American Reacts to the French Revolution | Oversimplified Part 1

[@SoGal_YT]

Follow me on social media for a behind-the-scenes look at my learning journey: Instagram: instagram.com/sogal.yt/ Twitter: twitter.com/SoGal_YT Also like and subscribe if you enjoyed this video 👍🏻

[@jolan_tru]

If you get chance, watch through some "History Matters" They're only about 3 minutes and they're really quite informative.

[@typicalmovie7329]

Can you have a look a the English cival war (the one between the parliamentarians and royalists) after the French revolution

[@jolan_tru]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/rqrGgYh5Z8tprqM This may be a good one to start with about the US Civil War.

[@mrk8050]

Most of what we in the modern world would regard as making France, at that time, cultured and sophisticated actually came from how the Russian nobility behaved, ate and regarded the art's, except for music, that was co-opted from Prussian and Austrian society. France prerevolution tends to be viewed in a more fictional than earned or real, romantic overview. Yes, the Seven Years war of 1756 to 1763 did bankrupt France and her allies. But the real blunder for France was deciding to invest nearly 30% of its money and a large military force in the American Revolution while being in so much debt. I refer you to what I wrote on the French Revolution response. And yes, George Washington was a Major in the Seven year war, as well as the build up to it. However, he surrendered on the 3rd of July 1754 while in command of the Virginia Regiment at Fort Necessity (Pennsylvania) with 293 men, to 600 French and about 100 Native allies. After this he was offered a demotion to Captain, he refused and resigned his commission. He became re-involved in 1755 as an aide to General Braddock. In August 1755 the Virginia Regiment was again under his command, this time a Colonel, but he was out ranked by a Royally commissioned officer of Captain or higher. He was given a brevet (a brevet is a form of reward given for bravery etc) Brigadier General ship 1758 and put in charge of a Brigade during the Forbes Expedition to capture Fort Duquesne. But the French ran away, and other than friendly fire incident there was no action, after which he resigned again and became interested in politics. Oh dear, this video portrays King Louis XVI all wrong, he was actually very enlightened and intelligent, sadly for him the French Parliament of the time decided to go in a harsher direction with regards towards the peasantry, as apposed to the softer way King Louis wanted. But it was his idea to aid the Colonies against the British, but the French Parliament was also in favour. But the British Parliament had a lot more money available than France, helps to have an Empire. Yeah, it would have really helped if France had been paid back. Oh dear again, Marie Antoinette was not a crazy spender, and she never said "let them eat cake". She was actually a very private person, who preferred to be out of the public eye, sadly she has been on the wrong end of years of propaganda. Yes the French government taxed nearly everything, so much so that people were dropping dead in the streets from hunger and diseases. The man who really caused the terrible burdens on the Peasants was the Economic Minister Turgot. But it was easier to blame the King and spread propaganda. And yes, you are right, the Ministers, the Church and some of the middle class were behind most of the propaganda aimed at the King. The 3rd Estate actually had more votes than the Church and the Nobility put together (isn't propaganda great?). King Louis didn't lock them out of the building, it was the Nobility and some of the Church. Louis was more in favour of working with National Assembly than the 3rd Estate, and because of this the Nobility decided to take over with senior Clergy. The Jacobin Club was named after the Jacobite rising of 1745, when with the aid of Scottish Highland Lords supported Charles Stuart, or Bonnie Prince Charlie. It was the Nobility that sacked Jaques Necker because he wanted to tax the rich and the church, and Louis was in favour of it. It started being reasonably accurate until the crowd size marching on Versailles (hmmm, I'm pretty sure someone recently was stuck on "crowd size"), it was only about 2,500 people, but history is written by the victor. And we see more Marie Antoinette propaganda at the end. We get the term "eat the rich" from this time in French history, and it's not meant in the way Jeff Bezos or Elon Musk would hope. Tell Roger to take that silly French hat off...

[@SoGal_YT]

I’ve had a lot of recommendations for that channel. It’s on my list, thanks 😊

[@zefyrisd69]

The video : "American Reacts to the French Revolution" Me, as a French : "...ok, but which revolution?"

[@Etatdesiege1979]

Nice slight oh hand.

[@bobmeyer854]

I know you had revolutions in the 19th century. But in America the term "French Revolution" refers to what I think you guys call the Revolution of 1789. It was massively impactful on world history for one thing and specifically for us it has direct relevance to US history. So yeah it is why we focus on it as THE French Revolution.

[@anthonynicholson5193]

I am Australian i was like the same which one of the French revolutions lol.

[@nigelfranklin4752]

Yes. Would be better to call it A French Revolution rather than THE French Revolution.

[@zefyrisd69]

@@bobmeyer854 yes, and when someone say "the", we obviously know which one it is. But in reverse, saying "the" is giving peoples the wrong impression (as in, that there's only one). Which leads to follow up like " The French revolution, like we see in Les misérables'!". which isn't the same revolution. So calling it "the" comes at a cost imo.

[@LightxHeaven]

The French Revolution is a lot more complex than people think. When they say Oversimplified, they mean it. Oh and the window tax was a real thing.

[@mikestauffer7033]

still is

[@top-notch8277]

​@@mikestauffer7033not really

[@TheAnomalousCat]

@@top-notch8277cry harder, blackie! 😂

[@tonywilkinson6895]

And the moral of the story is, don't give financial help to the Americans. 😄

[@melkor3496]

True haha

[@olivierdk2]

But China did it in the last decade, and.... OHHH shit.

[@AnalyticalMenace]

Especially if you're already in debt.

[@lindaeasley5606]

The moral of the story is don't live high off the backs of poor people and oppress them

[@captaindelta43]

Facts

[@melkor3496]

Oversimplified is really good just remember it is OVERSIMPLIFIED.

[@shahinkeller2340]

Obviously...the clue is in the name of the channel 🤦‍♂️

[@AnalyticalMenace]

W-what's your point?

