Over the course of history, France has experienced many changes in its government. It has gone through multiple constitutions, weak kings, absolutist kings, warrior kings, and cowardly kings. This paper will draw comparisons between pre-revolutionary and post-revolutionary French government systems.
Prior to the French Revolution, the Ancien Régime was in power; following the Revolution, King Louis XVIII ruled. Towards the end of the Ancien Régime, King Louis XVI and wife, Marie Antoinette, were the monarchs of France. Under their reign, many people began to get angry about their irresponsible spending and lack of good leadership of France. These monarchs spent 160 percent of their annual income every year, and as a result, had to call upon other kings as well as the Estates General for money. Shamefully, this was the first time a king had needed to ask the Estates General for financial help since 1614. The people’s anger about this outrageous spending continued to build up until it finally burst, and was one of the first, and biggest, factors leading up to the French Revolution.
The Ancien Régime was the form of the French government in the time leading up to France’s
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This means that the Ancien Régime requires a king who ruled with total authority in order to function properly. Systems with absolutist rulers enable those leaders to do whatever they wanted, and seldom did anyone dare to contradict them. Absolute monarchy reached its apex under the reign of King Louis XIV of France, meaning that he used his absolutist powers to the furthest extent of any French monarch in history. Although France is most well known for the use of this type of government, similar systems were used throughout Europe, Germany being just one example. After being ruled like this for too long, however, people likely would revolt, the French Revolution being the most famous
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.
In the seventeenth century there were different types of leaders in Europe. The classic monarchial rule was giving way to absolutist rule. Absolute kings claimed to be ruling directly from God, therefore having divine rule that could not be interfered with. In 1643 Louis XIV began his reign over France as an absolute king.
The French government did not seem to be able to manage their finances so that the economy would improve and the people would feel fairly treated. In conclusion, the ancien regime was clearly an outdated, old fashioned system which was biased towards the wealthy and did nothing to improve the French economy. Instead of making France more powerful the ancien regime heightened tensions within the country and created unrest among the peasants who began to resent the government for taxing them, the landlords for treating them badly and the King for failing to do anything to rectify the situation, resulting in discontentment which increased over the years until it came to a head in the revolution of 1789.
The French revolution was also caused by a bad ruler and a bad economy. During the early 1780's a big percent of annual budget went towards king Louis XVI's lavish estate at Versailles. France also had no central bank, no paper currency, no ways of getting more money, and an out-dated tax system which only taxed the poor who had no money to begin with. Signs of revolution first appeared when the peasants stormed the fortress known as the Bastille looking for gun powder.
While absolutism benefited Louis XIV and France during the 17th century, other countries were unable to sustain his model as long as he did. This model dispersed to as absolute monarchs were seeing the world change from when the Sun King reigned (491).
The French Revolution happened in France around the period 1789-92 (although these dates are disputed by historians), and resulted in the overthrow of the French monarchy and the Ancien Régime (the system of government). The monarchy in France had been established for many centuries, and the causes of the Revolution were deeply-rooted, including the problems with the Ancien Régime, the growth of nationalism, the influence of philosophers, and the example of the American Revolution. In the short term, there were other factors that precipitated the French Revolution, and these included the character of Louis XVI (the reigning French monarch at the time), the Bankruptcy of the French Crown, and, in the very short term, the economic and agricultural problems of 1788 and 1789.
It is said that revolutions are the manifestations of an anarchic mentality that is fostered through widespread oppression on a variety of scales. This anarchic mentality is most evident in the infamous French Revolution of 1789. During the late 16th century, a schism began to grow between the aristocracy and the commoners in France. The common people of France wanted a government that better represented them than the monarchy, which was the ruling power. During this time, France had instituted a practice of dividing sections of their societies into what they called “three estates”. The “three estates” set specific boundaries on what people’s statuses were in the French Society, and established the competitive nature of class in France. Because of the competitive class structure in France, poor French citizens such as peasants and farmers decided that they wanted to do something about their status, so they took matters into their own hands; they initiated what how has come to be known as the French Revolution. By 1792...
