I wouldn't say "trick', because the urban poor (the so called sans coulottes) and the peasants participated in at least parts of the revolution. (And the whole fact that we speak of 'a' Revolution is a bit of a misnomer, because it was a long period and some historians claim there were actually 4 separate revolutions.)
But the Third Estate that seized power in name of the 'nation' did consist of almost exclusively middle and upper class people - mostly officeholders, lawyers, magistrates. They also did some stuff that benefited the common people (land redistribution, abolition of guilds), but their methods were extremely centralized and quite tyrannical.
I have no dog in that fight, but thank you for the info.
So the French Revolution was a rich man's trick?
I wouldn't say "trick', because the urban poor (the so called sans coulottes) and the peasants participated in at least parts of the revolution. (And the whole fact that we speak of 'a' Revolution is a bit of a misnomer, because it was a long period and some historians claim there were actually 4 separate revolutions.)
But the Third Estate that seized power in name of the 'nation' did consist of almost exclusively middle and upper class people - mostly officeholders, lawyers, magistrates. They also did some stuff that benefited the common people (land redistribution, abolition of guilds), but their methods were extremely centralized and quite tyrannical.
I was quoting the title of the documentary "Everything is a Rich Man's Trick," which is worth looking into.
But again, thank you.