Major Conflicts in History: The French Revolution and The Israel-palestine Conflict

Introduction

Conflict is a serious disagreement or argument. “Every period of human development has had its own particular type of human conflict” (Asimov, Isaac). Conflict between people or countries can often lead to wars and revolutions. The enduring issue of conflict has impacted the world for centuries and is exemplified by the French Revolution and the Israel-Palestine conflict. One possible solution to the issue is to compromise and give both sides part of what they want.

The French Revolution

Louis XVI was weak and corrupt which led to the third estate getting mistreated. The third estate was mistreated because they had to pay most of the taxes (even though they usually made less money then the higher estates), and the nobles got special rights. Skyrocketing food prices and many droughts often occurred. Enlightenment ideas such as John Locke's beliefs in natural human rights helped the third estate realize they deserve equal rights. For these reasons the third estate joined forces as an inseparable group which led to the French Revolution (French Revolution).

Soon after the third estate joined forces they gained traction, and Louis XVI had no choice but to side with them in order to prevent himself from getting overthrown. In 1789, the event called The Great Fear came about, this was a time when the 3rd estate conspired that the nobility and monarchy were going to overthrow the 3rd estate’s power by starting a war. The 3rd estate decided to stage revolts against nobles during the Great Fear and many nobles fled out of France. Later on they created The Declaration of the Rights of Man, which was a human rights document that made regulations in order for the 3rd estate to gain more rights. The declaration made rules such as, “Men are born and remain free and equal in respect of their rights” (Declaration of). As the years passed, the revolutionaries gained a lot of power, so Louis XVI and his family decided to flee from France. Louis was eventually caught and sent back to France, and he lost the trust of the French citizens. When Louis XVI lost power and trust, the National Assembly turned themselves into the Legislative Assembly. This turned France into a constitutional monarchy, and limited Louis power tremendously. Eventually, people become unhappy with the Legislative Assembly and throw Louis out of the palace and into custody. Without Louis in power, France was turned into a republic, and the Legislative Assembly got turned into the National Convention. Then the Revolution turned radical, and Louis and his wife were executed.

In 1972 the French Revolution turned radical. During the radical stage, the Committee of Public Safety was formed, led by Robspierre, its purpose was to defend France from internal and external enemies. Under this committee's rule, The Reign of Terror happened in 1793. This was a time where France was at war with foreign enemies and the revolutionaries needed to win the war in order to protect their power. The revolutionaries wanted to win the war at all costs, so they decided to execute people when suspected of treason against the revolution to guarantee no inside influence can defeat France. During this time Louis XVI was suspected of treason and was executed (The Reign). In 1794, Robespierre was executed due to his unjustified executions, and the Directory takes power, which ends the radical stage of the revolution.

The Directory was a government that was separated by branches. In 1799, the directory lost power, and the French citizens vote for Napoleon Bonaparte to be the emperor of France. After many victorious wars Napoleon is taken off the throne, and the French Revolution ends.

The Israel-Palestine conflict

The conflict between Israel and Palestine started because of a fight for the land of Israel. Theodore Herzl founded the Zionist Organization in 1897. This caused the desire for a Jewish state, which can only be in Israel. Many Jews were being persecuted in Europe, and some decided to move to Palestine, which was controlled by Britain, and mostly populated by Arabs. As more Jews moved to Palestine the desire for a Jewish state increased tremendously, which led to conflict.

Jews believed that they had an ancestral right to this land. Zionists feel that Jewish people have the rights to Israel, because it is their chosen land, and we lived there dating back to the days of abraham. Arab people believed the opposite. They felt that they had the right to the land, and it was stolen from them in 1948. Jews and Arabs would often get into violent confrontations, and tensions rose at an alarming rate.

Britain was given the task of making a ‘Jewish State’ while leaving a portion of the land for the Arab people. Britain handed the issue to the U.N, and they voted on a split state. “A UN Commission recommended partitioning what was left of the original Mandate – western Palestine – into two new states, one Jewish and one Arab” (Hertz, Eli). This plan would give half the land to Jews and the other half to the Arabs, while also making Jerusalem an international city. The U.N. voted in favor of this plan, and the Jewish leaders accepted this plan, while the Arab leaders rejected it. This plan was never implemented, and the conflict between them continued (Eurovision 2019).

