history paper 2 aminath saany naseer

Aminath Saany Naseer World History

BAIS 2017Contrast and compare the causes of French, American and 1848 revolutions

French, American and 1848 revolutions are important developments in the western world for the creation of nation states and democracy we see today. However, like any other revolution, its causes were similar in economic, political and social terms. All the revolutions were a process of economic hardships which resulted in the disillusionment of the masses towards the political system and created a cohesive social structure to stir up revolutions of massive scales.

To begin with, some of the similar factors in the aforementioned revolutions include tensions because of taxation, debt, fiscal crisis and harvest failures. Firstly, one direct cause of the French Revolution of 1789 was due to the regressive and mismanaged manner of taxation carried out by Louise XVI where the wealthiest did not have to pay taxes while the peasantry paid almost 80% of their income in taxes to the government. (Mital, 2012) The element of debt was also relevant in King Louis XVI’s reign which was caused because of military spending and lavish expenses undertaken at the Versailles palace. For instance, statistics suggest that French participation in the American Revolution increased their debt to 400 livres1 and had reached a total of 400 livres in 1789 (equivalent to $5.6 billion in 1980 dollars) creating an economic crisis. Equal taxation was rejected in the Estates General2 (1789) called as last resort by King Louis XVI which eventually led to him being overthrown. (International World History Project, 2007)

Moreover, taxation was also an important element in the American Revolution, which was mainly caused by British Imperial Policy. Similar to the French Revolution (1848), American Revolution was caused because of the economic burden on Britain from the effects of French/Indian War (1754–1763)3. Taxation began with a series of laws such as the Currency Act of 1764, which forbade the colonists from printing paper money which made the dependent on Britain for capital and the Sugar Act of 1764 enforced laws on molasses importation. Finally the last straw was the 1765 Act which took fees for stamps, on every type of documents imaginable. (Thomas, 1968) The taxes created discontent for the colonists who did not want “taxation without representation”.

Similarly in the 1848 revolutions, Germany was one nation that was severely disillusioned because of King Frederick William IV raised taxation policies. Similar to France, the maintenance cost of the King from tax payer’s money was an issue of debate. This can be seen in Source 1, an extract from a publication by famous German philosopher Frederick Angels who in a nutshell viewed taxation as not the biggest problem but the transparency of tax administration the main issue. (Engels, 1843) Therefore the fact that taxation was a mutual factor creating economic

1 French currency from 781 to 17952 A general assembly representing the French estates of the realm: the clergy (First Estate), the nobles (Second Estate), and the common people (Third Estate). (Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2014)3 A worldwide nine-year war (1754–63) fought between France and Great Britain. (Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2014)


BAIS 2017distress, serves the fact that economic factors combined with other social and political factors led the revolution to take place.

Another economic factor that struck all of Europe and created economic strife with the eventual result of revolution was the agrarian crisis of 1846. The agrarian crisis of 1846 affected the prices of grain. This had a huge effect all over Europe because a high percentage of European population was rural and the bulk of food purchases were either grain or potatoes. The effect can be seen in Table 3 (See Appendix), where there was a minus 19-20% decline in potato yields in France in 1845 and 1846. Furthermore, lower class households in 1850 spent two thirds and three quarters of their income on food which highlights how this can create significant economic hardship. (Berger & Spoerer, 2001) Hence, one mutual cause of the 1848 revolutions was the tight integration of local markets that shocked the economic system of Europe. This tight integration of markets can be seen from Figure 2 (See Appendix) showing grain price fluctuations in England, France, Prussia (North-Western Germany) and Sweden. All the graphs show an upward spike in grain prices around the time of the revolution.

Similarly, The French Revolution of 1789 was also characterized by a similar harvest failure creating prices to soar and discontent to turn in to radical upheaval of masses. Although there was no significant agrarian crisis leading to the American Revolution there were other abundant economic concerns prevalent. Another interesting pattern in Table 3 worth mentioning, which is that Netherlands experienced a minus 56-71% decline in potato yields; a huge decline in staple food. However, Netherlands was one of the countries that didn’t experience a revolution because King Willhem II gave way to reform in Netherlands which created no need for revolt. (Congleton, 2011)

The combined effect of all the economic problems led people to be discontent upon their social and political situation. There was the element of disillusionment about the political system as a mutual factor in all the revolutions. For instance, there was wide spread distrust in the British political system for the American Revolution to occur. King George III after his victory in French and Indian War of 1754–1763, tightened Britain’s control over America mainly because he did not want any further wars to drain England’s fiscal reserve. (Hickman, 2014) With the imposition of the Stamp Act (1765), Currency Act (1765) and Sugar Act (1764) to solve the fiscal issue, King George angered the colonists. The view of the British towards the legislation is echoed in Source 4, in a quote extracted from a House of Commons debate regarding the Stamp Act by George Grenville; the Prime Minister of Britain. Grenville stated that if there can be no taxation without representation as the revolutionary colonists vocalized, the same rationale should apply to other legal provisions as well. The British view that the taxations were legit as mentioned in Source 4, led the colonists to protest the system eventually which led to the American Civil War.


