Western Civilization: French Revolution to the Present - Research Paper Example

The also hoped to reduce serfdom. This was a practice where peasant could be exploited by landlords and other merchants. These people had suffered over ages and Luis hoped to liberate them from bondage. Luis also wanted to abolish taille, a form of direct tax that was imposed on the peasants and non-nobles of the time. 1 To his surprise, these changes were not welcomed by the people he served. They received a lot of hostility from people. The proposed changes met a lot of hostility from the French Nobles.

The nobles were the first social class in France. These formed the privileged members of the community. Their opposition came as a result of their self-interest. According to them, if these rules proposed by Luis could be implemented, they non-nobles could gain access to wealth and become nobles. They successfully opposed the implementation of the proposed changes. 2 Luis failed to effectively govern his kingdom by making binding decision. He was unable to stand up against the first and second estates.

This is the major reason why his kingdom failed. His initial propositions could have2 been effected had he been able to successfully enforce them on the nobles and the clergy. These are the groups that showed hostility to the earlier reforms that could have raised more taxes and change the social structure of the kingdom.1 After his failure to bring the change he desired, Luis gave up on the planned reforms. At this period, North America was being colonized by the British. Luis went in to support the colonists in their fight for independency.

At this time, Luis joined arms with the Americans to fight against the Crown a fight which he won. At this time, Benjamin Franklin was the US ambassador to France. He successfully persuaded the French, under Luis to help them against the British. 3 Earlier on, Luis had gone into war with the British, an historical war called The Seven