The Revolution Of The French Revolution

In this letter, he disapproved of the reduction of his royal powers and personal wealth, which affected his lifestyle and authority. He denounced the Revolution, National Assembly, and its constitution. Copies of the letter circulated in public and revealed to people that “Louis had lied to the French” when he swore an oath “before God and the nation to uphold the constitution” (102). Not only did he leave behind his people but his flight would have led to a civil war between revolutionaries and loyalists aided by foreigners. On top of that, deputies of the National Assembly dealt with the aftermath of a missing king: paranoid Parisians suspecting a conspiracy, people storming the palace, and palace servants being accused of treason. This added to the “profound sense of desertion and betrayal” by a king that people saw as a “good father” (222). Out of disgust, they denounced Louis: calling him all sorts of names, took down portraits of him, and covered “in black the word royal” on signs, buildings, and other public places (110). The “myth of the kingship had been shattered” because nobody knew what to do with Louis at this time (104, 108). Some wanted exile or imprisonment whereas others suggested reinstating him as only a figurehead, and some thought about a “republic without a king” (108). Either way, they no longer

All though Louis XVI was well-meaning, he was weak and vacillating. When Louis Xvi first started his reign, in an attempt to gain popular support, he restored all the parlements and confirmed their old powers. On June 20th, Louis XVI locked the National Assembly out of their traditional meeting

During the French revolution, French citizens went against absolute monarchy and the feudal system that was antiquated. They were influenced by Enlightenment ideas such as inalienable rights and popular sovereignty. Louis XVI was the ruler at the time; he believed that his power was given to him by God, thus making him think his ruling was right despite people’s opinion. The citizens of France especially the 3rd estate disliked the king for treating them poorly. Eventually the Jacobins convicted Louis XVI to death by a guillotine for treason after finding a large iron box holding Louis XVI’s secret correspondence with foreign monarchs. The beheading of King Louis XVI was justified because he took people’s rights away and made people follow his inadequate rules and biased judgments based on status. Furthermore, if he were to be left alive it would have posed a threat to the security and stability of France.

According to document one, the French society did not like that King Louis XVI had absolute power over everything. He appointed all civil officers, made and enforced his laws, and he could declare war to make peace. King Louis XVI XVI also had very strict rules on what could be said and be printed in the press. The people felt like this was violating their rights and wanted changed as soon as possible. According to document four, they believed he abused his powers, and wrote some changed they felt needed to happen to make things right.

What would start as an act to protect people from the abuses of the government, would turn into one of the most oppressive periods of French History, giving it the name: Reign of Terror. King Louis XIV’s expensive and unnecessary war debts and lavish expenditures left his citizens starving and without a platform. In order to solve this, Louis XIV raised taxes, making the very mistake of King George III that led to the American Revolution. The social classes were called to reach a solution, but as always reached a stalemate. Delegates of the Estates General then took for themselves their natural right to dissention, and created the National Assembly. Regarding the right to dissent, the right to one’s own religious views,

The first successful implementation of constitutionalism was during the English Revolution. Before the revolution, England was dominated by absolute monarchs like James II (who openly favored Catholicism), and Charles I (who grew independent of parliament through trade). After the revolution however, previously nonexistent political rights were granted for men with property. Civil rights, including the right to free speech, religion, and due process of Law were granted to all englishmen. Voltaire, a french philosopher, also argued for the right to free speech by famously stating, “I may disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it” (Document 4). While Voltaire supported enlightened despotism, his ideas on freedom of speech would in fact be best preserved by a constitutionalist government. Constitutionalism forced the monarch to be subject to the law, eliminating his ability to violate the freedoms of his citizens. On the other hand, absolutism allowed monarchs the power to persecute those who didn’t follow a popular religion, as seen in Louis XIV of France’s banning of Protestants. Ultimately, this new institution of constitutionalism in England, helped to

King Louis XVI believed the revolutionary changes he detested “had been provoked by a few radicals in the National Assembly and their demagogic control of Parisian ‘rabble’ (87).” As thousand flocked to see the kings caravan return to Paris it became evident he had misinterpreted the true influence of the revolution. Many of his loyal subjects rejected the notion removing their hats upon his arrival, a snub to the king and his royal family. Previously under the king’s regime the general public had considered him

