Introduction
The French Revolution began in 1789 and ended in the late 1790’s (staff). Just like the American Revolution the French Revolution started with new ideas of enlightenment. French citizens started to uproot everything that was considered normal, things such as absolute monarchy and the feudal system, they wanted to redesign everything (staff). Although a lot of the attempts failed people continued to try to make the change.
The Beginning to a Highly Bloody Battle
In 1786, Louis’s general, Charles Alexandre de Calonne, came up with the idea of a financial reform that included a universal land tax. The privileged classes would not be exempt any longer. In order to gain support for the process and hold of a growing aristocratic revolt, the king called upon the Estates-General, which was an assembly that represented France’s clergy, nobility and middle class people, it was the first time since 1614 that they had been called upon (Staff). The meeting would be held on May 5, 1789, in the meantime, the delegates of all three estates compiled lists of grievances to present to the king.
The population of France had changed quite a bit since 1614. The people that were not aristocratic members of the Third Estate represented ninety-eight percent of the people, but still were able to be outvoted by the other two bodies. Leading up to the meeting on May 5th, the Third Estate started to mobilize for support for equal representation and the abolishment of the noble veto, in other words, they wanted voting by head not by the status. All the orders shared common desires for fiscal and judicial reform as well as more representation in the form of government, the nobles started to get upset that they would be giv...
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...er 3, 1791 France adopted its first written constitution. The compromise that was made did not sit well with the influential radicals like Maximilien de Robespierrse, Camille Desmoulins and Georges Danton. They began stirring up popular support for a more republican form of government and the trial of Louis.
Terror and Revolt
April of 1792, the newly elected Legislative Assembly declared war on Austria and Prussia, because it was believed that the French emigres were building counterrevolutionary alliances; it was also said to spread its revolutionary ideals across Europe through warfare.
Works Cited
Staff, H. (n.d.). French Revolution. History.com. Retrieved March 15, 2014, from http://www.history.com/topics/french-revolution
Cody, D. (n.d.). French Revolution. French Revolution. Retrieved March 16, 2014, from http://www.victorianweb.org/history/hist7.html
Beginning in mid-1789, and lasting until late-1799, the French Revolution vastly changed the nation of France throughout its ten years. From the storming of the Bastille, the ousting of the royal family, the Reign of Terror, and all the way to the Napoleonic period, France changed vastly during this time. But, for the better part of the last 200 years, the effects that the French Revolution had on the nation, have been vigorously debated by historian and other experts. Aspects of debate have focused around how much change the revolution really caused, and the type of change, as well as whether the changes that it brought about should be looked at as positive or negative. Furthermore, many debate whether the Revolutions excesses and shortcomings can be justified by the gains that the revolution brought throughout the country. Over time, historians’ views on these questions have changed continually, leading many to question the different interpretations and theories behind the Revolutions effectiveness at shaping France and the rest of the world.
The French Revolution, also known as the revolution of 1789, was a movement that helped shape France into what it is today. The Revolution may have started in 1787 but it wasn’t till 1789 when the revolution actually started to become worse. The Revolution had many reasons for why it started, but it was only a few major things that really made it happen.
They say knowledge is power. This was the case for 1789 France, where the “Enlightened” peasants, after years of autocratic dominance from the First, Second Estate and the King, decisively fought and won a revolution for civil liberties and rights, an event which would not have happened had the peasants and lower classes not been literate. But, their literacy did not come immediately. It took at least a century for the peasants to be numerously literate, and even then they were still not as educated as the privileged, wealthy nobility. In addition, different regions in France had access to different rates of schooling, which had a profound effect on how the local peasantry responded to their rulers and events. The levels of literacy in Old
During the French Revolution which lasted from 1789 until 1799, the French government experienced three different types of rule: the National Assembly, the National Convention, and the Directory. This ten year period in France saw tremendous change from the government trying to give the revolution a purpose for happening when the people of the country became angry. Five years after the end of the revolution, Napoleon Bonaparte declared himself as the emperor of France, and reigned as such for the next ten years, the same amount of time the revolution occurred for. Even though Napoleon only lead one type of government during his ten year reign as emperor, he brought about more positive change than the three different governments of the French Revolution. Both of these ten year period in French history were supposed to bring
The Estates-General was divided into three Estates: the First Estate, the Second Estate, and the Third Estate. Louis did not take initiative and the deputies were left to figure it out on their own. In June, the Third Estate confirmed them to be the National Assembly. After this event Louis called a royal session and banned the deputies from continuing their meetings. This information did not reach the deputies. On June 21, 1789, when the National Assembly went to meet they found the doors had been locked by royal troops. Moving to a nearby tennis court, the group took the Tennis Court Oath. This oath swore that they would not disperse until they had written France a constitution. A few days later the royal session was held and he ordered all members of the clergy and nobility to join the National Assembly. Then, weeks later he ordered his army to separate the National Assembly by force. When this was discovered Paris became filled with fear, panic, and tension. People began breaking into arsenals for weapon and ammunition. On July 14, a crowd headed to Bastille. The crowd was armed with cannons. They went to negation with the governor to receive ammunition, but they resorted to taking Bastille by force. In the process of seizing Bastille prisoners were released and the governor was murdered. Out of fear the king ordered his troops to dismiss his original
The French Revolution started in 1787 because the country was going through financial difficulties and there was unrest between the classes of citizens in the country. The differences between the lower class citizens and higher classes, being nobles and the monarchy were great. The citizens had heard of the revolution that went on in the colonies and they also wanted freedom and independence. The real start of the French Revolution was on July 14, 1789, with the storming of the Bastille. Between 1789 1793, a constitution was written, feudalism was abolished, war had broken out, and King Louis XVI was put to death. In late 1793 and early 1794, Maximilien Robespierre became the head of the Committee of Public Safety in France. This was the new governing body in France; it could be compared to the executive branch of a government. Robespierre was a great leader, he ins...
