“the people of europe who are defending themselves do not ask us to do their fighting. they ask us for ( which will enable them to fight for their liberty and our security. emphatically we must get these weapons to them in sufficient volume and quickly enough, so that we and our children will be saved the agony and suffering of war which others have had to ” – president franklin d. roosevelt, december 29, 1940 the foreign policy objective stated by president roosevelt in this address was a) secure a declaration of war against the axis powers b) maintain an isolationist policy toward the war in europe c) provide military aid to the allies without sending troops d) expand the military power of the united states

1. international: struggle for hegemony and empire outstrips the fiscal resources of the state

2. political conflict: conflict between the monarchy and the nobility over the “reform” of the tax system led to paralysis and bankruptcy.

3. the enlightenment: impulse for reform intensifies political conflicts; reinforces traditional aristocratic constitutionalism, one variant of which was laid out in montequieu’s spirit of the laws; introduces new notions of good government, the most radical being popular sovereignty, as in rousseau’s social contract [1762]; the attack on the regime and privileged class by the literary underground of “grub street; ” the broadening influence of public opinion.

4. social antagonisms between two rising groups: the aristocracy and the bourgeoisie

5. ineffective ruler: louis xvi

6. economic hardship, especially the agrarian crisis of 1788-89 generates popular discontent and disorders caused by food shortages.

yellow fever and other tropical diseases