[@nootnoot9784]

@@AnalyticalMenace the point is most oversimplified haters state that he misses things and is biased when it's oversimplified he's not gonna go into detail with every little thing

[@hansmahr8627]

The question is just if it's a good thing to oversimplify history to produce easily consumable snippets representing incredibly complex events. People watch these videos and think they've actually learned something. But there's so much misinformation and simplification that it probably does more harm than good. I don't have anything against pop history, it's a great way to get people into the subject. But there's good pop history and bad pop history. Hardcore History for example is not produced by a historian and it does contain errors and outdated interpretations but Dan Carlin at least goes into some detail, using decent sources and eyewitness accounts. People can actually learn something by listening to his podcasts. Most of the pop-historical stuff on KZbin however is extremely shallow and often completely wrong. There are exceptions of course, Historia Civilis for example, but they're in the minority.

[@Souledex]

For example, the motivations of nearly every person and side in this video are heavily misrepresented to help explain the French Revolution as a meme rather than a historical event. If anyone wants a summary that isn’t deliberately misinformative listen to the Revolutions podcast, the third series is on the French Revolution

[@marcuswardle3180]

Just a note. Marie Antoinette is now recognised as never had saying “Let them eat cake”. It was first quoted that she said those words fifty years after the Revolution. The story had been around for years before and given to many other people.

[@lucyfur]

Precisely, Maria Antoinette was vilified and used as a scapegoat because the people didn't really want to think that the king was truly behind their problem. She did try to reduce her spending but then she was blamed for the silk merchants losing money. Very much a case of damned if you do damned if you don't.

[@minhvuongtran5544]

@@lucyfur Colluding with the Austrian, escaping with the king not long after accepting the 1791 Constiution. Hur dur muh innocent queen. Yeah she didn't say 'let them eat cake', instead she built a whole Hameau de la Reine just to cosplay as poor people. Much better isn't it

[@avatardm]

"Let them eat cake" is also reference to french law, that during famine bakers are obligated to sell cake and similar the same price as bread, thus preventing them to use flour for luxury instead of feeding ppl.

[@qwadratix]

No, it was Melania Trump.

[@minhvuongtran5544]

@@PomegranatePomPom LOL Literally gave her brother France war plan, literally escaped to the border of, you guessed it, Austria with her husband who embarrassed his own supporter who believed and defenced his running off as being kidnapped. Or you gonna dump all it out on Louis now? Cringe ass monarchist

[@kevinshort3943]

"The French had a revolution, where they invented being French!" -- The Pub Landlord.

[@kevinshort3943]

@@valentinelupin8595 That's a very leading question :)

[@alt1f4]

@@kevinshort3943 are you schizophrenic?

[@kevinshort3943]

@@alt1f4 Wibble!! I'm guessing Valentine Lupin, has been a very naughty boy though.

[@shanenolan8252]

Btw I appreciate that you are willing to learn . Education is a life long process , my dad went to college again in his 60s

[@lester1773]

They seek him here, they seek him there, those Frenchies seek him everywhere. Is he in heaven or is he in hell? That demned elusive Pimpernel.

[@TheDJdragonflame]

Just a quick note: It was less rich vs. poor and more of an powerful vs. normal people. The 3rd estate was made up of everybody that wasn't a priestor a noble, which included even the most wealthy of traders. So while the first 2 estates were rich that came more as a side effect of being part of the institutional powers rather than being exclusive to them.

[@wilhelmii6221]

5:23 Yes, france was at that time the center of culture, music and science

[@CruelestChris]

France has always been the cultural centre of France's universe.

[@angelr.5123]

Go to the Hell, Wilhem II of German Empire, you should go to the Hell bacause fund the Comunist.

[@kingjongedorian6088]

@@angelr.5123 Is this a joke?

[@angelr.5123]

@@kingjongedorian6088 No, Wilhem IIKaiser of the Kaiserreich found the Lennin party.

[@kingjongedorian6088]

@@angelr.5123 Communism existed before Lenin

[@andrewcomerford9411]

When you consider that people literally study this subject for decades, videos like this are a good start for a general outline. Everyone looked to France for fashion, literature, and culture, and the ability to speak French was considered the epitome of civilisation (for centuries, the language of the Imperial Russian Court was (very bad) French).

[@tibsky1396]

"From now on, every man has two homelands, his own and France", Thomas Jefferson would have declared after the two joint battles of Yortown and Chesapeake Bay in 1781. Suddenly, no wonder he contributed a little to the French Revolution.

[@iainsan]

France was the most populous and rich country in Europe from the Middle Ages right through to the 19th century. It was also seen as the centre of European culture. French was the language of diplomacy until the 20th century and the second language of the European elite. Paris was widely seen as the most cultured, sophisticated and sexually free city in Europe. So the video was not exaggerating at all.

[@CovfefeDotard]

I hated school but I loved science and history

[@Electrodudimanche]

In France, we're not taught a lot about american history. Even back when I was in school when the colonization was not seen as bad as it is today ( it's history, history is not bad or wrong, it is facts and facts don't care about our emotions, we have to deal with it ), we did not learn a lot about america history. We mostly learn what is still having big impact today for France, the french revolution, napoleon, first world war but once you go to highschool, it world war 2 and cold war until you graduate 3 years down the line. So yeah, USA history ? Not seen realy important by French elite that make our school programs. And I'm sure that's about the same for USA. Don't worry, only an idiot will tell you "what you don't know that from that country history ???". Sadly there's a ton of them...

