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French Revolution

Decent Essays

Influenced Events in the French Revolution
De'Anna Andrew
HIS/114
April 1, 2014
Julie Thomas

Influenced Events in the French Revolution
What is a revolution? According to Merriam-Webster (2014), revolution is a fundamental change in political organization; especially: the overthrow or renunciation of one government or ruler and the substitution of another by the governed. Various social, political, and economic conditions led to the revolution. These conditions included dissatisfaction among the lower and middle classes, interest in new ideas about government, and financial problems caused by the costs of wars. Due to fiscal irresponsibility and the hubris attitude of King Louis XVI and other rulers after him, the French were put …show more content…

They gave the bourgeoisie entry to the propertied class, and power in their government, previously controlled by the aristocracy and the monarch alone. The model of equality was presented on the evening of August 4, with the removal of outdated rights. With the abolition of their inherited honor, the upper class was subject to the identical rules as all other French citizens, producing legal equality. Equality was further established in the Declaration of the Rights of man and citizen, making admission to public offices based on capacity, virtue and talent rather than heredity or status. This granted equality marked a shift in power from the privileged aristocracy of the old regime to the growing bourgeoisie class. The ideal of Fraternity was also exhibited in the Declaration of Rights of Man and Citizen. With the abolition of aristocratic privilege and the rights granted by the Declaration, equality was granted to all citizens. The loyalty of this brotherhood had shifted from the monarch to the state, shown by the use of the word "citizen" when referring to fellow residents. This shift of loyalty was yet another example of the transition from the old order to the new. The ideals of Equality, Liberty, and Fraternity, were the driving forces of the French Revolution, and the collapse of the era of aristocratic privilege and power, to the new age with the rise of the bourgeoisie to power. The French

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