De Tocqueville noted that both French and German peasants had lived in poverty, but only the French peasants overthrew their king in a revolution. The reason, de Tocqueville said, was that the living conditions of the French had been improving, while those of the Germans had not. Improved circumstances can fuel human desire for even greater advances, according to

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The statement points to the concept of relative deprivation theory, which suggests that people are more likely to revolt when they become aware of and resentful of the advantages and privileges possessed by others who are at a comparable socioeconomic level but who have more. In this case, the French peasants were more likely to revolt because they saw that their living conditions were improving, but it was not enough compared to the privileges held by the king and the nobility. The German peasants did not revolt because their standard of living remained stagnant, and they did not perceive that they were missing out on the privileges that should have been theirs.

De Tocqueville Noted That Both French and German Peasants Had