en set about drafting a new constitution for France, and initiated the Revolution.
One of the central revolutionary leaders in France was Robespierre. Along with fellow future revolutionaries, Robespierre became a member of the Estates General. During his first weeks and months in that body, he made a number of speeches rejecting the authority of the King and calling for an extension and vindication of the rights of the common man. As a member of the Jacobin Club Robespierre called for dramatic modifications in the governing practices and principles of France, ôRobespierre presented himself as the æIncorruptible,Æ the one willing to repudiate all private interests and follow the general willö (French, p. 651). At the declaration of war with Austria in 1792, Robespierre found that he was no longer popular among middle class admirers and Jacobins. He was, in many ways, typical of the disenchanted bourgeoisie.
The division of France into separate and distinct Estates was one way in which the old regime attempted to control the population. The Third Estate contained all commoners from the wealthiest merchant to the poorest beggar or most of the nation. The Third Estate was a purely legal entity in which the only real elements were the social ones, the most important of which was the bourgeoisie. It was from this particular class that the leaders of the revolution would be drawn. The bourgeoisie believed that a close contact with the common people was essential. They assumed a moral ascendancy when comparing themselves with members of the nobility and the aristocracy and believed as well that they were far better suited to govern the nation than those appointed by the monarchy to do so, ôWho is bold enough to maintain that the Third Estate does not contain within itself everything needful to constitute a complete nation?ö (French, p. 637). The members of the Third Estate, particularly those who served as members of the ...