“The momentous events of 1789 transformed French politics and society” (Daly 13). One of the most impactful events in French history. Thousands of lives lost. A culture and perception-changing event. The French revolution put an end to perhaps one of the worst situations the country has ever been in. Not many times in history is such a large and traditionally successful country has been forced through hardships and failures in seemingly all aspects of the country. The oppression of the French people, the economic failure of the French government, and the storming of bastille led to the cause of the French revolution. Many things contributed to the oppression of the French people, from food costs soaring to the extravagant spending by King
…show more content…
Overall there were many things that contributed to the debt of the French government, from recent wars to failed trades. One war that put France into major debt was, as Dr. Darius von Güttner puts it, “the eighteenth century’s most extensive conflict, the Seven Years’ War (1756–63), which was also known as the French and Indian War” (35). The Seven Years war between Brittan and France was costly and ended up ending in the Treaty of Paris. Not only did France lose money, supplies, and military during the war but they also lost all their territory North of American mainland (Guttner 35). The French government was in debt from its previous rulers, but when Louis XVI took over ensuring wars and bad money handling led the French government deeper into their destructive debts. On the day of July 14, 1789, the oppressed and horribly mistreated people of France stormed the Bastille, which Jesse Greenspan defines as “an imposing medieval fortress and prison that served as a symbol of monarchical tyranny”, killing the guards inside, freeing the few prisoners it held, and taking all of the weapons it held and storming streets of Paris (“A French Mob Storms the Bastille, 225 Years Ago”). The storming of Bastille wasn’t just a mob gone wild, but the start of the French people not tolerating the way they were being treated by the government, and finally doing something about
Overall there were many things that contributed to the debt of the French government, from recent wars to failed trades. One war that put France into major debt was, as Dr. Darius von Güttner puts it, “the eighteenth century’s most extensive conflict, the Seven Years’ War (1756–63), which was also known as the French and Indian War” (35). The Seven Years war between Brittan and France was costly and ended up ending in the Treaty of Paris. Not only did France lose money, supplies, and military during the war but they also lost all their territory North of American mainland (Guttner 35). The French government was in debt from its previous rulers, but when Louis XVI took over ensuring wars and bad money handling led the French government deeper into their destructive debts. On the day of July 14, 1789, the oppressed and horribly mistreated people of France stormed the Bastille, which Jesse Greenspan defines as “an imposing medieval fortress and prison that served as a symbol of monarchical tyranny”, killing the guards inside, freeing the few prisoners it held, and taking all of the weapons it held and storming streets of Paris (“A French Mob Storms the Bastille, 225 Years Ago”). The storming of Bastille wasn’t just a mob gone wild, but the start of the French people not tolerating the way they were being treated by the government, and finally doing something about