7 viewpoints outline

8/2/2019 7 Viewpoints Outline

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Democracy established due to the class struggles

A. King John signs Magna Carta due to the noble's unhappiness with

his rule and abuse of power.

1. 1215- Nobles angry with King John for raising taxes to pay

for a costly and unsuccessful war in France and forced John to

sign Magna Carta, which limits the monarch's power

2. The social class of the "nobles" rebel against the oppressive

monarchy.

B. In 600 B.C. political reforms resulted from the economic and

political crisis

1. To pay for debts, poor farmers pledged part their crops to

wealthy landowners. Some later sold themselves into slavery.

Poor farmers are struggling

2. Solon, a respected statesman passed a law outlawing

slavery, and Athens avoided devastation of revolution and civilwar.

3. Established four classes of citizenship based on wealth

instead of heredity. Citizens of three higher classes could hold

office, all citizens could vote. This was established to try and

prevent further struggles of the lower class.

C. The American colonists protested when they were taxed heavily

by the British Empire.

1. They had no representatives in the British Parliament, and

took up the call no taxation without representation.

2. This was the cause of the American Revolution, which was

won by the Americans, giving their independence.

Class struggle in French Revolution/Enlightenment

D. Enlightenment ideas were proposed to keep balance among the

people and try to prevent social class struggles, but were overall

unsuccessful

1. Multiple thinkers contributed to enlightenment ideas.

Locke- natural rights, Voltaire- freedom of thought,

Wollstonecraft- women's rights, Montesquieu- separated

government powers.2. Catherine the Great was an enlightened despot who

reformed Russia with Enlightenment ideals

Followed the ideas of Montesquieu- religious tolerance, and Beccaria- abolishing

torture and capital punishment.

Because her reforms did little to improve the lives of Russian peasants, the serfs

rebelled in 1773.


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3. Enlightenment ideals were the ideas which gave peasants

motivation for the French Revolution

E. In the 18th century, dissatisfied peasants in France rose up against

the oppressive nobility in the French Revolution.

1. The clergy and nobility enjoyed many privileges, while the

commoners were forced to pay for their problems.

a) For example, the clergy and nobility were exempt from taxes,

although they had the most wealth. The peasants and

bourgeoisie, on the other hand, paid about half their income to

the government.

The only input the working class had in the government was a system in which each

of the three estates (the clergy, nobles, and working class) each had one vote.

However, since the clergy and nobles always sided against the commoners, this

system was negated as a result of the revolution.

2. In the aftermath of the war, the situation of the peasants

did not improve.

a. During the Reign of Terror, Maximilien Robespierre andother radicals who believed that monarchy should notexist, ruled over and oppressed those who opposed theirviews.

b. Oppressed become oppressors, France becomes socialclass struggle of the radicals against others.

c. After the Reign of Terror was ended, NapoleonBonaparte, a young general in the army, took control ofFrance. Under Napoleon, all people, nobles andcommoners alike, were equal, and were equallymistreated. Equalization->Less class struggle


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Industrial Age, proletariat versus bourgeoisie and Imperialism and

rebellions

F. In the Industrial Age, people moved from farms to factories in the

cities in a process known as urbanization.

1. Due to new inventions and opportunities, the middle class

began to rise in strength, wealth, and power.

2. Poor workers livelihoods were replaced by machines, and

they began to become poorer and poorer. Some people, called

Luddites, responded by smashing the machines that were putting

them out of work.

3. Proletariat rise up against bourgeoisie. Haves versus have

nots. Ideas of Marxism

G. Age of Imperialism was an age of oppression against the "lesser

beings" or savages by the industrialized Europe.

1. In the 19th century, Britain took control of India. ManyIndians were forced into servitude, and they became second class

citizens in their own country. The Indians eventually rebelled in

"Sepoy Rebellion"

2. The British restricted the powers of the native tribes in

Africa, taking some of them as slaves. They brutalized the slaves

and brought them to foreign countries as a source of free labor.

In many cases, the slaves later rebelled and eventually won their

freedom.


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3. The Boer War and fight for South Africa was a three way

class struggle. The powerful British dominated the weaker Dutch

who dominated the more primitive Zulus.

Struggles in the Modern World

H. A series of riots and demonstrations across Kyrgyzstan in April

2010 ultimately led to the ousting of President Kurmanbek Bakiyev

1. uprising stemmed from growing anger against Bakiyev's

administration, rising energy prices, and the sluggish economy,

and follow the government's closure of several media outlets.

Government reported to be corrupt

2. Protesters took control of a government office in Talas on

April 6, and on April 7 clashes between protesters and police in

the capital Bishkek turned violent. At least 88 deaths and over

1000 injuries have been confirmed

I. Social class struggle in Romania1. The Bourgeoisie tried to unload the weight of Romanias

economic crisis onto the working class.

2. A decrease in pay cuts and pension plans caused 10,000

members of the working class to protest in front of the Romanian

parliament on October 27th, 2010.

3. 25% cut in public sector wages and a 15% cut in pensions.

This is what led to the protests in May of this year which saw up

to 40,000 people marching through the streets of Buchares

J. The working class in India struggle against direct imperialist

exploitation and oppression.

1. Indian bourgeoisie exploit the Indian workers (dalits) and

force them to work under grueling conditions.

2. In January of 2009, oil workers in Bihar, India went on strike

to improve working conditions, but the protest was put down

when the state used ESMA (Essential Services Maintenance Act)

to crush the riots.

7 viewpoints outline

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