Why the French Revolution was a financial revolution - Part 1
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Episode: Why the French Revolution was a financial revolution - Part 1
Pub date: 2026-10-14
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The French Revolution was a bloody fight for liberty, equality and fraternity. But it was also a battle over money.
In part 1 of our series on the French Revolution, host Robin Wigglesworth explores the revolution’s economic origins with Rebecca Spang, historian and author of Stuff and Money in the Time of the French Revolution. They look at the time of the ‘ancien régime’ and the reign of King Louis XVI, to the storming of the Bastille and the development of a controversial new currency called, at different times, both a “saviour of France” and a “poison".
Further reading:
Stuff and Money in the Time of the French Revolution by Rebecca L. Spang
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Host: Robin Wigglesworth
Senior Producer: Michela Tindera
Executive producer: Kate Ford
Original music and sound design: Breen Turner
Video editor: Michael Saliba
Podcast development: Laura Clarke
FT global head of audio: Flo Phillips
Learn more at www.ft.com/tsom or get in touch at thestoryofmoney@ft.com.
Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com
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