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Q: history ( Answered 4 out of 5 stars,   0 Comments )
Question  
Subject: history
Category: Miscellaneous
Asked by: jentlemaan-ga
List Price: $2.00
Posted: 17 Oct 2002 22:43 PDT
Expires: 16 Nov 2002 21:43 PST
Question ID: 80045
what was the french revolution about?
Answer  
Subject: Re: history
Answered By: willie-ga on 17 Oct 2002 23:57 PDT
Rated:4 out of 5 stars
 
Hello 

The roots of the French Revolution of 1789 can be traced back to the
reign of Louis XIV, an absolute monarch. He had set about reducing the
power of nobles, taking them away from their land which was the basis
of their wealth and power. After him came Louis XV who allowed
political and social positions to be bought by wealthy commoners,
enraging nobles even further. These events culminated in Louis XVI,
his Estates General and the French Revolution.
 
During the time of the French revolution there where three estates or
social classes in France, described by Thomas Jefferson, the American
Ambassador as "Clergy, Nobles, and Commons."

The Clergy were representatives of the church and served as judges, 
Nobles were militaristic and many were in senior positions in the army
Commons were divided into the Bourgeoisie, who were wealthy land
owners, and the poor peasants.

Stands taken between the three estates and Louis XVI were the cause of
great tensions, and when these tensions finally broke it led directly
to revolution.

By the age of 12 Louis XVI had already begun to create his own ideas
of government. He said: "There are four natural rights which the King
is obliged to conserve for each of his subjects. These come from God
and are older than all laws, political or civil. They are life, honor,
liberty, and property."

Because of these views on government, Louis XVI brought the Estates
General, a ruling body which would represent the common people, into
existence, to give all of the estates a say in government. This new
form of governing was a far cry from the traditional monarchy, which
had ruled France for so long.

Louis XVI greeted the Estates General warmly on May 5, 1789 where he
declared his solution to the high taxation on the third estate was to
force the first and second estates to begin paying taxes, like the
peasantry. This strengthened his ideals of equality in a society. The
Nobility and Clergy had suffered having their land taken away by,
their positions taken by peasants left them enraged and now they were
being told to pay taxes like a commoner.

But the insult would not stop there. The king wished for each estate
to have equal representation, again standing up against tradition, To
accomplish this the Deputies or representatives of the Third Estate
needed to become a true political power. Hence the formation of the
National Assembly.

The Third Estate declared itself the National Assembly on June
17,1789. At that point the National Assembly secured their intentions
to create a new constitution. Jefferson's comment showed the power
that this new assembly controlled, "If the king will do business with
the third estate which constitutes the nation, it may be well done
without priests or nobles."

Unfortunately the National Assembly lost track of the peasants needs
in their single minded attempt at a new form of government. The lower
class was suffering from the burden of high taxes and by this time it
had become apparent that the three estates were incompatible and
unable to make decisions for the good of the people,

And so the government's popularity plummeted among the people, whose
lives were being threatened by the unjust taxation. Furthermore, a
series of bad harvest hurt the peasant even more. In addition to these
events, food riots, lack of work, and the issuance of political
pamphlets all played key roles in fuelling the fire.

On 13 July the people of Paris forced the prison of St Lazare, where
they got some arms. On the 14th they took the Invalides, the Bastille,
and beheaded the governor and lieutenant governor of the latter and
the Prevost des Marchands, and the revolution proper started.

After the storming of the Bastille in July there was some important
legislation passed in August which abolished fuedalism. This law was
passed on August 4th, it abolished fuedalism and all the inherant
privileges which accompany it. This was caused, primarily, by the
so-called 'Great Fear' which was an upsurge of anti-seigneuial
violence in rural areas and stories of gangs of brigands which may
have been in the employ of the aristocracy but was an ambiguous term.
These stories, although they may have been mere rumour and
speculation, caused great panic among the rural population.

On 15th September more revolutionary legislation was passed putting an
end to the Kings right to veto laws that the National Assembly tried
to pass. This was a real limit to royal power which was limited even
further on 5th October when King Louis XVI was brought back to Paris
and had his movement restricted. Although it must be borne in mind
that, as the narrative of the French revolution developed over the
next few years the position of the monarch detoriorated from that of
constitutional King to overthrown and imprisoned King in 1792. Louis
XVI was executed in January 1793 in the Jacobin terror.

In summary, The French Revolution spanned throughout the 18th and
early 19th Century. and its effects are various and vast. The essence
of the Revolution was the lower classes rising up against a government
which professed equality but practiced prejudice in all it policies.
The Revolution grew out of a need for equality and it is a symbol for
all societies that they can change their lives. The most important
reason the French Revolution was that the middle class was strong and
they were able to change their situation

Hope that helps

Willie

Google search terms used
"French revolution" reasons
jentlemaan-ga rated this answer:4 out of 5 stars
thanks

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