The French empire has often been perceived as being one of the most difficult empires to define as a total whole (SOURCE). There is no such thing as one coherent history of the French empire, but rather the Empire could be divided up into roughly three different individual empires. One can distinguish between three different French empires as starting with the period of the rule of the ancién regime, known as the Kingdom of France, lasting from 1594 to 1789. Subsequently, one can distinct the empire as created by Napoleon I as a second empire which lasted from 1804 to 1814 (and a brief restoration in 1805), which was the first to be actually named an empire, and finally the second French empire, founded by Napoleon's nephew Napoleon III …show more content…
So when crises hit, the third estate was always hit hardest as their taxes were increased dramatically to maintain the wealth of the other estates. More importantly, whereas the first and second estate had direct representation in the judicial bodies of the empire, the third estate did not and so their voices were barely if not at all heard. The before mentioned crises found their foundations in the engagement of the empire in several costly military endeavors, most notably the Seven Years War and the American Revolutionary War, as well as in persistent crop failures which damaged a partially agriculture-dependent economy. Resulting famines putting further pressure on the people and in addition to these social and economic inequalities the emerging ideas of the Enlightenment – striving for intellectual reasoning and individual equality rather than building upon tradition of inequality – were of significant influence. The result of the Revolution was a much more equal society, primarily through one of its most important documents, the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen. The document holds several important passages regarding the fundamental rights of people, claiming these to be
It allowed the creation of the Declaration of Independence, in which stated that all men are created equal, and the Constitution, which was “essentially an economic document based upon as recognizing the claim of property to a special and defensive position in the Constitution” (Doc H). The people who weren’t receiving the rights and liberties they deserved were inspired to fight for them by the creation of these two documents. The discernment of inequality became a consequence when wealthy, white men were believed to be superior to other genders and races, especially of lower class. Even though some may reason that the Revolution brought forth little to no change, the ideas Revolution gave the diverse groups justification to fight for their equality among the “superior” higher classes. Poor to middle class, African American slaves, and women were finally given the right ideas to protect their rights adequately. The Revolution became the period of accommodation with regards to
The high costs of maintaining the army and navy exacerbated the situation, along with the lavish lifestyle of King Louis XVI and his queen, Marie-Antoinette. Louis appointed Charles de Calonne as comptroller-general to solve France’s financial crisis. Calonne knew that the only way to get France out of debt was to fairly distribute the tax burden among the three estates. Of course, this did sit well with the nobility and Calonne was dismissed after giving his presentation at the Assembly of Notables. In a desperate act, Louis called the Estates General. The Estates General was an ancient practice that had not been called since 1614. Events there would prove to be the beginning of the revolution proper. France suffered under years of inept and self-serving monarchs. Louis XVI was preceded by his grandfather, Louis XV. It was his loss of public opinion and war spending that put his grandson in such a precarious position in the years after his reign. The rule of Louis XVI would prove to be a doomed one. He was ousted after a comparatively short 17 years. The outdated political system gave way to a constitutional monarchy, and when that failed, the French Republic. This Republic however would not prove to last. Feudalism was the whole of existence for rural commoners in the time before the revolution. Farmers had no right to the land they worked and lived on. Serfs were beholden to their manor lord
The revolution emphasized the ideals of “Liberty, Equality, Fraternity” and was characterized by the strong will of the French people who stood up for what they believed in. It was also an extremely
How Napoleon Maintains Control in France 1799-1814 After the long period of instability in France, Napoleon seemed to acknowledge the importance of maintaining his power, influence and control over France and the French people. Napoleon was very able in this regard as it is important to make the people to support you and to limit opposition, something that Napoleon and Hitler shared in common. Napoleon maintained his power in many different ways, rewarding people that supported him, repressing people who didn't, censoring material that would harm his regime and producing other material to boost its popularity. He also controlled things which were important for everyday people like religion,
The French Revolution was a time of period where social and political was a disruption in France that lasted from 1789 until 1799. This time of period affected Social Structure of France prior to the French Revolution. The factors that caused this revolution was due to having a bad government system, weak superiority, and inequality of the classes of people in France during the war. In this research, I will define and explain how Social Structure contributed to the French Revolution Resentment of royal authoritarianism. The three estates that social structure consists of are first estate which are the clergies, second estate known as the Nobleman, and third estate which are the Bourgeoisie, peasants, and workers. The Revolution did not omit sharp distinctions among the social groups, neither did it alter the distribution of wealth. This caused them to divide into these three groups called as estates.
