The Problems Of Bread And The French Revolution At Bordeaux

← Doyle, William. The French Revolution: A Very Short Introduction. New York: Oxford University Press, Inc. 2001

The People of France in the last part of the 18th century were experiencing severe food shortages, increasing the cost of living, and political leaders who were doing very little to fix the state of chaos in which most people found themselves. In both rural and

The purpose of this paper is to introduce, discuss, and analyze the book "The Return of Martin Guerre" by Natalie Zamon Davis. Specifically, it will discuss the life of the peasant during the Middle Ages. This book is a fascinating account of a true case that happened during the 16th century in France. The book is also an excellent example of how the peasants lived in the Middle Ages, from what they ate, to how they traveled and what their family lives were like.

The French Revolution were influenced by many factors such as the Enlightenment ideals, concepts of popular sovereignty, and unchallengeable rights. France’s costly involvement in the Revolution and excessive spending by King Louis XVI and his predecessor had left the country on the brink of bankruptcy. Not only were the royal coffers exhausted, but two decades of poor cereal harvests, drought, cattle disease and skyrocketing bread prices had kindled unrest among peasants and the urban poor. (history.com).These actions played a critical role in shaping modern nations. As

During the late 1840s, France had suffered commercial decline. France had begun construction on a large scale rail network, but failed to budget their construction properly, leaving the construction unfinished, and it’s backers bankrupt. This cascaded further than the initial investors, as smelters who relied on the railways to buy their metal lost a major purchaser. The resulting economic fallout lead to unemployment across several industries. The lack of work for the majority of the populace led many to poverty. At the time, bread prices began rising prices, further straining the economic situation of the working class.

An increase in prices, a lack of capital, and billions of national debt naturally led to the revolution inevitable. France’s economical climate was greatly influenced by Britain’s control of the commercial market. In addition to adverse economical conditions, France had no central bank, no paper currency, and no means of obtaining more money, as their tax system really taxed the poor. Similar to the Russians, the French people realized that King Louis XVI was harming the country, and the three levels of class systems could not come to terms. Moreover, just like Bolsheviks were fighting with Anti-Bolsheviks, conflict between radical Jacobins and liberal Girondins and the significant Reign of Terror played a key role in leading to and sustaining the revolution.

With a high tax on wheat, the primary ingredient in bread, it was very difficult for the lower classes to make money and feed their families. The French Revolution began to put an end to these things, and create a government that wouldn't allow them to happen again. The leader of this uprising, Maximilien Robespierre, started the Reign of Terror supposedly as a way to protect the Revolution. This does not defend the actions of him nor those of his fellow revolutionaries. The Reign of Terror was not justified.

In France leading up to the revolution, there was a lot of poverty as well as national debt. The poverty was so bad in the late 1780s that the people said, "The lack of bread is terrible (Document 7). " They also said, "The price of Bread has risen above people's ability to pay (Document 7). " This shows that the people were too poor to afford bread.

In the late eighteenth to the early nineteenth century, France was undergoing major changes. Before the French Revolution, France was experiencing political, social and economic problems. During this time period France was unstable, and wasn’t able to keep up with the new arising Enlightenment ideas. In addition, there were high taxes, unequal power distribution and social inequality. The French Revolution not only impacted the citizens of France, but people from other countries as well.

During the 1700s, France’s government was run by a three system estate system. The First Estate was made up by the powerful clergy members, while the Second Estate was made with nobles. Peasants and working men made the Third Estate, also the largest estate. In this large estate there was a little class named the Bourgeoisie was a part of the Third Estate. Though the Bourgeoisie was highly educated and always had stable professions, they were not set aside from the peasants. The Third Estate was treated very poorly during the 1700s. Life was not suitable for the working class. The mistreatment and inequality led to the French Revolution. Inequality during this time period meant that things were not the same throughout each class. Unequal power between the estates, abuse of the Third Estate, and the taxes and price raises were the three reasons that outweighed the many political, social, and economic factors that led to the French Revolution.

Children wore ragged clothes and suffered tremendously (document 1). There was a lack of bread due to the fact that it was more than the people can afford (document 1). Finally, there was a tax on the land and it’s produce in France (document 1). This financial instability played a major part in the fabrication of the French Revolution. Social status was also a main factor for the occurrence of the Revolution.

This book is divided into nine chapters, from the Ancien Regime to the Thermidor and the Director. There are essential maps with the years and the page number, such as France in 1789. France were divided between Pays D’états such Rennes or Toulouse and Pays d’élections such as Ile-de-France or Normandy. Also, there were seat of parlement all around the coast or borders. Neely gave us a list of important figures in the French Revolution such as the Jacobins Club or Robespierre.

The French Revolution was quite different than the American Revolution predecessor. The American Revolution expressed the tensions of a colonial relationship with a distant imperial power, the French insurrection was driven by sharp conflicts within French society. Members of the titled nobility - privileged, prestigious, and wealthy - resented and resisted the monarchy's effort to subject them to new taxes. Educated middle-class men such as doctors, lawyers, lower-level officials, and merchants were growing in numbers and sometimes in wealth and were offended by the remaining privileges of the aristocracy, from which they were excluded. Ordinary urban men and women, many of whose incomes had declined for a generation, were hit particularly hard in the late 1780s by the rapidly rising price of bread and widespread unemployment. Nowhere did the example of the French Revolution echo more loudly than in

The French Revolution was a period of time from 1789 to 1799 in France where there was political instability. It officially began on the 14th of July, 1789, when the Bastille, which was a symbol of the King’s harsh policies, was stormed. The King, Louis XVI, the Queen, Marie-Antoinette and about 40,000 people were all brutally murdered. But there was also a positive side, the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen was formally adopted on August 1789 and feudalism was abolished. This essay will address the issues of the three estates system, food shortages and the fiscal crisis. It will also be argued that the most significant cause of the French Revolution was the social inequality that stemmed from the three estates system.

When prices got so high that peasants and other third estate citizens couldn't afford food there was an inevitable uprising. The peasantry became a class with the ambition to counteract social inequity and put a stop to escalating food prices. This unrest caused a riot, known as the bread riot, which became a central cause to the French Revolution.