The French Revolution was the event were the people of France overthrew their king, Louis XVI (16th) and fought for more rights.The kingdom of France have been ruled for centuries under a regime of monarchy aristocrats and the church. There was a huge social divide between the wealthy and powerful clergy and nobility and the working people. 18th century Europe was seeing a growth in colonialism and many powers trying to come out on top. The French economy had growing pressures and bad harvests and ineffective tax systems which taxed the lower class. By 1787 king Louis xvi called together the upper class assembly of notables to address the growing french financial crisis but it was ineffective. As king louis did have supreme power and proposed to tax the noble but the assemblies of nobles refused to cooperate, they claimed louis need to bring together the estates general assembly to the three estates of France, The clergy, the notables, and the common people. That next summer in 1789, Louis assembled the estates general the clergy and the nobility wanted one vote per estate giving them a two to one advantage over the much bigger third estate of the common people. Obviously the third estate wanted to vote per person giving them the much bigger number and being much more democratic but the first two estates couldn't agree to this so the third estate began meeting independently in what became the National Assembly. The National assembly was to represent the people, not the
King Louis XVI's controller general (Charles Alexandre de Calonne) came up with an solution to there financial problems which would make the eligible class of people no longer taxed and would tax the wealthy more. To support or help with this act the king summoned the Estates-General a sponsor of the clergy, the meeting was scheduled for May
The French Revolution was a bloody civil war that lasted from the years 1789-1799. [1] The revolution arose out of hard economic times that had befallen France. Widespread famine and hunger, due to a grain shortage, rampaged through sections of the country. The economic crisis led to an increase in taxes on the lower classes, known as the third estate, to upkeep the lavish lifestyle of the nobility. [1] All of these are the known factors that led to the rise of the French Revolution.
The French Revolution was a time of political and social rebellion in France. It began in 1789 because of the inequalities that existed
a. Burdened by debt from the Seven Years’ War and French support for the American Revolution, King Louis XVI needed to raise taxes, so he agreed to convene the Estates General, which met in 1789 at Versailles. Led by the Third Estates —those outside the aristocracy or church— a new national assembly was declared on June 17, 1789. Its members swore, in the Tennis Court Oath, to
But once these ideas and complaints were brought to the estates generals they could not agree. The third estate decided that if the first and second estate wouldn’t listen they would form their own national assembly where each member only got one vote. On June, 10th, 1789 they formed the national assembly, king louis the king of France at the time tried to stop them by closing the cahiers de Doleances meeting room this caused the national assembly to meet in the indoor tennis court where they decided to work until they had created a new constitution for France that would enable better and equal treatment for all.
The French Revolution was a failure because 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 fought for, examples of this were the Napoleonic Code, 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, this enormous massacre of people went against Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity, all of which the national assembly declared were every man's right. Much of the killing can be related back to Robespierre and King Louis XVI. Although it was mostly a failure, some achievements can be seen through the revolution, the French revolution helped the french people become a more equal and socialist state, this showed Europe that the french
After helping the colonists defeat the British in the American Revolution, France faced incredible debt. The king looked to an Assembly of Notables for help in repaying this debt, but they refused to aid him. Out of options, the king called the Estates General so that they would levy taxes in France. The Estates General was formed by members from each of the three Estates: the 1st Estate, which was comprised of the clergy; the 2nd Estate, which was comprised of the nobility; and the 3rd Estate, which was representative of everyone else in France. Excited by the prospect of getting involved in government, the 3rd Estate representatives did not just want to levy taxes for the king. The representatives from the 3rd Estate wanted to become a permanent fixture in government, so they broke off from the Estates General and called themselves the National Assembly. The National Assembly took an oath -- the Tennis Court Oath -- to not disband until they had created a constitution for France. They established a constitution and the legislative assembly convened, and they were in charge for about a year. However, once the National Convention abolished the monarchy and the King was executed, the government faced being controlled by radicals who would implement a Terror. The Terror officially began when the Convention declared it, but some events leading up to the Terror that could be considered a part of it happened before that declaration. The purging of the Girondins from the National
