FRN 151 Midterm

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School

University of Rhode Island *

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318

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History

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Oct 30, 2023

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Uploaded by shanixoxo000

1 Ashanti Moore FRN 151 MIDTERM This essay will examine the American and French Revolutions and talk about what caused them, their aims and principles . There were many reasons for the cause and or start of the American and French Revolution and here is some example why. The American Revolution also known as the U.S. War of Independence was fought between 1775 and 1783 through which 13 of Great Britain's North American colonies threw off British rule to establish the sovereign United States of America; it was founded with the Declaration of Independence in 1776. The American Revolution was principally caused by colonial opposition to British attempts to impose greater control over the colonies and to make them repay the crown for its defense of them during the French and Indian War. Another thing is the American Revolution revolved around their need to break away from the British control they had been under. In John Green’s video, he states that the British highly taxed Americans on goods imported to the colonies with Acts such as the Townshend Act. This was the start of widespread protests because it angered the colonists, only making them more eager to form a new constitutional government where they could finally be in control of their own property rights and human rights. This led to the drafting of the Declaration of Independence. A quote from the Declaration that shows this change states “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness”. These main points reveal their revolutionary new form of government. The American colonists won independence from Great Britain in the Revolutionary War, the French, who participated in the war themselves, were both close allies and key

2 participants. Several years after the revolt in America, French reformists faced political, social and economic hardships that mirrored the colonists’ struggles. There was also many success that the American Revolution had gained. First, the American Revolution secured the independence of the United States from the dominion of Great Britain and separated it from the British Empire. Today most of the world's nations are at least nominal republics due in no small way to the success of the American republic. Another success was the American Revolution created American national identity, a sense of community based on shared history and culture experience and belief in a common destiny. The Revolution drew together the thirteen colonies, each with its own history and individual identity. Lastly, by the end of the American revolution, the king of France had spent so much money supporting the fight against the British that he was nearly bankrupt. The king saw no other choice but to raise taxes on his people, which eventually sparked a revolt that ended in the abolishment of the French aristocracy. The French Revolution was a period of major social upheaval that began in 1787 and ended in 1799. It sought to completely change the relationship between the rulers and those they governed and to redefine the nature of political power. The French felt that specific rights were only granted to certain segments of society which were the elite and aristocrats.The French who had direct contact with the Americans were able to successfully implement Enlightenment ideas into a new political system. Furthermore, the French Revolution also had their downfalls when it came to their declaration. An example would be how the French people were starved due to the fact they had no access to crops and the monarchs having all the food from their power. The National Assembly in France even used the American Declaration of Independence as a model when drafting the Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen in 1789. At the end of the war Napoleon became the new monarch. Also another thing that happened at the end of the war

3 was the French revolution began and ended the same exact way. After all of the wars and deaths of many people from the Reign of Terror there was no change in how France was governed. In addition the goal of the revolution was not to overthrow the monarchy, but to install a constitutional monarchy and to create a government with more representation of the different classes, as stated in John Green’s video of the French Revolution. The people of the revolution were not looking to spread enlightened ideas but to end the widespread poverty across the country. This was quite revolutionary as they were attempting to take control of the government that was not helping their people. As stated in article 2 of the Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen, “The aim of every political association is the preservation of the natural and imprescriptible rights of man. These rights are liberty, property, security, and resistance to oppression.” In conclusion The goal of the revolution was to protect and serve the people and the first revolution and rights declaration started the long journey to get the citizens of France their rights.

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4 This essay will discuss reasons for France's defeat, how France changed politically as a result. It will also discuss the importance of General de Gaulle, what he did and why relations became so tense between him and Roosevelt. There were many major causes of World War II such as the impact of the Treaty of Versailles following WWI, the worldwide economic depression, failure of appeasement, the rise of militarism in Germany and Japan, and the failure of the League of Nations. On the battlefield, France faced a vastly more prepared German army that utilized both more advanced weapons and sophisticated tactics. France suffered a humiliating defeat and was quickly occupied by Germany. Its failure was a result of a hopelessly divided French political elite, a lack of quality military leadership, and rudimentary French military tactics. Prior to WWII, General de Gaulle was a competent brigadier general whose various brilliant tactical military plans were largely ignored by the French government. After the French had surrendered to the German occupation, he fled to England to establish the “Free France movement”. While rallying support, he called for a French opposition to the German invasion and organized troops from French colonies to fight alongside Allied troops. He was also disliked by fellow leaders due to many reasons. I would also like to mention that General de Gaulle was a remarkable man in his own ways and also was strong-willed and arrogant at the same time. General de Gaulle oversaw the end of World War II and helped France to form a new government. He resigned from office and left politics in 1946. In 1958, de Gaulle returned to politics and was elected the President of France. He would remain president for ten years until 1969. Afterwards during the Algerian War Gaulle avoided a French civil war by helping Algeria to achieve independence. The main causes of World War 2 were Hitler's rise to power and the Treaty of Versailles which ended World War 1 between Germany and the Allied Powers. As soon as Hitler achieved

5 power by destroying Germany's democracy and establishing a dictatorship, he was determined to conquer Europe. With the intentions that Hitler and the German military had they began to invade territories that had been taken from them due to the Treaty of Versailles. This led to the Munich Agreement which was signed on September 29, 1938. This granted Nazi Germany the territories of Czechoslovakia. According to the PowerPoint in lesson 5 "Once the Munich Agreement has been made, Hitler invades Poland, believing that France and Britain will not oppose him." This leads to France and Britain declaring war on Germany. In addition President Roosevelt and General Gaulle were not seeing eye to eye for many reasons throughout the wall, according to the article "De Gaulle caused Roosevelt more trouble and more infuriating than any other person in the Second World War ''. They did not have a healthy relationship and both were focused on two different things during the war. President Roosevelt was focused on trying to keep the American soldiers from going into a European war and General Gaulle had different intentions such as he was more worried about his "Free France movement”. Due to all of de Gaulle's past experiences, Roosevelt had his reasons to no longer be confident in de Gaulle and find him trustworthy. Another thing to add is that between General Gaulle and President Roosevelt, when the president hired Giruad as the new French Leader the Vichy leaders would only listen to orders from their senior commander and did not want to accept Giraud. When Giraud was promoted to the French leader, Roosevelt got worried and even though he had his differences with de Gaulle, he knew that there needed to be unity between the Free French and the previous Vichy forces. At first, de Gaulle refused to attend the nuptials and thought it was too much after what had happened but still changed his mind and agreed to publicly shake hands with Giraud to show their "unity" to the people.Roosevelt eventually cut off de Gaulle in favor of a different general. Based on de Gaulle's experiences in his attempts to

6 unify France and create a free France, Roosevelt was not confident in his abilities, nor possessed trust for him. During this time period around World War II, mistrust and intense feelings of nationalism were at their highest. His feelings towards de Gaulle, coupled with his failed attempts at rallying support in the colonies to overcome the Vichy, created a rift between the two of them. In conclusion those were some reasons on why WW2 had started and what people had to do to survive and fight in the war and the sacrifices people had to make. Also to add that was the importance of General de Gaulle and what he did and why relations became so tense between him and Roosevelt.

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