Question

Source 1 The revolutionary movement…was the result of demographic upheavals, or the rise of the bourgeoisie and the spread of ‘philosophic’ ideas…Thus the Parisian rising of July 14, resulting from the provincial insurrectional movements which had begun the previous January, provoked in its turn a great national revolutionary impulse which irrevocably overthrew the Old Regime and gave France a new aspect. The Fourteenth of July is indeed one the great days that made France." --Jacques Godechot, French historian, The Taking of the Bastille, July 14, 1789, 1970

Source 2 The convocation of a national representative assembly meant the end of absolute monarchy. It had finally succumbed to institutional and cultural paralysis. Its plans for reform fell with it. Nobody knew what the Estates General would do, or even how it would be made up or chosen. There was a complete vacuum of power. The French Revolution was the process by which this vacuum was filled." --William Doyle, English professor of history, The French Revolution: A Very Short Introduction, 2001
Source 3 The French Revolution began because of a financial crisis. The debts of the French government far exceeded its ability to pay them." --Sylvia Neely, American professor of history,
a. Explain ONE major difference between Source 1 and Source 3’s interpretation of the causes of the French Revolution.

Answer 1

Source 1 by Jacques Godechot focuses on social and ideological factors like demographic changes, the bourgeoisie, and Enlightenment ideas leading to the revolution, whereas Source 3 by Sylvia Neely attributes the cause primarily to the French government's financial crisis.

Step-by-step explanation:

One major difference between Source 1 and Source 3's interpretation of the causes of the French Revolution is that Source 1 highlights a combination of social factors and ideological influences, including demographic changes, the rise of the bourgeoisie, and the spread of Enlightenment ideas, while Source 3 emphasizes the financial crisis as the main trigger for the revolution.

Source 1's perspective, presented by Jacques Godechot, suggests that a variety of factors contributed to a robust national revolutionary impulse that led to the fall of the Old Regime. In contrast, Source 3, articulated by Sylvia Neely, points to the French government's inability to pay its debts as the singular initiating cause of the revolution.