Unlock Elite Access: Level Up Your Preparation with Exclusive Content

History Optional PYQ Master Pack · Model answer

Critically examine the statement that the French Revolution was not caused by the French philosophers but by the condition of national life and by the mistakes of the government.

  • UPSC 2016
  • Origins of Modern Politics

The claim inverts the popular assumption that Montesquieu, Voltaire, and Rousseau somehow scripted 1789, and instead locates the Revolution's real origin in the lived misery of French society and in a sequence of avoidable errors by the Bourbon monarchy.

You are reading the opening of the model answer. The full answer is part of the History Optional PYQ Master Pack.

What the full answer covers

  • The Condition of National Life
  • The Mistakes of the Government
  • Where the Philosophers Actually Fit
  • Weighing the Statement

Unlock this answer and 1,350+ more

  • 1,350+ solved UPSC History Optional PYQs from 1985 to 2025, Paper-1 and Paper-2
  • Topic-wise across Ancient, Medieval, Modern, Post-Independence and World History
  • Model answers with a clear structure and historian citations
  • Map section solutions included, at no extra cost
  • Read online on lotusarise.com, plus PDF download

₹1,499₹2,50040% off

Get History Optional PYQ Master Pack @ ₹1,499 →

One-time payment · No subscription · Instant access · UPI, cards, RuPay

See every Origins of Modern Politics question (91 solved) →Already enrolled? Log in