Understanding the UN, Social Stratification, and French Revolution Causes
The United Nations: A Foundation for Global Peace
The idea of substituting the League of Nations with a more effective body was discussed at various conferences during World War II. Allied nations, during the Moscow Conference, proposed creating an international organization founded on the sovereign equality of all countries. Its primary purpose was to ensure the maintenance of international peace and security.
The UN headquarters is in New York. The General Assembly, composed of representatives from each country, meets annually. The Security Council has 15 members, five of whom are permanent. A Secretary-General is appointed by the Assembly and serves for five years. The International Court of Justice is located in The Hague.
Stratified Society: A Historical Perspective
Stratified society, a legacy of feudalism, was divided into three groups: clergy, nobility, and the Third Estate. Membership in an estate was determined by birth; a peasant was born a peasant and died a peasant. There was no possibility of changing estates, although clergy were elected. There was no equality before the law; each estate had different rights and privileges. Social privileges marked daily life, reinforcing social differentiation. This system also influenced administrative positions.
Political and Economic Thought: The Enlightenment
The Enlightenment was a cultural movement that developed in Europe during the 18th century. It marked the culmination of the Age of Reason, which began in the 17th century, and the diffusion of rationalist and empiricist ideas. Also known as the Age of Reason, it spanned from 1715 to 1789, the beginning of the French Revolution. The Enlightenment sought to address human problems rationally, encompassing religious, philosophical, political, technical, and scientific aspects.
Key Enlightenment beliefs included:
- Human progress
- Freedom
- Equality
These principles challenged the social and political structures of the Old Regime.
Causes of the French Revolution
Several factors contributed to the French Revolution:
- The influence of Enlightenment philosophy, effectively disseminated by thinkers like Montesquieu and Rousseau.
- Social tensions within a class-based society of the late Ancien Régime.
- Economic crisis caused by subsistence issues and government investments in costly wars, such as the Seven Years’ War, which left farms in ruins due to excessive spending and low incomes.
- The revolt of the privileged in 1789, a political crisis between the monarchy of Louis XVI and the aristocratic estates.
Beginnings of the Revolution
In 1788, France faced an economic crisis, compounded by the revolt of the privileged. Minister Calonne proposed a tax on agricultural holdings and the abolition of seigneurial rights of the church. He proposed convening the Estates-General, which had not met since 1614. The bourgeoisie, representing the Third Estate, sought to use the Estates-General to impose their objectives.
Their demands were rejected, and the Third Estate convened separately in a hall, declaring themselves a National Assembly. The people rose up, and revolutionary days began with the storming of the Bastille prison. The Assembly abolished feudal rights and published the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen. The Assembly then drafted a constitution to guarantee these rights, becoming the Constituent Assembly.
Causes of World War I
The Spark: Assassination in Sarajevo
On June 28, 1914, Gavrilo Princip, a Bosnian student belonging to “Young Bosnia” and aided by the “Black Hand,” assassinated Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife in Sarajevo. Austria saw this as an opportunity to end Serbian nationalism with an exemplary punishment, even if it meant war. Austria sent an ultimatum to Serbia.
On July 28, 1914, Austria declared war on Serbia, prompting Russia to mobilize against Austria and Germany against Russia. The Triple Alliance was joined by Bulgaria and Turkey, while the Triple Entente gained support from Serbia, Belgium, Romania, Italy, Greece, Portugal, Japan, and the United States. Spain remained neutral.