Socials 9
Name: Joshua Miki
Comparison of the English Revolution and French Revolution
ENGLISH REVOLUTION
1625-1689
TOPIC
Kings
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Parliament vs Estates
General
Social classes
Social classes
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
 Wanted to get rid of Divine right of
kings
 Went through many changes
 Wanted more power and King gets
less power
 Called upon by king
 The Royalty
 Puritans
 Protestants
 The royalty wanted to keep the
monarch and let them keep all
their power
 The puritans believed churches
should be kept plain and simple.
Also went witch hunting
 Protestants believed that the
Roman Catholic ways are wrong
FRENCH REVOLUTION
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Absolute monarchs
Louis XIV: known as the “Sun King”; saw
himself as the 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
SIMILARTIES
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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Wanted to gain some power from King
Could not meet without King’s consent
Represents each of the Estates
Third estate left to form National
Assembly
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Called upon by King
Wanted more Power
Was asked for money
Wanted to have a say in
government
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Three estates
The estate determined a persons power
and rights
The first and second estate had many
privileges and didn’t have to pay taxes
First estate made up of clergy(monks,
nuns, parish priests, abbots and bishops)
First estate took up roughly 0.5% of the
population and owned 6-10% of the land
Second estate made up of Nobility
second estate took roughly 1.5% of the
population and owned roughly 20% of the
land
Third estate made up of peasants,
bourgeoisie and city workers
The Third estate was 98% of the
population and took up about 70% of the
land
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Social classes were in favor of
royalty
Peasants felt like they weren’t
being represented properly
Different classes wanted different
things like some people enjoyed
the monarch, some people
preferred the monarch had less
powers and some wanted to get rid
of the monarch
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King James I and Charles I found
other ways to get money while King
Louis just kept taxing the people
Each estate had the same amount
of representation while Parliament
was usually biased in one direction
People fought more for religious
freedoms during the English Civil
War
Royalty attacked the people during
the English Civil war but the
people attacked the royalty during
the French Revolution
ENGLISH REVOLUTION
1625-1689
TOPIC
Money/taxes
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Bankrupt from partying
Both James I and Charles I found
ways to make money without using
parliament by selling government
positions, mortgaging royal
property, collecting custom fees,
and increasing fees for government
services
Taxes went to church
Couldn’t raise taxes
FRENCH REVOLUTION
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Glorious Revolution
vs The Directory
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Significance to
history
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Signed Bill of Rights in 1689
It stopped anyone from being a
Catholic monarch and restricted
anyone from being an absolute
monarch
William of Orange attacks with an
army which causes James II to flee
and abdicate the throne
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Brought Democratic ideas
Bill of rights brought the people
rights and brought more equality
Made a revolutionary army
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SIMILARTIES
DIFFERENCES
In debt from spending on wars, palace,
entertainment, and gifts and bankrupt by
1788
Taxed the people because they needed
money
Taxes were so high that people could
barely afford food
Raised taxes at will
Some taxes went to the church
Nobility and clergy paid few taxes while
commoners and peasants paid most of the
taxes
King tried to reform the tax system but
was refused by Nobility and clergy
Controlled by middle class
Gave most of power to property which
signaled return to special privileges to
people with money
Could only vote and elect people to
government
Days of equality and citizen were over
Many advances made by poor swept away
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Needed money
Bankrupt from spending too much
Church got some of the taxes
King Louis XVI and Charles I
started in debt
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They didn’t have a lot of power
Both was a step away from
absolute monarchy
Both got rid of a tyrant
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Brought Democratic ideas
Influenced the Americans into a
democratic idea
Gave people of France rights and equality
Turning point in European social and
political history
Created the metric system and a calendar
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Both brought some democratic
ideas
Brought more equality and more
rights
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King Louis could raise taxes at will
while King James I was restricted
by parliament
People in France were so poor they
were starving to death while in the
English Civil War they could afford
it
The Directory was controlled by
the middle class instead of the
King and Queen
The Directory took away the
advances the poor made but the
Glorious Revolution was a big step
in equality
The directory replaced the last
leader who was executed but the
Glorious Revolution was an
overthrow.
The French Revolution created the
metric system and a calendar but
the English revolution didn’t create
anything.
French revolution was a very
savage time while the English Civil
war was more war based and for
control
Paragraph
I believe the French revolution benefited people more because they got what they wanted. They got rid of the monarchy and became a constitution. Many people who supported the
French Revolution were killed by the guillotine. The revolution benefited people outside of Europe too. They helped with democratic ideas and inventing the metric system which is still
used today. The French Revolution increased the rights of the people and increased the equality in the country.