Russian and French Revolutions

Paper Summary:

This paper takes a look at the French and Russian revolutions, highlighting the similarities and differences. According to the paper, the French revolution was very much influenced by the earlier American revolution. The paper further discusses how the Russian revolution was influenced by the rest of the world in a philosophical manner.

From the Paper:

"The French Revolution had been brewing for some time. The wealth of the monarchy compared to the relative poverty of the lower classes had caused a dissatisfaction that was growing exponentially. When Louis XVI took over the throne in 1774, he inherited some powerful problems such as "a peasantry bitter in its grievances; a bourgeoisie restive under its many restrictions; privileged class and corporate interests at odds with each other but united in their parasitism upon the nation; a government discredited by its ruinous foreign policy, its financial extravagances, and its administrative inefficiency and corruption; and a powerful public opinion that scourged the government for its weakness and its errors of policy and assailed the very theory of absolutist government" (Gershoy 3). The peasants had suffered under the yoke of a feudal system for years that gave the ruling classes control over their land and their lives. Because France was such an agrarian society, the condition of the peasantry involved in agriculture is a vital part of the discontent that led up to the revolution. "

Sample of Sources Used:

• Gershoy, Leo. The French Revolution and Napoleon. New York: Meredith Publishing Company, 1964.
• Hooker, Richard. "Radical Revolutions." World Civilizations, 1996. www.wsu.edu:8000/~dee/radical.htm, 5/22/06
• Hunt, Lynn Aver. Revolution and Urban Politics in Provincial France. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 1978.
• Kreis, Steven. "The Russian Revolution: Red October and the Bolshevik Coup." The History Guide: Lectures on Twentieth Century Europe.http://www.historyguide.org/europe/lecture6.html 5/22/06
• "Russian Revolution." The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition, 2006. http://www.encylcopedia.com/printable.aspx?id=1E1:RussianR

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