The French Revolution (1789-99) violently transformed France from a monarchical state with a rigid social hierarchy into a modern nation in which the social structure was loosened and power passed increasingly to the middle classes. There is considerable controversy over the causes of the Revolution. Marxist scholars emphasize material factors: as the population increased, food supplies grew short; land had become divided into such small parcels that most Frenchmen lived close to the subsistence level; and after 1776 agricultural recession forced property owners to exploit their sources of revenue. Marxists also maintain that commercial prosperity had stimulated the growth of a monied middle class that threatened the position of the established landed aristocracy. Other social historians emphasize the importance of the growing discrepancy between reality and the legally defined social structure, which distinguished men by hereditary or acquired rank and recognized corporate rather than individual rights. They also emphasize, however, the complexity of French society and question the importance of capitalism.
The first phase of the Revolution was marked by moral and physical violence. The National Assembly established a new legal structure by abolishing privileges, venality, and "feudal" obligations (August 4); formulating a Declaration of Rights (August 26); and specifying basic constitutional principles that left the king as the chief executive officer but deprived him of any legislative power except a suspensive veto. In 1789-91, a comparatively peaceful period, the National Assembly did much to modernize France. Despite the Declaration of Rights, the reformed franchise still excluded the poor; but the public maintained its faith in freedom and unity. In 1791 the call for a clerical oath of loyalty crystallized the conflict between the new sovereignty and traditional loyalties and split the whole country. In 1791-92 the hard-won constitution collapsed. On Apr. 20, 1792, the new Legislative Assembly declared war on Austria, which it believed to be instigating counterrevolutionary agitation and thus launched the French Revolutionary Wars. Born of this second revolution and briefly favored by military victory, the National Convention horrified Europe by establishing a republic (Sept. 22, 1792), inaugurating a policy of revolutionary war, and sendin...
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...utions were nonetheless steadily eroded until the creation of the First Empire (1804-15) ended the revolutionary period.
The most concrete results of the French Revolution were probably achieved in 1789-91, when land was freed from customary burdens and the old corporate society was destroyed. The great reforms of 1789-91 nevertheless established an enduring administrative and legal system, and much of the revolutionaries' work in humanizing the law itself was subsequently incorporated in the Napoleonic Code. Politically, the revolution was more significant than successful. Since 1789 the French government has been either parliamentary and constitutional or based on the plebiscitary system that Napoleon inherited and developed. The Revolution nevertheless freed the state from the trammels of its medieval past, releasing such unprecedented power that the revolutionaries could defy, and Napoleon conquer, the rest of Europe. Moreover, that power acknowledged no restraint: in 1793 unity was imposed on the nation by the Terror. Europe and the world have ever since been learning what infringements of liberty can issue from the concepts of national sovereignty and the will of the people.
Feudalist France was a rich, powerful, and respected nation for hundreds of years- until it appeared to collapse like house of cards in the breeze. The catalyst for this change could be attributed to several causes, but ultimately it was the actions of one group that furthered the revolution most. Maturity enabled the bourgeoisie to dispute their position in society, seeing their lack of political voice as an irrefutable issue. Furthermore, they put their goals of change into effect by shifting France’s sovereignty. In short, the bourgeoisie were most influential in furthering the French Revolution because of their drive for political participation.
By 1791 their had been a constitutional monarchy with the revolutions mission complete, now major changes would have to be made to ensure that the country benefited from this change, but this would be hard, the church had already been abolished and its funds taken to resolve the spiralling debt problems. A lot of groups had been set up to fight the revolutionary committee including the Monarchiens and the Noirs. The main opposition came from ...
Throughout the course of the French Revolution the citizens of France have influenced political change often through violent means, as well as many rulers showed the strongest and weakest points that have provoked the changes. The ideas from the French Revolution had an effect on the political situation of the country as the monarchy was abolished. This then led to a shift of focus from social classes to social equality. Finally with the fall of the old government, the people of the nation were given more rights, as well as power. The French Revolution stirred the politics of France in the right direction through positive change.
The three main contributory factors that I am going to focus on are the aristocracy, rising debt levels and inequality amongst the people of France. The role that King Louis XVI and his wife Marie Antoinette had before and during the revolution was a key factor in starting the revolution. His attitude towards his role as king was poor. He was shy, indecisive and disinterested in politics from a very early age and this continued throughout his reign. During the years leading up to the revolution, France was in massive debt after the Seven Years War. Combined with this, there was a famine which increased the price of bread and brought a lot of the country to the brink of starvation (Kinser, 1999). Louis and Marie Antoinette's eating habits did not help reassure the French people of Louis' competency as a ruler. They gorged themselves on fine cuisine as their people starved all around the country (Cavallaro, 2001).
The French Revolution was the revolutionary period of social and political upheaval that shook France from 1789–1799, starting of with the ruling of absolute monarch Louis XVI and ending with the ascent of dictator Napoleon Bonaparte. During this time citizens destroyed the foundations of the “Old Regime” in France, which was done through changing political ideals, and uprooting centuries-old institutions such as absoluatte monarchy and the class systems. The causes of the revolution are still being debated among historians. But the demands for change were influenced by many of the Enlightenment ideals. Which were formulated through the leading Enlightenment thinkers Baron de Montesquieu, Voltaire, and Jean-Jacques Rousseau.
