs to be shown to prove Moore is correct?).
4) Identify what evidence would be consistent with the contention that state capacity best explains
the French Revolution (i.e., What needs to be shown to prove Skocpol is correct?).
5) Utilize case material to substantiate your argument regarding which theory BEST explains the
French Revolution (i.e., Doyle 2002, Schama 1989, Moore 1966, Skocpol 1979).