The revolution also impacted France because it lead to the creation of the Declaration of the Rights of Man. The members of the National Assembly created the Declaration of the Rights of Man to state the rights that they believed were deserved by all people and would create equality throughout France. The rights that were listed throughout the declaration were modeled after the Declaration of Independence that had just recently been created in the United States of America. The first right written in this declaration is that all men are created equal and are naturally good (document 5). This shows that no matter what social class one is in, they should be treated with the same respect.
Even though there are a lot of good things that came out of the Revolution, there are still some things that weren’t that revolutionary. Like in Document 4, The poor still weren’t politically equal and in Document 6, the African American that went to school felt like people didn’t want him there and that he thought no one will be friends or work with him because he’s African. Even though everyone was treated as equal, some people still felt that Africans and poor people should be separated from the rich and white people. But all that would change in the future all because of the American
The Revolution represented many things for different people. For example, in terms of slaves, the Revolution represented a chance to obtain freedom. For women, the Revolution meant coming out from behind their husbands' or their fathers' shadows (although minutely). When analyzing each factor one thing stands out; the fact that the people were fighting for equality. The Revolution symbolized equality for people of all social classes and walks of life.
The Revolutionary War was very radical and revolutionary. In addition to this, it was the spark for change to come. The government was most affected and then there was social change and this overall changed the economy. In document #2 it explains how the government will depend on the opinions of people and not be inherited. This supports the people’s rights to speak out and have happiness through their choices. In document #1 it shows how people supported abolishing the old form of government. Socially, the classes (rich, middle, and poor) changed drastically. In documents #3 and #4 it shows how the different classes were more mixed after the revolution and how the classes evened out and different classes became the most common. For example, the moderate/middle class became more common than an extreme amount of people in the poor and wealthy classes.
The Revolutionary War wasn’t as “revolutionary” as everyone thinks. The rights of many people didn’t change at all. Firstly it did contribute to economic and political change but the main one, social change, was only change for some people. Looking at document 5 it shows that only 5 or 6 states abolished slavery within 5 years. Plus on document 7 Abigail Adams sent John Adams a letter that stated “ I desire you to remember the ladies”, but women didn’t get the right to vote until August 18 1920 also on Plus looking at document 8 when is says that the “right of a citizen to vote should be denied by the account of sex”. Quoting document 2 and the Declaration of Independence “ We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are
The global struggle between the French and the British empires influenced certain key events of American history. It all started on the 100 years’ War, this actually last one hundred and sixteen years since 1337 to 1453. The majority of this was due the determined goal to possess control of colonial territory. This war was between France and England, during this time the monarchy of France was not yet centralized, nor possessed a strong economy or organized army. England was less populated, but had a better organized economy their army was equipped with superior weaponry. The main reason of the war was the possession of the French territories. It was the last feudal war and most perfect example of this type of wars. At the beginning England took possession of French soil, but at the end of the war France was able to recover the territories occupied by the French, thanks to the intervention of Joan of Arc territories. In this paper I will explain important information regarding Britain and France influence on America such as, French and Indian War, Declaration of Independence, American Revolution, Quasi War, Louisiana Purchase, including important issues, ideas and events.
to get all the power of France. It should also be said that not all the nobles
There have been traces of human life found in current day France from approximately 1.8 million years ago; however current day France was not established until 1789. However, before this the land was uncivilized and was taken over my many groups. When the Republic of France officially was established as the First Republic under the rule of Napoleon Bonaparte. Napoleon then made himself emperor in 1804. However in 1815 the Congress of Vienna restored the order with Louis XVIII. The people did not like this change and in 1848,Prince Louis Napoleon declared the Second Empire. Then, when the Prussian War broke out in 1870, he was abducted and the Third Republic was created. Next, when WWII broke out, Germany took over and occupied half of France.
The Revolution brought with it numerous reforms with regards to what freedom entails. During this period,
Under Napoleon, France controlled almost all of Europe and Northern Africa as well as most of the Americas(through controlling Spain). Napoleon had tried to conquer all who insulted him, he was egotistical maniac. Although he attempted follow the values that the First French Revolutionists made Liberte, Egalite, Fraternite, Napoleon had set up multiple laws that gave some sense of freedom and equality to the people of france through the civil code also known as The Napoleonic Code.