Official language: German, French, Italian

Land area: 15,940 sq mi/41,284 sq km

Population:  7,748,000

Dominant religion: Christianity

Capital: Bern

Switzerland is a small, mountainous country in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Germany to the north, Austria to the east, Italy to the south and France to the west. The Alps and the Jura mountains cover more than half the country’s landscape.

 The people of Switzerland are divided by the country’s four national languages – French, German, Italian and Romansh. The German-speaking group comprises roughly 70 percent of the population and live in the northern, eastern and central parts of the country. French is spoken by about 20 percent of the population. Most of the French-speakers live in the western part. About 7 percent of the population speaks Italian. Most of the these people reside in the south. Romansh is spoken mostly by people living in the mountain valleys in the southeastern part of the country.

 Switzerland is very industrialized and its citizens enjoy one of the world’s highest standards of living. It is one of the world’s major banking and financial hubs. Many of the world’s wealthy open bank accounts with Swiss banks and enjoy high returns. Many Swiss products, especially its watches and automobiles, are world-renown. Switzerland is also major tourist destination. The Alps draws thousands of skiers every winter. Many international organizations, including the International Committee of the Red Cross, have their headquarters in Switzerland.

 Switzerland had been part of the Holy Roman Empire but in the 1200’s the Hapsburg Empire took possession of nearly the entire country. The Swiss drove the Hapsburgs out but would continue to fight frequent wars with the empire until the 1500’s. During the French Revolution, the French gained control of the country. After Napoleon was defeated in 1815 Switzerland adopted neutrality and has not fought another war since. Even during World War I and World War II it was an oasis of peace while the rest of Europe was engulfed in war. After World War II it was even reluctant to join the United Nations for fear that it would be expected to provide troops in military situations. Nevertheless the country has provided troops in some UN peacekeeping missions.

The French Revolution was a horrible time, but not just because of the terrible things the people did. “Everything must be reformed” was what the French people spoke. What happened prior to the revolution, the reasons for the revolution? The French Revolution did not happen overnight. It happened over the course of years.

            One of the main issues was debt. Louis XIV dug a hug pit of debt to fund his war efforts. The taxes went up and the morale went down. Great Britain was also in a financial downward, but their taxes effected everyone while in France the clergy and nobility were exempted. This was a bad move for France. Its citizens worked hard to earn their money while the nobles did nothing. Another problem was the scarcity of food. Certain crops failed in the 1780s which cause shortages which in turn led to higher prices. Peasants could not afford any more food at these higher prices. During the American Revolution, King Louis XVI helped America during its time of need, but not without a costly coin. These events led to their financial and agricultural crisis.

            “Tax them too!” That is what the citizens cried. In May 1789 the King summon the Estates-General at Versailles – this was the first time since 1614. The Estates-General was a legislative assembly of different classes; clergy, nobles, and the commoners – the Third Estate. There were only three basic votes – one for each class. The reason for summoning the Estates-General was to decide whether the King should tax the nobles and clergy. Since the Estates-General was two-thirds nobles and clergy the act fell through. The Third Estate complained because they represented ninety-seven percent of the population. The Third Estate was enraged and broke away from the bond that tied the nation together, calling themselves the “National Assembly”.

            The French Revolution was about to begin. On July 14, 1789 the Assembly stormed the Bastille prison – Bastille Day. In August the Assembly rid feudalism and wrote the Declaration of the Rights of Man. Paper money was made which led to inflation. In June 1791 the King tried to flee with some nobles, – his flight to Varennes – but was caught. They forced the King to sign a new constitution which gave half of his powers to the National Assembly. The people separated in to their own factions, Feuillants, Girondins, and Jacobins. War was waged on Austria and Prussia. The war did not go so well due to the money it took out of France’s pocket. On January 21, 1793 King Louis XVI was executed by the guillotine. The citizens of France thought by his death the revolution could advance further. The country was in an outburst, the people started to riot and others started counter-revolutions. The Committee of Public Security came under the control of Maimilien Robespierre. The Reign of Terror began. Thousands were killed by the guillotine to “further” the revolution. Many were killed by false accusations of counter-revolutions. Although some were accurate death was completely uncalled for. On July 28, 1794 Maximilien was executed by the guillotine.

