THE French revolution was a product of a struggle between material forces and interests produced due to changes in productive technology.

Right from the 12th and 13th centuries onwards, there was a massive growth in cultivable land. This was followed by growth in cash crops and the commercialization of agriculture Soon, the technology of wind or water power replaced muscle. This led to the discovery of new sources of energy which opened the path for using 'natural resources' to create new amounts of wealth.

This technology created its own social force in the form of an entrepreneurial-trading aristocracy and a forward looking peasantry. The latter constituted new, concrete 'categories' of social, economic and political functions, or 'classes', demanding a new set of relations in all three spheres. They clashed with the technology and set of relations of the old feudal Barons and Lords and produced a movement in art, culture and ideas known as the 'renaissance'. Later, the development of steam power in 18th century England led to the separation of manufacture from trade and agriculture. This was the beginning of the industrial revolution which created new social forces in the form of the industrial bourgeoisie and working class. It was the aspiration and energy of the new class of the bourgeoisie which swept the society, including sections of the feudal aristocracy, off its feet and effected the final rupture with the ancient and medieval worlds.