The Positive Effects of The French Revolution Around the late 18th century, the overspending of King Louis XVI and his ancestors, coupled with the countries involvement in the American Revolution, pushed France to the edge of economic collapse. The urban workers and peasants not only suffered from the overspending of the royal family, but also from poor harvests and the high price of their daily food—bread. Many of them showed pessimism and hatred towards the government that forced them to pay high taxes but failed to protect their natural rights. To deal with the economic crisis, Louis XVI called the Estates-General, an assembly with representatives from French clergy, nobility and peasants, to meet in 1789 so he could increase the taxes that the Third Estate paid. The meeting of the Estates-General eventually led to the beginning of The French Revolution.
From the start there was economic instability because of the cost of World War One and there was widespread disillusion within the German people. The public did not support the Weimar, and the administrative branch of the government, including the Judiciary, also teachers did not back it up either. Mass unemployment, damages to the infrastructure also from World War One, and the demand for reparation payments put lots of pressure on the inexperienced democracy. Not only in Germany, but all over Europe, fundamental and anti-democratic movements gained support. 2.
The extent of France’s financial crisis was enormous enough to bring about the revolution in a form of a landslide to its people. France’s financial situation before the revolution began was a huge economic depression with an ever-increasing Royal debt. The financial system at that time was also very medieval in nature in regards to the inhuman taxes forced to be paid by the French Third Estate, taxes such as the Corvée and the Gabelle. The salt tax was a tax that was used back in the Dark Ages that forced citizens over the age of 7 to buy 7 pounds of salt each year at a commanded price. However, during the reign of King Louis XVI, France has applied a state monopoly on the salt and still forced everyone to purchase the salt at a high price but also at a very low quality.
Napoleon, in the minds of many disillusioned French citizens, had been called upon 'to save France from the crisis into which it had been thrown by the pitiful government of the Directory.' The Brumaire coup took place in 1799 and executive powers were given to Napoleon, Sieyes and Roger-Ducos. Even though the coup was a destructive and momentous event, it did not make personal power, which Napoleon achieved four years later, inevitable.
The French’s hatred for the English lead them to help the Americans break free from British rule. When Louis XVI came to power, the country was already in huge debt, and him and his wife, Marie Antoinette, only made it worse by spending money on unnecessary luxuries. As the Revolution drew nearer, the cost of bread, which was a key part of the French diet, was extremely high. The French citizens were outraged and started riots in the streets of Paris. The inefficient tax distribution didn’t help the cause.
The way that they could have done this is by giving fair taxes and giving people the freedom of opinion and speech. (Give examples) Counter Argument: ----- Argument: Louis XIV summoned Estates General because he wanted to slow down the French Revolution. Louis XIV tried to stop the French Revolution but failed because he hasn’t paid much attention to how to rule a country. Louis XIV thought that he understood finance but he didn’t understand them at all. (William Doyle) After some time he realized that he wasn’t going to get anywhere with this, so he changed his plan to staying alive.
This discontent lay largely within the 3rd estate, as the politics of the time were unpopular amongst them, particularly as the economic crises hit nearer to 1789. Compounding these frustrations were the new ideals becoming evident in the French society, and so many residents of France, particularly those of the lower classes, now had reason and motivation to push for reform. Economic concerns were an important factor in relation to the revolution as they encouraged many people from the city to join the uprising due to their desperate situations. One of the earliest forms of economic trouble in relation to the revolution began in 1756, when France first began going into debt due to her war with England. This debt was further accentuated by her involvement in the American Revolution from 1775, and the government continued spending more than they were receiving in taxes.
Farms were forced to be share croppers where they rented their land for a very high price, farmed and harvested it and then sold it at market. The problem with this is that the rent that the farmers were being charged was so high that they could never make any money to get ahead in life and they were constantly concerned with their crops. If their crops failed then they would not be able to pay the lord that owned they land and then they may not even be able to eat. This cycle went on in France for many years until the Industrial Revolution started and people started to move away from the farms and into the big cities where work could be found. The Industrial Revolutions started for many reasons but some of the most important were science and technology, inventions and greed.
Since Germany was falling behind on their reparations, France sent their troops to the Ruhr, which was a very industrial area for Germany. The Republic called for the workers to form a “passive resistance’’ meaning that they should not cooperate with the French, but would still pay the workers there. This resulted in the government having to simply print more and more money, until hyperinflation kicked in. Loafs of bread cost billions of marks, and people could not afford to buy anything. The country was in a major crisis, and all looked lost.
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