The prevailing government of Europe from 1900-century back was absolute monarchism, this form of government worked very well considering the belief of all people in god and the teaching. Monarchist use this belief to justify this rule in. if they could make the people believe that they were ordained position by god then they had no worries because the people belief in god was so prevailing that it was not mentionable in private to go against it. Napoleon and Louis XIV were the ideal rules to use this type of ruling. Napoleon and Louis XIV were the same type of rulers by using the divine right monarchy to control the people of their country, which was France. Napoleon and Louis way of ruling and other similarity were so alike that they could have traded their period when they sat at the throne and the people would have not noticed
The French Revolution was a period of political upheaval that occurred in France during the latter half of the 18th century. This revolution marked an end to the system of feudalism and the monarchy in France and a rise to democracy and new Enlightenment ideas. By 1789, when the revolution began, France was in a deep financial crisis due to the debt they had obtained over many years of reckless spending and France was nearly bankrupt. These financial issues fell almost completely on the bottom social class or the Third Estate which made up a majority of the country. Because of this financial trouble the common people were heavily taxed leaving many of them in poverty. In addition to the economic issues, France also held an Estate System that led to heavy
Prior to the revolution, King Louis XVI was at the top of the ancien régime, the social, economic, and political structure in France, which means he had absolute power. When he received the throne in 1774, it came along with insoluble problems. The people were split into three estates which divided social class. The first estate consisted of 100,000 tax exempt nobles who owned 20% of the land. The second estate consisted of the 300,000 tax exempt clergy who owned 10% of the land. The third estate consisted of the remaining 23.5 million French people who were 90% peasants. The third estate was the only estate that paid taxes. Their taxes ensured the financial well-being of the clergy, state, and nobles (French Revolution Overview 6).
Absolutism was a period of tyranny in Europe during the 16th and 17th centuries because monarchs had complete power to do whatever they pleased. Since absolutism is a "monarchical form of government in which the monarch's powers are not limited by a constitution or by the law" essentially there are no boundaries for actions the monarch can and cannot take. The absolutists did not focus on the people under their rule, they ruled by fear and punishment, and believed they were equal to God.
The essential cause of the French revolution was the collision between a powerful, rising bourgeoisie and an entrenched aristocracy defending its privileges”. This statement is very accurate, to some extent. Although the collision between the two groups was probably the main cause of the revolution, there were two other things that also contributed to the insanity during the French revolution – the debt that France was in as well as the famine. Therefore, it was the juxtaposing of the bourgeoisie and the aristocracy as well as the debt and famine France was in that influenced the French Revolution.
The first underlying cause of the French Revolution was the Old Regime. The people of France were divided into three estates. The first estate was composed of the highest church officials. They held about ten percent of all the land in France. They paid no direct taxes to the royal government. The second estate was made up of nobles. They were only two percent of France’s population, but owned twenty percent of the land. They paid no taxes (Krieger 483). The third estate accounted for ninety-eight percent of France’s population. The third estate was divided into three groups; the middle class, known as the bourgeoisie, the urban lower classes, and the peasant farmers. The third estate lost about half their income in taxes. They paid feudal dues, royal taxes, and also owed the corvee, a form of tax paid with work (Krieger 484).
An Analysis of the Absolute Monarchy of France in the 17th Century This historical study will define the absolute monarchy as it was defied through the French government in the 17th century. The term ‘absolute” is defined I the monarchy through the absolute control over the people through the king and the royal family. All matters of civic, financial, and political governance was controlled through the king’s sole power as the monarchical ruler of the French people. In France, Louis XIII is an important example of the absolute monarchy, which controlled all facts of military and economic power through a single ruler. Udder Louis XIII’s reign, the consolidation of power away from the Edicts of Nantes to dominant local politics and sovereignty
The Main Features of Government and Society Under the Ancient Regime in France before 1789