[@bltsdsubbie]

21:20 "So why was it just women?" Well, of course it wasn't JUST women, but you'll find that in a lot of revolutions, especially those that were sparked by famine, women were often at the forefront of the enciting riots. Because women were responsible for running the household, including cooking and grocery shopping, they were the ones going to the marketplace and finding bakeries empty. If you do decide to research revolutionary history, you may come across the phrase/image of "women whispering in breadlines". The women of Paris marched to Versailles to ask the king for bread to support their families, and Louis did indeed open the granaries. The crowd returned to Paris, singing joyfully about how their sorrows were over because they'd "fetched the royal baker". The problem here was, obviously, that Louis was a king, not a baker. He had a lot of power, but even he couldn't make food appear out of thin air. So things continued to escalate. I'm trying really hard not to just dump a full essay in the comments here, but the role of women in the French Revolution was both fascinating and unfortunately typical. At first, they were very involved in the hands-on work, and images of patriotic women with rifles abounded. Some wealthy women even formed proto-feminist clubs where they discussed womens' rights. But once the Republic was established and the government started having to put down dissent (both political and food-related), whispering women in breadlines and bourgeois suffragettes were suddenly quite a problem. So as the National Convention tried to consolidate its power and prove its legitimacy, women's clubs were disbanded and their voice in politics forcibly reduced, both because of the unrest they inspired and to create the image that "everything is fine, we're creating a peaceful society here where all is as Nature intended (meaning men are free and politically active, and women stay at home to raise good Republicans)". As such, images of revolutionary women shifted to be more gentle and symbolic, like the picture of the young woman in the white dress, which became the official symbol of the First French Republic and remained heavily associated with France until well into the 20th century. This pattern pops up a lot: (poor!) women incite protests against the established order, wealthy women form organisations and work alongside male revolutionaries to bring about change, a new order is established, and the male leaders push women out of their political movements so they can stabilise their new regime.

[@Comissar_Carolus]

Missing a VERY important part about that march on Versailles. When the women came to Versailles they asked to see the Queen, and she did through a balcony and even bowed before the people, in a symbolic gesture. Secondly three women were invited to meet the King and he did, and all of those three women were very respectful when they met the King showing that the people weren't angry towards the King himself. That's why I don't like the Oversimplified on the French Revolution because it's very misleading even for casual history...

[@andyp5899]

French was for a long time the world (Europe and Russia) diplomatic language

[@envinyatar5712]

It *still* is. That's decided at the Vienna Congress in 1815. In Vienna, they declared the Concert of Europe, and a standardised convention for the European diplomacy, and an officially acclaimed language for that, which was French. Then came the Berlin Conference in 1884 where Otto von Bismarck proposed that English should be accepted a secondary language for diplomacy as it is widely spoken in the world. He did so to challenge France. (For he knew that the French would not accept, and the British would not be eager to support his decision if he proposed German.) Then the United States declared in 1945, the languages the UN would function by: English, French, Russian, Spanish, Mandarin Chinese and Arabic. Historically speaking, French is the foremost lingua franca in legal sense, and at any part of the world, you may rightfully demand a document to be written in French. (Bear in mind, just to annoy Anglos. ^_^)

[@iwatchDVDsonXbox360]

Missed you, i hope to see videos from you more frequently. It seems like you should stick to more serious channels. I could recommend The People Profiles, Biographics, Kings and Generals, UsefulCharts, Knowledgia, Odd Compass and again History of China)

[@andrewclayton4181]

Yes the bread March to Versaille was mainly women as the were trying to feed their families and due to the poor harvest there was a shortage.

[@quoniam426]

France power in Europe actually was quite recent, dating from Francois 1st in the Renaissance and later from Louis 14th, when he could win a war, Louis made a point in soft power and diplomacy, thus making the French language to be spoken by every court in Europe, including Russia. French stayed the official diplomatic language in the world until quite recently when the United Nations had their headquarters in New York. The 7 years War can be regarded as the actual first Worldwide war, it impacted every continent as much as WW1 did 150 years later. Louis 16th wasn't stupid contrary to what the video says, he was UNDECISVE, a crucial difference and to be fair, he wasn't supposed to reign, his elder brothers were, but Louis 15th lived to long that they died before him, leaving L16th the Throne. And manipulation from rising bourgeoisie began much earlier in L14th times. Tax terrorrism was always a thing even much earlier in History, pretty since sedentarization society and administration was invented, so approx 10 thousand years ago... As for the bad harvesting, it was mainly because of bad luck with weather and that pesky Iceland or whereever volcanos, one of those which paralyed air traffic a few years ago !!! The bourgeoisie very implanted into banks and industry was taking advantage of the situation to manipulate the hungry crowd against Monarchy, kinda like what happened in Russia early 20th Century.And it still is the same kind of people who are in charge now. Power and money hungry thugs. Irony is the Third Estate was also representing the raising bourgeoisie and the poor and peasants who didn't know how to write and count never were really taken into account in the Estates General meeting... The other irony is that L16th could have made a constitutional monarchy work had he really wanted to seize the opportunity, but fearing to lose face in front of other monarchies, he bailed out and tried to escape, losing the trust of the revolutionaries definitively. The irony was also that he himself wrote such a constitution during his intellectual training as a young man... He just didn't have the guts not charisma for the job, he was simply the wrong man for the job at the wrong time. Someone like St Louis or De Gaulle would have taken up the challenge, that is according to their character and personality (not the historical facts of course), someone with a grand idea of the country, greater than their own ego. L16th was mostly interested in science and his favorite hobby was repairing locks and keys ! He was one of the only French kings who didn't have countless lovers and cheating on his wife, he prefer to be at the workshop making locks and organizing science expeditions throughout the world, he would have made an awesome Science Minister today... Sadly History decided otherwise. Jefferson was with Benjamin Franklin (at the time the Ambassador of the US in France) in France and remained in France during the Revolution while Franklin returned to the US. Franklin was the guy who convinced France to join the party against the British Empire during the US War of Independance. The Napoleon fell in 1814 and for the second time in 1815, the Restauration Monarchy was in fact a puppet State puppeteered by the British Empire, at least at first. Than the Second Republic was founded after Louis Philippe, the Bourgeois King was thrown out of the throne and Napoleon's nephew, Prince Louis Napoleon was elected through many shenanigans Prince President and made a coup to become Emperor himself in 1850 founding the Second Empire until his fall in 1870 against Bismarck's army at Sedan. Prussians, newly becoming the unified Germany occupied Paris and its region for several months and left when the government paid their due as war reparations also leaving the Easter regions of Alsace and Lorraine to the newly formed German Reich. And they sowre to retake those regions one day, leading to an anti German propaganda during 40 years leading to WW1. (wasn't the reason of the war, but it was certainly an opportunity)

