Political, social, and economic conditions have often led to revolutions that have changed the course of history for nations and peoples. These revolutions had such a significant impact that they can fittingly be labeled turning points. Two of these turning points, the Neolithic and French Revolutions, have drastically altered the world today. During the Paleolithic Period, which lasted from the start of human life until about 10,000 BCE, people were nomadic. They lived in small clans, usually consisting of 20-30 people, and spent much of their lives hunting and gathering. These early humans developed primitive tools, such as spears and axes, made from bone, wood, and stone. These peoples lived this way up until around 10,000 BCE, when they started cultivating crops and domesticating animals.
The start of using these new methods is known as the Neolithic Revolution. Throughout the Neolithic Revolution, people began to cultivate crops and domesticate animals, which was a major change from hunting and gathering. This caused permanent settlements to be established. New discoveries, inventions, and methods of farming developed during this revolution. Farmers developed new metal tools, such as the plow. They also developed a calendar to keep track of when to plant and harvest crops. As a result of permanent settlements being formed, a specialization of labor was created.
This divided the jobs between different members of the society, which gave rise to a government to regulate the work and a social class system. This new use of agriculture enabled humans to develop permanent settlements, social classes, and new technology. Some of these groups settled in the arable valleys of the Indus, Nile, and Tigris-Euphrates Rivers, which resulted in the rise of complex civilizations in Egypt, Mesopotamia, India, and China. Another major turning point in world history was the French Revolution. The French Revolution had many political, social, and economic causes. The political cause was that France was being ruled by an absolute monarch, and a weak one as well.
The Term Paper on Dominant Group People Social Person
Chapter 1 anomie Emile Durkheim's designation for a condition in which social control becomes ineffective as a result of the loss of shared values and of a sense of purpose in society. conflict perspectives the sociological approach that views groups in society as engaged in a continuous power struggle for control of scarce resources. functionalist perspectives the sociological approach that views ...
Most citizens were denied basic human rights and a say in their government. Socially, France was apportioned among three estates. The First and Second Estates flourished, whilst the Third Estate, which comprised of over 95% of the population, had the very little rights, the least amount of land, and paid the most taxes. The economic cause was that France was in financial trouble, due to overspending by King Louis XVI. France also suffered from food shortages, and the Third Estate encumbered severely. In 1789, King Louis XVI called the Estates General, which marked the beginning of the French Revolution as the Third Estate attempted to better their lives. The revolution started when the Third Estate declared itself the National Assembly and was determined to write a new constitution.
The New Constitution of 1791 limited the monarchy and set up a representative assembly. In 1792, radicals, led by Maximillien Robespierre, gain power. This started the Reign of Terror, which led to the death of many French citizens. After the Reign of Terror, moderates regain power, and five-man Directory was set up. The government became very weak because of this. In 1799, Napoleon gains power in a coup.
The Term Paper on Third Estate First French Society
The Old Regime was a period of time often considered by many to be representative of a crashed society. Under the Old Regime in France, the king was the absolute monarch. King Louis XIV had centralized power in the royal bureaucracy, the government departments that took care of his policies. King Louis' reign in France played a significant role in its history and economy. He was a king to all ...
In 1802 he declares himself Emperor of the French, and an absolute government rules France once again. The French Revolution had a major impact on the world. This revolution set precedents to other nations, such as Latin America. Many democratic ideas were spread across Europe, along with nationalistic ideas, that would eventually lead to the unification of Italy and Germany. The middle class grew in power, and would go on to politically dominate Europe, thus ending much autocratic rule. Political, economic, and social conditions have often led to turning points that have changed the course of history for nations and peoples.
Two turning pointsthe Neolithic Revolution and the French Revolutioncan be considered some of the most important turning points to date. The Neolithic Revolution gave rise to complex civilizations, and the French Revolution further spread nationalist ideas and the democratic ideas of Liberty, Equality, Fraternity..