In 1948, the Jewish state declared independence, naming the country Israel, under the rule of Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion. The day after Israel declared independence, Arab countries such as Iraq, Sudan, Egypt, Transjordan, Lebanon, Syria, and many Palestinians all declared war on Israel (Arab-Israeli War). The Arab countries launched air and land attacks on Israel. Eventually British forces intervened in the war but only in Arab territory. Once Israel was able to become more offensive they won the war while odds were stacked against them. This war gave them the ability to keep their independence, but it also raised tensions between Arabs and Israelis. After this war, the U.N. tried proposing many plans in order to create peace, but nothing was ever implemented. As conflict continued, many Arabs and Palestinians attacked Israeli civilians and soldiers. In response to this Israel raided and attacked the opposing Arab countries in order to frighten them, and prevent future attacks (Reprisal Operations). As tensions were very high, the Six Day War emerged between Israel, Syria, Iraq, and Jordan. This war began mainly due to border arguments for Israel. Israel shot rockets and damaged 6 syrian jets, and the 6 day war erupted. Israel began the war by destroying Arab air fields, which gave them air force dominance. Through Israel's Air force dominance, Israel won the war. This led to Israel extending their borders, by capturing the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, the Golan Heights, and East Jerusalem. After the war Arab countries held a meeting where they decided to have “No peace, no recognition and no negotiation” (with Israel).This led up to the Yom Kippur War. The goal of this war was to get land from Israel. The war began as a surprise attack on Israel during the high holiday of Yom kippur so Israel was caught off guard. The Arab armies seemed to be winning the war until Israel became fully mobilized. Israel became the stronger force in the war, until the UN issued a ceasefire.

Quarrels between Israel and the Arab countries continued even up to the present day. Due to constant fighting , in 2005, Israel gave up their rights to Gaza and gave it to the Arabs in order to make peace. Peace was still not made and fights continued. Rockets would constantly get fired into Israel. In 2014, three Israeli kids were kidnapped and killed by Hamas members. Israel made an operation in order to arrest Hamas military leaders. In response to this Hamas fired rockets into Israel. This led to the Israel-Gaza conflict. Israel wanted to stop Hamas from firing rockets, while Hamas wanted Gaza to be seen as its own place with no Israeli control. A lot of back and forth fighting continued, many bombs were detonated and rockets were launched. One month later a ceasefire was announced and the war ended. In the year 2018 Jerusalem was named Israel’s capital and the U.S. embassy was moved into Jerusalem. This caused an outcry from Gaza. Riots started on the Gaza border with many Arabs setting fires in Israel. Many of them tried to cross the border into Israel, which led to the IDF having to kill them for Israel's protection. Fighting still continues, and no solution was ever found to make peace.

A possible solution is by splitting power. Any country that has a conflict of power shall split the country into half. The UN should decide the borders of the split country. Fences should be made three miles before the borders in order to prevent fighting at the border. These split countries should also not be allowed to do business with each other in order to prevent wars related to the economy. A possible counterargument is, split power can’t work because countries will never agree and they will often be at war. This is not the case because countries will lose privileges when they start conflict with their neighbors. Trade ports, political power, and military power are all examples of things that will be taken away if these countries start problems.

Conclusion

Conflict is a serious disagreement or argument. The conflict during the French Revolution was that the third class wanted to gain rights and they started a revolution to achieve their goals. The conflict between Israel and Palestine is the disagreement of who has rights to the land. War and violence is often an effect of conflict. Although these conflicts have never been solved, a possible solution is to split power or split a country in half in order to make both sides happy. Throughout history conflict occurs and the only way to resolve it is by giving both sides what they want.

Works Cited

• Asimov, Isaac. “Conflict Quotes (846 Quotes).” Goodreads, Goodreads, www.goodreads.com/quotes/tag/conflict.
• “Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen.” The French Revolution, www.open.edu/openlearn/ocw/pluginfile.php/612270/mod_resource/content/1/rightsofman.pdf.
• “Eurovision 2019: The Israeli-Palestinian Situation Explained.” BBC News, BBC, 14 May 2019, www.bbc.com/news/newsbeat-44124396.
• “French Revolution.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 9 Nov. 2009, www.history.com/topics/france/french-revolution.
• Hertz, Eli. “UN Resolution 181- The Partition Plan.” UN Resolution 181, Myths and Facts, www.mythsandfacts.org/conflict/10/resolution-181.pdf.
• “The Reign of Terror.” The Reign of Terror - HistoryWiz French Revolution, Historywiz, 2008, www.historywiz.com/terror.htm.