- People of France were called citizens for the first time, and people were invested in their government
- in paris, the national assembly, now called the national convention was split between to parties.
- First party: Giorndines
- Second party: Jacobins
- Check notes form yesterday
- The party that basically wrote and forced through the french constitution and said that anyone against the jacobins anti-revolutionary.
- another new party, mountains:
- The folks who are really listening to the people on the street and the working class
- january, 1793, louis XVI is found to be secretely talking to the king of austria, and he is not king now anymore
- Thermidorians rise up
- wrote a third french constitution (the second was written and then discarded)
- Goes into effect 1795
- France has an election in 1797
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
Notes 2/9- france again
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
Notes 2/8- France
- Thomas Jefferson argued for pastoral democracy
- France did not have that tradition. there was a lot of separation between the peasants and the nobility
- The third estate was anyone from wealthy professionals or businessmen to university teachers, to peasants, to lots of people.
- no paper money, everything was done in real value: gold
- Marie Antoinette was despised by the French people
- Number one- decrease in farm-able land
- Number two(causes of revolution, im assuming)- the fear of grain shortages, and the main food for them was bread. if there is a crisis in the farms, the peasantry is either going to starve or revolt. so, they revolt
- Number 3- Taile- the nobility taxed the poor through the thing called taile
- Major cause of the french revolution
- This is how not to run a country- dont put the burden of your government services on the poor
- Louis XV appoints a chancellor- during his reign had appointed Maupeou as chancellor
- His commission was to try to find a way to tax the nobility
- 1788- with the country on the verge of bankruptcy, Louis called the estates general
- There had not been estates general in over 100 years,
- There was a problem in it- they had made up a rule that voting in the estates general would be equally dispersed between all three estates. the problem is that the third estate is humongous.
- january 1789- a very influential pamphlet is printed.
- "What is the third estate?"
- that was the pamphlet
- basically, the thesis is that you could get rid of the first estate and the second estate, and france would be better off. he argues that france fundamentally is the third estate.
- it gives the third estate ideas that they can overthrow the other estates, and that franace will be better for it.
- the meeting of the estates general began in 1789********* IMPORTANT YEAR
- The meeting started out poorly. The first and second estates refused to meet with the third estate. the third estate went to the king and refused to take part in the estates general until the other two estates would actually sit down with them.
- This 'battle of wills' went on for about 6 weeks
- the third estate calls their own national assmebly, saying that they are the true representative of the french people.
- Now, the first and second estate lock the national assembly out of the meeting room, and wont let them in.
- They literally, like, locked the doors. They would not let them into the hall to debate
- June 20, 1789 ****** the national assembly moved to an indoor tennis court as a meeting place. and they swore to continue to meet there as the national assembly, fundamentally driving a wedge between the clergy and nobility on one side and the people on the other side.
- They said that they would stay there until they wrote a new constitution for france. it was called the tennis court oath.
- The king basically dismisses the third estate from the meeting of the estates gerneral
- bad move ^^^
- as all of this is happening, bread prices go through the roof because there had been a bad harvest.
- and withing the 6 weeks, the price of the staple of most people's diet became unaffordable and unavailable.
- there was a lot of panic
- on July 14th, a mob attacked the Bastille
- The Bastille was an old jail that at this time was being used to house ammunition and things.
- a nymber of nobles who were in fear for their lives, they became emigres. their point person became this guy by the name the duke of artois. he became the leader of the emigres, and is the brother of louis XV
- Peasants are revolting at all the same time and burning things and stuff
- Emigres are basically nobles who are worried about what is going on.
- the king sees that there is rouble going on in Paris, sop the king allows the people to appoint a new government thing in paris. they called it the citizens committee.
- The emigres were against the revolution people
- the king put Lafayette in charge of the national guard or something
- it is lafayette who starts to use the three part flag thing
- that flag becomes a symbol of the french revolution
- the guy that bring the flag into place to begin with was appointed by the king.
