What is Left Wing and Right Wing in Politics ?

 In Politics we often use the terms "Left Wing" and "Right Wing" but do you know from where did such terms originate. In India we use the term "Rightist" to refer to the ruling Bhartiya Janata Party(BJP) and "Leftist" for the opposition parties i.e Indian National Congress(INC) etc. Today in this Blog I will discuss the origin of such terms and the meaning and Ideology each term has. But before starting I will tell you a story. Today we often take the ideas of Liberty, Freedom and Equality for granted. But we need to remind ourselves that these ideas also have a history. By looking at the French Revolution you will read a small part of the that history. The French Revolution led to the end of monarchy in France. A society based on privileges gave way to a new system of governance. The idea that all individuals had rights and could claim equality became part of a new language of politics. These notions of Equality and Freedom emerged as the central ideas of a new age; but in different countries they were reinterpreted and rethought in many different ways.

Left Wing and Right Wing

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The Story of "Leftists" and "Rightists".

Let's go back in the mid-eighteen century when the world was ruled by monarchs, every state, every country had a ruler who belonged to an aristocrat family in those days rulers were made by dynastic succession which means that there was no concept of elections and only those people ruled a country who belonged to a ruling or a aristocrat family. Also during those times empires proved their dominion or power by winning wars, annexing weak empires into their kingdom, Polygamy was a common practice and it was a way of making political alliances with several kingdoms. The same case was with a country named France. In 1774, Louis XVI of the Bourbon family of kings ascended the throne of France. The French society in that time was divided in three estates namely Clergy, Nobility and Commoners. Clergy were those who belonged to the the Church (namely Priests), Nobility were those who belonged to the ruling aristocrat class and the government officials who were a part of the government and Commoners were those people who were peasants, artisans, labours, servants etc. Almost 90 percent of the population were peasants however only a small number of them owned the land they cultivated. About 60 percent of the land was owned by nobles, the Church and the other richer members of the third estate. 

The Three Estates Pyramid

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Members of the third estate were the most underprivileged and were made to suffer the most and members of the 1st and 2nd estate enjoyed many privileges. For example

• Only members of the third estate paid taxes. There were two types of separate taxes levied on them- "Tithe"-A tax levied by the Church, comprising one-tenth of the agricultural produce. "Taille"-Tax to be paid directly to the state.
• Member of the 1st and 2nd estate did not have to pay any taxes this included exemption from feudal dues.
• Peasants were obliged to render services to the lord-to work in his house and fields-to serve in the army or to participate in building roads.

This shows that the burden of financial activities of the state through taxes was borne by the third estate alone. Also members of the third estate represented 98 percent of the population of France and rest 2 percent was represented by the first and second estate.

King Louis XVI -Ruler of France during the French Revolution

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King Louis XVI ascended the throne of France in 1774, upon his accession he found an empty treasury due to the following reasons.

• Long years of war had drained the financial resources of France
• Despite of the economic burden the king had constructed a extravagant court at the immense palace of Versailles which had a huge maintenance cost.
• The war added a Billion livres to a debt that had already risen to more than 2 Billion.

France was suffering was from a huge financial stress because it's burden had to be beared alone by the third estate. Also there was a huge discrimination among the three estates people slowly started to raise their voice against monarchy and the ruler Louis XVI. They started to think some alternatives to such problems and people slowly came up with the ideas of Liberty, Equality, Fraternity, Democracy. This period in France is known as "Age of Enlightenment"

Due to the Financial stress the king had decided to increase taxes. In France of the old regime the monarch did not have the power to impose taxes according to his own will alone. Rather he had to call a meeting of the Estates General which would then pass his proposals for new taxes. The Estates General was a political body to which the three estates sent their representatives. On May 1789, Louis XVI called together an assembly of the Estates General to pass proposals for new taxes.  The First and Second estates sent 300 representatives each, who were seated in rows facing each other on two sides, while the 600 members of the Third estate had to stand at the back. The 3rd estate was represented by by it's more prosperous and educated members. Peasants, Artisans and women were denied entry to the assembly.  However, their grievances and demands were listed in some 40,000 letters which the representatives had brought with them.

Estates General of France

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Voting in the Estates General in the past had been conducted according to the principle that each estate had one vote. This time too Louis XVI was determined to continue the same practice. But members of the Third estate demanded that voting now be conducted by the assembly as a whole, where each member would have one vote. The representatives of the third estate viewed themselves as spokesmen for the whole French nation. On 20 June they assembled in the hall of an indoor tennis court in the ground of Versailles. They declared themselves a National Assembly and swore not to disperse till they drafted a constitution for France that would limit the powers of the monarch. They wanted the king and members of the three estates to recognize it as the Constitution of France. But how can the monarch let his powers get reduced and how can members of the 1st and 2nd estate pay tax according to the new constitution. 

Faced with powers of his revolting subjects and severe backlash from the public, Louis XVI finally accorded recognition to the National Assembly and accepted the principle that his powers would from now on be checked by a constitution. Now in the new National Assembly the members of the Third estate who represented 98 percent of the population were sitting on the left side of the assembly whereas members of the First and Second estate who represented 2 percent of the population were sitting on the right side and till now you must have guessed the reason why we call Leftist and Rightist. 

National Assembly of France

Image Source: Assemblee nationale

These two terms are used in politics and have their origin from the French Revolution.The members of the left wing supported the ideologies of  Liberty, Equality and Fraternity and members of the right wing were against the demand of the left they supported the ideologies of Traditionalism and Conservatism. Thank you for reading.

Source: NCERT textbook class 9th.

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