Aminath Saany Naseer

World History
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Contrast 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 XVIs 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
1 French currency from 781 to 1795
2 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 (175463) fought between France and Great Britain.
(Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2014)

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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 payers 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 distress, 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

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that didnt 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 17541763, tightened Britains control
over America mainly because he did not want any further wars to drain
Englands 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.
The 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 didnt
guarantee the equal distribution of powers and rights among the First
(Clergy), Second (Nobility) and Third Estates under King Louis XVIs 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.

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Eventually, the revolution of the Spring of Nations4 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 likeminded people 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
4 Another name for 1848 revolutions
5 Special type of German student fraternity

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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 Matternich6s 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 wouldnt
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.

References

6 Klemens von Metternich was a Habsburg monarch

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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/parliamentary
debate1765.pdf
Encyclopaedia Britannica. (2014). Retrieved 11 15, 2014, from French and Indian
War: http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/218957/French-and-IndianWar
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-economiccauses-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/influenceenlightenment-formation-united-states/.

Aminath Saany Naseer

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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.

Appendix
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 Kings
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, Blow-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.

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World History
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Table 2: (Berger & Spoerer, 2001)

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Table 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.