In one of his most well known works “Letters concerning the English nation”, Voltaire contrasts the overbearing French government with the English government. He believed that the French government had more social barriers that kept the lower classes from ever moving up or getting rich through hard work. Instead, people were stuck in the class that they were born into. Voltaire could see that the government inherently favored the aristocracy and wrote "In general, the art of government consists in taking as much money as possible from one class of citizens to give to the other. "(Dictionnaire Philosophique) The French government did their best to keep Voltaire's writings out of the hands of the common people, however his views and philosophies became widely known in France.
France was heavily indebted for financially supporting the American Revolution, as it would weaken France’s European rival, Great Britain, because of the wars waged by Louis XIV and spending of royal family. 3. Increasingly huge deficit, the French government was nearly bankrupt. 4. Heavy tax burden on the French peasants (= 90 % of the population).
This just shows the intensity of the Palace of Versailles because it was so elegant while being so incredibly large. Louis was not smart on making the decisions to create war or build the Palace of Versailles. In all, King Louis XIV made an impact on France by taking away rights from the French, keeping all the power for him, and killing the economy. Louis’ impact was indeed a bad impact that made France want to rid of him for the seventy-three years he served
Each branch of government balances the other two by dipping it’s pen in the other’s ink, reminding them they are not omnipotent. Likewise, when one branch feels another has overstepped its bounds it has the power to challenge a decision or piece of legislation. The United States government is divided into three branches: executive, legislative, and judicial. The executive power is in the form of the president but is reined in by the legislative and judicial checks. For example, the president has the power to make treaties and appoint officials, but the Senate must approve them.
This could have portrayed Napoleon to be an enemy of the rebellion due to the fact that the French revolution took place because they didn’t want one person dictating how they should live their lives. The French people wanted a democratic public but Napoleon seemed to be a power driven army general who had now seized control over the government of France. Although many historians will argue that the right to vote was given to all males who paid direct taxes and that Napoleon upheld this law when he came into power, I feel that Napoleon betrayed this element of the revolution because this whole system was a lot more complex than it seemed to be on the surface. This system of voting goes against one of the main principles of the revolution which was equality. Although the system on the outer layer shows that everyone is the same, in reality we know that Napoleon just used this to keep the public happy and he made sure that they were living in a democratic republic.
The Ancien Regime was the name given to the period of time in France before it had its revolution in 1789. King Louis XVI ruled from 1774 until 1792, coming to the throne at age nineteen he was never truly interested in the politics of his country and this fault could have been a contributing factor to the eventual collapse of the regime. Firstly, the Ancien Regime collapsed due to the young couple of King Louis and Marie Antoinette symbolising how corrupt France truly was; the poorest people were the ones who were having to pay taxes and work, whereas the rich were free to live without having to provide any type of payment to the government. The King and Queen (and most clergy members) were living the lavish lifestyle they felt they deserved while the ones paying for their leisure were starving and dying. The Three Estate scheme which was adhered to by the French Monarchy caused a divide between the people and this divided nation caused complete controversy and condemnation.
The causes of the American revolution differ a lot from the causes of the French revolution. Both revolutions intended to change the actual government into a republic, but the causes that brought them in a revolution were different for many reasons. The French were used to the idea and life associated with a monarchy, and they did not have this change necessary until a nearly fatal economic depression showed them the weak points of their absolute monarchy. Before the revolution in France there were many inequalities in society. Under the Old Order with the King at the top, then the First, Second and the Third Estate there was a distinct difference between the rich people and the poor ones.
Aside from reducing state revenues for overseas expeditions, the domestic policies of Philip II further burdened Spain and would in the following century, contribute to its decline. This caused inflation and a high tax for all the workers under his rule. The Spending of all this money lead to Spain's first bankruptcy in 1557 due to rising military costs. This eventually led to a failure in leading his people, and it was his debt that truly ended his reign. (http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Philip_II_of_Spain) (Spielvogel,456, The Human
This led to further economic collapse that hit its climax 1777. So in order for the government to dig its way out of this huge hole was for it to create new taxes, Calonne attempted to do this by side stepping the parliament which only resulted in a Nobles revolt and a call for an estates general. Brienne became the new minister to replace Calonne, however although his many attempts to try to fix the national debt and end the crisis he was sabotaged by Louis XVI and disgraced. Once again France was at this fragile point in its economy and with the high national debt and the high taxes that the 3rd estate, and second estate were paying it made it the perfect environment for a
It caused a great fight between the Third Estate and the First and Second Estate when King Louis XVI admitted defeat and the superiority of the revolutionaries in August 1789 when the Declaration of the Rights of Man was signed, because then the Estates General were a mix of pro-monarchy and pro-constitutional leaders whom couldn't agree on the implementation of the new desired reforms e.g. Unifying tax in France and charging the First and Second Estate with the same amount of tax that the Third Estate would be charged with. Eventually, however, after a lot of rebellion and fighting the King lost his only chance of staying in power