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The following is a rough copy of an essay I have been writing for my history class. I'd like a good mark (don't we all) so if you enjoy history our criticizing other people's writing please read and comment with anything you find wrong with it. The topic is how the French and Industrial Revolutions shaped the 19th century, enjoy😃

The world’s two major revolutions, the abrupt French Revolution in 1789, and the gradual Industrial Revolution which began unfolding during the 18th century, are the foundations of the modern world. The revolutions altered the way people live and think, and by the 19th these changes created a distinctly new culture. This new culture that was spawned from these two dissimilar revolutions is the society that became our modern day civilization. Therefore in order to truly understand who we are as a civilization, it is necessary to understand how the Industrial and French Revolution impacted European society in the 19th century.

Prior to 1789, the European economy was primarily agricultural. There was little commerce going on between the peasant classes, which represented a vast majority of the population. Being agriculturally oriented, most of Europe was also rural. The manufacturing industry was nearly non-existent as the technology and need had not yet arrived.

In 17th century Europe, the most common caste was that of a peasant, which was the way it had always been was. These people, who supported society, had restricted influence on how they were governed. That was a job for the traditional aristocracy which came about during the early middle ages. This class still had a firm hold on national leadership, though it was beginning to weaken.

The Renaissance had spawned a new middle class who made their livelihood through commerce. This new middle class had influence on society that the peasant class did not and would use it to gain even more power for their benefit. The Renaissance inspired an era of innovation as the bourgeoisie now had more time on their hands and could take the time to ask why and figure it out for themselves. The new century was clearly about to experience a change.

After 1789 France was no longer controlled by the monarchy. With the fall of traditional rule a new form of government had to be adopted to run the country. As the French Revolution progressed, the people began experimenting with their new- found power and began to develop revolutionary styles of government. It was during the French Revolution that political ideologies truly began, and is in fact the origin of our conception of right and left wing politics. When the National Assembly was formed in 1789, those desiring reform sat on the left, while those sitting on the right were in favor of conserving the monarchies power. It was then that the political ideologies of Liberalism and Conservatism were born.

Liberalism is derived from philosophers of the 18th century Enlightenment, such as Voltaire, Rousseau and Montesquieu, just to name a few. They felt that the nation should be controlled by its people, and its main concern should be for the general populace. Ideas such as equality, freedom and natural rights derive from this era. Liberalism was put into practice during the French Revolution and has since become the base of many countries styles of government.

Those who were against the Revolutionaries and sat on the right side of the National Assembly gave birth to the political ideology known today as Conservatism. As the name implies, Conservatives sought to preserve the traditional system of order, simply because they felt that the knowledge accumulated by their ancestors would be superior to what the revolutionaries were coming up with. They basically did whatever they could to prevent change, which ironically would allow European society to have a chance to adapt to the ideas of the revolutionaries once they had been established.

When the French Revolution ended, Napoleon was able to come to power and conveniently enough this is when the Napoleonic era commenced. Napoleons reign caused the expansion of the country and its political ideas. When it was over European powers decided to come together at the Congress of Vienna in order reorganize the continent. They sought to prevent a war this massive from ever occurring again. Diplomacy suddenly took on a more important role as striking an alliance was more appeasing than having one’s country conquered. Since the Congress of Vienna European powers began weaving alliances that would one day doom the entire continent to war.

The French Revolution may have changed the way people dealt with issues, but the Industrial Revolution altered the manner in which society lived and thought. The upsurge in urbanization was caused by the induction of the factory system which requires numerous employees. Because it happened so abruptly, there was little time to properly adapt to the change and lifestyle that desired change arose. Working as practical slaves, people lived appallingly disgusting lifestyles with limited rights and freedoms.

Just as it has happened countless of times in history, the rich were getting richer, and the poor got poorer. However much in contrast to other such occurrences, the ideas of the French Revolution were in full bloom, and the people would no longer put up with it. Socialism arose as a form of extreme Liberalism, simply because the need for a change was equally extreme. Rather than the sequence of the upper crust of society benefiting from the work of the lower classes repeating, the idea of spreading wealth evenly was introduced, and that is the basic foundation of socialism.

The Industrial Revolution also brought an upsurge in Imperialism. Industrialized European nations began expanding their control and influence around the world. This expansion was meant to gain control of new recourses that were vital to the Industrial Revolution, but it also succeeded in binding the world together, and made Europe the center of everything. As a result it European ideologies were imported to and practiced by cultures all around the world. Each new culture would interpret these beliefs differently and in several instances, a similar yet unique ideology was born.

The French Revolution was lead by the new middle class, the bourgeoisie. Without this leadership, the revolution would never have been able to topple the aristocracy, as similar revolts against royal authority in other parts of the world failed because they lacked the proper leadership. The bourgeoisie was able to exist partially due to the rise of capitalism, which was caused by the Industrial Revolution. As the Industrial Revolution progressed, the need for rapid social change became essential. The means to provide ameliorated social standards were provided by the French Revolution. In that sense the outcome of the revolutions was dependant upon each other.

Due to the Industrial Revolution the 19th century economy was drastically different from that of the 18th century. The European economy (and the rest of the world) had traditionally been agricultural. It was always affected primarily by natural occurrences such as crop failures, but the occasional war would also have an impact the economy. After Europe shifted to a more capitalistic society, the economy became subject to change from almost any event. The complexity of the economy has continued to augment since, to the point when the causes of economic crisis such as The Great Depression cannot be truly explained or understood.

With the induction of socialism, liberalism and conservatism, the middle classes were permitted to expand and occupy a percentage of society which had never been seen before. The importance of education was realized, and the influence of the monarchy was slowly being whittled down. Ideas were flying around the world and the wheels of innovation began accelerating and haven’t slowed down since. The 19th century also saw the rise of the media as printing was becoming more accessible. This era was when journalism became significantly popular.

As the Industrial Revolution progressed, the bourgeoisie grew more influential. As a result, they felt a need to wrestle more power from the nobility. This became a reality when in 1848, France experienced yet another revolution where the monarchy was toppled and replaced by Liberal bourgeoisies. This revolution spread like wildfire across the European continent, mainly because Liberal ideologies were in place, yet hardly in practice. These Revolutions were unsuccessful in establishing the governments that they had intended upon, primarily because they were poorly organized, however they did succeed in boosting nationalism.

In an attempt to undermine the nobility’s position, the revolutionaries tried to cut the peoples ties and sense of loyalty to the local government. (i.e. the aristocracy) In its place they recommended that people pledge their loyalty to the nation as a whole, thus pledging support to the revolutionaries who sought to benefit the nation. Even though the revolutions ended, the sense of nationalism remained. This was particularly true within the autonomous states in central Europe and the Italian peninsula that have become modern day Germany and Italy. These numerous states were separated by politics, but shared a similar culture and language. This newfound sense of loyalty to the nation rather than to the local leaders caused these states to unite as a single nation, after a few wars of course.

If you were to compare any two centuries, it would be impossible to find a pair that experienced a change nearly as profound as the 18th and 19th centuries. Europe had been successfully industrialized and partially democratized. The middle class was on the rise, at the expense of the aristocracy and proletariats. The economy was dependant on industry and bureaucracy was dominated by politics. However a shadow loomed over the revolutionary continent. The unification of both Italy and Germany tipped the balance of power in Europe, and in hopes of ensuring national security, countries began weaving alliances on a massive scale. This coupled with the technological advancements brought about by the industrial revolution and abundance in innovative thought would be enough to plunge Europe into a war of massive proportions.