Sang-won Kim

26 January 2010

IB European History HL1

Essay Questions

Essay Question Outline:

Question: Assess the importance of 2 causes of the French Revolution.I. Introduction:

a. The French Revolution’s causes1. Assembling of the Estates General in 1789.2. Political and Social inequalities in France

b. Both are very important to the French Revolution.II. Assembling of the Estates General:

a. Met for first time since 1614. 1. Called because Louis XVI wanted to collect more taxes because and

strengthen his power.b. Actually led to the destruction of his power and led to the FR because:

1. The Estates General meeting showed the incompetence of Louis XVI.i. This turned the people’s heart from the King because of his indecision and his mistreatment of the 3rd Estate.

2. The formation of the National Assembly.i. Created a new constitution that forced the king to share power

with the people.ii. This government later executed the king on charges of treason.

c. All of these events led to the weakening of his power and ultimately to the revolution.

d. This cause is important because it really allowed the legalization of the French Revolution.

III. Political and Social Inequalities:a. France was still feudalistic. (Old regime)b. Only nobility and clergy had real political power.

1. Nobility and clergy made up the 1st and 2nd Estate.2. The middle class, which was over 80%, only had the 3rd estate to

represent them.c. Nobility and clergy are exempted from taxes, while citizens are taxed

heavily.d. The commoners were unhappy with the power of the nobility and

participated in food riots because of taxes.e. Without these problems, there would have been nothing to “fix”.

IV. Conclusion:a. Two important cause of the French Revolution were;

1. The Meeting of the Estates General.2. Political and Social inequalities in France at the time.

b. Both were very important to the revolution because it enabled the government of the revolution to take hold as well as giving problems for the revolution to “fix”.

Question: To what extent did the Industrial Revolution improve the lives of the working class in Europe between 1789 and 1848?

I. Introduction:a. The Industrial Revolution detrimental to the lives of the working class

because:1. The working class was forced to move into the city and adapt to a new

environment with terrible conditions.2. Worker’s wages/Treatment

II. Population growth/ Movement into the city:a. As the population grew and new machinery was created, workers had to

move into cities in order to gain jobs.b. City conditions:

1. Crowded and dirty.2. One family had one room, or had to share with another family.

c. Rates of suicide, insanity, and crimes higher in the cities.III. Worker’s wage/Treatment

a. A steady surplus of workers meant that the workers barely had any laws governing how they should be treated.

b. Women and children had to work to support the family.c. Workers could be laid off at any time at the whim of the factory owner.

1. Illness or injury or unemployment meant no income for the worker.d. No workers unions existed; any sort of rebel or revolt would be put down

by force.IV. Conclusion:

a. The Industrial revolution was detrimental to the lives of workers because:1. People were forced to move into the city to get jobs2. Workers were not treated fairly.