During the French Revolution, France initial plan was to become a better constitution. Louis XVI wanted to reform France, so he made all the three estates prepare cahiers. Some reforms people wanted were fairer taxes, freedom of the press, and regular meetings of the Estates-General. Cahiers allowed Louis XVI to know the problems that the people wanted to fix. With more knowledge of what the public wanted, there would be a bigger chance that they could be fixed. The Tennis Court Oath showed that the Third Estate wanted the chance to have a say in the government and how taxes should be lowered on ordinary items. As time passed the government did many things, like The Constitution of 1791 which set up a limited monarchy. After some time, France goes through a radical phase and violence breaks out and many people were killed.
William E Montgomery and Andres Tijerina describes how the French Revolution came to be. The French Revolution was feuded with the conflicts between the monarchy and the nobility that led the tax system to bankruptcy. The reaction of the people in France was strong, they believed that only the people with high class holding hereditary tiles or office were the only ones that could avoid the chaos that was bound to happen. This led to France having many financial crises that did not sit well with the people. The French Revolution gathered many of their strategies from the American Revolution that ended in 1783. The revolution led to many was to end and also ended the monarchy. The French Revolution ended in 1799, King Louis XVI was executed for treason in 1793. Napoleon took power in 1799 which was when the French Revolution ended.
Louis, however when the proposition proved to be quit unpopular with the nobility dismissed his ministers along with their idea. In desperation Louis sent out a decree instructing the people to select deputies to represent them and give them a “list of grievances.” To the dismay of the Third estate deputies when they made their appearance to Versailles the king hardly acknowledged them. His only instructions were that they should get together as an estate and vote, each estate receiving one vote. As predicted The First and Second Estates were not interested in the grievances on the Third Estate. Outnumbering them two to one. This disagreement over voting continued and the delegates of the Third Estate proclaimed themselves the National Assembly since they were sent by the people to speak on their behalf. Louise refusing to meet with the three estates unless it was for the purpose of raising taxes and dismissed them. The Third Estate refused to
The French Revolution started during 1789, it allowed for the people to have a better government that actually protected the natural rights of the people. This toke a nearly a decade of rioting and violence for the Third Estate to have their way and get the rights they deserved. From all the causes like the famine of wheat, long debts because of wars, the heavy taxes, and their rights not being protected, some causes stood out more than the others. It is noted that these reasons had to play a major role in order for the French Revolution to occur. The three most important causes of the French revolution are the ideas that came from the Enlightenment, the Old Regime not being an efficient class system, and the heavy taxation.
What happened during the meeting of the Estates General that set the French Revolution in motion: During the French estates general there are three estates called. The first estate involves the clergy and nobles, the second estate involves middle class citizens, and the third estate containing the lower class consisting mostly of lawyers. The third estate was sick of the estates general not being able to get anything done because if one estate tried to get more power they would be voted down by the other two. So they asked the king to make it so that the estates wouldn't matter and it would be democratic voting. It was turned down. So the third estate forms what was called the national assembly to from a constitution. Eventually the first estate joins them. And the second estate is ordered to join by the King. This deconstruction of the estates general is what really set the revolution in motion.
The French Revolution was one of the larger social revolutions. It can be considered a revolution on the political, social, religious, and economic front, although the biggest causes were social. The French Revolution began on July 14, 1789, with the fall of Bastille and continued until the rise of power of Napoleon Bonaparte. The main reason behind the revolution was the unfair treatment of classes in France.
The French Revolution was a significant event in French history that lasted for years, and it started as a result of the spread of ideas from the Enlightenment and news of the success of the American Revolution influencing the already discontent people of France. The Third Estate of France was one of the three estates that existed before the revolution. And, while it consisted of an overwhelming majority of the population, they lacked the wealth to even consistently acquire food for themselves and were heavily taxed. This was far from equal to the other estates, as they, despite making up an extremely small percentage of the people of France, were wealthy, did not have to pay these taxes, and had a disproportionately increased amount of land compared to the larger estate. During meetings of the Estates-General, notwithstanding the vastly evident
France prior to the Revolution was no exception; however, the lowest class, the Third Estate, was oppressed to no end by taxes, lack of privileges, no part in government, and an unfair lifestyle even though the Third Estate provided the structure and foundation for the other Estates to thrive upon (doc. 3). This also seeded discontentment within the people of the Third Estate. In response to the social inequalities of the estate, the National Assembly, a sect broken from the Estates General, forced the king’s hand in following the Constitution of 1791: a document that instituted a limited monarchy where the Third Estate gained some power while limiting some of the king’s (doc. 4). These two documents show a cause and effect with the social inequalities endorsed by pre-Revolution France – the political pamphlet stimulated the minds of the bourgeoisie to start thinking about how they could transform French society, and the Constitution was one of the first results of such thought. Document 3 is written for the bourgeoisie – those who were educated in order to provoke their thoughts about the disparity between the lives of the Third Estate and the First and Second Estates. Therefore, mostly everything found within the excerpt is against the government or somehow belittling it. This document grants us insight into the vengeful and frustrated minds of those belonging to the Third Estate. A document that could be annexed is the view of government from a person of the First or Second Estate so that their perspectives could be
The legislative Assembly promoted liberty, equality, secularism, freedom of thought and replaced the Constitutional Monarchy with the Republic. It also declared war against Austria and Prussia in 1792. The government organised Terror of the Regime to eliminate enemies of the regime. The radical Jacobins won over the moderate Girondins. The Terror of the Regime ended with the execution of Jacobin leader Robespierre in 1794.