Hope in The Nineteenth Century in Europe

Recent news has shown that King Louis XIV’s money was from taxing and exploiting the lower classes. France’s economy is doing terrible and France is almost bankrupt. Talk about revolution can be heard from commoners and it is very possible. Many people are openly expressing their issues with the government, even going as far as to riot. These moments of free speech are being led by Philosophers. The Philosophes feel that the French government is backwards and there's not enough free speech. Many of them highly support the English government as their revolution was successful. The Royal Court has even split into two groups. Supporters of the king who want economic changes are against the ideas of those who support Marie Antoinette that want

The French Enlightenment caused many people to ditch the “old” government ideas. This allowed natural rights to be used as propaganda against the Church and Monarch.

A constitutional monarchy was created in France because it was the decision of the National Assembly to make the king be in charge France. Even though it was a ratified constitution for the French, they decided to keep it as a king in charge instead having a president. The king however was kept as executive power of France. For the French, the king was able to resist any democratic change which made the National Assembly reconstruct the French society. The French people didn’t feel pleased of this decision because the third estate wasn’t well represented in the government which is similar to how the American colonists felt when the British passed the Tea Act, Stamp Act, and Revenue Act. The French felt cheated because they were promised a somewhat similar democracy like the American colonists gained, but they ended up with a constitutional monarchy.

In 1789 the French felt that their basic needs were not being met and revolted against the monarchy. The National Convention, which was the new pro-French Revolution government, created a new constitution that gave the people rights called the Declaration of the Rights of Man. As a man named Robespierre came to power, he began something called the Reign of Terror to try and stop the revolts happening in France. This was a time of mass killings and executions where evidence was no longer needed to be accused or sentenced. If the Reign of Terror was just going to be like the monarchy in order to switch back to a Republic later on, than the Reign of Terror was just as bad and unjustified as the horrible way the monarchy treated its citizens before. This is largely due to the fact that it hugely benefitted Robespierre and the rest of the National Convention by creating fear and panic in order to stop revolts against them. The Reign of Terror was unjustified because it was just like the monarchy in the fact that they took away the rights they had just given to the

The French Revolution is said to have a number of causes. It was a period of far-reaching social and political upheaval in France that lasted from 1789 until 1799, and was partially carried forward by Napoleon during the later expansion of the empire. The main causes of the French Revolution was the political, economic, and social problems happening in the society during this time. One of the causes of the French Revolution of the political tension going on during the time.

Prior to the revolution in 1789, France had been an absolute monarchy, structured by feudal privileges and rigid social classes. The Old Regime of France underwent radical changes during the French Revolution. Changes resulting from the revolution, which were rooted in the enlightenment principles of republicanism, citizenships, and individual rights, were accompanied by warfare, violence and turmoil

Since 1789, increasing discontent for food shortage and dire living conditions in France triggered massive protests against the Old Regime. By overthrowing Louis XVI and absolute monarchy, French citizens began to march toward democracy. However, the desire for participating in political decisions became so radical that fueled by internal and external conflicts, people shifted away from the principles they drew up. To restore stability and enforce laws, the government turned more centralized. Unlike what the revolution intended initially, its ending with Napoleon’s dictatorship totally resembled what it was like before. Such turmoil throughout the revolution merely undermined democracy despite its original aim to increase the public voice in politics.

The French were inspired by what they witnessed while serving as soldiers in the American Revolution, they returned home with the mentality of individual freedom. Like the American Revolution, believed to have been started as a result of the Stamp Act, the French Revolution was also believed to have been started over taxation of its people yet those of royalty were exempt from such taxes. France was in a serious financial bind, their Kings proved to be useless to the French people, it became a war of Kings versus the people, the result of this conflict led to the establishment of the National Assembly. This Assembly was to write a new constitution for the people but the King wanted no such thing, at this point things became even uglier and the people began to revolt, pheasants began their revolution against the State. The Assembly eventually developed the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, however, similar to the American Declaration of Independence, the French’s declaration did not help those that needed it most.

