Project Worldseizer

The industrial revolution began in the 18th century with more mechanized ways of doing old tasks. One of the most controversial points of the industrial revolution is the standard of living debate. Did the industrial revolution improve or impoverish people’s lives? To answer this we need to look at the condition of people before the industrial revolution. Before the revolution, most people were involved in agriculture, working long backbreaking hours on a farm. The small percentage of people not involved in agriculture worked in specialized trades, making a few products a day and needing, at some point before, to have been able to afford the tools needed for that trade. If you were not able to do either of these you would most likely starve and even people at work were unimaginably poor. The industrial revolution changed this. Due to more mechanized and efficient processes, fewer people were needed in agriculture, and those people could work in a factory or some other business. While factory conditions were harsh especially compared to modern-day standards, it was better than starving and conditions in work before would have probably been even harsher. In all life expectancy, wages and living conditions all went up, maybe not as much as we would like it, but still, they went up. The fact that people started protesting poverty meant that now they thought there was something wrong with it, whereas, in the 11th century, people did not protest because poverty was what was expected from people’s lives.

Great Britain is one of the primary examples of how to end slavery peacefully, without violence. Quakers were proponents of egalitarianism or equality. This obviously means they would be advocates against slavery. The general population however viewed Quakers as rather unusual so the majority of the population took three arguments against slavery. One was the idea of natural rights, that all people are equal, and have equal rights to own property and pursue happiness. Another point was humanitarianism, that the slaves were often brutally treated and this should be stopped. The third was that slaves were not economically prosperous. Abolitionists had to convince people that their economy would not collapse if there were no more slaves. Slaves had no motivation to work hard if the fruits of their labor were just taken away from them. You also had to keep the slaves all year round even if you need them only for certain seasons. All these arguments came together to, in 1833, abolish all slaves in England and her colonies, breaking with thousands of years old traditions.

The French and American revolutions, while both being revolutions, were very different in their intent and outcome. Friedrich Gentz illustrates this in his book ‘The Origin and principles of the American Revolution Compared With the Origin and Principles of the French Revolution.’ Friedrich Gentzs’ book draws on ideas from Edmund Burke, an 18th-century English politician, who predicted some of the outcomes of the french revolution while it was still in its infancy. One major difference between the two revolutions is that Americans wanted to defend their traditional rights which England had been invading, whereas the french revolution had no stopping point. The french revolution was based upon dismantling old traditions and institutions and making completely new ones. This is dangerous and also lacks humility, as you think that your one brain thinking for a while is going to come up with a better society than the thousands of years of gradual change and experimentation. Another difference is that while in the American revolution there may have been mobs that carried out violence against loyalists, there was not the widespread government-sanctioned violence against perceived opponents of the revolution that was seen in France. These make up some of the major differences between the American and French revolutions.

Mary Wollstonecraft was a full-time writer in the 18th century, publishing for many different newspapers and publishers. However, she is most known for her book ‘A Vindication of the Rights of Woman,’ written in 1792. In this work, she discusses the need for women to be educated and that men and women should use the same curriculum and even the same or similar athletics. She stated that women of her day were prone mostly to trivial things such as gossip and clothes, which further illustrated the need for their education. Wollstonecraft said that while most women would be in the home being wives and mothers, those of a, “Higher cast” should be able to have the opportunity to do things such as run a farm or shop, be a doctor, or be involved in politics. Relationships between women and men should be based on mutual respect, not the man lording his higher intelligence over the woman. In Wollstonecraft’s book, you can see the flavor of modern feminism, which Mary has certainly influenced.

In 1789 France was facing a financial crisis. The large amounts of money spent on the French court, and the wars it had engaged in in the 18th century had led to half of the French government’s income being spent to pay the interest on their debts. Due to this crisis, in 1789 Louis XVI called the Estates-General, which had not been called since 1614. The Estates were comprised of three groups, the clergy of the first estate, aristocracy of the second, and ordinary people in the third, and each group had one vote. This meant that, although the general population of France was comprised of twenty-seven million people, they were usually outvoted by the first two estates. When the Estates-General assemble the third estate demanded twice as many representatives and two votes. They only got twice as many representatives. The third estate decided to break off and form what they called The National Assembly. They met at an indoor tennis court and swore that they would not leave until they had a constitution. This was all not part of the law which was what made this revolutionary. This lead to the storming of the Bastille, in which supposedly, political prisoners were held. In reality, there were a handful of criminals that were set free by this but it was all just part of the wheel of revolution. The movement that started by the third estate breaking away would eventually lead to the monarchy being abolished and the king executed, as well as the Reign of Terror.