The King had unlimited power and he declared himself as the representative of God. “...Powers of the king — The King, Louis XVI, was absolute. He ruled by the divine right theory which held that he had received his power to govern from God and was therefore responsible to God alone” (Doc C) Louis XIV once stated “I am the State”, he is the sole ruler of France and he believes that his people should have no say in the government or any power. In 1798 Jacques Necker, french statesman and finance minister for King Louis XVI, insisted that the king call together the estates general. The estates general was made up of many hand picked deputies, whom the King thought would vote in his favour of reforms. There were three Estates, the First Estate, the clergy, the Second Estate, the nobility and the Third Estate, the bourgeoisie and the peasants. There was great conflict between the various estates that held the voting powers and they disputed how the voting would be implemented. Each estate had one representative and one vote. The third estate was usually out voted by the first and second. This caused the third estate
As France’s financial crisis grew worse and worse, the more the people demanded change. In response, on May 5, 1789, King Louis XVI called the Meeting of the Estates General at the Palace of Versailles, where the First, Second, and Third Estates would discuss this problem. When voting in a meeting, each estate would get one vote. This was known as voting by order. In this system, the Third Estate was constantly outvoted by the First and Second Estate, resulting in an imbalance of power. Seeing this as unfair, the Third Estate demanded that the votes be counted by head, or in other words, each person would have their own vote. However, it was obvious that the king would not even consider changing their system of voting. But a clergyman, Emmanuel
The French Revolution is an event that impacted Europe forever. There was a great amount of debt that the French treasury owed in the 1700s, so King Louis XVI established the Estates-General in 1789, in order to find a tax solution. The Estates-General was an assembly of three estates that consisted of: The clergy, the nobility, and the general French public. The general French public was the largest compared to the other two estates. Since the clergy and nobility were exempt from paying taxes, it made it extremely difficult to establish a solution. The Third Estate, seized the opportunity of the difference and established itself as a sovereign body called the National Assembly. The peasants began to rebel and participate in attacks known as the “Great Fear” that ended in the formation of a more improved judicial code for the French. The Thermidorian Reaction’s, also known as The Thermidorian Convention, was formed on July 27, 1794 and the purpose was to kill the Jacobin Club’s leader Maximilien Robespierre and Louis Antoine de Saint-Just. Members of the Jacobin Club would interrupt meetings that the National Convention would hold and accuse the Girondin members of participating with members of higher societies. Another leader of the Jacobins, Maximilien Robespierre, attempted to banish the members of the Girodins so that the Jacobins could rule. That attempt resulted in the removal of
This assembly was a form of rebellion against the estates general. They formed this because they were waiting for Louis XIV’s reforms on their representation of government. The members of this assembly took a Tennis Court Oath that they would not disband until the reforms are met, but they never were. Due to the national assembly’s anger and frustration, a mob broke out leading to the attack on Bastille. The result of the attack led to Louis XIV conforming to the demands of the Parisians.
Third Estate became more and more determined to wield power. A leading spokesperson named Emmanuel Sieyés suggested that the Third Estate delegates named themselves the National Assembly. On June 17, they voted to establish the National Assembly that will pass laws and reforms in the name of the French people. This also proclaimed the end of absolute monarchy and the beginning of representative government. I believe this event had an impact on the revolution because the willingness of the Third Estate to make a change in the nation was the main reason for the French Revolution in the first place. Another reason why the National Assembly impacted
The 17th and 18th centuries were a tumultuous time for France and its colonies, as the slave trade grew and power shifted from nobles to the king, and the system of government slowly changed. The goal of absolutism was stability, order, and to achieve a unified state, building the power and strength of France, and ultimately of its Sun King. However, this shift in power caused tension which came to a peak in 1789 at the start of the French Revolution with the storming of the Bastille, as well as delegitimized the authority of the monarchy. Louis XIV curbed the power of the nobles in order to create a standing army and absorb more power for an absolutist regime, and instead created intendants, or nobles of the robe chosen from the upper middle class, to help manage the country. The cruelty of the slave trade in the New World caused a growing unrest among the French people. This in combination with the absolutist rule beginning with Louis XIV in France angered many, resulted in revolts breaking out, and eventually led to the French Revolution.
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.
The French Revolution was caused by many factors; some were significant and played a large role while others were of minor consequence. France was one of the richest and most powerful nations even though they were facing some economic difficulties. The French Revolution was a pivotal period in the history of French, European and Western civilization. During this period of time there was the formation of republicanism which replaced the absolute monarchy in France.