The French Revolution – The Biggest War in France

Intro: Throughout many years, there has been a lot of revolutions that have helped out countries or has been a big effect on the country. For example, if we look at the French Revolutionary War, it was mainly caused by a King named Louis XVI. During this era or time, there was a monarchy.

Monarchy is when the king only has the supreme power over the whole country and no else can take over it. Louis XVI decided to help out the Americans when they were needing help because Britain was fighting against the Americans. I am not saying that helping out someone out is a bad idea but Louis XVI misused the money, which affected France to near bankruptcy. This idea of Louis XVI was causing France a big time. The French Revolution was later to change the French government, the social class structure and lastly, the balance of power in France.

Q1 and Q2: Louis XVI was the last King of France (1774-1792). Louis XVI was the worst the king for France because his policy of not raising taxes and helping out the American Revolution made France go into debt very quickly. Louis XVI didn’t want to take any responsibility of what he has done so he then decided to make some laws that weren’t fair to the nobles and the people of France. From the king’s decisions, the poor people and the peasants had to suffer a lot. I found a quote from an article that states, The upheaval was caused by widespread discontent with the French monarchy and the poor economic policies of King Louis XVI, who met his death by guillotine, as did his wife Marie Antoinette. This is important because it shows how Louis XVI decisions as a monarch king was not a good idea for France to be a successful country. Later on, Louis XVI didn’t want to deal with the problems he had caused France so he wanted to flee from France but since he was caught from escaping, he executed by the guillotine which is when they cut your head off.

Q2: By 1789 everything changed in France, want I mean is that the people had enough of the king’s decisions. They had a meeting to change the rules of the King’s laws. In the article of Louis XVI biography, I found a quote that states, On May 5 of 1789, Louis XVI convened the Estates-General to address the fiscal crisis, an advisory assembly of different estates or socio-economic classes (the clergy, the nobility, and the commoners). The meeting did not go well. By June, the Third Estate declared itself the National Assembly, aligned with the bourgeoisie, and set out to develop a constitution. This was the first time that the King had brought up the Estates General since 1614. This includes the 3 social classes which are the clergy, the nobles, and the peasants. When it says, the meeting did not go well, it is saying that the third class which is the peasants weren’t having their voice heard so they decided to make a law called the National Assembly.

Q2: The National Assembly was the most important part for the balance of power in France because even though the peasants made up the whole country, they were still able to be defeated by the other two bodies. For example, there are 3 estates right, then the king or the estates decide to make a law but it does a favor to the clergies and the nobles but not to the peasants. The vote will be 2 against 1 and unfortunately, the 3rd estate will be losing against that law which will make them suffer even more. I found a quote from this article that states, In the lead-up to the May 5 meeting, the Third Estate began to mobilize support for equal representation and the abolishment of the noble veto, in other words, they wanted to vote by a head and not by status. While all of the orders shared a common desire for fiscal and judicial reform as well as a more representative form of government, the nobles, in particular, were loath to give up the privileges they enjoyed under the traditional system. This basically means that the 3rd estate had enough of being like slaves. In that meeting, they all about had the same equal power which then ended up going to the 3rd estate side. I know this because in the evidence about it talks about how the nobles had to give up the privileges that they enjoyed doing since they were in the traditional system. This meant that the 3rd estate had won their discussion with creating the NATIONAL ASSEMBLY. Later on, some of the clergies and nobles want to join the law that was created. Unfortunately, on July 14 there was a war in France. The war was called the Storming of the Bastille. This war was the war that definitized the French Revolution. A bunch of rioters decided to take some gunpowder and weapons away from the military. The peasants didn’t want to lose this fight since the National Assembly was not confirmed yet, they revolted for years to be successful. I found a quote from an article that states, Revolting against years of exploitation, peasants looted and burned the homes of tax collectors, landlords, and the seigniorial elite. This means that these were the ways that the peasants revolted to get there National Assembly into a law. Revolting was a good way to say that we are not giving up until we have to want we want. Revolting is another way of striking or not willing to do something for that person who is against your decisions.