The Reign of Terror lasted from 1793 to 1794. It began with the Committee of Public Safety declaring they would eradicate any, “Counter revolutionaries.” What a counter-revolutionary was no one deemed necessary to explain. Therefore much bloodshed ensued. Anyone with religious ties was in danger. Priests, monks, nuns, and even if you were found just making a Rosary could be deemed a fanatic and executed. People who had been in favor of the French Revolution, and were only against the dramatic and bloody turn it was taking, could be executed. The victims of the Reign of Terror were usually political prisoners, with only one-third being the clergy or aristocracy. One exceptionally brutal example of the Reign of Terror were the drownings at Nante. There barges and boats were designed with holes that were then boarded up. The boats would then be loaded with prisoners and taken to the middle of the river where the seals would be taken away. The boats would then fill with water and the people all drown, as they were usually tied together or to the boat. The victims were chosen from the overcrowded prisons in Nante and these drownings were sometimes called, “Republican baptisms.” Overall the numbers of how many people were killed in these drownings range from the one-thousands to the four-thousands, with hundreds being killed on a single voyage.

Enlightened absolutism was the 18th-century phenomenon, by which absolutist monarchs promoted Enlightenment ideals in some form. Catherine the great of Russia implemented an education policy, though this did not get very far, because the children were needed at home to do jobs so their family would not starve. Catherine brought the Russian church completely under her control, which was applauded by Enlightenment members. Joseph II Holy Roman Emperor abolished one-third of the monasteries and implemented a compulsory education policy. He also reformed the legal system and abolished torture as a means of procuring information. Charles III of Spain lessened the power of the inquisition in Spain as well as bringing the church more under the control of the state. Frederick the Great of Prussia kept up a correspondence with Voltaire and was a self-proclaimed deist. He implemented Enlightenment ideas while laughing at mankind’s silly superstitions with Voltaire.

Louis XV was king of France from 1715 to 1774. He ascended the throne when he was only five years old, which allowed the nobility to take advantage of the kings youth. His advisor, Cardinal de Fleury, kept office from 1726 to 1743. He did not favor religious toleration but was good with finances which were essential to indebted France. One of his vices was that he allowed his mistresses to lead his political decisions, ending in some competent ministers being dismissed and being replaced with deficient ones. Throughout his entire reign, Louis XV tried to suppress the parlement, ignoring and replacing and imprisoning the leaders that disagreed with him. This was his greatest error being a major factor in the onset of the French revolution.

During the 18th century, the enlightenment became a major movement, and the more radical thinkers tended to reside in France. The Materialists were the most radical group of enlightenment thinkers. They were extreme atheists believing in no spiritual world whatsoever and viewed human beings as a machine and advanced kinds of animals. Therefore they did not believe in punishing criminals for crimes, just like you can’t blame a dishwasher for doing a bad job cleaning your dishes. They believed you should spend your life gratifying your impulses and pleasures since there was nothing else to life. Some of the major Materialist thinkers include La Mettrie Helvetius and Baron d’Holbach.

The primary powers in the war of Austrian succession were Prussia and Austria. Maria Theresa’s father Charles VI Holy Roman Emperor had gone to the nations of Europe asking to recognize Maria Theresa as heir and future ruler of Austria. Frederick the Great’s father Frederick William had agreed to this, but Frederick wanted to start a war with Austria in order to obtain the territory of Silesia for Prussia. So he came up with a ridiculous argument and quickly took Silesia with Prussias vast army. The war of Austrian Succession lasted for five years in multiple phases and ended with Prussia still in possession of Silesia. Silesia nearly doubled Prussias population and gave it a more densely industrialized territory. This eventually lead to the Seven Years War with Austrias attempt to reclaim Silesia, but Prussia still retained it at the end of the war.