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In our society, if we dont respect the freedom of others we, most of the time, go to jail. But, in the late 1700 s, in Europe, people were not respected and were fed-up to live in a society where only one person was responsible of the destiny of 27 million people. As you can guess I will, in the following text, explain the reasons and the results of the French Revolution. In the 1760 s the American revolution began. The population was asking for a new constitution and a bill of rights. They wanted to be independent, and not governed by the Great Britain anymore.
The French, eternal enemies of the British Kingdom, gave, generously, weapons and money to the American rebels; French officers, also helped the Washingtons army. France was maybe too generous and didnt have any money to satisfied their own needs anymore. However, the French society sank in a big depression the peasants were paying more and more taxes, a bread (the main food) shortage began and the wages decrease. The population was very close to revolt Meanwhile, since the middle age the French society was devised, unequally, into three estates. The first estate, was formed of the clergy, they owned 10 percent of the land and numbered about 130, 000 people.
They werent paying any taxes, however they agreed to pay, every five years a contribution to the state. The second estate constituted of 35, 000 aristocrats, and noblesse de robe. They owned 30 percent of the land and had the biggest positions in the army, the church and the government. The third estates was formed of 80 percent of the population divided in three different groups, 2. 3 million of them were part of the bourgeoisie (merchants, capitalist, doctor etc. ) they owned 2 o percent of the land, 21 million of them were peasants and owned 40 percent of the land, but not all of them were land owners. And the 2. 5 millions other were urban poor who didnt owned any land. On may 5 th of 1789, Louis XIV, king of France, was forced to call the meeting of the Estates general to solve the financial collapse.
They started by wondering if the voting should be by order or by head (each delegate having one vote). Originally the aristocrats use to have the control by using the veto-power. However, this time the third estate was not satisfied and ask for the voting by head. Unfortunately the first and the second estates disagreed, and on June 20, 1789 once the rain was falling at Versailles they decided to lock themselves in the indoor tennis court. The leaders of the third estate, Monier and Bailly, gave the idea to stay in the tennis court until there was a new constitution which they agreed upon. They called it the oath of the tennis court.
During this events who changed the history of mother France Monier proclaimed: Let us swear to God and our country that we will not disperse until we have established a sound and just constitutions, as instructed by those who nominated us. Mirenbeau, another important figure of the tennis court oath, reminded the king, on June 23 rd that the members of the third estate took place in the meeting hall three days before and that they were not leaving until the general estate could vote by head. On June 27 th the king, three days after the authorisation of the voting by head, ordered his loyal, clergy and nobility to join the National assembly. The third estate won this battle. On July 14 th, 1789 an invasion of angry peasants marched to the Bastille, looking for gun powder and to give back the freedom to prisoners who had been taken by the detested king Louis XIV. The Marquis De Launay, the governor of the Bastille, had already been prepared for more than a week by the hundred of urban poor manifesting their anger.
Meanwhile, he decided, on July 7 th to ask help from thirty-two Swiss soldiers led by Lieutenant Define. But the soldiers were prepared to receive a small mob attack however at three oclock of the afternoon a large group of subjects tried to break into the fortress. De Launay tried to escape peacefully from this situation but the French wanted him dead. Finally, him and his soldiers were dragged through the filthy streets of Paris.
When the king learned the news he asked an informer: Is it a revolt and LA Rochefoucauld-Liancourt, the informer answered: No, Sire, its a revolution. Louis XVI forgot that the next victim was going to be him. In the morning oft he 5 th of October, 1789 a group of non expected women made a big crowd in Paris central market, and decided to walk to Versailles. They were fed- up of not having enough bread to feed their families. They wanted to force the wealthy king to decrease the price of the bread. At one point, they were so desperate, that they killed a baker who was trying to sell is bread at 18 sous, which was the equivalent of a month wages.
Marie Antoinette and Louis were surprised to see 6, 000 women, armed with pitch forks, muskets, pikes, swords, bludgeons, crowbars and scythes, to protect their children. The king felt so out of power that he response to womens demands by saying that all the bread of Versailles will belong to them. On August 10, 1792; 30, 000 angry people were planning to capture the Royal family. Louis had been given the information decided to escape to the legislative Assembly building to protect himself. The mob were looking all around the palace.
The minute they found the King the sans-culottes mutilated, 900 Swiss soldiers, killed all the servants, cooks, attendants, maids, women and children and all the people who were involve in the Royal Family life. It was so awful that someone reported: some very young boy playing with human heads. Before the storming in April, 1792 the king Louis decided to go to war with Austria and Prussia. The two foreign country decided to help the king to stop the French revolution.
By the late of July the population of Paris began to panic because they felt that Prussian and Austrian troops were moving toward the city so the 30, 000 peasants decided to attack the palace. On December 11, 1792 Louis XVI was fund guilty, by the National Convention, for conspiring against the nation. The revolutionaries sentenced him to death by guillotine on January 21, 1793. Hands tied behind is back and right before his death he said: I die innocent. I pardon my enemies and I hope that my blood will be useful to the French, that it will appease gods anger his words were cut and Louis, head fell off into the basket. But the revolution was not finish yet Their is a lot of information on the French revolution, I unfortunately did not say enough about it.
Issue from a French (from France) family I am really proud of my ancestors who changed the society for the better. And Revolutions might killed a lot of people but they are influencing every steps to a perfect society. Bibliography Books: Encyclopaedia, tout livers pp. 136 to 139 module 6 L histoire, les ditions Hachette pp 57 to 59 Western civilization A brief history, Jackson J. Spielvogel, pp. 408 to 417 Internet: web
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Research essay sample on A History Of The French Revolution
