The World Civilizations since 1500 - Report Example

Lecturer: presented: The French government began experiencing problems way back in 1788. It was hit by severe financial problems that led it close to bankruptcy (Frey and Marsha 2004, p. 34). This led to the emergence of vocal observers who criticized the government. The group was led by revolutionaries who supported socio-economic and governmental reforms in the nation. During this time, the government was facing a period of disorder and discrepancies in its policies especially during the time of Louis XVI. Justice and economic affairs were largely affected, with the government tending towards insolvency, with more than half of its expenditure being debts owed to the public. Most of the money had been borrowed to finance wars that were fought by France in order to maintain power in Europe under King Louis XVI. The breakdown in the financial system caused the poor people who felt deprived to pay attention to the opinion of the revolutionaries. The government became weaker and unable to finance most of its public expenditure. This weakness gave an opportunity to the revolutionary forces to spread hate in regard to the old regime. In the late 18th century, France faced a major social pressure, which was attributed to the rapidly increasing population. According to (Taine 2004, p. 56), “The country’s population totaled to more than 20 million, of which more than half resided in the rural areas of the countryside”. There was a decline in farm harvests and unfavorable trade rules that negatively affected trade. This hurt the economy even further. The people were never satisfied by the way the government managed the country’s economy. They could not manage to be self sufficient. The government lost popularity amongst this population, which composed the majority. Capitalism in the economy created a great difference between the rich and the poor who were referred to as peasants. This created the social disharmony that was experienced in the country by late 18th century. The living conditions of the urban dwellers were no better. People were experiencing a hard time due to inflation and unemployment. They expected a new constitution to bring change in the country’s financial system. This never happened, increasing their anger towards the monarchy. Those who suffered most were the peasants and city workers in the third estate. Rumors played a significant role in agitating the peasants to destroy tax records and grain towers after being informed that the king was sending soldiers to destroy their homes. They declined from paying tax to the government, and dues to the land lords. The ideology of revolution had established in their minds (Frey and Marsha 2004, pp. 117-121). Environmental pollution and poor working conditions also contributed to the tension that led to the revolution in 1789. People were pressurizing the king for a new constitution. King Louis XVI was adamant to their pressures. Since they had vowed to coerce him to agree for the reforms, his reluctance triggered agitated mobs that began rioting. The main factor that drove the mob towards attacks in Paris was the understanding that the king had ordered that an assembly that they had convened to begin working on a new constitution to be stopped. They acted out of panic, believing that the king was planning to kill them, and therefore they had to defend themselves through acquiring arms, which they did from the various armories in Paris including Bastille and the Invalides (Schom 1998 pp. 78-81). Long-Term Changes in Europe Numerous changes arose in Europe after the 1789 revolution. This was mainly due to the fact that no other country in Europe had made such a determined effort to bring the much desired shift from the old order. People began to view themselves as autonomous and sharing equal rights. The social gaps began to shrink; with the deprived beginning to enjoy the social freedoms. The continent took a new shape socially and politically, with the law being applied uniformly to all people. The established old power structures were disorganized as well many other aspects of the old lifestyles in Europe including slave trade. It influenced trade in Europe, making Britain to dominate trade in the 19th century in the region. It had adverse effects on Christianity, changing most of the traditional norms that were largely controlled by the religion (Frey and Marsha 2004, pp. 89-91) The revolution that led to the fall of the ancient regime largely impacted on the progressive revolutions that occurred in Europe. Politics of the other part of Europe were transformed in to revolutionary perspective. The other nations were inspired by France to change their conservative rules. It is largely believed that the collapse of the old regime in France was an indicator of how a regime can influence all aspects of people’s lives. People began to participate in active politics. The revolution was a prototype of excellence in seeking for freedom, with politics taking a new form. The old European order and agreements were challenged. The use of propaganda began to be used for political intentions. As a sign of liberty, the tricolor flag was used in Europe. The iniforms of the French were largely used, with many people in Europe adopting names that signified the date of the revolution. There were celebrations set aside to mark the date of the revolution (Thiers 2005 pp. 78-84). In France, the revolutionary principles challenged the old order. There were political, social and economic changes that arose after the revolution. There occurred changes in the structure of political parties, demonstrating a tendency towards formation of mass political parties such as those of Jacobin clubs. The police force was transformed in to a secular one, through the leadership of Napoleon. The ideologies of the new political orientation were not the inventions of the French. However, they were largely significant in the resulting system of governance. A long term culture of revolutionaries was established, making politics in to become revolutionary. The intellectual impact of the revolution was more than its impact in the social or political perspective.  The most significant political change was a move from the hereditary rule of the monarchy system to a to a republic. Removal of king Louis XVI led to a series of revolutionary wars (Tallett and Atkin 1991, pp. 112-115). The government of the republicans were widely accepted by the people than the kings of the monarchy system who were oftenly facing resistance. Socially the revolution is known to have lagely impacted on the rapidly increasing population of France. Before the revolution, more than 90 percent of the population comprised poor people. The rich were a few in the ruling class, clergy and the rich farmers. This was the major cause of the revolution. There were three classes of people. These included, the Church including the clergy was in the first estate, the noble, and the royal families who were the second estate while the third estate was the commoners which was dominated by the peasants and the city workers. After the revolution these estates were discarded and it was made open for every one to work in the high offices depending on talent which was made the basis of merit rather than the earlier use of the privileged persons in the society (Horne 2005, pp. 91-96). Before the revolution, the country had been faced with financial difficulties, and the monarch had been unable to cope with the rapidly rising population. The new regime that came after the revolution had therefore the task of effectively managing the economy in order to maintain solvency in the economy. This was done in a bid to avoid chaos in the population that would arise from financial difficulties. It led to establishment of the Bank of France which helped in upholding the economy under the leadership of Napoleon. This could not have been accomplished under the monarchy. The country became economically stronger due to the freedom of investment that was allowed by the republic. Employment opportunities arose and inflation rate dropped. The revolution resulted in the various forms of governance that were experienced later in France, such as socialism, nationalism and liberalism. People began viewing the society as a system that could be re-organized in any way whenever need arose (Thiers 2005 pp. 116-124). Conclusion The immediate results of the revolution were not desirable to many people. Though it ended the monarchy, some people felt that it led to too much blood shed. However, there occurred many positive changes in France. People’s standards of living improved rapidly, while their art and clothing were transformed from the old conservative to modern. The rule by the king was gone and the existing feudal customs were abolished by the National Convention. The metric system was also established by the revolutionary leaders. Despite these changes, the economy was still under crisis and therefore some of the immediate changes that had been planned such as free primary education could not be accomplished. Bibliography 1. Frey L. S. and Marsha F. The French Revolution, Greenwood Press, Westport, CT, 2004. 2. Horne A. La Belle France: A Short History, Knopf, 2005. 3. Schom A. Napoleon Bonaparte: A Life, Harper Perennial, 1998. 4. Taine H. A. The Ancient Regime: The Origins of Contemporary France, Kessinger Publishing, 2004. 5. Tallett F. and Atkin N. Religion, Society and Politics in France since 1789, Sandpiper Books Ltd, 1991. 6. Thiers M. A. History of the Consulate and the Empire of France under Napoleon, Kessinger Publishing, LLC, 2005. Read More