 In 1795 a new constitution was made. Executive power was held by five directors appointed annually by a bicameral parliament. The bicameral parliament was made up of 500 representatives and 250 senators. And eventually on November 9, 1799 Napoleon Bonaparte gained power and proclaimed emperor.

            Thus ends the French Revolution and it all started with debt. Debt and bad whether that killed crops revealed the hatred in people. Although the citizen’s intentions seemed right in the beginning, the result of their thoughts of liberation turned out to be tragic. The people formed their “National Assembly” and started their revolt. Innocent lives were killed during the revolution. Even if you looked at someone wrong he could get you killed by accusing you of a counter-revolution. It was a terrible time that we pray never repeats.

·       Enlightment movement in 18th century

·       Reassau and Voltare supported idea of rational thought being the source of truth rather than an interpreted will of an omnipotent God

·       monarchy disliked it as they received the underlining and base of their power and reason for purchasing humourous outfits from the will of that God

·       in 1789 France was supporting the American Revolutionary War and fighting in the seven years war leading to massive debts

·       France was spending 50% of federal budget on servicing its debts

·       so France was broke but King Louis XVI was not broke

·       as proven by his massive physique and fancy footwear

·       Louis XVI and his wife Marie Antoinette had a rather good life residing at the palace of Versailles

·       that life and extravagancy and luxury will annoy you if you are a starving peasant

·       in addition to the 1789 debt crisis there was also a famine going on

·       price of bread rose by 50% but salary of people didn’t at all

·       in order to solve the debt crisis Louis XVI was issued to hire a finance minister

·       meanwhile robespierre proposed an across-the-board taxation to solve the French debt crisis but louis only wanted to raise taxes on the public (3. estate)

·       in May 1789 Louis establishes the convocation of the estates general

·       a meeting of representatives of the three estates (1. estate = clergy, 2. estate = nobility, 3. estate = the general population)

·       3. estate pays all the taxes, fights in all the wars whilst the 1. estate pays no taxes at all and 2. estate spends the revenue from the taxes on humourous outfits, fancy footwear, food and art

·       and 2. estate had 300 representatives each and the 3. estate had 600 representatives

·       3. estate wanted all representatives to meet together in one assembly which would become the parliament in which the 3. estate would have a very slight majority

·       as the 1. and 2. disapproved that idea, the 3. estate said: alright, we will do our own thing: we are the national assembly of france and therefore your parliament

·       on that day when the representatives of the 3. estate left the room for a quick break, King Louis XVI locked the doors and said: you can’t come in here and if you can’t assemble, you can’t be an assembly

·       surprisingly they found a different room to assemble in, an in-door tennis court at Versailles

·       that assembly sworn the Tennis Court Oath in which they agreed to fight against the upper hand of the other estates until they have written a French constitution

·       Louis backed down then when he read that on documents in Versailles and said: yea, alright, you can be the national assembly

·       meanwhile the population was bulding up a national guard in order to protect itself and at the same time Louis was flooding the city of Paris with troops loyal to him

·       on July 14, 1789 the Revolutionarists stormed the Bastille, at that time a prison, as they were unsatisfied with the overall condition and the absolutism itself – they stormed the bastille because they wanted guns to fight for their right and in order to get the power they think they deserve

·       the general operating the bastille negociated a ceasefire with the public

·       but the public unsatisfied decapitated him and paraded his head on a fork through the streets

·       just one month later, the national assembly released the declaration of rights of man (something like the declaration of independence in the US) stating equality of man, rational justice etc

·       Louis, still king of france and thinking: yea, thank god i can keep my house at versailles, signed that declaration too but was exposed to rumors in the public that marie antoinette was hoarding grain somewhere inside the palace of Versailles

