Socials 9
Name:
Joseph Kim
Comparison of the English Revolution and French Revolution
TOPIC
Kings
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Parliament vs.
Estates General
ENGLISH REVOLUTION
1625-1689
Absolute monarchs
James I: intelligent; slovenly
habits; “wisest fool in
Christendom”; didn’t make a
good impression on his new
subjects; introduced the Divine
Right of Kings
Charles I: Believed in Divine
Right of Kings; unwilling to
compromise with Parliament;
narrow minded and aloof; lived
an extravagant life; Wife
Henrietta Maria and people
despised her (Catholic)
Charles II: supposed to rule as a
constitutional monarch; tried to
protect Catholic freedom
James II: openly Catholic,
believed in Divine Right of Kings;
instituted reign of terror due to
rebellions against him
 Parliament believed the king
ruled by contract(an unwritten
one, yet fully binding)
 Leader of the parliament was
Oliver Cromwell
 Parliament was the
government of the English
revolution
 The king used parliament as a
way to consult with the
powerful people of the land
 The Long Parliament was
called because Charles I still
wanted more money.
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The civil war began because
the king (Charles I) didn’t give
a lot of money to the
parliament.
FRENCH REVOLUTION
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Absolute monarchs
Louis XIV: known as the “Sun King”;
saw himself as center of France and
forced nobles to live with him;
extravagant lifestyle; built Palace of
Versailles ($$)
Louis XV: great grandson of Louis XIV;
only five years old when he became
King; continued extravagances of the
court and failure of government to
reform led France towards disaster
Louis XVI; originally wanted to be loved;
not interested in governing; did not help
middle and lower classes; married
Marie Antoinette who people despised
(Austrian)
Louis allowed critics of government to
be imprisoned or killed
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France had a kind of parliament
known as the Estates General,
which met only as a result of a royal
command.
The Estates General was divided in
to three Estates, The member of the
first Estate were the clergy, The
middle class made up the Third
Estate.
The third estate had twice many
delegates as either of the other two
estates
Each estate voted as a bloc (group)
The clergy had twice as much voting
power as the middle class.
SIMILARITIES
DIFFERENCES
 Kings ruled as Absolute
Monarchs
 Raised foreign armies
 Charles I and Louis XVI both did
not like working with
Parliament/Estates General
 Citizens did not like the wives of
Charles I (Catholic) and Louis XVI
(from Austria)
 Both Charles I and Louis XVI
punished critics of government
 English Kings believed in Divine
Right of Kings and French did
not
 Charles I did not care to be loved
whereas Louis XVI initially
wanted to be loved by his people
 Charles I did not kill people who
were against him (he imprisoned
or fined them) whereas Louis XVI
did
 Charles I called Lord Strafford,
Archbishop Laud and
occasionally Parliament; Louis
XVI only called Estates General
as he had no advisors
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They represented the little
people to people so they had a
voice or thought
Had their origin un the king’s
council or curia Regis
The other similarities is the
parliament was like a
government of England and
the estate general too was a
government so I think that is
a similar thing
During the middle ages both
parliament and the estates
general developed out of the
king’s council
They both had a leader
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The different thing about the
parliament and the estate is
estate general had three estate
but parliament don’t have
three classes
The other different thing is
parliament fought with their
own country but the estate
general didn’t
The estate general had no true
power in its own right unlike
the English parliament it was
not required to approve royal
taxation or legislation.
TOPIC
Revolutionary
leaders
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ENGLISH REVOLUTION
1625-1689
In the civil war an army led by
Oliver Cromwell a leader in
parliament and a puritan was
victorious
The parliament under the
direction of Cromwell tried the
king and treason
Oliver Cromwell led
parliament to a victory against
royalist at Marston Moore and
Naseby
Soon after senior army officers
named Oliver Cromwell the
lord protector or military
dictator
FRENCH REVOLUTION
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Significance in
history
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Charles needed money to support
the people(but he didn’t have
much because he used it to
himself) so he called the
parliament but he count agree and
hen he raised money illegally and
people got angry so it stated like
this
I think the significance in history
of the English revolution, its was
not that violent as like the French
revolution because in French the
king got a lot of people executed
un like the English revolution
Oliver Cromwell was a huge impact
on the English revolution because
when he got his new model army
to the Naseby and got a victorious
against the king and the
supporters, so that was a huge hit
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SIMILARITIES
Maximilien was an official during the
French revolution and one of the
principal architects of the reign of
terror
The third estate was represented by
Maximillien de Robespierre
Robespierre was dedicated to the
defense of the rights of the poor
During the tennis court oath the
Robespierre, Mirabeau and Sieyes
decided to write France a
constitution
Maximilien was an official during the
French revolution and one of the
principal architects of the reign of
terror
Robespierre came to dominate the
committee of public safety the
principal organ of the revolutionary
government during the reign of
terror but in 1794 he was
overthrown and guillotined
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The primary significance of the French
Revolution was that it removed power
from a small group of elite rulers and
established a democratic leadership
representing the French citizenry
The French Revolution erupted in 1789 in
response to attempts to raise taxes on
citizens to cover debts incurred by the
government. France had invested heavily
in the American Revolution, and King
Louis XVI greatly mismanaged the
country's finances. As a result, France
was on the brink of bankruptcy and
desperate for ways to raise revenue
the Third Estate was denied the right to
vote on proposals. However, this group
represented nearly 98 percent of France's
population. The representatives held a
meeting on a nearby tennis court and
made the Tennis Court Oath, in which
they denounced the current governmental
system. This led to revolts and outright
civil war
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DIFFERENCES
Both leaders were
enthusiastic about using
mass murder and ethnic
cleansing to get what they
wanted
Robespierre got king louis XVI
put on trial, and he executed
many people like the
Girondins. Oliver Cromwell
got Charles II executed he also
executed some of the Charles
II supporters in parliament
Robespierre was guillotined,
Oliver Cromwell ended up
making the system of
government more like
monarchy like Robespierre
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both the English Civil War
and the French Revolution
sought to curb the power of
the King, the French
Revolution was much more
radical than the English Civil
War
both challenged the power of
the ruling classes and the
established clergy.