The French Revolution began in the year of 1789 and ended in the year of 1799. The war occurred in the French territory including Paris. Politics and enlightenment led to a Civil war in France. People started to rebel against the ideas of absolute monarchy, the systems of government, and the leadership. The people of France wanted freedom and equality. The social structure and economy were big factors in why the revolution started. The social structure went by the Estate System which was thought to be highly unfair by the lower class. The Estate System went by how rich you were, meaning, the first was the richest which were the king and queen, second was the nobles and the third were the peasants.The economy was bad, and people were poor. Napoleon Bonaparte, King Louis XVI, Robespierre, and Jacques-Pierre Brissot were the most important people involved in this revolution. People debate about the effects of the French Revolution, but I for one, do not think that it was very revolutionary because of Napoleon’s actions, unnecessary deaths, and social structure. “The Red Necklace” by Sally Gardner, discusses the main points of the revolution.
... could declare war and peace only with the consent of the legislature. This National Assembly did not last long enough for that. The king did uphold the constitution and some of the revolutionaries revolted against it also. Nevertheless, the National Assembly dissolved on Sept 30, 1791 making it only lasting three years.
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...
Before the Revolution, a constitution was trying to be made. The National Constituent Assembly abolished feudalism in the August Decrees (made in August of 1789), however it had already almost been abolished by successful peasant revolts. On August 26, 1789 the Assembly published the Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen, which made principles, instead of a constitution, with legal effect. The National Constituent Assembly also drafted a new constitution, along as served as a legislature. Finally, a unified legislative chamber was established to make all the ...
Before the revolution, life in France was still observing feudal rights. The monarch, nobles, and the clergy lived a life on the back of the people. It was a very dark time for the peasants with no light in sight. The large mass of peasants grew poorer and living in famine. Crime was the way of life for the peasants because food resources began to become scarce. Leading up to the revolution, the beginning of a middle class began develop. This new class would be the leading force for the revolution in France. After the revolution the French Revolution failed to establish a representative government or a constitutional monarchy. Before the revolution, France began with an absolute monarchy. They completely abolished the monarchy by cutting off the king’s and queen’s head and ended up with Napoleon Bonaparte. The French revolution did give the people a taste of liberty, equality, and power, but that was short lived. The co...
France was a nation ruled by an absolute monarch who had power beyond the grasp of any peasant, and just out of the reach of the aristocracy. King Louis XIV (1774 - 1791) of France was not willing to give up his monopoly that had existed for seventeen years. It was the perfect situation for his absolute government, and may have remained that way if he had been able to manage France’s finances successfully. More money had been spent on roads' canals and wars then were being collected through taxes. In addition the government lost control over the bourgeois class. The bourgeois (working class merchants) gained control by using the disorganized peasant class, members of the Third Estate, who presented their grievances in cahiers to the Estates General. The disbanding of the Estates General resulted in the formation of the new National Assembly governed by the Third Estate. This assembly wrote the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizens that described political changes and freedoms for the Third Estate. The constitution of 1791 also resulted in dramatic changes to the political structure. It, however, did not bring relief to those who most deserved it, the peasants. These events were the prologue to the French Revolution, the most important event in France’s history. The French Revolution was a direct result of overspending by King Louis XIV and Louis XVI, leaving France a financially unstable nation and ultimately resulting in a revolt by the Third Estate upset by the dwindling social and economic conditions.
During the eighteenth century, France was one of the most richest and prosperous countries in Europe, but many of the peasants were not happy with the way France was being ruled. On July 14, 1789, peasants and soldiers stormed the Bastille and initiated the French Revolution. This essay will analyze the main causes of the French Revolution, specifically, the ineffectiveness of King Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette, the dissatisfaction of the Third Estate, and the Enlightenment. It will also be argued that the most significant factor that caused the French Revolution is the ineffective leadership of King Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette.
A pattern that appeared when I was reading the biography was that Ingram seems to be more in favor with Poe in most scenarios, rather than remaining neutral. Ingram shares his emotion on his writing in many aspects. As a prime example, in the incident with William Wilson. Poe was accused of plagiarism from another writer, William Wilson. Ingram proved the case incorrect with his research that Poe’s own tale was more correlated to a rare drama called “El Encapotdo and said that Poe’s case is unjust” . Ingram went the extra mile to do further research for the sake of Poe’s innocence. Another example is when Poe attempted to write a comedic poem filled with satire. Poe got a pretty bad criticism of his work and Ingram defended him by saying that
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 re...
The bad living conditions of France and its depressed economy was one of the primary drivers for the French Revolution. The people of France were so poor that they had no shoes to wear and no food to eat. The poverty of France breaks its economy at its root. The economy got so bad that “By December 1788, there was a nationwide revolt against food shortages and rising prices, which continued to spread till the summer of 1789, when there was another bad harvest”(Todd 528). One ...