The French revolution is one of history’s bloodiest and most important series of events that has ever occurred in the western hemisphere. From the start of the revolution at 1789 to the end at 1799, a massive number of complex political, and socioeconomic events took place forever changing the country. This decade long feud between France’s people and her government can be simplified into three major stages. The first stage of the revolution was, for the most part constitutional and the most peaceful of the three stages. The second stage however wasn’t so peaceful. At the time, France was one of Europe’s most influential and powerful country’s and since such an impactful revolution was being executed, this brought many aggressive supporters as …show more content…
And because of Frances involvement in the American revolution this drove the country’s treasury into massive amount of debt; leading to the gathering of the Estates General to assist the country’s financial crisis. With the country in such dire need of government reform the third estate proposed that they receive more power to more accurately represent the people of France. The power the third estate was seeking was for the benefit of the citizens of France but the king became wary of the Third Estate and instead tried to limit their power by locking them out of the Estates General. This only angered the Third Estate and instead of weakening their power it sparked the beginning of the French Revolution by forcing them to declare themselves the National Assembly. The Tennis Court Oath was taken soon afterward on June 20, 1789, this was the National Assembly’s way of asserting that it was the highest power in the land. By June 27, 1789 the king conceded his right to rule by ordering the rest of the delegates in the estates to join the National Assembly. (Cole
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
The French Revolution had multiple stages, which all resulted in a new system of governing the state.The third stage of the French Revolution was a reaction to the Reign of Terror and was to bring change to a society where the executioner was executed himself. As the successful conservative republic, 5-man Directory and others in the legislature, became corrupted with power, the mob mentality returned. There is evidence to show that the Reactionary Stage did create a successful system of governing a state. The Reactionary Stage of the French Revolution had successes that overshadowed the failures from that stage. The failures, of the intended positive changes, came from the oppressed becoming the oppressors.
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.
The tennis court oath took place on June 20 1789. The third estate had considered themselves as the National Assembly. The National Assembly took the Tennis Court Oath swearing not to separate, and reassemble wherever circumstances require, until the constitution of the Kingdom is established. The estates general was called to address the country's fiscal and agriculture crisis. There was about 576-577 members. The first and second estate wanted to just tax the third estate more, but the third estate couldn't as they were broke. The third estate swore the tennis court oath.
“Europe cannot conceive of life without Kings and nobles; and we cannot conceive of it with them. Europe is lavishing her blood to preserve her chains, whereas we are lavishing ours to destroy them”(Maximilien Robespierre). For centuries upon centuries, the monarchal system had dominated European life. The very nature of this method of rule incited rebellious feelings, as a definite imbalance of power was present. Understandably, people under this system had risen against authority. The glorious nation of France was no exception. The eighteenth century brought about a great deal of economic and social turmoil. By the end of this one hundred year period, rebellion had been talked about by many citizens for quite some time. However,
The events of 1789 resulted in a constitutional monarchy in France. The Estates General gathered to discuss changes in taxes. This legislative body comprised of delegates from the three estates. The delegates representing the commoners refused to accept a system dismissing popular majority votes by counting one vote per estate. Instead, they called themselves the National Assembly, and its members took the Tennis Court Oath, swearing they would fight for a new constitution.
The French Revolution is known to be one of the major events in the world history. The revolution was led by some reformers in the government who demanded some changes in the political system. The purpose of the revolution was to eliminate the power of king and the rich people who owned most of the lands, and to have a government that is elected by the citizens. Although the revolution started as a movement for government reforms, but it turned out so violent that led to the execution of the royal family. The French revolution made a major change in France and inspired some other revolutionary movements throughout Europe. Three
In 1789, an event would take place that would shake a nation. This event further altered the country of France’s history and drastically changed its future. This event was known as the Storming of the Bastille, the first violent instance to instigate the French Revolution and the formation of a rebel alliance to overthrow French monarchy. However the motives of the renegades is far and wide. The question must be asked; What were the major reasons for the French Revolution? Many elements of France’s infrastructure were created to suppress the qualms of the people. However, the major influences that caused the French Revolution were the new ideas of the enlightened thinkers, powerlessness of the Third Estate, and famine crises. Without these factors within French society, a governmental collapse may not have occurred.
France was under extreme turmoil because of its structure and King Louis XVI, there were many growing tensions throughout France that needed to be dealt with before the revolution was to take over. The three estates in France were under a very unequal system where the majority vote and majority of wealth came from less than 10 percent of the country; many privileges were the given to them like minimal taxes and all authority. The other 90 percent of the country was living in extremely poor conditions and were spending 90 percent of their wages on bread. King Louis XVI continued to charge the third-estate excessive amounts of taxes to pay for his contribution to the American war. Moderates believed they could change these issues through minor reforms, but when that failed the radicals realized it would take a revolution to change the problems that persisted in France. Because strict government control during the Radical stage of the revolution (1792-1794) was placed in society, a dictator of the Radical stage, Maximilien Robespierre was able to achieve more than the moderate stage (1789-1792). There were many great ideas in the moderate stage but they were pursued with the dedication of the leaders in the radical stage, while they were already achieving many of their own goals.
The First Estate consisted of the clergy, the Second Estate comprised the nobles, and the Third Estate was made up of all the people, or commoners of France. Voting at the time was set up by status, because even though the non-aristocratic members of the Third Estate represented 98% of the people, they were still able to be outvoted by the other two estates. This unfair voting system is what caused the Third Estate to make the Tennis Court Oath of 1789. The Tennis Court Oath, simply put, was an oath the Third Estate took to make a new constitution for France, and adopt it. This oath was a success, and on June 27, 1789, Louis XVI ordered the first and second estates to join the National Assembly, which is the organization that the Third Estate had formed.
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 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 began as an expression of rebellion against centuries of absolute rule in France. After an interim of experimental liberalism under the rule of Jacobins and Girondins and then the infamous reign of terror, the people of French were drawn to a man who promised them a return to stability, and honor through the expansion of empire. France and it’s people had long yearned for this sens eof honour, it had seemed, and could finally sens eit in a lasting rpesence under the rule of their prodigious, unbeatable general, Napoleon Bonaparte. He would soon take the reigns of civil government as well and become yet another Absolutist ruler, yet this
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.
Revolutions are a common occurrence throughout world history. With the amount of revolutions in history, there are those that get lost and those that are the most remembered or well known. One of the well known revolutions is the French Revolution which occurred in the years 1789 to 1799. Before the French Revolution, France was ruled by an absolute monarchy, this meaning that one ruler had the supreme authority and that said authority was not restricted by any written laws, legislature, or customs, a definition given by wikipedia.com and the feudal system, which was a system that said a peasant or worker would receive a piece of land in return for serving under a king, a definition given by vocabulary.com. Those who opposed the, then