[@Quessir]

Not very fair to say that Marie Antoinette was "spending all of France's money". Her political enemies sure said as much, and to be sure, she was spending a LOT. But she was also hated from the very start because she was Austrian, and the French-Austrian alliance was one of necessity, not a genuine desire to be allied together. Austria was France's traditional enemy, and she became a symbol of that hated alliance. Court was a stuffy place, full of ridiculous protocol, so what was a young girl to do to keep herself occupied? Parties, of course. Endless diversions to keep from going insane at how lonely she was in a court riddled with protocol. The most famous example is probably the Hameau, the model village she had made so she and her friends could act out a simpler life. Of course, it's also true that as the Queen, she was meant to spend money. She was the patron of the fashion industries after all, and she was expected to be a trendsetter in this way. She also had charities which she gave to generously - on one occasion, she had her children give away their Christmas toys to poor peasant children because she thought they already had too much. But she was distrusted and disliked from the start, so she never had much of a chance of gaining any kind of positive press. Centuries on, the libellistes work survives in the image of Marie Antoinette as a spendthrift who knowingly spent all around her while France fell further into financial ruin. Though she had no power to do so, when her husband fell into depression over the state of things, she tried to exert political will on the running of the country in order to attempt to fix things, and she was hated for this, too, because the Queen traditionally never held any real power or had any business being in government. And no, she never said, "Let them eat cake".

[@geoffbeattie3160]

It is very easy to learn history in europe because the monuments and buildings all tell a story so we can re live parts of history on a stroll around old cities!

[@melkor3496]

True in my city we have statues of Great leaders and characters of my country there is a lot of leftover stuff from the past in Europe.

[@SoGal_YT]

Interesting thought. We have that somewhat regarding American history, but yeah...nothing like Europe.

[@aragorniielessar1894]

There is a mistake in the video, Marie Antoinette never said "let them eat cake" that's a myth it was actually said 100 years before her by Marie-Thérèse, the wife of Louis XIV. And it was let them eat brioche

[@ichmeiner4531]

If you're interested in history and like the narration style from 'Oversimplified', I absolutely recommend the KZbin channel 'extra credits'. It's highly detailed, well researched, the narration is great and they ALWAYS make follow up videos to clear up any mistakes they made. Subjects range from early human civilization to the modern era, from places to events to people. Just overall great. Absolutely worth checking out.

[@tibsky1396]

Louis XVI was not that weak, just indecisive and badly advised. For example, he supported the expedition around the world undertaken by Jean-François de La Pérouse in 1785 (to such an extent that when he got on the scaffold, he was still hoping to hear from them). And its naval and military policy allowed the French Navy to compete with the Royal British Navy during the Anglo-French War (1778-1783), even surpass them at certain times (when this had been the main problem of the Seven Years War). Then his decision to aid the American insurgents was one of the major decisions he was able to make in his foreign policy. Unless he was influenced by Enlightenment thinkers, he was not inert as the video tells it.

[@Iceman9122]

Just an interesting fact lingua franca means a language used for trade due to its popularity. This comes to us because French was the first lingua franca

[@CruelestChris]

I'm fairly sure Ancient Greek would like a few words with you about that.

[@Krokrodyl]

“Lingua franca” literally translates to “language of the Franks”, where “Franks” refers to any Western Europeans during the time of the Byzantine Empire. French was not the first lingua franca, look up pidgin, sabir or creole for more information.

[@DanishHellhound]

Before ridiculing the french voting system then, take a look at the american voting system today xD

[@paulchapoy992]

These are really simplified movies and a bit false. My opinion as a french is that the poor Louis 16 had not been trained to reign because his elder brother, who had been trained, died. He paid the price for Louis 14, who spent to much on war and buildings (he built Versailles and made it gigantic), and also for Louis 15, who organised big parties in Versailles in order to continue to please the nobelty. And also, Louis 16 decided to help the US to get their indépendance as we have the same ideal of freedom, we call Liberté. It was the Era of Enlightements in France, even if Louis 16 was not ready yet to abandon his power to the revolutionaries. When Louis 16 came into power, there was just no more money, and the people was starving. I mean those, called the tiers-Etat, who didn't have the privilege to not pay taxes, that is to say the nobles and the church. Louis 16 would have saved his skin if he had accepted a parlementary kingdom, giving some power to the parlement. But he didn't want to recognize the parlement and to abandon his absolute power. Marie-Antoinette de France didn't spend so much! She was hated because she refused to accept the etiquette and to live with the court. She built the queen's hammet next to the Grand Trianon, and lived far from the court. She was then accused to have a depraved live with lovers, and as she refused to leave the way she was supposed to, she was not accepted and was called "the Austrian". The guillotine was invented (by Monsieur Guillotin?) to make the condamned people suffer less than with a chop (you are killed instantly). The terror was established by Robespierre because there was a civil war with conservative opponents called Chouans that wanted to impeach the Revolution to succeed. Robespierre thought to kill all the opponents was the only way for the Revolution to succeed. France was in war with all the other European countries that were kingdoms that didn't accept the french revolution. The first consul Bonaparte was accepted as a savior, and finally as a heroe, as he was winning all his battles. (Napoleon had had a great training in the artillery army) He was a bit greedy by attacking Russia which was a huge country. Adolf Hitler did exactly the same mistake later on, as he was a great admire of Napoléon. Napoléon Bonaparte had no other option than to accept to get rid of Louisiane, the land won by Louis 14, and he sold it for a ridiculous amount of money, as Louisianne was going up to Canada. but he couldn't be on two fronts at the same time and he new he had to abandon Louisianne in order to focus on European front!

