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French Revolution Dbq

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The French Revolution began in 1789 due to the discontent of the Third Estate being unequal to the First Estate, who were exempt from taxes and held special privileges. Although, Louis XVI attempted to tax the First Estate in order to fix France, who is on the verge of bankruptcy. However, the First Estate refused to be taxed because it goes against the traditions imposed years ago. Louis XVI attempted to solve this by calling the Estates-General, where all three estates could meet and attempt to settle issues. The Estates-General failed to solve any problems, with that the Third Estate decided to separate and form the National Assembly. The liberal phase was primarily focused on turning France into a constitutional monarchy, where the National …show more content…

A peasant wrote in a letter about how the new calendar causes peasants to work long hours without having any distractions, which was provided by the Roman Catholic calendar (Doc 4). The revolutionary calendar got rid of holidays, such as Lent, which provided a break for peasants from work. While, the revolutionary calendar imposed days, where peasants had to work hard labor. Most likely, to increase productivity of the French people. Naturally, as a peasant, he would oppose the new calendar because he’s the one who has to go through nine days of labor due to the new calendar. Additionally, Pierre-Joseph Denis talks about how the calendar is an act of despotism on the French citizens (Doc 5). He discusses how the Jacobins overthrew the former government and placed Robespierre as the leader. He uses a bitter tone by using words such as “trample”, which shows his discontent with the Republic. He believes that the calendar is a way for the republic to control French citizens and citizens had to follow along with it. Although, naturally as a former Girondin, he would disagree with the calendar because the Girondins lost their opportunity to gain power in the National Convention, while the Jacobins asserted their power and eventually took political control in the National Convention. Also, he was imprisoned in the Reign of Terror, which was created by the …show more content…

There are parallels between the French Revolution to the Russian Revolution in the 20th century. The Russian Revolution began due to peasants revolting against the leader due to tax burdens. Similar, to how the French Revolution started due to the heavy tax burden placed on the Third Estate. Both revolutions eventually got more radical and violent, the French Revolution with the Reign of Terror where citizens were guillotined, while the Russian Revolution had Bloody Sunday, where citizens were killed. Radical leaders eventually got control over the government, such as Robespierre with the Committee of Public Safety and they issued their own policies Then, the Russian Revolution eventually ended with the Soviet Union taking control of Russia, similar to how Napoleon took control of France in the French Revolution. Both the French and Russian Revolution share similar characteristics between each

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