Why did the masses want a republic in the French Revolution in the first place?

Before the French Revolution, when a state was faced with social-economic problems such as famine, usually, it would be followed by a peasant revolt that demanded better treatment, or, a pretender from a rival noble family of the established dynasty using the outraged masses as a tool to overthrow the king. But this was not the case in the French Revolution, for instead of a simple huge peasant revolt it was a revolution that was first of it's kind that torn the entire old order. Why is that? If we looked at the situation of Europe at the time, it seemed that the republics like Venice and the Netherlands weren't doing well at all compared to their absolutist counterparts(Except for France of course), so why is that amidst the states of enlightened of absolutism, republicanism became so widespread to the masses when it was such a new concept for most of the French at the time, and that the French Revolution was what it was, and not the aforementioned usual peasant revolt or pretender rebellion?

1 Answers 2018-12-15

How were gladiators is the past so "buff", what kind of workout equipment did they have?

2 Answers 2018-12-15

How common was it for North American Indigenous groups to maintain slaves?

I recently learned about an ancestor of mine was kept as a slave by the Iroquois in the late 1600’s. He was a teen from somewhere in the British Isles and was essentially rescued (“bought”) by a Frenchman who had also been in slavery with the Iroquois, but was now an ambassador to them. Made me wonder how often this was occurring?

Edit: For those who are looking for context. The Frenchman who rescued my ancestor is documented in the book “The Story of Joncaire”

2 Answers 2018-12-15

When and why did a seven day week become a global norm?

1 Answers 2018-12-15

Saturday Showcase | December 15, 2018

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Today:

AskHistorians is filled with questions seeking an answer. Saturday Spotlight is for answers seeking a question! It’s a place to post your original and in-depth investigation of a focused historical topic.

Posts here will be held to the same high standard as regular answers, and should mention sources or recommended reading. If you’d like to share shorter findings or discuss work in progress, Thursday Reading & Research or Friday Free-for-All are great places to do that.

So if you’re tired of waiting for someone to ask about how imperialism led to “Surfin’ Safari;” if you’ve given up hope of getting to share your complete history of the Bichon Frise in art and drama; this is your chance to shine!

1 Answers 2018-12-15

Many countries have sandwiches such as Burritos, Gryos, Doner, and Shawarmas which share a lot of similar features. Is there a root to where the cuisine came from?

Burritos are Mexican, Gyros are Greek, Shawarmas are Middle Eastern (like the Lebanese kind). A friend used to tell me about meat crepes in Egypt, but I dunno if they count or not. A lot of the wraps are made with pita bread or lavash and also noticed that the meat is usually prepared with a rotisserie setup. So, is there a similar point of origin of where the food initially showed up?

2 Answers 2018-12-15

When and why did the majority of the world agree on days of the week?

For example; I live in the UK, I fly to America over night, leaving on a Monday, I land on a Tuesday as per the calendar.

When and how was this global agreement made?

1 Answers 2018-12-15

How powerful were the Zulus militarily? Did they adapt to the British?

I watched Zulu yesterday and heard about the British defeat at Isandlwana. Exactly how powerful were the Zulus? Did they simply overwhelm the British there or did they actually adapt and defeat them that way? I saw that they used old muskets and rifles to skirmish before they sent their warriors in, which seems quite smart to me.

1 Answers 2018-12-15

Why did the term "the Holocaust" start appearing in its current meaning around the late seventies?

I recently saw a graph tracking the appearance of the term "the Holocaust" in newspapers and it looked like it wasn't widely used until the late seventies. I was wondering why that was. Was it a question of knowledge and facts surrounding the Holocaust becoming more widely known? Or a question of changing narratives around WWII? Or something else?

2 Answers 2018-12-15

Why did the Axis believe they could win a war that at least in hindsight appears to have been unwinnable?

I have seen several videos claiming that both Germany’s war on Russia and Japan’s war on the US were in a strong sense unwinnable. These often present their evidence using data (e.g. manufacturing data) that at least appears to have been public at the time of or before the wars (here talking fronts of WWII, of course). This being said, why would any of the axis powers have got involved in these wars in the first place? What were the factors that lead to either of Japan or Germany being convinced it had any hope in its respective wars?

2 Answers 2018-12-15

Are Saudi Arabia's Royal family just descendants of a bunch of dudes that helped the allies in ww2?

