Revolution Essay Research Paper At various times

Revolution Essay, Research Paper

At various times in global history, revolution has often been the vehicle for political, economic, and social change. These changes can be seen in the French Revolution, the Industrial Revolution, and the Revolution.

The years before the French Revolution, which started in 1789 AD were ones of vast, unexpected change and confusion. One of the changes was the decline of the power of the nobles, which had a severe impact on the loyalty of

some of the nobles to King Louis XVI. Another change was the increasing power

of the newly established middle class, which would result in the monarchy

becoming obsolete. The angry and easily manipulated peasants, who were used by the bourgeoisie for their own benefit were another significant change, and

finally the decline of the traditional monarchy, that for so long had ruled,were all factors to the main point that the French Revolution was caused by a political base, with social disorder and economic instability contributing to the upheaval.

For centuries, the French noble was well set in society. He found prosperity and security in the old regime, and all he had to do was pay homage to the king, and provide the king with his services. This all came to a gradual stop, however beginning with the loss of the noble’s power over their own land at the hands ofLouis XIV. This was the foundation of the revolte nobiliaire in the fact that it formed a basis of mistrust, and anger for the monarch. In that time the feudal system was still being practiced, so social status was based on the amount of land you could attain. With no land, the nobles saw themselves to be as common as the common folk. Even in their arrogance they saw that they were losing power. The next blow to the pride of the nobles came from Louis XV, who passed a bill to let wealthy commoners purchase prominent spots in political and social positions. This event shows how corrupt and money hungry the government had become, by letting anyone get high up in the political chain just by feeding the greedy king. The next king, Louis XVI saw that the majority of France (75%) was peasants and serfs. Consequently, to try to ensure their happiness he had the Estates-General abolish the feudal system, in which they held no ranking. This made the nobility extremely unhappy. With no feudal system, they no longer were much higher up politicly than the commoners. The next noble atrocity came with Louis XVI making the nobles pay taxes. Ever since the foundation of the monarchy, the nobles and the clergy were exempt from paying taxes. The burden was left to the commoners. But, with the deficit being so high and France supporting the Americans in their war, something had to be done. This proved to be unfortunate for the king. The nobles were sick of being treated like low-class peasants so they formed their revolt.

The Revolution was not just one Revolution, it was a “series of revolutions, very different in their aims and subsequently the revolte nobiliaire began in 1787. It was a revolt limited to the aristocrats, however, because they wanted to get all the power of France. It should also be said that not all the nobles were against the king. The young nobles, and some of the old ones, who had not yet gotten obscene on their own power still supported the king. These people were called Royalists, and were beheaded for their faith. Before their own selfish revolution, the nobles had lost so much power, that their economic and political situation affected the other people in France, and led to the French Revolution and remotely, the rise of the middle class.

In the obsolete practice of feudalism there is no middle class. The

simplicity is beautiful; there are the extravagantly rich and the woefully poor.

In the eighteenth century, the rise of a middle class (bourgeoisie) in France

proved to be too much change at one time. The middle class were the wealthy

land owners, the lawyers, the scientists, the writers and other such people in

society. Politically, the system had to change to accommodate them. The growth of the middle class was originally stimulated by the commercial prosperity of the post 1776 era, and it threatened the traditional established aristocraticy.

They were getting more power in government, allowed to buy seats in legal

standings and generally getting as powerful as the nobles. Along with the peasants, the bourgeoisie felt the burden of poor economic times in pre- revolutionary France. Prices were rising but wages were not, taxes were steep and this left the bourgeoisie angry toward Louis XVI whom they left responsible. This led the middle class to gather up the less educated peasants on a quest for a better government, which they wanted to be a major factor of. Unlike the American Revolution where everyone was fighting for a noble cause, everyone in France had there own reasons for sticking their neck out. This includes the bourgeoisie who fought because of economic difficulties and hope for a better political standing, but the only group that could be partially excluded from this rule are the peasants.

The peasants had their own simple, non-deceptive reasons for fighting.

That had terrible economic and somewhat political problems. Heavy grape

harvests meant bad times for wine making

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