·       in what became known as the woman’s march, a bunch of woman stormed the palace and demanded that marie antoientte and louis move from versailles to paris where they were put under house arrest

·       meanwhile the national assembly is still trying to write a constitution

·       from end 1789 loads of nobilities took their money and left france as of insecurity

·       french general boueille offered louis and wife to stay at the countryside far away from revolutionary trouble

·       so they dressed up as servants and flew the palace

·       but one day after leaving paris they were captured and allegded of Hochverrat

·       Jacobins argued that as the king has left which could be counted as resignation (abdankung) france technically does not have a king meaning it could now become a republic

·       the petition for that was signed by many people of the public

·       but then troops of the national assembly which used to be the voice of the people brutally made the petition signers mute and the Jacobins as well

·       by Sept 1791 the National Assembly finished the constition in which there is a legislative assembly which does laws and a king with adequate veto rights

·       emperor of the holy roman empire leopold II. and brother of marie antoinette was nervous as it wasnt a good thing having a representative monarchy and an unstable country next to him

·       so together with the king of prussia he set up the declaration of pillnitz which said that they are going to restore France the way it has been before the revolution

·       but then in april 1792 louis and the national assemly agree on a plan

è lets invade austria for their wealth and in order to spread the revolutionary zeitgeist across europe

·       as austria and prussia disliked that, they had a war against france

·       so french people remained hungry and fought in two wars

·       meanwhile the Jacobins and a small part of the parliament gather and secertly declare France a republic

è invalidating the consitution which was just one year old

·       louis xvi was then geoutined (the geoutine was used as people thought that everyone deserves the same sort of death punishment and we don’t wanna hurt criminals as this would be against the rights of man, we just wanna kill them) in january 1793 because a Republic would only work without a king thereby making it difficult for prussia and austria to fulfill their oath of pillnitz including the promise to place louis back on the thrown

·       as france happened to be in war with most of its neighbouring countries nothing has been done to solve the debt and famine problem but jacobins had an idea

·       governmental price-control for bread

·       that failed of course and as they also failed to steal grain from neighbouring countries the govt sent troops to steal grain from the normal population in order to serve their needs under control of the “comittee of public safety” led by Maximilian Robespierre who hated actually everyone who was in relations with the church or the royalty

·       so he sentenced the guiotining of 16k people within one year including nobilities, chruch people who did not want to sign an oath to the new government

·       robespierre was paranoid XD

·       then Frances new govt wrote a new consitution in 1795 and was therefore run for 4 years by a group of people just trying to enrich themselfs as much as the military but neither the economy and the public

·       by then France had set up a military draft creating the largest military around europe which led to huge success in wars

·       also: military was the only istitution in which people had confidence which is why Napoleon Bonaparte seized power in 1799

·       through success of military in Italy and failed Putsches he gained power and confidence and ended the revolution in 1804

People go to war usually in an effort to increase their power – over their own lives or country or perhaps over the lives or countries of other people. Revolutions and civil wars are started by discontented groups who try to overthrow the existing government and establish a new one.

In such wars, the aggressors are trying to increase their power by gaining more freedom and control over their own lives. The American and French revolutions are examples of this type of war.

When the French Revolution began in 1789, King Louis XVI and his family were forced to leave Versailles. The palace was never again used as a residence.

Today, the Palace of Versailles is a national museum. Visitors can walk through the rooms of the palace and admire the elegant sculptues in the beautiful formal gardens that lie at the back of the palace. The Treaty of Versailles, which ended World War I, was signed between Germany and the Allied Powers in the great Hall of Mirrors at Versailles.

Napoleon was made a brigadier general in the French army when he was only 24 years old. At that time, the revolutionary government in France (called the “Directory”) was at war with Austria and Prussia. The Directory put Napoleon in command of French forces fighting against the Austrians in Italy in 1796. He led the French troops to victory in a series of great battles.

