The Excitement Of Peasant Revolts In North France

The initial impulse of the French revolution was destructive. For those who lived through all, or even part, of these vast upheavals, the shock was overwhelming. Maximilien Robespierre was a proud disciple of the enlightenment and declared that no political writer had foreseen this revolution. Robespierre (1758-1794) was one of the leaders of the Committee of Public Safety, the effective governing body of France during the most radical phase of the revolution. The leaders of this revolution attempted, perhaps more than any other revolutionary leaders before or since, to totally transform human society in every way. (Supreme Being) Although Robespierre began with patriotic intent he still was the face of the Reign of Terror and was viewed as being a radical person.

The burden of paying taxes fell upon the peasantry since the majority of nobility and high bourgeoisie were either exempt or effortlessly evaded payment. The social distress amongst the peasantry caused by the war taxation resulted in several uprisings between 1636 and 1639, which the Cardinal crushed violently and dealt with the rebels in a harsh manner which Machiavelli would have promoted.#

Just about any country that one can name has some history of civil unrest, class issues, rioting in the streets, and outright warfare. These patterns of behavior are common denominators for most civilization in the world. The names, faces, and places may change, but the motivations are generally the same, because of the need for change and the willingness to do whatever is necessary to achieve it. In contrast to the United States, which was in the process of freeing itself from British colonial rule, France was working to free itself from royal absolutism. This period is historically known as the French Revolution. Many scholars do not agree on the chronology of the French Revolution; some scholars suggest that the Revolution took place between 1789 to 1799 while others feel that it did not end until Napoleon lost power in 1815. To better understand the history of the French Revolution it is necessary to discuss the causes, major events, significant figures, and the outcomes associated with these political developments. Without this uprising, that changed the face of the entire country and influenced local political life in many countries in Europe, in all likelihood the France we know today would never have existed.

The Great Fear was a period of extreme fright and riot that became a massacre in the French Revolution. France's peasants began to hear wild rumors about the nobles who were hiring outlaws to terrorize them and overthrow the Third Estate. The peasants responded by arming themselves with pitchforks and other farm tools to defend their property. "The peasants soon became outlaws themselves." Although it seems the peasants feared those people who broke the law, they became the ones creating bigger damage such as destroying federal documents and stealing millions of private property's. Along with several deaths because of the lack of food. Thousands of Parisian women caused trouble over the rising price of bread. These big strong woman marched

The first and second estates gained wealth while the proletariats became poorer. During this time, France had an outdated tax system in which the nobilities and the clergies were exempt on taxes even though they owned 90% of the lands. The commoners, on the other hand, had to pay for all the taxes (Doc 14). According to Doc 6, in the Plight of the

From 1524 to 1526 peasant revolts were occurring throughout the German states. Many causes and responses brewed out of these revolts. One cause is from religion issues (1,3,6) , Luther’s idea of equality. Another cause is the peasant gaining power (2,8,9). As a result of these causes came out response, the most common response was riots and chaos (5,11,7). These revolts would end in thousands of rebel deaths and others are also killed.

In “‘Twelve Articles’ of the Peasants during the German Peasants’ Revolt”, the peasants address to their indefinite ruler that they “are ready and willing to pay the fair tithe of grain” (1), and they “will let [lords] demand only what is just and proper” (1). The peasants were aware of the greedy, clerical abuses of power by pastors, but they were unwilling to accept paying more than fair to support “a decent and sufficient maintenance” (1) for the pastor. This is similar to the “Manifesto of the Peasants of Angoumois,” that showed that the peasants were aware that the burden of taxation from the centralizing France state was put onto the poor peasantry, rather than the richer Middle Class. The peasants in this developing absolutist monarchy attempted to state that “those with sufficient property” (3) should pay the taille, “without regard to personal connections and without fear of the power of the rich” (3). In both these documents, neither state’s peasantry refused taxation or had a desire to change the system. This reactionary idea is also present in the “‘Twenty-Nine Demands’ of Kett’s Rebellion” from England in 1549. This direct list of demands to the definite monarch from the peasantry, was in a request “to redress and