- August 1789- the assmebly completed the writing of what they called declaration of the rights of man and citizen(it is in the primary sources)
- ****basic rights it said are:
- liberty
- property
- security
- resistance to oppression
- freedom of religion
- due process of law
- taxes by common consent
- officially only men were only allowed to take part of the matters of politics in France, but many women did have a lots to do with the revolution
- Olympe de Gouges- she writes an essay called 'The Rights of Women" (in our primary sources)
- argued on behalf of a woman's right to education, a woman's right to control property within a marriage, and the right to initiate divorce
- she talks about the social contract in terms of gender relations
- that it is fundamental for there to be a social contract between men and women, and between husbands and wives.
- the National Assembly actually will put some of this in the constitution
- The french revolution had a direct affect on gender equality in france, and they were far ahead of other countries, in terms of dooing something about this.
- October 1789-
- a huge mob, 100,000 people, most of the women, march on Versailles
- they have two demands
- bread
- and that the royal family return to paris
- the king submits to the some of the claims of the assembly
- the things that the king agrees to:
- the king lost veto power over everything that came from the assembly, but he was granted suspending power, which means he could hold up legislation.
- slavery was abolished
- it had been a part of european culture for a really long time
- the national assemnly seems to be getting it's was
- but there is no one to collect taxes, at all
- no taxes are being collected.
- when a government can't collect taxes, it cant work
- this leads louis XVI to seize property from the church
- for the first time he issues paper money- assingats
- then he makes a big mistake
- he sells the property
- the government is broke, they have no way to collect taxes, so he seizes property, and then he uses the property to back up the 100 million dollars worth of money that he prints, or however much he prints, but then he sells the properties. so then the value of the money goes down
- it destroys it
- Inflation goes through the roof, and the king starts to sell anything he can get his hands on, just to get money
- the emigres manor hoses are acquired by the king and sells them.
- the nobility- they are unhappy now that louis is confiscating their property
- so basically, everyone hates him
- (The government cant tax because the national assembly says no. and then the king cannot veto this.)
- the church in france can't support itself because its property is gone.
- the national assembly passes a bill that will not just separate church and state but actually change the way in which the church elects its officials. now the vatican cannot install an archbishop in france without first getting it passed by the national assembly
- then, they start holding elections for the local offices.
- jacobin club- met in a jacobin monastery. they werent relgious, that is just where they met
- the revolutionary documents covered the years of 1789-1791
- in 1791 the royal family tries to flee and is not able to do so
- some critics of the government try to get a republic
- ***KNOW THESE NAMES:
- george jaques danton (or something)
- jean paul marat
- the legislative assembly
- the new constitution goes into effect in 1791
- the declaration of Pillnitz
French Revolution things
- they collected a tithe, which is basically ten percent of the income of any french person
- there was a lot of hostility between the parish priests serving hjeoifjewaoifjoiesaf
Monday, February 7, 2011
Candide Outline
Thesis: Martin's realistic point of view is much more effective than Pangloss's optimistic point of view because it is based off of real experiences and offers a logical explanation for why Candide went through so many terrible experiences; it is the more realistic definition of the world, and can apply anywhere.
- Martin leaves his idea open for interpretation, and he even varies his thinking a little bit in each challenge that they face.
- Pangloss's answer to the reason for everything is exactly the same; it is the best thing that could happen- and he does not leave this open for debate.
- Everything that happened to Candide was not for the best; it was just tragic experience after tragic experience, and things could have, in fact, been much better, but they just led to more bad things.
- All that he went through with Pangloss just lead to the death of Pangloss.
- Pangloss's view does not make the person happier; it only leads them to question God more and become more upset when things do not come out better in the end.
- Pangloss says that God makes everything happen for the better. Candide went through terrible things, and while he was with Pangloss, he believed that things would get better. Things did not get better at all; his suffering was only prolonged.