A direct quote from Louis XIV himself illustrates the induction of the new political institution: “Up to this moment I have been pleased to entrust the government of my affairs to the late Cardinal. It is now time that I govern them myself.” (“Louis XIV: Absolutism,” Steingrad) He began his rule in 1661 at the age of 23. Many feared that Louis XIV was a bit too immature to assume the throne, including his mother, but he took his role as an absolute monarch quite seriously, bordering on excessively. Rather than rely on high nobility and princes, Louis called on ministers from nobles of newer aristocratic families. If any one were to step out of line, Louis had them arrested and imprisoned. For example, when his minister of finances, Nicholas Fouquet, began to boast about his authority and wealth, Fouquet was immediately incarcerated. (“Louis XIV: Absolutism,” Steingrad) Religion was another source of tension. Louis XIV did not want Protestants practicing their faith in Catholic France. His motto in regards to religion was “one king, one law, one faith,” encapsulating the ideals of absolutism. He believed that the existence of the Protestants undermined his authority, and began attempting to entice them to conversion by offering rewards. Eventually, he moved to forced conversions. Louis XIV was a proponent of Gallicanism, which is the belief that the monarchy held certain rights over the Catholic Church, regardless of the papal powers. Pope Innocent XI denounced King Louis XIV and in response, Louis ordered the French clergy to establish the Declaration of Gallican Liberties. The document maintained that “the pope’s authority was limited to spiritual matters and that even in spiritual matters, the pope was subject to the decisions of a general council.” (“Louis XIV: Absolutism,” Steingrad) This caused a large amount of tension between the king and church, to the point where a split was possible. However,

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.

Edmund Burke published the Reflections on the Revolution in France in 1790; after the Bastille had been stormed by the Paris mol. He reflects upon about how France was very chaotic. Burke opposed the values of his contemporary revolutionaries; and he predicted that the French revolution would cause problems of fear and chaos to the country. Burke also believed that the revolutionary leaders were more interested in themselves and that they wanted power, however; and really did not care about the well-being of the French people. He believed in the concepts of liberty, equality and the right for everyone; he argues that people should have the opportunity to own their private property. Furthermore, Burke viewed the revolution as a violent takeover of the government, emphasizing that citizens should not have the right to do this. He also argues about importance of tradition in that tradition is what holds society together.

After the Revolution in France, the old absolutist monarchy was replaced by the Constitution of 1791, and King Louis XVI was forced to share power with an elected legislative body in the new constitutional monarchy. In a rather

During the eighteenth century there was one central political cause for the French Revolution. King Louis XVI was a weak ruler who endured a lavish lifestyle. He disregarded the people’s needs, leaving much of the French population in discontent. Prior to the revolution the form of government was Absolute monarchy led by Louis XVI. The problem with absolute monarchy was that people were denied basic rights, and a say in government because the divine right theory was abused. The King ruled by the divine right of theory which

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

During the French Revolution, King Louis XVI was in charge of the monarchy and was deposed in 1792 and later executed in 1793 (The French Revolution (1789-1799)). King Louis XVI fell into massive debt which forced him to give into the Parlement of Paris and the Estates-General, this then leading to the Revolution. After the absolute monarchy was disbanded, the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen was adopted. As reported by The French Revolution by history,com, the declaration proclaimed the Assembly’s commitment to replace the old system with one that was based on equal opportunity, freedom of speech, popular sovereignty, and representative government. The National Assembly soon learned that it wasn’t easy to govern or be in charge of a country, this shown by the months it took to draft a constitution for France (The French Revolution). According to this article, many questions were asked when it came to creating the constitution such as “Would the clergy owe allegiance to the Roman Catholic Church or the French government?” or “Who would be responsible for electing delegates?”

The Royal Family of France’s attempted escape on June 20th, 1791 made many people very unhappy with the King. The mob, ever ready to exercise the uncontrolled Rights of Men, made a mock parade of the King’s Arms in the market places, and, dashing them and the figure of a crown to the ground, they trampled upon them, crying out, “Since the King has abandoned what he owed to his high situation, let us trample upon the ensigns of royalty” (Ascherson 48)! The Royal Family not only lost many of its followers through their attempted escape, but also because King Louis XVI kept making bad decisions, ones that had no benefit to France or its people. The people wanted someone who would lead them into a revolution and change France for the better, not because they wanted the power, but because they believed in France and wanted it to become a great nation. That man was Robespierre, who after the flight of the King followed the Jacobin club in its move toward republicanism. He called for universal male suffrage and the end of property qualifications for voting and office holding (Blumberg 290). Robespierre wanted to make France a republic, a government for the people and by the people, a country where everyone had the freedoms and rights they deserved. In January of 1793, Robespierre voted on whether or not he thought that King Louis should be executed for his actions. At the Convention on the trial