The French and Russian Revolutions

The French and Russian Revolutions

The French and the Russian revolution both occurred mainly due to two main reasons. Both of these revolutions were the direct results of bad leadership and a bad economy. These two reasons along with other factors caused both of these revolutions. Although they were both similar, they also had differences. A difference between the two is that the Russians had an unsuccessful "pre-revolution" in 1905. Another difference between these two revolutions is the fact that the French turned towards a democracy while the Russian government became communist.

In this paper we will compare the French and Russian Revolutions. We will consider the fact that both contained elements of democracy and authoritarian rule, which was termed totalitarianism later in the twentieth century. We are also going to take a look at the timeline and reasons why these political revolutions radicalize. The establishment of similarities and differences with regard to causes, goals, historical characters, and outcomes will also be discussed. There will also be a summary of events for both the French and the Russian revolutions.

The French Revolution was an intriguing event that changed Europe irrevocably, following on the coat tail of the American Revolution a decade prior. The actual cause of the revolution can easily be debated. The Seven Years' War in Europe and the American Revolution across the ocean had a profound effect on the French psyche and made the Western world a volatile one. In addition to charging up the French people, the wartime environment took quite a toll on the French treasury as well. The cost of waging war, supporting allies, and maintaining the French army quickly depleted a French bank that was already in financial ruin. A major player in the French Revolution was feudalism and unfair taxation. Though there is no one factor directly responsible, feudal oppression and fiscal mismanagement made the French society ripe for revolt. King Louis XVI realized that the taxation problem needed to be fixed, in came The Estates General. The only problem with that was that The Estates General was divided into three estates. The First and Second Estates consisted of the clergy and the nobility, while the Third Estate contained the general French public which was many times larger than either of the first two. Since the First and Second Estates, which consisted of the clergy and nobility, were tax exempt, feuds quickly broke out. Realizing that the sheer size gave them an advantage, the Third Estate declared itself the sovereign National Assembly. The National Assembly's revolutionary spirit galvanized France in a number of different ways. Peasants and farmers revolted against their feudal contracts by attacking the manors and estates of their landlords. The revolting led to the peasants and farmers being freed from their oppressive contracts.