The most important cause of the Democratic Revolutions of the seventeen-seventy's and the eighteen-ten’s was political because the people did not have a voice in the government. Before the French Revolution, France was ruled by monarchies. Kings and queens ruled France and had the power of its people. For example, in the article of the “ French Revolution” it states that during their ruling time, they enjoyed his power by using the “ Letter de Cachet” to arrest innocent people. As well, they did not care about their citizens.
Do the ends justify the mean? If you were an American soldier ready to be deployed for a massive land invasion of Japan, the atomic bombs saved your life. World War II ended when the United States dropped the atomic bombs and saved thousands of American lives. The French Revolution faced a similar dilemma. The rallying cry for the revolution was equality, liberty, and fraternity, bringing the first democracy to France.
The French Revolution was a drastic time for the people of France. In 1789, the majority of people were living in poverty and dealing with terrible conditions. People were split into three estates: the first, second, and third, the first being the wealthiest. Political, economic, and social situations were what contributed to people’s desire for change. The three main, or biggest causes of the French Revolution, were taxes, inequality, and lack of reform.
The French Revolution was one of the most significant wars that changed France’s history. The Revolution started in 1789 and ended in 1799 and was mainly initiated by the conditions affecting the Third Estate. Louis XVI was predominately the king during this time period but little did he know that an uprising among the peasants was happening. The French Revolution was caused by the Enlightenment ideas because of the American Revolution, the knowledge of rights, and the questioning of France’s government. The American Revolution was basically the “fire” that ignited the change the Third Estate wanted to see in their country.
These include the transition of an absolute monarchy to a constitution one (and ultimately, in the mid-19th century, to no monarch at all), a migration of belief from the asserted divine right of kings to one of popular sovereignty, the jettisoning of corporate privileges of the nobility and church, and with it, a civil equality in taxes and rule of law and in religious belief, and the establishment of merit and talent in lieu of birth hierarchy as the basis of societal structure. The French Revolution had major effects on different groups of people including the monarch, the nobility, the clergy, peasants, urban workers, slaves, and women. The tumult of the last decade of 18th century France had profound effects on these different groups, some gaining political equality, others political freedom, and others pronounced suffering, loss, and even public execution. There were winners and losers as a result of the French Revolution.
The main difference between the American and French Revoultion was that one successfully converted to a democratic government and one did not. The French Revolution was not successful in forming a democratic government due to France’s history of a monarchy, economic issues and divison among its’ people. Unlike America, France had a long history of sole rulers and dictatorship which made the change to a democratic government much more difficult and ultimately impossible. America’s motto of “all men are created equal” (Doc A) was the complete opposite of France’s dividing estate class system. The third estate consisted of peasents, common people and the bourgeoisie, the second estate belonged to the Nobles, and the first was the home to the Clergy.
During the Eighteenth Century, France had an absolute monarchy with Louis XVI as king and Marie Antoinette as queen. In that time period, French society was based upon a system of Estates where the clergy made up the First Estate; the nobility comprised the Second Estate, and everyone else including professionals, peasants, and the bourgeoisie made up the Third Estate. The Third Estate was immensely unhappy with the old regime, the Estates General, and Louis XVI’s leadership. France was also in the midst of a fiscal crisis due to the American Revolution, Louis XVI’s lavish lifestyle, the Seven Years War, and the tax exemption of the First and Second Estate. Following the surge of new ideas and impactful philosophers from the Enlightenment,
Louis XIV was the best example of an absolute monarch. Louis XIV ruled in France from 1643 until 1715. During his reign, he ensured that he was in absolute power, and control the whole time. Louis XIV thought that the world should revolve around him. Louis XIV did not do anything for the good of France, he would only do things that benefited him, and he treated the people of France very poorly.
Everyone has dreams and desires, but achieving those dreams and desires usually ends up hurting others and creating something unwanted. It is seen throughout our history like the French Revolution and displayed in many sources of literature such as “Frankenstein” by Mary Shelley. Frankenstein was published in 1818, sometime after the French Revolution ended which was in 1799 and both the war and the book have many instances that relate to each other. Although Shelley had published the book quite some time after the Revolution, there are ideas in the book “Frankenstein” that come from the French Revolution.
Was the French Revolution preventable? This is a question that is fascinating to think about. What could have been done differently to prevent this revolution that cost countless people their lives? Why were others willing to give their lives, for what cause? Why was life so turbulent?
May 5, 1789, the beginning of the infamous French Revolution. Historians around the world studied the causes of the French Revolution, arguably regarded as one of the most important events in human history. Many important ideologies were developed during this time period. The current western political philosophies in France is the result of the French Revolution which introduced the principles of civic equality and popular sovereignty that challenged the historical Three Estates. Following many European reform trends, France in 1789 began their own major reform that lasted nearly a decade.
The French revolution is considered to be the most significant and effective event in the history. It changed the lives of many peoples and changed the future. Since people of France were under the control of the King they wanted to get rid of French government to eliminate power of the king. There were numerous other factors that also lead the French to the revolution. There were also many social unfairness among the taxes between the estates.
In 1789, France was precariously balanced on the edge of chaos. King Louis XVI was ruling monarch of France. King Louis’ youth depicted him as reckless, thoughtless, and unwise. A series of bad financial and political decisions, lead to his unpopularity among the people of France. King Louis was young, distracted and misguided.
The actions taken against the oppression of the monarchy demonstrate that the French Revolution challenged the traditional value of social inequality to a near-full
Opening paragraph The French Revolution was a major failure and a minor success. After all of the blood shed, the laws, civil rights, and codes did not get instituted effectively and did not represent the values that the citizens had fought for. Examples of this were the Napoleonic Code and Declaration of Rights of Man. Another reason it was a failure was because during the revolts and reforms more than 40,000 men and women died.