The French Revolution had three phases which were constitutional monarchy, radical republicanism, and military consolidation. Each phase played an important role of the French Revolution and what the outcome was. As it say in the book, “The Bill of Rights provided a model for nearly all the worlds constitutions that followed”. The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen states, “The representatives of the French people, organized as a National Assembly, believing that the ignorance, neglect, or contempt of the rights of man are the sole cause of public calamities and of the corruption of governments, have determined to set forth in a solemn declaration the natural, unalienable, and sacred rights of man.” They were tired of all the unfair treatment from there king. Enlightenment was another major influence in both revolutions. It inspired people and gave ideas on what is right and what is wrong. The transition from subject to citizen meant you no longer were under someones rule you are not there subjects. A citizen represents there country and is free who also has a say in there government.This transition was big because people were finally free and weren’t ruled by a crown they ruled

The French Revolution brought fourth many new ideas and concepts rarely before imaginable. While the country would end the revolution in somewhat of the same spot it began, with an overarching monarch, there were some key subtle differences from the old regime. While still a dictator, Napoleon Bonaparte was, unlike Louie the XVI, chosen by the people to rule France. Due to an influx of enlightenment ideas and “radical” thinking during the time, the thought that the king was ordained by god to hold his position of power was much less believable and commonly accepted then it had been years before. Taxes, one of the original instigators of the revolution, were now split much more evenly. The new system put in place taxed people based on personal

Likewise, in France, the citizens were also being subjugated by the French government. The French people had been through many years of a “deteriorate[ing] economy, poor harvest, and pressure from the Nobility,” and quite frankly had had enough. The French economy was in an immense debt from helping the Americans win their freedom from England, and now Louis XVI was heavily taxing the people. To make matter worse, the past year’s harvest had been a failure resulting in famine and even more aggravated citizens. The third estate—made up by the peasants—formed the National Assembly because they believed that their political ignorance was why bad things kept happening. Therefore, in 1789, the French people drafted The Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen to rid their oppressors.

Millions of French people suddenly revolted against a society that their past families had accepted forever. Ways of life that once worked well for people became rigid and not suitable over time. New conditions/thought changed the minds of many people across the country. Suddenly, what had seemed so reasonable before had become outrageous and unnecessary. In the French’s case, it was the institutions of feudalism and monarchy that stopped working. There was great divide between nobility and commoners which further perpetuated the process of conflict. By the 1770’s, France was on the edge of a full on war. People were unhappy. There is political corruption everywhere. The clergy and aristocracy owned 30% of French land even though they were only 2% of the French population. Many enlightenment thinkers give up on the operation of their country. Montesquieu, a French scholar once said, “There is no crueler tyranny than that which is perpetuated under the shield of law and in the name of justice.” While most people are suffering through poverty, the government is spending on luxuries and over taxing. The Third Estate barely gets any say and gets worse when Louis XVI locks them out of the assembly. The debt was made worse from spending in both the Seven Years War and The American Revolution. These events added up and eventually seemed impossible to fix and impossible to be prevented. However, several things could have been done to stop the

The French Revolution (1789-1814) was a period that affected the outcome of world history tremendously. This is considered a major turning point in European history which has led to dramatic changes in France and other regions of the world. Various social and political issues led to the start of the revolution. Politically, France suffered under the rule of Louis XVI, who ruled by absolute monarchy. Many people had their natural rights renounced and weren’t able to have a political voice. Socially, France had divided its population within 3 estates (classes). French citizens took it upon themselves to remodel their country 's’ political structure. The French Revolution had encountered both positive and negative effects. However, many Europeans viewed the Revolution as much more than just a bloody massacre. The French Revolution was used to demonstrate new ideology that would emphasize the principles of liberty and equality throughout Europe.

Revolutions are a common occurrence throughout world history. With the amount of revolutions in history, there are those that get lost and those that are the most remembered or well known. One of the well known revolutions is the French Revolution which occurred in the years 1789 to 1799. Before the French Revolution, France was ruled by an absolute monarchy, this meaning that one ruler had the supreme authority and that said authority was not restricted by any written laws, legislature, or customs, a definition given by wikipedia.com and the feudal system, which was a system that said a peasant or worker would receive a piece of land in return for serving under a king, a definition given by vocabulary.com. Those who opposed the, then

The French Revolution began as an expression of rebellion against centuries of absolute rule in France. After an interim of experimental liberalism under the rule of Jacobins and Girondins and then the infamous reign of terror, the people of French were drawn to a man who promised them a return to stability, and  honor through the expansion of empire. France and it’s people had long yearned for this sens eof honour, it had seemed, and could finally sens eit in a lasting rpesence under the rule of their prodigious, unbeatable general, Napoleon Bonaparte. He would soon take the reigns of civil government as well and become yet another Absolutist ruler, yet this