Diary+Entry+Daniel+Lim+G+2011


 * Journal Entry #1**

//July 2nd 1789//

Everyday, I see the frustration in the civilian’s eyes. They all look as if their energy had been completely drained out because we as the Third Estate don’t have the same privileges as the higher estates. The two estates that are above us, are consisted of clergies and nobles. Together, they barely make the 3 percent of out population. Yet, they are the rich ones that collect our taxes, owns most of the welfare, and finally enjoy their luxurious lives. Meanwhile, on the other side, we as the majority aren’t able to have the opportunity to speak for the country while we have to pay most of the taxes. It had been a little less than a month since the Third Estate claimed it’s self as the “National Assembly”. The Third Estate were very motivated to have their own government that was mostly centralized under them. King Louis XVI wasn’t pleased about it and things worsened. The crops that were grown turned out to be disastrous and people had nothing to eat. In addition to that, people are also suffering from taxation. Yesterday, I met a young woman named Sophia Landry at her bakery store. We were both from the Third Estate and we discussed about our lives and what kind of hardships we undergo. She was disappointed at me for not being one of the participants of the National Assembly.


 * Journal Entry #2**

//January 21st 1793//

Today had been one of the most happiest moments of my life. I had witnessed the death of King Louis XVI. He approached to the guillotine and waited for his death while floods of people from all estates came to see his death with both anticipation and fear. The Third Estates shouted enthusiastically and called out King Louis XVI. When he was beheaded, the Third Estate people cheered merrily while the two estates above us seemed a little anxious and felt feared. The two upper estates scattered every direction as the lower estate chased them. I believe that King Louis XVI should have been executed because he wasn’t willing to help us survive from the economic crisis we were forced in but rather cared about himself. Because of him, we had to go through troubles such as government debt, food shortages, and a corrupted government. However, Louis didn’t want to take any responsibility and knew that his reign as a monarch wouldn’t last long. So he decided to flee from France to the Austrian Netherlands in June 1791. However, he was immediately seized by the guards. Another thing that caused the war was the conflict over who would be the ruler of France. We fought with the Prussian forces in 1792 and eventually won but it wasn’t much of a win situation for us. French were able to win most of the battles however we weren’t able to win the war against the Great Britain, Holland, and Spain united together. King Louis XVI should be responsible for these losses of the war. One person, I chased was **Zinedine Zidane,** a lawyer that I have heard of before**.** I gave him a very sharp look and he tried not to make as much eye contact as possible. He avoided me as quickly as possible. However, since King Louis XVI had died, I believe that we will be able to find a capable ruler that is able to care for us and save our economy as soon as possible.


 * Journal Entry #3**

//November 10th 1802//

It has been quite a long time since King Louis XVI’s reign ended. Although, Napoleon is trying to change the fortunes of France, we haven’t seen much of a change yet. Even though we didn’t see much of a change yet, I still have high expectations for him. Here is the reason why. First, in October 1795, he was able to prove himself as a capable leader by defending the National Convention from a group of royalist rebels. If it was another leader (unlike him), we would have been forced into a position where the situation might have aggravated and could have exhausted the majority of the people who already went through a French Revolution. Second, he won so many important battles for France. His good decision making skills and his strategies helped our country defeat strong European nations such as Austria, Britain, and Spain. Finally, unlike King Louis XVI, he made laws and decisions that were fair for the French. He tried to achieve a lot as a leader and was also willing to strengthen the central government. As a ruler, he helped improve the economy by establishing a banking system, dismissing corrupt officials, and finally had eliminated a lot of injustices that is going around in the society.

As a cotton mill owner of the Third Estate, I am pleased about the effort Napoleon is making in order to make France into a better society. He has installed stability and this has helped my business. I strongly believe that he will support the majority of people (or the Third Estate) mainly because he is trying to force the two estates below him lose power. I expect Napoleon, as a new ruler, could reverse the economy of France for the hard working people like us.