Q3: The French Revolutionary War has resolved lots of issues that France had. For example, it took away monarchy, religion was put to a side, and lastly, there was a redistribution of wealth. All of these things were very beneficial for French citizens. I found a quote that states, The following month, amid a wave of violence in which Parisian insurrectionists massacred hundreds of accused counterrevolutionaries, the Legislative Assembly was replaced by the National Convention, which proclaimed the abolition of the monarchy and the establishment of the French Republic. This is important because it shows how the Legislative Assembly was more efficient than the National Convention. I know this because the Legislative Assembly completely took away the monarchy from France and establish France as a republic which it was better and successful. The citizens were not playing around with the Revolution. They were making sure that their voice would be heard, and killed anyone who wasn’t with them. In France, they used to practice Catholicism but after the French Revolution, it was completely destroyed from France. In the text of an article, it states, France’s population of 28 million was almost entirely Catholic, with full membership of the state denied to Protestant and Jewish minorities. Being French effectively meant being Catholic. The Catholic Church may have been the church of the majority of the French people, but its wealth and perceived abuses meant that it did not always have their trust. This proves that religion was no longer a part of French life because the people who were in charge of the church were taking advantage of the poor people. This is really sad because there was a bunch of people who accepted this religion and the pope were making the people look like fools. This is very unfortunate but this how things go in life and also the Catholic Church a lot of land and money that the French citizens thought it was unfair. Due to this act, the wealth was being distributed to the whole citizens and it was equally for every French citizen

Q4: After the French Revolutionary war, there was the REIGN OF TERROR. This was the worst living moments for the French citizens because during this time they would kill anybody who looked suspicious of being with the revolution. The author states, They also unleashed the bloody Reign of Terror (la Terreur), a 10-month period in which suspected enemies of the revolution were guillotined by the thousands. Many of the killings were carried out under orders from Robespierre, who dominated the draconian Committee of Public Safety until his own execution on July 28, 1794. This means that for 10 months people had to live in fear, weren’t able to go out freely, because they were afraid that they would be killed for being suspicious. Many people were afraid of that 10-months period. It all had to do with one man, and his name was Maximilien Robespierre. He was trusted by the people but he abused that power and wanted to feel like a king. He was practically selfish. After those ten months, he was finally executed from the guillotine. After he had died, there was a man named Napoleon Bonaparte. He was born in 1769 and died at 1821. This man was a military leader but later on his life, he became the emperor of France at age of 20. Napoleon was a very successful man in the battlefield and mostly won every battle in the war. In an article I found a quote that states the accomplishments of Napoleon, Napoleon worked to restore stability to post-revolutionary France. He centralized the government; instituted reforms in such areas as banking and education; supported science and the arts; and sought to improve relations between his regime and the pope (who represented France’s main religion, Catholicism), which had suffered during the revolution. One of his most significant accomplishments was the Napoleonic Code, which streamlined the French legal system and continues to form the foundation of French civil law to this day. Napoleon was very successful for France but unfortunately, he was exiled from France because he abdicated the throne for two years which I guess the people didn’t like that and he moved to the island of Elba. With Napoleon there, lots of successfulness for France but the Fall of Napoleon was to be remembered forever.

In conclusion, the French revolutionary war was the biggest war in France. When I say the biggest, I don’t mean that it took a long time or it spread the nation, I mean this was the way that France was to be united equally, to have peace and to be conquerable in Europe. Like how I have said above the French Revolution War change the Government by making into an equal society where the poor peasants are able to be heard and the laws were changed to the Legislative Assembly. The social class was change too because the poor peasant’s voice wasn’t being heard but since there were changes made they were able to have the social class equal to each other. Lastly, this revolution was able to help out during the Congress of the Vienna because the meeting was to help bring peace throughout Europe.