French+Revolution

The French Revolution was one of, if not the most, important event of the Industrialization era. This major event helped start the political restructuring of Europe and Latin America, while also becoming a major factor in developing ideas like liberty, freedom, democracy, as well as nationalism around the world.

** Causes of the French Revolution **
Three major causes led to this outbreak from the French people.

__ The First Incident: Debt __ The French people collected a lot of debt from wars that the former King, King Louis XIV, had started. Monetarily, the debt wasn’t as significant as some of the surroundings nation, the problem laid in the government. In Britain, where the debt was higher, everyone had to pay taxes. However, in France, the aristocratic government made the nobles exempt from taxes. There were also increased prices of bread that caused an outrage.

__ The Second Incident: Religious Intolerance __ During this time period Christian leaders were extremely intolerant. It has been proven that priests and nobles were known to persecute people who preached religion other than Christianity. The nobles continued to manipulate the religion and the Lord to gain more power. The final incident: Social and Political injustices.

__ The Third Incident: The Enlightenment __ The Enlightenment a free thinking also played a large role in the French Revolution. France was an absolute monarchy who was ruled by an idiot and his wife. They continued to waste money for years and eventually led the nation into debt. The people wanted a democracy so that they could over throw their leaders, but there form of government was much different. Absolute monarchy made it impossible for any change in the government, the monarch were the absolute power. The revolution in America inspired then French to turn against their government. The revolution brought up new leaders such as Jacques Rousseau, who led with his powerful words and his new ideas. Angst was beginning to form in the idea of many of these revolutionaries. Thus became the birth of the revolution. One of the main reasons that the French Revolution occurred was the vanity that was held in the government. The monarchy held no responsibility, according to the documentary, French Revolution. King Louis spent all of his time and eating and his wife was very invested in her physical appearance. The dynamic duo aided the people close to them (ie. Not making the pay taxes) which eventually led to the fall of a, once, amazing monarchy.

** Events of the French Revolution **
__ Part 1 - National and Legislative Assemblies __ The Estates-General met in May 1789 at a tennis court where they developed a constitution and declared themselves the French National Assembly. Around the same time, on July 14, peasants stormed the Bastille, a prison, and freed prisoners in the process. Continued uprising of peasants led to the National Assembly’s decision to abolish serfdom. These new generous laws towards the peasants were known as the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen. The king, Louis XVI, who opposed the National Assembly, rejected these new laws. In response, the peasants attacked the king and queen at Versailles, forcing the royal family to retreat to Paris. This put the National Assembly in charge, which later reworked the political structure of France into a more liberal one. In 1791, the royal family attempted to escape Paris, but was caught in the process. Because of this, Louis was forced to oblige to the new Constitution of 1791. This new Constitution would lead to a limited monarchy, and form a new legislative department that would take the place of the National Assembly. In 1792, both Louis and the Legislative Assembly agreed to declare war on Austria and Prussia. However, both had different intentions for doing so. King Louis hoped that France would lose, allowing him to regain power. The Legislative Assembly wanted to promote unity in the nation by winning a war. Revolutionaries wanted to overthrow the monarchy because of several defeats. Due to many uprisings, the Legislative Assembly taken out, and the French National Convention was put in. The French National Convention got rid of the monarchy, declaring France a republic.

__ Part 2 - The Reign of Terror and Convention __ Political extremism was the focus of this part of the revolution. In 1792, after being tried for treason, Louis XVI was convicted and beheaded. A year later, France’s version of the executive branch of the government was created, and became known as the Committee of Public Safety. This committee searched for and eliminated enemies of the revolution. The CPS, led by Maximilien Robespierre, executed many people using the guillotine. This period of time took on the name of the Reign of Terror. In 1794, the Convention realized the injustice of what was happening, and ended the Reign of Terror, getting rid of Robespierre.

__ Part 3 - Afterwards __ To avoid repeating history (Robespierre), the Convention created the French Directory. This was a form of government in which five directors would control France. Even with the new government, France still suffered from the same issues as before, such as conflicts between different political parties, as well as war with the rest of Europe. In 1799, Napoleon Bonaparte betrayed the Directory, made a new constitution, and created the French Consulate, which became the final revolutionary government. Using his strong dictatorship authority, he was able to end the French Revolution. However, the true intention of establishing a French Republic did not come to bear fruit until 1871, when the empire under Napoleon III fell.

Impacts of the French Revolution
This major event led or helped lead to political uprisings in Latin America. After learning about the French Revolution, many Latin Americans believed that they could revolt, citing that the French Revolution was an uprising among the common man unlike other revolutions before it, such as that in the United States. (1) This revolution also helped ideas of freedom not only go through France, but also the surrounding areas of Western Europe, where widespread reform was implemented. For example, there was a bill passed in the U. S. that granted universal adult male suffrage with the exception slaves, and the Reform Bill of 1832 in Great Britain gave most middle class men the right to vote. There were also a few revolutions that sprang up in Europe after the French Revolution, such as the Belgian Revolution of 1832 where a new independent nation was formed with a more democratic and free political system.

The Catholic Church was one of the biggest losers of the French Revolution, losing great influence in Western Europe after it. They lost influence on the government of France, where ideas of Separation of Church and State developed. The Declaration of Rights of Man and Citizen also played an important role in this. This document was based on making everyone equal and attempted to eliminate titles such as the titles of nobility and church. This was another important step in the demise of the Catholic Church’s power. As the ideas of the French Revolution spread throughout Europe, the power and influence of the Catholic Church lessened. Feelings of nationalism spread throughout Europe as well. During the Napoleonic Wars, towards the end of the Revolution, ideas of Nationalism quickly developed in Western Europe. As new nation-states became independent and countries vied for power in not only Western Europe, but around the world, a sense of national identity and pride developed. Nationalism has continued to play an important role in society through today.

=Works Cited=

"Interesting Facts & Information: Tourism, Travel, Culture, Language, Business, People Causes of the French Revolution." Interesting Facts & Information: Tourism, Travel, Culture, Language, Business, People. Â» Blog Archive Â» Causes of the French Revolution. Kwintessential, 29 Mar. 2010. Web. 31 Mar. 2012. . // // "French Revolution." World History: The Modern Era. ABC-CLIO, 2012. Web. 31 Mar. 2012. //

// "French Revolution." French Revolution. UCC. Web. 31 Mar. 2012. . //

// "Enlightenment and the French Revolution: Dilemma: Opening." World History: The Modern Era. ABC-CLIO, 2012. Web. 31 Mar. 2012. //

// The French Revolution. Dir. Doug Shultz. Perf. Edward Herrmann, George Ivascu and Rodica Lazar. History Chanel, 2005. TV Documentary. //

// "French Revolution." //World History: The Modern Era//. ABC-CLIO, 2012. Web. 1 Apr. 2012.//

//** 1 ** “Interesting Facts & Information: Tourism, Travel, Culture, Language, Business, People. Blog Archive. Effects of the French Revolution.” //Interesting Facts & Information: Tourism, Travel, Culture, Language, Business, People. Blog Archive. Effects of the French Revolution. //29 Mar. 2010. Web. 29 Mar. 2012..// //** 2 ** Acemoglu, Daron, Davide Cantoni, Simon Johnson, and James A. Robinson. //The Consequences of Radical Reform: The French Revolution. //Cambridge, MA: National Bureau of Economic Research, 2009. Print.// //** 3 ** Stearns, Peter N., Stuart B. Schwartz, Michael Adas, and Marc J. Gilbert. //World Civilizations: The Global Experience.// 3rd ed. New York: Pearson Longman, 2003. Print.