Napoleon returned to Paris, a hero of the French people. He helped overthrow the Directory in 1799 and set up a new government called the “Consulate,” with himself as head. Napoleon made many changes in France. He established a new school system and modernized French law. The Napoleonic Code, as the unified body of French law is called, became the model for many legal systems.

The real trouble began when on the first of October 1789 women gathered outside of Paris and began a march to Versailles to get the Royalty to come to Paris and effectively be under their control. The made it to Versailles and stormed the area killing all guards in their wake. Eventually Marie Antoinette and King Louis XIV were taken to Paris. At this time the people had a lot of power in what was done and it was this time that people started questioning social systems and brought out radical ideas. The power of the church was greatly diminished and power to the people was brought out. New legislations were being passed and King Louis XIV was literally signing away his power. Eventually the King and Queen attempted to flee France but were caught at Varennes and escorted back to Paris.

Due to the flight of the King and Queen, moral dropped low among the people. Despite all the power the people had there were still many things that weren’t well standing with them. It was on August 10th 1792 that when troops stormed the palace and murdered the guards to the King and Queen that the next phase of the revolution began. At this phase bloodied battles where held across France and it all ended with the ultimate execution of the King and Queen. This shows that France has completely abolished a Monarchy (both absolute and constitutional) and started a Republic.

So in conclusion, the reason the French Revolution was so Revolutionary was that in a small period of time so much of France’s Political and Social System changed that marked the beginning of a new era for France. From a Monarchy to a Republic, from a poor minority with no say in legislations to an equal say in all, from a greatly deprived constitution to one that promoted equality and from one National Ideal to a completely different one. These are what make the French Revolution so Revolutionary.

Maximilian Robespierre

They call him “The Incorruptible.” They said his wife and his one true love we none other than justice and virtue.
   Today, his name has become a synonym for extremism that is nearly impossible to think of it without conjuring the image of the guillotine’s bloody blade.
   Maximilian Robespierre was by far the most controversial figure ever to emerge from the French Revolution. He was a man of so many contradiction and conflicting ideologies that it is still difficult today to label him. Hero or tyrant? Savior or monster?
   His background certainly gives a hint of his future success. He came from a family of lawyers, and won a scholarship to study law at 8 years old. In law school, he became a devoted disciple of Rousseau, pure democracy and the “noble savage.”
   There is a famous story that when Louis XVI visited Robespierre’s law school, the teen was honored to deliver a welcome speech. But the king did not show up. Robespierre felt humiliated. Little did he know one day he would have his revenge.
   By 1789, Robespierre was a respected lawyer who shocked his colleagues by using Enlightenment ideas to defend the poor. He was a delegate at the Estates-General, swore the Tennis Court Oath and helped write the Constitution of 1791.
   In 1792, he joined the “Society of the Friends of the Revolution,” a radical group. Robespierre proved himself to be more extreme than the extremists. He even supported the right of Jews and an end to slavery in French colonies. He soon became leader of his radical group, they soon became known by a new name: Jacobins.
   That year, war was declared against Austria and Prussia. Robespierre wa against it because he thought war would lead to military dictatorship. It was highly ironic, for in less than a year he himself would be the complete dictator of France.
   “War, war!” cried the people. Soon, Paris was in a wild frenzy, as bread prices soared and rumors spread of traitors working against France. The first wave of senseless killing broke out- the September Massacres. Robespierre did not stop them.
   Robespierre, with his intelligence, writing talent, and amazing speaking skills, was now a major government leader. By now, his extremism was growing at a dangerously fast pace- yet, strangely, he also earned the nickname the “Incorruptible.” He did accept bribes or compromise his views. He lived a simple, modest life, without luxury or privileges. He was even- shockingly- faithful to his wife.
   The National Convention suspended the 1791 Constitution and ended the thousand-year French monarchy. When Louis XVI was on trial, Robespierre said: “Louis must die, so that the country may live.” Before that, he had been an opponent of te death penalty. Louis’ blood, he reasoned, was being shed for the greater good, just as Rousseau would have said. The security of the republic was his ultimate goal- no matter how many people died. From here in, that would always be his view.