[@milostomic8539]

This was one of the bloodiest and most brutal revolutions in human history, and it also gave birth to Napoleon who crowned himself an emperor and dictator.

[@Comissar_Carolus]

Why dictator ? British propaganda worked well with you... he crowned himself because he was pushed by many to do so, I'm not saying he didn't like that but the fact is that he never intended in the first place to be emperor.

[@CleastIntwood]

@@Comissar_Carolus So you don't actually dispute that he was a dictator, just the way he became one?

[@Comissar_Carolus]

@@CleastIntwood He was an emperor not a Dictator.

[@CleastIntwood]

@@Comissar_Carolus A dictator can be a king, an emperor, a theocrat of some sort, a president etc. Still a dictator.

[@milostomic8539]

@@Comissar_Carolus He made laws entirely on his own and his power was unchecked. When one state collapses dictators always use that to grab power. Same happened in Soviet Union with Stalin, and in post WW1 Germany with Hitler.

[@Manu-rb6eo]

well..... It's to much oversimplified.... There are very important things that haven't been mentioned and it's stick a little bit to much with the propaganda at this time that wasn't very true.....specially about Marie Antoinette

[@ianprince1698]

most of the UK watched the" carry on" comedy films for their history before that they read a tale of two cities

[@nickdoughty518]

US tax is very low compared to other western countries. You pay about 30% of income, UK 44%, Denmark about 60% but they get excellent services.

[@coasterexpert7501]

But compared to canadas tax rate it is nearly identical.

[@Comissar_Carolus]

Louis XVI wasn't a bad King, he tried to reform france but he had bad ministers... he was ready to accept some changes. It's the republic propaganda to make him a very indecisive and stupid King but he was someone that wasn't really fit to be King but he did his best nevertheless. Also I want to point out that at the begining of the Revolution the French weren't against the monarchy, if Louis hadn't try to escape we could have nowaday a government like in Britain. And many noble wanted to get rid of the King. The Revoltion wouldn't have been succesful if they didn't get the support of some people among the richest, they wanted position and a better place but instead were mostly killed by the extremist...

[@captaindelta43]

What we learnt from history of French rev Don't be persuaded by someone named guillotine and Napolean , and make your own self govt . Don't go on war if your people aren't interested Never , i mean never help America financially , because they never pay you back.

[@sayedsayedy9052]

I think you should react to “ Cold War ” by Oversimplified. Thanks

[@andrewclayton4181]

Marie Antoinette is rather maligned in the cartoon. She wasn't popular in France at the time BECAUSE she was Austrian. She was viewed with suspicion and maligned in the contemporary writings, mainly due to her foreign origins. Recently a more sympathetic view has been taken and a lot of the scurrilous accusations have been revised. I don't think Marat was quite as nihilistic as is portrayed here either, though he did treat his condition by bathing and met his end there at the hands of a female assassin.

[@Alex-df1zf]

France was the cultural leading nation in the world for centuries indeed, biggest population and was a kingdom/country for a very long time compared to its neighbours

[@JollyOldCanuck]

To be fair to the British they taxes the 13 colonies at a lower rate than the Isles, unlike other European powers.

[@johngriffiths9401]

Read ‘A Tale of Two Cities’ by Charles Dickens, it starts: ‘It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness.’ If not, watch the 1958 film based on the book.

[@phueal]

If there's *any* part of world history that Americans should learn it is the French Revolution. Well done for doing so. The American Revolution and French Revolution are so closely related in the foundational philosophies and even some of the characters (*ahem* Lafayette).

[@nickdoughty518]

It is said that one of the reasons the US drives on the right is you copied the French after the revolution. The French aristocrats drove on the left, which was the usual practice everywhere, so after the revolution everyone drove on the right. We never had a revolution so the UK still drives on the left, as do most countries that were part of the British Empire.

[@tonyhawk94]

Well the "class" view of the revolution is a very misleading one, the revolution was essentially made by the "bourgeoisie", rich people who weren't nobles, but often richer than most nobles. There were actually more like three sides in the revolution : The counter-revolution, the "liberals" bourgeoisie, the "statists" (Robespierre, Napoléon). :)

[@SoGal_YT]

Yeah, my gut was telling me that he wasn't quite presenting the whole picture. Guess that's why it's called "oversimplified."

[@tonyhawk94]

@@SoGal_YT Yup but you'll see in the second part that he covers it all quite good actually. :) Thanks for your content. ;)

[@christiandaugherty6339]

Robespierre and Napoleon didn't have much in common. Robespierre's basis of support was largely the urban poor, whereas Napoleon was supported by the richer sections of the population who thought the revolution had become too radical. Robespierre and the Jacobins abolished slavery, Napoleon reintroduced slavery, etc.

[@Qendrese3549]

It's not really misleading - the French Revolution was more radical than you think. When the monarchy was overthrown in 1792 (at the behest of the sans-coulottes and Paris Sections), universal (male) suffrage was created, and later in 1793-94 many deputies, notably those sent in the provinces, engaged in proto-socialist policies, like redistribution of the lands confiscated to those convicted of treason, free and non religious public education, abolition of slavery, price fixing... Not everything worked well and not everything was applied perfectly or for long, but still, the French Revolution, especially in its 92-94 period was very radical and certainly not friendly towards purely bourgeois interests. Later in 1796, a revolutionary named Babeuf wrote a authentically proto-communist manifesto.

