French Revolution

Essential Questions

1. What caused the French Revolution?

2. What happened during the first events of the Revolution?

3. How did the French create a new nation?

King Louis XIV and Queen Marie Antoinette

Old Regime

• French society divided into 3 orders, or estates1. Clergy 2. Nobles3. Peasants (everyone else)

1st Estate Clergy • Church was a state within a state • Responsibilities: – Registered births, marriages, and deaths– Collected tithes – Censored books dangerous to religion and morals– Operated schools– Distributed wealth to poor

• Owned 10% of the land• Paid NO taxes, gave a “free gift”• Upper clergy similar to nobility

2nd Estate

Nobles• 2 sets: nobles of the sword and nobles of the

robe• Held highest positions • Paid NO taxes• Owned between 1/4 and 1/3 of the land

3rd Estate Bourgeoisie, peasants, and urban laborers (96% of the population)• Bourgeoisie– Merchants, lower officials, intellectuals– Wanted to rise socially

• Peasants– Given low wages and taxed the most

• Sans culottes– Artisans and workers of the cities – Lived in poverty No work = no food

Early Influences

1. American Revolution 2. Enlightenment philosophes 3. Financial issues4. Bourgeoisie grievances

“Liberty, Equality, Fraternity”

• Legitimate governments: – Written constitution – Elections– Powerful legislatures

• Equality before the law for everyone• Nation’s well being could override individual

interests

French Financial Problems

• Tariffs on goods going across provinces• Overlapping and conflicting law systems• Wars, including aid for American Revolution • Inefficient and unjust tax system• King and Queen’s lavish lifestyle

Estates General

• Louis XVI ordered Estates General to meet to solve financial problems – Had not met in 175 years– Each estate wrote “notebooks” called cahiers which

stated their grievances– Third Estate wanted to change voting rules

• Proclaimed themselves a legislature (the National Assembly)• Were locked out of meeting

– Tennis Court Oath: wouldn’t leave until constitution was written for France

National Assembly 1789-1792• Conflict between the 1st and 2nd Estate and 3rd

Estate– 1st and 2nd Estate represented 20% of population – 3rd Estate represented 80% of population

• 3rd Estate invited 1st and 2nd to join assembly– Not one noble came

• On June 17, 1789, 3rd Estate established NA• Louis XVI commanded NA into orders, but 3rd

Estate refused• Nobles/clergy join king

National Assembly Reforms

1. Abolition of special privileges2. Statement of human rights3. Subordination of church to state4. Constitution to France5. Administrative and judicial reforms6. Aid for business

Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen

• liberty, equality, fraternity” • Inspired by the Bill of Rights, American

Declaration of Independence, and writings of Enlightenment philosophers

• “All men are born equal and remain equal before the law”

• Rights did not extend to women

Storming of Bastille

• In July 1789 tensions were high in Paris

• Fearing aristocratic plan to crush them, peasants search for weapons

• July 14: 900 Parisians gathered at Bastille and take over

• Crucial victory: Bastille seen as symbol of Old Regime

Storming of Bastille

The Great Fear • Great Fear was a peasant

myth of terror• Economic crisis worsened

– Burn manor houses, refuse to pay royal taxes, tithes, and manorial dues

• Feared aristocrats banding together to crush them – Took up arms to fight

• Result: Nobles give up special privileges (August decrees)

March on Versailles

• Parisian wives (and men) marched to Versailles in 1789• Protest lack of bread • Joined by Paris Guards, 20,000 citizen guardsResult: King had to return to Paris – Promise of bread– Approved decrees and Declaration of Man

Results of the Moderate Stage

Accomplishments of 1789 Revolution: 1. Equality before the law2. Careers open to talent3. A written constitution

4. Parliamentary government Revolutionaries felt no need to go futher

Formation of a New Government

• 1791: Constitution completed by Assembly– Broad voting rights for citizens• Men at least 25 years old had right to vote

– Kept the monarchy• Severely restricted the king’s power

– Created new legislative body called the Legislative Assembly

Radical Stage 1792-1794

1. Bourgeoisie2. Sans-culottes

3. Foreign invasions4. The Jacobins

Bourgeoisie vs. San-culottes

• Discontent of sans-culottes propelled radicalism

• Feared bourgeoisie would replace the fallen aristocracy

• By close of 1792 demanded equality with the bourgeoisie

Foreign Invasion

• Revolution might not have gone radical if France remained at peace

• War with Austria and Prussia in April of 1972• Worsened internal dissensions, economic

conditions, and threatened to undo Revolution reforms

End of the Monarchy

• August 10, 1792 – mob marched on Tuileries Palace– Slaughtered guards– Threw Louis XVI, Marie-Antoinette, and children in

prison• Legislative Assembly calls for election of new

legislature– National Convention

• Favored extreme change (radicals)• Declared France a republic

Essential Questions

1. What changes did the radical government make in French society and politics?

2. What was the Reign of Terror, and how did it end?

The Republic 1792-3

• In September 1792, National Convention abolished the monarchy and created a republic

• Tried to purify France and start over– Got rid of King and Queen – Got rid of anything that dealt with the Old Regime

Revolutionary Culture

• Reminded people everyday that they were patriots, rational, and non religious society

• Brought rise to modern nationalism

The Jacobins

• Replaced leadership in 1793• Wanted strong, centralized government in

Paris• Opposed government interference in business • Supported by the sans-culottes

Issues

1. Civil war 2. Economic distress3. Blockaded ports4. Foreign invasion

*Feared that liberty and equality would perish if they failed

Achievements

• New constitution (1793) – Gave all adult males the right to vote– Abolished slavery in French colonies – Made plans for free public education – Never gets implemented

The Terror (1793-94) • Robespierre, active Jacobin • Made terror a governmental policy • Enemies of the state were executed – Massive executions took place – 16,000 died by guillotine; 40,000 executed; 20,000 died

in prison • Formulated questions: – What was the meaning of the French Revolution ? – To what extent reversed the ideals of Declaration? – Violence of mass executions indicate abandonment of

reason

The Guillotine

Fall of Robespierre and the Jacobins

• On July 28, 1794 he was guillotined • Jacobins dismantled • In 1795– New constitution – Reestablished property requirements for voting– New republican government (Directory) takes over

• Eventually ends with Napoleon in 1804 declaring himself “Emperor of France”

Consequences of the French Revolution

1. Dynastic state was transformed into the modern state

2. Modern state: national, liberal, secular, and rational

3. State belonging to the people as a whole – No longer subjects, but citizens

4. Served as frame of reference for 19th century movements: conservatism, liberalism, socialism

5. Unleashed 3 destructive forces: total war, nationalism, and utopian mentality