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European Political Revolutions - Coggle Diagram
European Political Revolutions
The period from 1770 to 1820 has been called the Era of Revolutions. A revolution produces a violent substitution of the people in power and changes the political, economic and social system. In Europe, the deepest of these revolutions was the French Revolution, but there would be setbacks to the Old Regime and new revolutionary waves in 1820, 1830 and 1848.
French Revolution: The clergy (first State) and the nobility (second State) were the privileged: they did not pay taxes, they owned most of the land, they received fees and alms from the peasants. The third State or plain State lacked privileges and had to pay taxes.
It was a time of political and social rebellion in France that began in 1789 because of the inequalities that existed between the rich and poor.
The Three Estates
The Estates are social classes consisting of:
First Estate: The Church-owned land and individuals took care of this land for them, however, they were not responsible for paying taxes on this land. The First Estate was responsible for the spiritual and moral welfare of the nation, including educating the children.
Second Estate: The Second Estate consisted of the nobles. These people were born into this position of wealth and prestige. They paid very little in taxes, despite their wealth and they had rights over peasant lands and received priority in getting top jobs in government.
Third Estate: The Third Estate included everyone else from the middle class down, from doctors to lawyers to the homeless and poor. This was the largest Estate, with roughly 98% of the population included in it. The middle class of France is referred to as the Bourgeoisie.
Causes of French Revolution: In order to solve the unbridled luxury of the court, those of his wife - the Austrian Marie Antoinette (1755-1793) - and the fiscal crisis, Louis XVI (1754-1793), on the throne in 1774, authorized a tax reform for the privileged (nobility and clergy) to pay taxes. This produced what is known as the rebellion of the privileged, the total opposition of nobility and clergy to said reform.
Social
The emergence of an influential bourgeoisie which was formally part of the Third Estate (commoners) but had evolved into a caste with its agenda and aspired to political equality with the clergy (First Estate) and the aristocracy (Second Estate).
Financial
France's debt, aggravated by French involvement in the American Revolution, led Louis XVI to implement new taxations and to reduce privileges.
Economic
The deregulation of the grain market, advocated by liberal economists, increased bread prices. In a period of bad harvests, it would lead to food scarcity which would prompt the masses to revolt.
Political
Louis XVI faced virulent opposition from provincial parliaments which were the spearheads of the privileged classes' resistance to royal reforms.
Cultural
The Enlightenment philosophy desacralized the authority of the King and the Church, and promoted a new society based on "reason" instead of traditions
From the take of the Bastille to the Regime of Terror: On 14th of July 1789, the masses rose and seized the medieval fortress, known as The Bastilla. End of the Former Regime and the beginning of the French Revolution. A real social earth was caused both in France and throughout Europe, including far away from Russia, because of the takeover of the fortress-prison, image of the despotism of the French Monarchy.
Napoleon Bonaparte:
Napoleon was the general who welded the French armies into a combat force that defeated the other armies of Europe for 20 years, from 1795 to 1815.
The Convention elaborates a new Constitution, dissolves the Assembly and installs a Directory, executive power composed of five members. But in 1799, Napoleon Bonaparte, a general who had excelled in the defense of revolutionary France against Prussia and Austria, gives a coup that puts an end to the Directory and the French Revolution.
Revolutionary Cycles 1820, 1830 & 1848
1820 & 1830: Napoleon was defeated by the combined army of England, Prussia and Austria (Waterloo, June 1815), after which the kings decided, in the so-called Congress of Vienna (1815), restore the Old Regime, with the same dynasties that had been on the thrones, and curb in line with liberal ideas. The absolutist monarchies managed to return to power three times: after defeating Napoleon and after the revolutions of 1820 and 1830.
1848: In all these changes, the great winner is the bourgeoisie, for its influence in the different regimes, and the consolidation of the free market. Meanwhile, the European proletariat failed to maintain its conquests and continued with poor working conditions until the 20th century.