[@nickdoughty518]

Coming to history as an adult is no bad thing as you get to understand things with more context.

[@Trebor74]

France assisted the American Revolution as a way of making Britain fight a two front war. The cost of aiding the American Revolution caused the French Revolution where all the aristocracy that helped America had the heads chopped off.

[@chrisbovington9607]

Key Point. The French Revolution is complex with many stages and many twists. By all means, get an overview first. If you do want to learn more, though, you should probably focus on one stage at a time. Otherwise your head might explode.

[@ppcc5340]

Maybe this has been adressed in a previous comment but anyway: One factor playing in the start of the Revolution (in French when we put the big R we know it's THAT one) that is largely overshadowed is the bourgeoisie's role. Legally, society was divided in three classes: the "privilegied" Nobility and Clergy (literraly, that special, i.e private laws applying to them), and the Third Estate. BUT the Third Estate was not only poor, starving, flee infested peasants. A special class had emerged, enriched by trade and the precursors of industrialization: the bourgeoisie. By this point, they had often more money than the nobility, but still had to face a glass ceiling when it came to the political power they felt should come with it (also, the prestige in a culture where it meant a great deal). Some of them turned to enlightened philosophers ideas and began to ask for a change in government and society's order. So when the Estate Generals where called, they were given the platform they needed, and became one of if not the group fueling the beginings of the Revolution (until things got of of hands, upsi). Anyway, for whoever reads this, hope it is of interest. Love the concept of this channel!

[@derdingsreturnsnochmal5177]

5:30 It was considered a role model by many people (probably because of Charlemagne). To give you a quick example: King Friedrich the Great of Prussia had ordered his official court language to be French.

[@rob9853]

Most european courts actually

[@Comissar_Carolus]

Marat was just a mad man... good thing he was assassinated by Charlotte Corday, he was one of the leader of the infamous "terreur".

[@Qendrese3549]

He wasn't a madman and most of his "wild" accusations in his papers (about Mirabeau's corruption, Lafayette and Dumouriez's treason, the war being a mistake) turned out to be accurate.

[@coldcomfortfarm8557]

Windows were taxed here in UK too - you can still see some bricked up.

[@adrazuel]

daylight robbery

[@shanenolan8252]

Women were very involved most radical revolutionaries

[@chrisbovington9607]

10:42 "The US government likes to tax stuff. It's just a government thing, I guess." You are right that all governments like to tax things. That's like humans liking to have blood in their veins. You can't have a government without funds. But it tickles me pink that so many Americans are resentful of taxes. What would you do without them? You would have no army, police, hospitals, roads, etc. except those controlled by, and serving the interests of, the rich. Moreover, taxes in America are much less than most of the developed world.

[@rkoopa_bro]

Exactly, I understand that we need to have taxes so that our government can help us but it is just annoying to see my tax dollars going towards something that I feel is not necessary and silly

[@chrisbovington9607]

@@rkoopa_bro Yeah, but other people think the same about the stuff you think is important. Part of being a member of a society. Can't really escape that one unless you... A. Live alone in the woods, or B. Become a dictator. So maybe it will help if you think of it like this: The stupid wasting of tax money is the price we pay to have all the stuff we can't make and do ourselves. It's like a dumb tax for goodies.

[@ItsNotFootball]

So the French had a revolution because some Yanks wouldn't pay their taxes and preferred having a tea party.

[@leduoanime9156]

That's oversimplified.

[@ItsNotFootball]

@@leduoanime9156 you are correct. It was meant as a glib remark that was funny to me at the time. Maybe we don't share the same type of humour.

[@terryjosie]

1784: Adam Weishaupt issues his order for the French Revolution to be started by by Maximilien Robespierre in book form. This book was written by one of Weishaupt's associates, Xavier Zwack, and sent by courier from Frankfurt to Paris. However en route there, the courier is struck by lightning, the book detailing this plan discovered by the police, and handed over to the Bavarian authorities. 1786: The Bavarian government publish the details of the Illuminati plot in a document entitled, "The Original Writings of The Order and Sect of The Illuminati." They then send this document to all the heads of church and state throughout Europe, but sadly their warning is ignored.

[@guiguijol]

Tennis did not exist at those times. It was palm game. This moment is called "traité du jeu de paume" "Palm game's treaty" Oversimplified isn't a way to describe what happened in our country thoses days. But...yeah.... If you want to get a more detailed explanation, you should try to find the tv movie "la révolution française" en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_R%C3%A9volution_fran%C3%A7aise_(film) there are certainly dubbed version or at least with subtitles. Fascinating.

[@Naylte]

09:39 Also known as a poll tax. You may have heard about Margaret Thatcher's poll tax, euphemistically referred to as the Community Charge, but did you know a poll tax was first tried in 14th century England, provoking the Peasant's Revolt? 09:41 And the window tax was also used in Britain, albeit more on the middle class. 19:47 I was surprised to find he was the US ambassador to France a the time, too. I thought he was president by then. 23:16 I can never remember if the existing republic in France is the fourth or fifth.

