True democracy is a hard thing to achieve. It is no wonder then that many countries who attempt to instate democracy end up failing. What is the difference between the countries that fail and countries that succeed? Is it the leaders or the amount of time taken? I plan to discuss France during the French Revolution, Germany and the rise of the Nazis, and why each government failed to make a successful transition to democracy, if they were heading there at all.

     The French Revolution was a horrible time to be rich, poor, radical, or conservative. One man, Maximilien Robespierre, controlled all of France and instead of turning it into a republic or democracy, he turned it into despotism. Was despotism and Robespierre’s rise inevitable? If certain events had been taken differently, democracy could have been possible. France was once a monarchy in crisis: an ineffective king, an angry lower class, and a bankrupt kingdom. By 1788, the French people were desperate for change. Louis XVI, the king of France, was forced to call the Estates General, the first meeting since 1614. The goal of the Third Estate (the middle and lower classes) was to force the nobility and clergy to pay taxes. It soon became clear that the First and Second Estates (the nobility and clergy) would dominate the council and resist any change. The Third Estate became increasingly irritated with the First and Second Estates, demanding more representation and declaring themselves to be the National Assembly. When the First and Second Estates complained, Louis XVI dissolved the Estates General, but to no avail. In what is called the Tennis Court Oath, the National Assembly meets on a tennis court near the meeting hall and declares that they would never dissolve until they had a written constitution. Surprisingly, the Second Estate (the clergy) votes to join them. Louis at first refuses to back down, causing rioting in Paris, which in turn leads to the storming of the Bastille on July 14, 1789. With the two out of three Estates united and a violent mob in full force, Louis XVI folds and lets the National Assembly meet. On August 4, 1789, the National Assembly abolishes all special privileges enjoyed by the clergy and the nobility. On August 26, 1789, the National Assembly issues the Declaration of Human Rights and of the Rights of the Citizen, which declared social, political, and religious freedom. With this document, the seeds of democracy are sown in France. With strong leadership, democracy could have slowly emerged. But the moderates of the National Assembly became either disillusioned or as in the case of Count de Mirabeau, died; leaving France in the hands of

radical leadership. By September 1791, the National Assembly created a constitution which rendered Louis XVI virtually a figurehead.

     All over Europe, the kings and queens of other monarchies had been watching this Revolution take place. However, when Louis’s power had been taken away from him (by the people, of all things) the monarchs could watch no further. In April 1792, Europe went to war with France. In the beginning, the war went badly for France. So badly, in fact, that when constitutional elections were held in August 1792, a radical section of the government known as the Paris Commune, led by a group called the Jacobins, took control and arrested Louis XVI. With the king in their clutches, the Paris Commune declared themselves a republic. If the Revolution ended right there, France may have been well on their way, although haphazardly, towards a democracy.  Unfortunately, the Paris Commune was led by Robespierre, who took control of the armies of France and to make sure no one rose up against him to defend the king, Louis XVI was guillotined. At this point, there was no going back to the monarchy, but with a leader like Robespierre, there was no moving forward either. Democracy was lost after the Paris Commune gained power.

     Germany, on the other hand, was never really on its way towards democracy. At the end of World War I, Germany was also in terrible shape. They had lost the war, had thousands of casualties, and their economy was on the brink of disaster. In this state, Germany was forced to agree to a number of terms, such as taking responsibility for starting the war, and paying 33 billion dollars to Britain and France. But Germany’s Kaiser, who was the leader all through WWI, didn’t have to accept the terms because he had abdicated shortly after the end of the war. Who then? Hoping to kill two birds with one stone, the Treaty of Versailles called for a democratic government, called the Weimar Republic, then forced it to accept the terms of the treaty. With this devastating beginning, the Weimar Republic was going to have to pull off a miracle to even start to create a democracy. Unfortunately for the Weimar Republic and democracy, the 33 billion dollar restitution broke Germany’s fragile economy, driving Germany into an economic depression in 1923. It is at this time that we meet a charismatic speaker with a flair for stirring up trouble: Adolf Hitler. On November 8, 1923, Hitler attempted to take over Bavaria’s government in what was later called the Beer Hall Putsch. Hitler was arrested and sentenced to prison to 5 years. Hitler was considered relatively harmless so he was released after nine months. By this time the

 Nazi party had deteriorated to the point that Hitler would have a hard time in trying to rebuild it. But Hitler had learned something from his experience: he must work with the government to win over the government. Hitler began to campaign for seats for the Nazis in the Reichstag, Germany’s version of parliament. A key element of Hitler's appeal was his statements that Germany didn’t really lose the war, that Germany had been sold out by the Jews. To go even further, Hitler stated that the Jews had sold Germany out in agreement with the Weimar Republic. By the late 1920’s/early 1930’s, the Nazis had over forty percent of the seats in the Reichstag. Hitler figured that this was his chance and ran against Paul von Hindenburg, the President over the Reichstag. Although Hitler lost, Hindenburg was forced to give the Chancellorship to him because Hitler’s supporters refused to vote in any government that they weren’t in charge of. If Hitler hadn’t been able to work the system, he would have never been elected. In a government such as Germany, Hitler’s rise was inevitable and without it, Germany would not be the democracy it is today.

     In conclusion, France and Germany are two different examples of governments that were led off the track to democracy. While France’s situation during the French Revolution was horrible, it could have been avoided if certain events had ended differently. Germany, on the other hand, had no choice but to change its government. While Hitler was not inevitable, a charismatic leader who would take control was not. It is not how fast or slow you move towards democracy, it is the leaders who determine democracy in their countries.