To make matters worse, for the past decade, the French populace had been suffering from famine because of bad harvesting and sky-high price of even bare necessities. The demand for manufactured goods plummeted, causing many workers, farmers, and traders to be without work. The laws of the land were becoming increasingly burdensome to the Third Estate, while excusing the clergy and nobility from paying taxes. Since they already had to pay tax on land (taille), tax on food and drink (aides), tax for the upkeep of the clergy (tithes), tax on salt (gabelle), and many more, the common people were understandably angry with the entire burden falling on them while the other two Estates remained exempt from taxation. Clearly, “Laws themselves [were] nothing but instruments at the hands of the rich, to oppress the

The peasants in the French Revolution had many un-communicated complaints. The peasants felt they were being taxed too heavily. This was true because the government could not tax the clergy or the nobility, and they needed money. As a result, they raised

For my book review, I have read and evaluated Sylvia Neely’s history book entitled A Concise History of the French Revolution published in 2007 by Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. Neely’s purpose is to gives an overview of the French revolution with the most important events, the most prominent people and the essential terms. We can see that the author proved her thesis by explaining the background causes of the revolution such as the ancient regime with Louis XVI. Also she described all important events in chronological orders which made it easier for the reader to understand. Neely’s book is at the same time an history book, but also an kind of encyclopedia because she included all essentials terms which were use during that time period, such as “dérogeance”, which means the loss of nobility.

Peasants began to revolt due to governmental taxes that were making it hard to live and wage restrictions were also making an impact. This began to lead to revolts in cities throughout Europe, France, and England. In England, the direct cause of these revolts was due to a tax put on every adult member of the population that the peasants refused to pay. These revolts caused castles to be burnt down, nobles to be murdered, and consequently led to many arrests on peasants. There were some good things happening for peasants though, with manorialism weakening and peasants being freed from their

7. The causes of the peasants’ uprising known as the Great Fear of 1789 was the peasants impatience and want to take matters into their own hands because they were furious with being forced to deal with the most of the taxation, the church tithes, and the nobles abusing their privileges effecting their lives. The cause that pushed them over the edge to begin the uprisings was the rise in the price of bread. The outcomes of the uprising were the destroying of feudal documents, enclosed lands raided, and most importantly the Nation Assembly having no choice but to issue a decree on August 4, 1789 that abolished all noble privileges including the hunting rights, the fees for legal cases judged in a lord’s court, forcing peasants to work on roads, along with the abolishment of tithes.

The first wave of peasant revolts during the religious wars took place in the southwest in Provence, Vivarais, and Dauphiné. Around 1580, on both banks of the Rhône, in Languedoc, and Dauphiné, the large-scale peasant revolts happened simultaneously with the Razats uprising in Provence after a period of non-peasant revolts from the mid-century. The revolts began in Vivarais and reached its climax in Dauphiné and gradually shifted to the south and then to eastern regions. I have also kept this approach and started off with the revolts accounts of Provence, then famous peasant revolts of Vivarais and Dauphiné and I finished the chapter with the Croquants of Languedoc and Campanelle in the 1590s.

Liberté, égalité, fraternité was the cry of freedom that countless people used to propel them through, and to the end of the French Revolution. This long period of social, political and economic change in France lasted 10 years, starting in 1798 and ended with Napoleon Bonaparte. The French Revolution greatly affected all of Europe at the time and continues to represent the embodiment of revolution to this day. This constant struggle between the heavily taxed, burdened, and unrepresented third estate and those higher created an environment of monumental change for everyone. In the years leading up to the French Revolution, new beliefs and ideas were reaching every corner of Europe creating the thought that men should live free of oppression. However, in France the leader Louis XVI lead like a tyrant leaving the people impoverish and angry. Through the analysation of numerous circumstance present during the Ancien Régime, such as an inferior fiscal leadership, massive debt, and the forthcoming of new ideas during the Enlightened period, it can be concluded that the means for this revolution were justified as it is in our essence to revolt for a change.

The English Peasant Uprising was motivated by a growing contempt with the government and clergy following the Black Death which was finally set off by a series of immediate social and economic causes. A shortage of workers followed the Black Death with an estimated forty-five per cent of the population dying in England . As entire towns were either deserted or left devoid of life, rural peasants increased their mobility into major cities. This shortage of rural workers led to famine as fields were left to go fallow, placing further economic pressure on the peasant classes who survived as the price of food increased. Due to the lack of labourers, the labourers who survived demanded greater wages as they now had increased leverage over