BAIS 2017The situation of political distrust was also eminent in the years following the French Revolution of 1789. Discontent developed mainly in the Third Estate (Social Strata of Commoners) regarding the political structure which didn’t guarantee the equal distribution of powers and rights among the First (Clergy), Second (Nobility) and Third Estates under King Louis XVI’s reign. (International World History Project, 2007)

Later on, there were similar reasons for the 1848 revolutions to start in Europe. After the devastating wars pursued by Napoleon Bonaparte, Congress of Vienna settled the situation and put an end to a non-stop 25 years of war. A “conservative order” was established by the statesmen of Europe during that time to try and avoid wars and balance power which did not serve at all to the liberal revolutionary calls of the masses. (Spielvoge, 2014) For instance French Revolutionary forces in 1789 called for “Equality, Liberty and Fraternity” which was not the case when Napoleon ruled with absolutism and was succeeded by the Bourbon dynasty; the dynasty that France overthrew in 1789. All these factors led to the second revolution in France in 1848.

Eventually, the revolution of the “Spring of Nations”4 moved to Germany which was not unified at that time. The discontent towards the autocratic ruling system resulted in revolution based on liberal principles and also to a high degree-nationalism. (Chastain, 2000) There were also political similarities in the revolution that broke out in the neighboring Habsburg Empire in 1848. Though political factors in the Habsburg Empire were mixed with nationalistic and ethnic tensions there was the call for greater representation for all minorities domiciling under the empire. (Twenty-Five Lectures On Modern Balkan History, 1996) It is important to note that the all of the aforesaid political problems was always existent, but the economic situation just created an environment of disillusionment for revolution to occur.

On the contrary, one thing that distinguished American Revolution from the rest of the revolutions was that America was striving for independence from its parent nation, and the nature of their upheaval was against imperialism. However in the case of the European revolutions they were striving mostly for structural political and socio- economic reforms. Another important difference is that the American Revolution originated from the landowning class whereas the French revolution was against the aristocratic landowners.

Furthermore, just like the economic and political factors, there were also social similarities between the French, American and 1848 Revolutions. One similarity is that almost all of the revolutions were inspired by Enlightenment ideas, especially the American Revolution. (Spielvoge, 2014) The revolutions generally stood for constitutionalism, liberalism and nationalism. (Revolution is Sicily; Italy in 1848 was a stand against conservatism) These ideas united the revolution under a broader ideology and created cohesion among like-minded

4 Another name for 1848 revolutions


BAIS 2017people and resulted in the creation of an intellectual scene in Europe and America at that time. For instance in Germany the dissatisfaction led to the creation of nationalist clubs called Burschenschaft5 helping in the organizing and coordination of revolutionary ideas. These clubs mainly consisted of university students and intellectuals.

There was a similar social situation in France with the setup of the Banquets which were political meetings to discuss new liberal ideas. One of the immediate causes of the 1848 French Revolution was because of the censorship of the banquet accurately highlighting the importance of it for the 1848 revolution. There were also similar literary clubs in Vienna which helped spark off the revolution against Habsburg Empire, such as the Concordia Society and Legal-Political Reading Club. (Bideleux & Jeffries, 1998)These clubs criticized Matternich6’s government. The clubs advocated freedom of religion, economic freedom and a competent administration.

Additionally, in the American Revolution the organization of ideas took place by the Patriots in a group called Sons of Liberty and their political philosophy was based on republicanism. Especially in the case of America there was influence of Enlightenment ideas incorporated for instance in to the declaration of independence which shows the effect it had on the Revolution. Values such as freedom from oppression, natural rights, and new ways of thinking about governmental structure were taken straight from Enlightenment philosophers such as Locke. (Smith, 2011) The social ideas were the perfect unifying ground for reform and change, though it wouldn’t have happened independently by itself.

In conclusion, the revolutions eventually did achieve their aims to some extent and had lasting reform. (For instance, America eventually got independence). The causes of the revolutions in 1848 Europe was much interwoven and one might have led to the other. (It did start in France because it was an important regional player) Even in the French and American revolutions of the 16th century economic factors was similar to revolutions that took place in 1848 in Europe even after such a huge time gap. Therefore, the American, French and 1848 revolutions can be seen as a process where economic factors, led people to realize that political reform was needed, which resulted in the acceptance of new forms of ideas that united the masses under one goal.