[@paulchapoy992]

These are really simplified movies and a bit false. My opinion as a french is that the poor Louis 16 had not been trained to reign because his elder brother, who had been trained, died. He paid the price for Louis 14, who spent to much on war and buildings (he built Versailles and made it gigantic), and also for Louis 15, who organised big parties in Versailles in order to continue to please the nobelty. And also, Louis 16 decided to help the US to get their indépendance as we have the same ideal of freedom, we call Liberté. It was the Era of Enlightements in France, even if Louis 16 was not ready yet to abandon his power to the revolutionaries. When Louis 16 came into power, there was just no more money, and the people was starving. I mean those, called the tiers-Etat, who didn't have the privilege to not pay taxes, that is to say the nobles and the church. Louis 16 would have saved his skin if he had accepted a parlementary kingdom, giving some power to the parlement. But he didn't want to recognize the parlement and to abandon his absolute power. Marie-Antoinette de France didn't spend so much! She was hated because she refused to accept the etiquette and to live with the court. She built the queen's hammet next to the Grand Trianon, and lived far from the court. She was then accused to have a depraved live with lovers, and as she refused to leave the way she was supposed to, she was not accepted and was called "the Austrian". The guillotine was invented (by Monsieur Guillotin?) to make the condamned people suffer less than with a chop (you are killed instantly). The terror was established by Robespierre because there was a civil war with conservative opponents called Chouans that wanted to impeach the Revolution to succeed. Robespierre thought to kill all the opponents was the only way for the Revolution to succeed. France was in war with all the other European countries that were kingdoms that didn't accept the french revolution. The first consul Bonaparte was accepted as a savior, and finally as a heroe, as he was winning all his battles. (Napoleon had had a great training in the artillery army) He was a bit greedy by attacking Russia which was a huge country. Adolf Hitler did exactly the same mistake later on, as he was a great admire of Napoléon. Napoléon Bonaparte had no other option than to accept to get rid of Louisiane, the land won by Louis 14, and he sold it for a ridiculous amount of money, as Louisianne was going up to Canada. but he couldn't be on two fronts at the same time and he new he had to abandon Louisianne in order to focus on European front!

[@Badartist888]

10:45 the problem is the US government doesn't like to tax things. The tax rate has never been lower. But the tax burden on the poorest is higher. Kind of like how it was shifted before the French Revolution.... But for those MAGA types.... Pick a decade you think America was great and look at the tax rates. It will also be before neo-liberalism. Basically, it was what we would consider these days socialist.

[@krisa990]

Yes,France was the model for many other european countries in cases like fashion,etiquete,style,arts,also for long periods economically and military powerful,on of the most powerful countries in Europe and the world for many centuries. Many courts around Europe spoke french as that was the highest fashion.Its language was considered like the english is today,world wide and something every educated person should know.

[@cpcoultertweedles7216]

Some people don't quite get how out of touch summoning the Estates General was. Imagine if Congress hadn't been summoned since the Civil War. Imagine how much of a struggle it would be to do the very basics (figure out how many people were supposed to be there, who was supposed to be there, the basic mechanics of how to run Congress etc). Then imagine taking these representatives that have been pretty hastily chosen and who are largely unqualified, and telling them, "I want you to rebuild our economy." It's a nice enough theoretical idea to get the people to advise you, but the way King Louie XVI went about it was so flawed that it made the whole situation worse.

[@azertyqwerty8398]

OK, so the economical crisis arose during the reign of Louis XIV, who led a great number of wars during his long, long life (this guy died after his grandchildren!), which allowed France to remain the first power in Europe, but created a lot of debts.

[@lindaeasley5606]

Brand new America was paying off debt to broke Britain. Britain was in financial difficulty when they decided to cause trouble for the colonies. In fact it was not a popular war among the British people and parliament. Every nation was in financial straits. The Brits,French and Spanish spent years warring with eachother

[@karenblackadder1183]

And, just like then, the French are still revolting! (Of course, in Britain, that last word has two meanings) Guess which one the British use😀😀

[@haraldschuster3067]

The rich were not pitted against the poor, that's a misconception. The rich just believed that this was god's intended order. The poor weare meant to be poor and the rich couldn't relate to how the poor lived, having never been poor themselves. This is a firmly entrenched class society. There's no moving between classes. Being born poor meant you remained poor, being born rich meant you grew up rich and - most likely - remained rich through your life. You can think of this as parallel societies living side by side.

[@Tenvalmestr]

It's oversimplified, but the most important is here. It's not that much a class revolt, since the bourgeoisie (sorry, I don't know the word for it in english) was rich but was also in the thirt estate. It's more the privileges for the clergy and the nobility who was an issue. But if there wasn't the financial crisis and the harvest disaster, people wouldn't have probably revolted (I mean not as much as they did).

[@democracyisnon-negociable3819]

Someone once told me French Revolution is a mix between Russian bloody revolution and American Revolutionaries ideas

[@Bridgejunky2]

There was a lot of cross pollination among the thinkers behind the American and French revolutions.

[@andyp5899]

Yet another aside When a queen gave birth there were a lot of people in the room not just the medics. This was to ensure the child was truly from the queen's body.

[@Volnas97]

Fun fact: 7 year war, was basically the first world war, because people were fighting around the world, but it isn't named as such (for some reason) Also Louis 16th wasn't supposed to be a king, but after his grandfather, father and older brother dies around the same time, he was the only choice. Also also, The cake thing never happened. Cakes didn't even exist back then.

[@jarapotucek9898]

France was in debt becouse they were the europe superpower that was Best in everything so they had to fought many wars to defent this přímé position And the number of wars is very very big And it was very costly

[@Adiscretefirm]

French and British rulers had been spending their countries into debt for centuries with stupid wars with each other. France tried to make their home population pay it off, the UK tried to shift some of it to the American colonists. Both approaches inspired revolution.

[@onemoreminute0543]

I'll be honest, I've never seen what happened in America as a 'revolution' - the term 'independence war' more accurately describes what it was.

[@krisa990]

SogGal,its nice to see your ambitions here...I applaude you...I hope you can do many reactions in history subjects..

[@dragonforce2724]

The porsh reffernce was over the new wine and the industry they wanted to set so as they said the peasants should work on those fields more this went so bad that you had two days of unpaid work to do each week and i talk about 24 hours this was generally seen as a gentle lord discission right before the revolution there were lords outright making slaves out of peasants stripping them of clothes lands ect becaus they couldnt pay the tax anymore This was the boiling point and becaus these lords were never honest to nobility and such curroption spread further the angry peasants started to revolt and they had their hatred on the king becaus he allowed such horrible things to happen

[@haraldschuster3067]

Marat and Paine do not have much in common apart from being humans and being men. Paine was an intellectual whereas Marat was a psychopath.