they both executed the ruling
monarchs
both ended feudalism
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Robespierre gained power
through the people electing
him to the position of
committee leader of public
safety but Oliver Cromwell
used the new model army and
the puritans in parliament to
help him to be the lords
protector
Cromwell started to become
tyrannical he started making
laws however Robespierre
with his power he executed
over 30 000 people who were
either thought to be traitors
English had a lord proctor
unlike the French revolution
The French had 3 classes of
estate but the parliament
don’t
The voting: in France the
women can’t vote only the
men could but in English
anyone can vote
TOPIC
Causes of
Revolution
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Glorious
Revolution vs.
Directory
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ENGLISH REVOLUTION
1625-1689
The English Civil War has
many causes but the
personality of Charles I must
be counted as one of the
major reasons.
The new taxes led to violent
quarrels with Parliament,
which had long claimed the
right to control taxation, and
was not going to allow taxes to
be increased unless it was
given full control over the
machinery of State.
Religion was a major cause of
the English Civil War. It was
part of a Europe wide conflict
between Roman Catholicism
and Protestantism
The death of Charles II in 1685
created a problem for
parliament
His successor James II was
openly catholic
William's successful invasion of
England with a Dutch fleet and
army led to his ascending of the
English throne as William III of
England jointly with his wife
Mary II of England, in
conjunction with the
documentation of the Bill of
Rights
For the first time the monarch
was chosen by parliament not
hereditary right, the divine right
was dead
Mary and William agreed to the
terms of a new bill of rights
FRENCH REVOLUTION
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SIMILARITIES
International: struggle for hegemony
and Empire outstrips the fiscal
resources of the state
Political conflict between the
Monarchy and the nobility over the
reform of the tax system led to
paralysis and bankrupt
Social antagonisms between two
rising groups the aristocracy and the
bourgeoisie
The financial strain of servicing old
debt and the excesses of the current
royal court caused dissatisfaction
with the monarchy, contributed to
national unrest, and culminated in
the French Revolution
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The rule of Robespierre was replaced
with the directory
Which was controlled by the middle
class
The new government gave most of the
power to people of property which
signaled a return to special privileges
for people with money
Only this group could vote and elect
members to government
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DIFFERENCES
One similarity of both
revolutions was the causes
financial problems
Another one is Both King
Charles I and Louis XVI were
experiencing debt because of
financial problems left behind
from previous monarchs
The tax system was similar to
English and French revolution
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The English Civil war is
arguably a lot more
complicated. It wasn't just
over the executive power of
the king but also the future of
the English and Scottish
churches. The French
Revolution on the other hand
was an anti-religious
movement
The similarities between the
glorious revolution vs. the
directory is they were both laws
like the bill of rights and
directory
the glorious started when the
death of Charles II and the
directory started when
Robespierre was guillotined so
it is the rule of Robespierre.
They are both rights
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The different things about the
directory and the glorious
revolution is when parliament
invited William of orange to
become queen and king of
England
But in directory there was
nothing like that in the
directory it just says about that
the middle class controlled the
directory
The two countries had their rights but I think the country that benefited the most is the French Revolution because for the feudalism was big in the French revolution.
Feudalism was a good thing for the king but it’s bad for the third estate the workers, that who use feudalism in order to live or survive. The declaration of the right of man and citizen legalized
any belief in any religion that made man equal before the law that created freedom for the French people. They had a new paper currency the Franc. The idea of liberty equality and fraternity
effect to gain peoples benefits. There were many people killed and the poor and landless could not vote or get a land. French revolution was better benefit because even the king was dead in
the English revolution there was still war happening in English so many or a lot of people were dead so there are no benefit for the low class to pay the feudal due. The main thing about the
English revolution was the way between fights and wars with parliament and the king so they didn’t get a lot of benefits. So this is why I think the French revolution got more benefits than the
English revolution.