Themes in French Culture: A Preface to a Study of French Culture (The Study of Contemporary Western Cultures Series, Volume 4) Book

L'Ancien Régime et la Révolution
Alexis de Tocqueville (1805-1859)

The "Old Regime" published in 1856 is a study of the Governance of France from the dark Middle ages up to Louis XVI.

And further to understand and explain why and how the terrible and violent Revolution of 1789 came to happen.

Alexis de Tocqueville is best known for his "Democracy in America."(1835) a book that I appreciated and that should be read by every European and American who wants to understand the differences in understanding democracy in Europe at the time and America.

In his study of the Old Regime, in order to produce a credible backup, Tocqueville undertook a comprehensive reading over several years of ancient documents available throughout France concerning the functioning of administration at all levels from basic villages to small towns and provincial cities and finally of Paris.

From St. Louis (1226-1270) to Louis XVI, oppression, serfdom and heavy taxation of the
peasants were the usual practice ever since centuries.

Aristocrats, however, historically providing armed protection for the king and governing and administrating their provinces were taking care of their farming and village communities. They were exempt from any taxation.

Things changed when governance was concentrated as from Louis XIV and onwards to Paris and administration, justice and taxation organised by the king's council.

Social classes were strictly separated into aristocrats, bourgeois and illiterate peasants.
There was no communication between these classes, rather enmity.
This situation, of course, facilitated despotic and tyrannic ruling

By the time of Louis XVI the aristocratic cast had lost all their political and administrative power and had no longer any contact with their rural communities. They had left their castles, selling their land little by little and moved to Paris and became courtesans.
They had kept their immunity from taxation and held on to and even increased all their privileges.

This situation was the first and most incomprehensible for the lower population. This is where hatred between social classes had started and kept burning for generations.

Philosophers and writers of a new kind appeared and published political brochures proposing new governing systems to replace the old constitution thus preparing the readers for possible emerging changes in the country.

Tocqueville never mentioned the name of Chateaubriand, like he rarely mentioned any other name, but it seems likely that he pointed at him when he mentioned this as one of the causes of the coming revolution.

The Church is another stepping stone that seemed to have led to unrest.
Exempt from taxes, implicated in all local politics and administrations, rich land and farm owners, providers of local judicial decisions.

It was not against the Christian Religion the revolution attacked and destroyed churches and
Monasteries but because the church occupied the strongest most privileged position in the old regime.

Tocqueville wants to show in this work that the revolution was necessary, even taking into account the excessive violence, according to his conclusion it was the only way to shake off the tyranny of the despotic ruling of the monarchy.

Tocqueville wrote this work at the time of a new despot ruling France. Napoleon Bonaparte.
He never mentioned his name. He was serving as a minister in Bonaparte's government.

The book ends with the sad conclusion that the revolution had only led to the government of another despot and that the French population was not worthy of liberty.

I had chosen to read this work after having read "Memoires d'Outre Tombe" by Chateaubriand in order to get a complete picture of this important period of French History.

I would only recommend it to readers very interested in the period of the French Revolution, not for its literary quality.