[@gordanprgy6850]

Welcome to the Oversimplified family 👪

[@lazymansload520]

I looked up why the king took so long to have an heir. He suffered from phimosis, a condition where every time he got an erection, his skin would tear open and bleed.

[@garbageday587]

You shouldn't talk over the narrator all the time you miss stuff can't react correctly and it's annoying af. I couldn't stand 5 minutes of this.

[@dominikpapke9492]

React to: "Geography Now! Deutschland" here on youtube.

[@jolan_tru]

Oh I do love OverSimplified!

[@ay0vee978]

If you're going to react to a 7 years war video I suggest watching armchair historian's

[@Bloopsan]

Yay !

[@Chris_GY1]

In England we guess yeah because I said Messing around because there is a cabin on the satnav and it was that yeah tap somewhere

[@Archon3960]

Just out of curiosity, where did you find these clips of stereotypical France that you put before your reaction?

[@littlekads218]

it was only the women who roated because there was more equality for men not women searouasly pay more attention

[@Gia1911Logous]

Napoleonic Wars are out from Oversimplified My personal favourite series of videos from him

[@Wilahelm2]

The 7 Years war is sometimes called the first world war since it was fought around the world. The fighting in the American theater is called the French & Indian Wars. The war left the UK in bad shape financially and it's why they raised taxes on their American Colonies. The French were in even worse shape and helping fund the American Revolution did not help. Once they chop off the first head things spiral out of control pretty quickly. One of the key differences between the American and French revolutions was how the American revolution stayed organized and controlled while the French revolution degenerated into almost total chaos.

[@adrazuel]

there is a good documentary on the french revolution by lucy worsley.

[@bearrichards2667]

And to this day 98% of the worlds population has; 1 vote.

[@jamieeadle7223]

Do the 100 years war as well, a French British war that France actually won

[@rafalkaminski6389]

French revolution: from bad to worse.

[@AnalyticalMenace]

Holup! You mean to tell me that France was *already* in debt *before* The American Revolution?! I can't believe I missed that part the first several times I watched this video. Yeah. Pretty sure France got what they deserved. I mean, how stupid is it to loan money to someone when you yourself are up to your eyeballs in debt??

[@tibsky1396]

In the long term, the Wars of Louis XIV until the Seven Years War plunged the economy of France, but we will say that at that time, it was almost wanted, invisible forces already wanted to create a new state without deep roots like the European countries. France, which symbolically represented absolutism in terms of Monarchy, had to be led to a Revolution if you are a conspirator. Or, the irresistible urge to confront the British again (Anglo-French War 1778-1783). Just out of pride, but I'm staying in my first position.

[@allannevesjr]

You should react to the history of the entire world ... i guess

[@fabianrudolf4761]

At that point, France was actually the cultural heart of Europe and it had been that since the reign of Louis XIV. However, the revolution changed that and it‘s place was taken by Germany(rather the german States)

[@Thunderworks]

Germany ? lol not even in dream. Despite the financial crisis, France was still the dominant power in art, culture, military, diplomacy, etc and its power had reach a new peak with Napoleon's empire. After his fall, it's Britain who becomes the new leader. Prussia rise in the 19th century, and Germany was born in 1870, and becomes the dominant Empire in continental Europe (until Germany's defeat in WW1).

[@fabianrudolf4761]

@@Thunderworks Sorry for being imprecise in my articulation, but I didn‘t say that germany became the predominant continental power. As you said, germany wasn’t unified until 1871. What I was trying to say was that `germany' , at least for the time between 1790 and 1815 had a lot more to offer in terms of culture. It was the time of Goethe‘s and Schiller‘s friendship and it was also the time, when Hegel introduced the hegelian system reforming the way history was conceptualised. Just to name the most prominent figures. But I would love to have a discussion about this

[@jamieeadle7223]

There was a window tax in England, we have a bedroom tax now

[@malcomflibbleghast8140]

did mr squeaky, keep his own diary of events?

[@FuSiionCraft]

No, France was, and still is, considered like this Not in Europe, but in the World Their influence reach everywhere It's neither an exageration or an understatement, it's a truth

[@anothergermanmapper7754]

Let me Guess, you are French?

[@phsynode4964]

You should react to the 7 years war, by the armchair historian

[@stevensweeden6780]

I know one thing..."Let them eat cake" which I believe was Marie Antoinette's favorite food is kind of a modern day mocking signal of the abhorrent disconnect between the rich and the poor as cake in the 17th century was a relatively new dish and surely no mere commoner knew of it much less able to afford it! I believe she spoke this as a remedy or solution to the peasants that were suffering under starvation.

[@stevensweeden6780]

@@EaterOfBaconSandwiches Ahh so another Trojan Horse type tale and legend. Yeh I instinctively knew this might be the case. Thanks and good work!

[@CruelestChris]

Cake was new in the 17th century? Cake, a food with a name derived from _Old Norse_ ? Come on, check these things before you accept them.

[@stevensweeden6780]

@@CruelestChris To the the total destitute French and mainstream populace that could barely maintain foraging for food at the time cake was indeed 'new' and absolutely unheard of.

[@CruelestChris]

@@stevensweeden6780 The fact that you don't personally have something doesn't mean you're going to forget what it is. That's like saying they wouldn't know what a boat was and that boats were new. Also, that's not what you said, you said cake was new in the 17th century. It wasn't even new in Ancient Greece.

[@stevensweeden6780]

@@CruelestChris "forget what it is" ? You would have know what something is in order to forget it. And I state cake is new in the 17th century in the context I then futher illustrate concisely to the localized French people. Cause you got some indecisive vague Norse reference doesn't really establish your case either.

[@xytech7432]

We don't pay debt but complain when we get taxed