- Pangloss would have even believed that his being hanged was for the better. Candide met Martin after Pangloss was hanged, so Candide was able to change his view.
- With Martin, he sees everything as though it were created by evil. Because everything that Candide sees is bad, this is a logical explanation, and doesn't leave him hoping for great things at the end of his journey. He is, instead, content.
- In the end, he is not rich and living in his own mansion or castle, he is simply safe, and does not have to worry about anything for the time being. Believing in Martin's point of view is what led him to this.
- Martin portrays Voltaire's thinking, while Pangloss is a portrayal of Liebniz.
- In Voltaire's time, most people thought in the way of Liebniz. Voltaire knew that this was not right, and he wrote this book to share his view.
- Voltaire came up with this new view, which proved him to have a more enlightened mind. It made much more sense and provided more happiness for people overall than Liebniz' view did.
More notes on enlightenment things
- Jeremy Bentham- english enlightenment
- Argued against Kant
- The utilitarian choice
- You have to do what is best for the most people
- kant- german englightenment
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
- Gottfried Leibniz- A mathematician and philosopher
- Well known for his treaty on optimism
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gottfried_leibniz
- His belief is that because God is omnipotently powerful and all knowing and all good, nothing that God creates could go against that. So therefore, anything that happens is the will of God. God's will is all good. Therefore, anything that happens in the world is the best thing that could possibly happen.
- Voltaire is really the great French Enlightenment thinker
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Peter the Great and Catherine the Great
The reigns of Peter the Great and Catherine the Great were some of the most successful in the history of Russia. Before them, Russia had been behind the times, and not able to compete with the European powers of the late seventeenth and eighteenth century. The political and social reforms that occurred during the reigns of these two great rulers greatly influenced Russia, making it extremely powerful and very modern. When Peter became the Czar, he did many things helping Russia, including creating a powerful army. The reigns of Peter the Great and Catherine the Great sparked the extremely successful Russian reforms, giving Russia much more political power and putting it in a group with the European powers of the time.
Peter the Great made many political changes to Russia. First of all, Peter moved the capital of Russia to St. Petersburg, a city named after him. This symbolized the changing of Russia, how it would become a new and powerful country under him. He was very determined to do the best for Russia, and would stop at nothing to meet his goal. He also greatly expanded the army. He wanted Russia to have just as powerful of an army as the leading powers in Europe did. Peasants were forced to join the army, even though joining was pretty much a death sentence. A Navy was also started for Russia. With his new military forces, Peter was able to expand Russia westward. When he died, Russia was already well on its way to becoming a great country.
Catherine the Great also had some of the same ideas as Peter. She also had a goal in mind for the country, and would stop at nothing to get it. Building off of what Peter had started, she brought the Enlightenment to Russia. She was very interested in the arts, and introduced a lot of art into Russia. Using Peter’s armies, she continued to expand Russia to be what it is today. She did a lot for the political power of Russia, and further increased the government’s control over the provinces. Russia also had a lot more influence in European affairs during Catherine’s rule. She finished off the things that Peter could not and was a remarkable female ruler, very skilled in many areas.
The reforms that Peter and Catherine brought upon Russia were very influential. The military expansion brought much power and land to Russia. The introduction of many arts, by Catherine, was also very helpful to the education of the people. Russia’s influence in European affairs was basically the goal of both Peter and Catherine. They wanted to bring Russia out of the dark ages and into the modern world. They wanted Russia to be able to compete in the top countries of Europe. They were strong enough rulers to make this happen.
Russia would still be stuck in the medieval times if it were not for Peter and Catherine. Their groundbreaking decisions and actions caused Russia to rapidly move forward in the world. They set their minds to making it become powerful, and it happened. Russia became one of the most powerful countries of the time. Because the reigns of Peter the Great and Catherine the Great brought about so many reforms, Russia was grouped in with the European powers, just like they had hoped for.
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