The uniquely human capacity for group organization and collective action indeed is responsible for much of humanity’s triumphs. However, groups do not function at an optimal level when their individual parts work for a good other than that of the group. Rather, all people work towards one unified goal in the ideal group. The ultimate failure of the French Revolution and the origins of the Cold War support this assertion. The French Revolution, a tempestuous social evolution that shook the foundations of Europe’s class structure, saw the unification of the peasants and the upper middle class against the aristocracy that, for centuries, had maintained a foothold on society.
It was this event that lit the spark for the Revolution of France. The inequalities and inefficiencies seen in the ancient regime contributed to the French Revolution. A social and political structure, the Old Order created imbalances in French society. The nation was divided into three strict "Estates", where the king was at the top and three distinctive social groups were under him. The First Estate consisted of religious leaders and clergy, and accounted for 0.6% of the population.
This of course led to many coming to arms in higher populated urban areas seeking the basic rights and equitable treatment they felt were being withheld from them. It had been clear for some time that the King held very little worth in his people and sought only to provide the means for those who did not need it. The people of France would not stand for such atrocities against them and sought to indoctrinate their land with a just and righteous system, which would provide for all its people, not simply those with money, or land. Many wealthy land owners began to experience a violent uprising from the much abused lower class, and fear began to spread throughout these areas, as they did not want the peasants to begin an insurrection into larger areas of the country. Very few options lay before the King as how to best deal with situation at hand.
However Wikipedia and the textbook place different levels of importance among these main causes. Spielvogel seemed to believe that the lack of governmental power within the government of France and the increasing economic debt were the main reasons the peasants revolted against the royals and nobles. He says “A growing resentment of the entire seigneurial system, with its fees and obligations, greatly exacerbated by the economic and fiscal activities of the great estate holders-whether noble or bourgeois-in the difficult decade of the 1780s, created the conditions for a popular uprising”. He also states that the fall of the Bastille and the king finally surrendering to the demands of the Third Estate led to the peasant population “taking matters into their own hands”. Meanwhile, Wikipedia places less importance on the violence of the revolution and more on the diplomatic and political causes and changes of the Revolution.
The ideas of the intellectual of the Enlightment brought democratic reforms. The inequality of the social classes caused dissatisfaction between the peasants and nobles. The political factors of having an Absolute Monarchy also influenced the coming of the French Revolution. On the eve of revolution, France was an absolute monarchy. Absolutism is a political system in which rulers have complete power over the government and the lives of people in their nation.
In France, the political problems started off with Louis XIV using up the treasury to build the royal palace of Versailles. Louis had absolute power and he didn’t have to ask the parlements for money, which depleted the royal treasury. The Seven Years War was also a major contributor to the royal debt. War was very expensive and Louis spent a ridiculous amount of money on the war to ensure France’s victory. The French’s hatred for the English lead them to help the Americans break free from British rule.
3). Because of this, even though the third estate vastly outnumbered the other two, they only counted as one vote, and were easily overpowered by the first and second estates. Being forced to live in these conditions, and being unable to advance to an upper estate, caused France’s middle and lower class to want a revolution. Another cause of the French Revolution was that the ideas of Enlightenment thinkers became known by the members of the middle and lower class (Doc.4). One Idea of British philosopher John Locke was that every man had basic rights, such as life, liberty, and property, which they could not be denied.
The gap between the rich and the poor widened. The anger instilled in the hearts of the French people due to their king’s severe lack of leadership only favoured the outbreak of the revolution. Economical Factors: The economical crisis in France before the revolution can
Whilst the people starved, he continued his sumptuous (and very expensive) living at Versailles. The effect of the estates system was to codify and make more obvious this economic grievance. With a clearly defined social structure, it was evident to the peasants, and the embryonic bourgeoisie, who their enemies were and who was responsible for their troubles; it was the clergy and aristocracy in their fancy robes living off of the benefits of their labours. The most influential thinkers in the revolution were Rousseau and Voltaire. Rousseau highlighted the strict and constricting nature of the estates system, arguing that it impinged on the natural rights and essential goodness of mankind; 'man is born free but everywhere he is in chains.
As stated previously, the Forced Loan existed to fund England’s wars considering that Parliament was reluctant to grant Charles further subsidies. Foreign policy had been dreadful for England since Charles had become King due to large scale operations such as the Cadiz Expedition failing miserably. As such, it was becoming increasingly more expensive to fund. Due to this Charles demanded more