Is there a royal bloodline? I apologise for my ignorance but when Britain et al decided to draw up the Arab world did they just appoint rulers to cheiftans that were complient/helped them out

Edit - ww1 not ww2

1 Answers 2018-12-15

In the Irish General Election of 1921 Arthur Griffith was elected Teachta Dála for two different constituencies in the Irish Parliament. How was this allowed? Did he get two votes? Are there other examples of one person representing two seats in a Westminster Parliament elsewhere?

It didn't last long cause he died in 1922, but for me the real kicker was that at the time he won both elections, he was sitting in jail

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Griffith

1 Answers 2018-12-15

Just saw Hamilton on Broadway (possible spoiler warning). Did Alexander Hamilton really lose the duel against Aaron Burr intentionally to commit suicide, as was portrayed in the play?

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1 Answers 2018-12-15

What happened to Democratic Centralism?

As I understand it, the Soviet Union was supposed to work on a system of nested democracy, called Democratic Centralism. However, Stalin (to name one example) is nearly always cited as a dictator.

My question, then, is how did Stalin maintain dictatorial powers, and also did he ever lose votes?

Additionally, if Stalin was in fact a dictator, as I suspect he was do to the appearent consensus on the matter, are there good primary sources that illustrate it, or at least sources beyond accusations of bias? I know some people who would want to argue the point.

1 Answers 2018-12-15

Did knowledge of agricultural practices spread from Mesopatamia to the Yangtze Valley and Central Mexico, or did these agricultural practices arise independently?

I'm watching a documentary on the history of early civilization, and a lot of emphasis is being placed on Mesopatamia's move towards agriculture and animal domestication as a necessary seed for large-scale settlement. The narrator keeps implying that wheat and barley were the bedrock that civilization was founded on, and that without the environmental confluences that allowed these grains to flourish in the valley (and some amount of cosmic luck), we might still be tribal.

But, I know rice in the Yangtze valley, and maize in Central Mexico, were of equal import to the economies and civilizations there as grain was in the Mesopotamian valley.

I've seen maps that place Neolithic revolutions on a timeline, generally moving east from Mesopotamia across several thousand years, but these maps don't seem to indicate whether this knowledge moved with human migration patterns, or whether the people settled these areas and then independently developed agricultural practices.

I guess this is a big question, as the fertile crescent is often called the Cradle of Civilization, but... Were there multiple cradles? Or can all this really be traced to one region?

1 Answers 2018-12-15

Why didnt Asia build stone buildings?

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1 Answers 2018-12-15

Why is Russias role in the US Civil war not taught in US History?

2 Answers 2018-12-15

I'm a Roman citizen living in a northern part of the Empire. The winter solstice is approaching and with it cold weather, what am I wearing besides my tunic?

1 Answers 2018-12-15

How did the British accent dissapear from America?

1 Answers 2018-12-15

When did commanders stop fighting in the front line?

Napoleon Bonaparte was close enough to the battle to see the battle and give orders. It was already risky then due to artillery fire (eg Marshal Lannes died due to cannon fire) but he still did so. Nowadays the notion that generals lead from the front seems absurd due to the dangers inherent to modern military warfare. When did the danger of leading from the front outweigh the advantages?

2 Answers 2018-12-15

How did the “legend” of Santa Claus come into our daily lives?

I’m curious to know how we adapted a big fat man sneaking into our homes and eating food and giving presents. How is this so?

1 Answers 2018-12-15

What was the significance of the Portuguese victory at Diu?

1 Answers 2018-12-15

Why did England and France not Declare war on the Soviet Union when it invaded Poland, but did on Nazi Germany

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1 Answers 2018-12-15

Who came out ahead out of the Cuban missile crisis?

I was wondering if either side profited from the incident. Is it even fair to say that one side "won the incident"?

1 Answers 2018-12-15

Genghis Khan impact on the height of Chinese people

In the tv show Atlanta, a character called Darius states that "Chinese people are short 'cause of Genghis Khan"; he says that if people were shorter than either Genghis himself, or a stick that he had (I'm unsure which), then they were executed...and that because of this "Chinese people are short".

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Is this true? Can anyone clarify?

Thanks in advance.

1 Answers 2018-12-15

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