5 Special type of German student fraternity6 Klemens von Metternich was a Habsburg monarch


BAIS 2017References

Twenty-Five Lectures On Modern Balkan History. (1996). Retrieved 11 14, 2014, from Nationalism in Hungary: http://staff.lib.msu.edu/sowards/balkan/lect07.htm

International World History Project. (2007). Retrieved 11 14, 2014, from The French Revolution: http://history-world.org/french_revolution1.htm

Parliament Debates: The Stamp Act of 1765. (2013). Retrieved 11 15, 2014, from America in class: From the National Humanities Center: http://americainclass.org/sources/makingrevolution/crisis/text3/parliamentarydebate1765.pdf

Encyclopaedia Britannica. (2014). Retrieved 11 15, 2014, from French and Indian War: http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/218957/French-and-Indian-War

Berger, H., & Spoerer, M. (2001). Economic Criris and the European Revolutions of 1848. The Journal of Economic History, 293-326.

Bideleux, R., & Jeffries, I. (1998). A History of Eastern Europe: Crisis and Change. London: Routledge.

Chastain, J. (2000). German Revolution of 1848 and Historiography in the German Democratic Republic. Retrieved 11 14, 2014, from Ohio University: http://www.ohio.edu/chastain/dh/germrev.htm

Congleton, R. D. (2011). Perfecting Parliament: Constitutional Reform, Liberalism and the Rise of Western Democracy. New York: Cambridge University Press.

Engels, F. (1843). Marxist Internet Archive. Retrieved 11 15, 2014, from Marxist Internet Archive: https://marxists.anu.edu.au/archive/marx/works/1842/10/king-prussia.htm

Hickman, K. (2014). About Education. Retrieved 11 14, 2014, from American Revolution: The Stamp Act of 1765: http://militaryhistory.about.com/od/americanrevolution/p/stampact.htm

Mital, P. (2012). What were the Economic Causes of the French Revolution? Retrieved 11 14, 2014, from Preserve Articles: http://www.preservearticles.com/2011110316539/what-were-the-economic-causes-of-french-revolution.html

Smith, N. (2011). The Influence of the Enlightenment on The Formation of the United States. Article Myriad, http://www.articlemyriad.com/influence-enlightenment-formation-united-states/.

Spielvoge, J. (2014). Western Civilization: A Brief History. In Chapter 21- Reaction, Revolution and Romanticism: 1815-1850. Boston: Cengage Learning.

Thomas, R. (1968). British Imperial Policy and the Economic Interpretation of the American Revolution. The Journal of Economic History, 436-440.


BAIS 2017Appendix

Source 1: Frederick Engels about Frederick William IV, King of Prussia. Written: about October 1842; First published: in the Einundzwanzig Bogen aus der Schweiz, hrsg. v. Herwegh, Zurich and Winterthur, 1843; Signed: F. O.; Source: MECW, Volume 2; Transcribed: in 2000 for marxists.org by Andy Blunden.

“As for the financial administration under Frederick William IV, he has not been able to keep to the kind of civil list which his father established for himself, who laid down by lawthat 2'12 million talers annually should be allocated to the King and his household out of the revenue from the domains, and that the remainder, together with other revenues, should be used for state requirements. Even if the King’s private income is taken into account it can be reckoned that he spends more than 2.5 million — yet this sum is also supposed to cover the maintenance of the other princes. In addition, Bülow-Cummerow has proved that the so-called financial accounting of the Prussian state is absolutely illusory. In general, it remains a complete mystery how the state revenues are administered. The much-talked-of reduction of taxes hardly deserves mention; it could have been carried out long ago under the previous King had he not feared that he would be compelled to raise them again.”

Table 2: (Berger & Spoerer, 2001)


BAIS 2017Table 3: (Vanhoute, Paping, & O'Grada, 2006)

Source 4: Debate-House of Commons Debate in Committee of Ways and Means (Resolutions for colonial stamp duties) Remark made by George Grenville: Prime Minister, Chancellor of the Exchequer, Leader of the House of Commons (Parliament Debates: The Stamp Act of 1765, 2013)

“The objection of the colonies is from the general right of mankind not to be taxed but by their representatives. This goes to all laws in general. The Parliament of Great Britain virtually represents the whole Kingdom, not actually great trading towns. The merchants of London and the East India Company are not represented. Not a twentieth part of the people are actually represented.”

history paper 2 aminath saany naseer

Documents