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Enclosure Acts
These Enclosure Acts enclosed nearly 7 million acres of land throughout the UK. These acts created legal property rights to land that was previously considered common. This enclosure combined with the industrial revolution, lead to a steep increase in urbanization in England and lead to an increase in the economic production of factories. -
Age of Enlightenment
The Age of Enlightenment transformed Europe's cultural values perhaps more than any other broad era. The Englightenment inspired countless political documents, as the work and writings of John Locke and Thomas Hobbes inspired the Constitutions of France and the United States. The key transformation in thought that occurred during this time is Europeans changed from submitting to traditional sources of authority and began to focus on critical inquiry and the protection of citizen's liberty. -
Industrial Revolution
The Industrial Revolution brought about massive change in the economy in England. Through the Industrial Revolution, families began moving from farm houses with extended families to urban centers near factories with usually just their nuclear families. This increase in urbanization lead to the economic output of factories to greatly increase and a new sector of the economy to be born. -
King Louis XVI Calls the Estates General
King Louis called the EG for the first time in over 100 years to propose solutions to the government's fiscal problems.
Louis agreed to keep many of the customs which had been the norm in 1614 but were not liked by the Third Estate. The most controversial decision remained the nature of voting after disagreement among the estates, the third estate disbanded from the EG and became the National Assembly. This move lead to an extensive change in France's governmental structure. -
French Revolution
The French Revolution itself played a massive role in the transformation of France as it completely changed the social, political, and governmental structure of the nation. Prior to the revolution, monarchy, feudalism, and theocratic institutions were the norm. After the revolution, France became a more democratic nation that valued the individual, natural rights of all of its citizens and swore to protect their liberty. -
Tennis Court Oath
The Tennis Court Oath occurred in 1789 when the Third Estate vowed to "not to separate and to reassemble wherever necessary until the Constitution of the kingdom is established". What angered the Third Estate was their votes were counted as equal to the other two estates even though the population of the Third Estate far outnumbered them. This event represented a continuation of France's divided society and government, which would often lead to France's constant economic and political decline. -
Storming of the Bastille
The Storming of the Bastille occurred in 1789, where a group of Parisian rebels attempted to obtain ammunition and other arms from the prison, one of the largest in France. The rebels wished to storm the prison to supply their revolution whilst also destroying an institution that they believed represented the oppressive French monarchy's tyranny. This event greatly shifted the powers of the rebels in the Revolution and gave them more momentum, weakening the power of the current Monarchy. -
National Assembly Adopts the Declaration of the Rights of Man
The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen set by France's National Constituent Assembly in 1789, is a human civil rights document from the French RevolutionThis document is motivated by the Enlightenment ideals of "natural rights" and individualism. The document established France as a government that protected the liberty of its citizens. The drafting of this document shows the change that France's government went through before and after the revolution. -
Urbanization
Largescale urbanization brought about by the Industrial Revolution allowed for the great transition of families from rural farming areas to urban centers filled with factories. Urbanization allowed for the widespread economic output of the factory economy to greatly increase. Societal changes occurred through urbanization as families from farms often left their rural extended families and sought to live in the city with typically just their nuclear family. -
Legislative Assembly declares War on Austria
In 1792, the Monarch's in Europe felt threatened by France after the overthrow of Louis XVI and feared widespread revolution but were wary of each other and wished to not allie with each other. The proposition to go to war with other nations proved popular in France among both revolutionaries and reactionaries. This move to declare war lead to a resurgence in Nationalism in France and spurred on the start of France's establishment as a major world power.