It took place in ten years, from 1789 to 1799.

Simply put, the Revolution was the overthrow of France’s absolute monarchy by the middle and lower classes, which wanted more rights and equality for all Frenchmen.

The revolution was deeply inspired by the ideas of the Enlightenment (natural rights, democracy, freedom of speech, rationality). The revolutionaries wanted to see them come to reality in France as they did in the United States.

However, in seeking to change France, the revolution turned bloody and violent as different groups argued and fought over their ideas.

The Rvolution can be divided into 3 phases:
a. The “middle-of-the-road” (or moderate) phase
b. The violent, extreme phase (where the guillotine was used)
c. The “calming” phase, where order was restored after terror

At its end, France ended up with the dictatorship of Napoleon, but nonetheless, many of the ideas of the Enlightenment were adopted permanently in France, and the tprest of Europe followed.

It is because of this that the Revolution is considered so important today- it is the Enligtenment come alive in both a positive and negative way.

Comment below: Would you like to read about the ‘ancien regime’?

The need of man to understand himself through his past, amply justifies the constant pursuit of the facts relevant to rebuild it, causes and factors that determined the steps, phases and rhythms that developed in human life.

However, the huge range of issues - temporal, spatial, anthropological, geographical, economic, political, social, etc. - that inform the past and the subjective situation of those who try to ordain them and expose them systematically creates difficulties sometimes insuperable.

Thus, pre-historic men, no writing, communicate orally only direct experience they need to survive and progress, when men of antiquity began to write, is still limited to the registration of facts deemed important by those who exert social influence absolute (princes and priests).

It is the era of chronic apologetic, when kings succeed and realize the facts of history, and mythology. This superficial view of history goes on during the Middle Ages with royal and ecclesiastical historiography.

The conditions for a critical position in relation to the past do not exist. However, since antiquity, some isolated individuals (Herodotus, Polybius, Pausanias) break the barrier of subjective bias and external data.

Study the geographical conditions that developed in the facts, seek political and social environment that determined by defining the former sources of history, geography, chronology, sociology (so embryonic Polybius).

Still do not understand the evolutionary process and the diversity of civilizations; America, Asia and Africa continents are largely unknown and historical frameworks are abstract and unilateral.

The  Middle  Ages  is  an  extension  of the ancient slave  society,  yet  understated. Only in the Renaissance, history reaches proportions objective, genealogy, numismatics, archeology and  linguistics  begin  to  be  considered  as  important  auxiliary. The combination of feelings, cultures and peoples through the discovery, commerce and science, help trace the historical process generally, the laws that govern it and the steps that form. Machiavelli, Vico and Montesquieu - albeit with a priori views - stand out among the great historians of the 15th century until the French Revolution.

The  great  social  changes,  political  and  scientific  of  the late  18th  and  19th  century,   foregrounds  historical  inquiry,  not  only as  knowledge  of  the  past,  but as attempt to  understand the future of  humanity  as  a  result  of  its  previous  history.

For the first time, we use objective sources, and with further study of the determinants of each process, overcome the old method of history horizontal (chronological listing military, political or diplomatic). The traditional division of history into ages (Antiquity, Middle, Modern and Contemporary) also entailed a large arbitrariness: emphasis on military events, the omission of historical changes that define   steps,  devaluation  of  the   influence  of  other  civilizations,  artificial separation  process  unit.

It covers a vertical history broader reality: economic history, social, cultural, etc.. The analysis, comparison and expertise are the reasons for large conceptions and historicalsummaries (Mommsen, Ranke). Born positivism (Comte) and materialism (Marx). In the 20th century, there are statistics, photography and audio-visual means. The great historical works of our time (L. Febvre, Toynbee, Bloch) are usually the result of teams of expertsunder the direction of a historian who summarizes and organizes the different elements.Today, the historical research is oriented in accordance with the philosophical currents that are discussed at the global level.