The French Revoution 1789

France before the revolution: TheThree Estates

Peasants

1st Estate

Louis XVI 2nd Estate

3rd Estate

Bourgeoisie

Workers

A. The First Estate: The Clergy

A tiny majority entitled to many privileges.

Less than 1% of population, owned 10% of the land.

Paid little or no tax.

Received a tithe from the third estate.

B. The Second Estate: The Nobility Born into money.

Attached to its privileges.

Opposed to changes in the system.

2% of the population, owned 20% of the land

Paid no taxes!

Received taxes (feudal dues) from the third estate.

C. The Third Estate: Everybody Else 97% of society Paid huge taxes but had few rights. Getting tired of injustices of the

old system. Included: ◦ Bourgeoisie- Middle Class, merchants

and artisans, leaders of the Rev., believed in enlightenment ideas.

◦ City workers-, low wages, often hungry. ◦ Peasants- 80% of population, poor,

mistreated, very high taxes.

Causes of the French Revolution

Ideas of liberty and equality from the American Revolution (note: Constitution was signed 2 yrs before in 1787)

Enlightenment ideas of John Locke

Unjust tax system.

Most of third Estate poor and hungry.

Majority were in the third estate.

Enlightenment thinking

Source D

The People should have power, 1775. ‘Man is born free. No man has any natural authority over others; force does not give anyone that right. The power to make laws belongs to the people and only to the

people.’ (a pamphlet, banned by the French

government in 1775, Jean Jacques Rousseau.)

King Louis XVI Queen Marie

Antoinette

A very beautiful

woman

She was unpopular

with the French

people

She was Austrian!

She referred to

her husband as

“The Poor Man”

•His grandfather Louis XIV was the ultimate “absolutist” king. •Very weak leader. •Became King at age of 15 (1774-1793) •Inherited debt from his father. •Gave money to help the Americans gain independence from Great Britain. •Would rather hunt or play with toys instead of rule the country.

The Estates General

France helped America in the American Rev.- cost a lot of money.

May 1789- Louis calls the Estates General to raise taxes. (An assembly of representatives from all three estates)

Each Estate got 1 vote- 1st and 2nd could always outvote the 3rd estate.

3rd Estate drew up a list of problems-the ‘cahiers’. NB. Unfair taxes.

Tennis Court Oath and National Assembly.

Delegates of the 3rd Estate kicked out of Estates General.

Broke into an indoor tennis court at Versailles.

Wanted a new constitution to give more power to the lower estate.

The king gave in and the National Assembly was formed.

Began to pass laws and reforms.

Tennis Court Oath

Assembly Reforms In France

Nobles join the NA out of fear, this gives it legitimacy

Declaration of the Rights of Man- “men are born and remain free and equal in rights.”

Modeled after Declaration of Independence Rights of free speech, religion and equal

justice “Rights of liberty, property, security and

resistance to oppression.” Did not apply to women The National Assembly took control of the

church. Now the church was run by the government

The assembly took church lands and sold them to pay off French debt

Declaration of the Rights of Man

National Assembly abolished privileges of clergy and nobles.

Also issued the ‘Declaration of the Rights of Man’

Main Points

Source B. THE DECLARATION OF THE

RIGHTS OF MAN (extract)

Men are born equal and remain free and equal in rights which are liberty, property, security and resistance to oppression. Liberty is being able to do whatever does not harm others.

The law should express the will of

the people. All citizens have a right to take part personally, or through their

representatives, in the making of the law.

Sans Culottes-Storming the Bastille

Sans-culottes were the working people of Paris-suffering badly.

People wanted to gather weapons protect Paris and the National Assembly’ (formed National Guard)

July 14th, 1789 mob stormed the prison and weapons store (Bastille) and killed the kings guards.

Symbol of revolution. Bastille Day

The Great Fear

October 1789 A wave of senseless

panic Rumors start to fly

that the nobles are going to kill the peasants

Peasants became outlaws and attacked upper class citizens

Broke into houses and tore up legal papers and burned property

Women march on Versailles!

King Tries to Escape

Louis tried to escape to Austria-caught and returned to paris.

War with Austria & Prussia Early 1792 Foreign countries don’t

like revolution in France They think it may start

revolutions in their country.

Austrian army invade France and help save King Louis and family.

Capture and arrest

of Louis XVI, June

1791

‘Family of pigs brought back to Paris’

Death of the King

20,000 stormed the kings home, killed the Swiss guards and captured the king.

Louis XVI charged with “conspiring against the liberty of the nation.”

He was convicted and beheaded.

First time this has happened in Europe.

Source 2 – a description of the execution

by Bernard, a

supporter of Louis.

“Louis XVI lost his life on Monday at half past ten in the morning, and to the very last he maintained the greatest possible courage. He wished to speak to the people from the scaffold, but was seized by the executioners, who were following their orders,

and who pushed him straight under the fatal blade. He was able to speak only these words: ‘I forgive my enemies; I trust that my death will be for the happiness of my people, but I grieve for France and I fear that she may suffer the anger of the Lord.’ The King took of his coat himself at the foot of the scaffold, and when someone sought to help him he said cheerfully, ‘I do not need any help.’ He also refused help to climb onto the scaffold, and went up with a firm, brisk step.”

Mob and Gang Rule

Mob made of poor people

Leaders were Bourgeoisie

Jacobin-radical political club (gang)

Led by Maximillian Robespierre, Jean Paul Marat, Georges Danton

Reign of Terror

Maximilien Robespierre- gains control of power

He made laws that terrorised the French people.

Leader of Committee of Public Safety.

Became a Dictator Began killing people he

felt were against the republic.

Committee for Public Safety Robespierre decided who were

the enemies of the Republic

300,000 arrested.

16,000 – 50,000 executed.

People were tried in the morning and guillotined in the afternoon

Source 1: Decree by Convention, April

1793

on the Committee of Public Safety.

“The Committee shall talk in secret; it shall be

responsible for watching over the work of the

government…under the critical circumstances

it

is authorised to take measures to defend the

revolution against internal and external

enemies.”

Source 3: Extract from a law introduced by

the

Committee for Public Safety, 17th

September

1793, to deal with suspects brought to

tribunals.

“ Suspects shall be locked up…. The proof

necessary to convict enemies…can be any kind of

evidence….If proof already exists there need be

no further witnesses….The penalty for all

offences under the law of revolutionary tribunal is

death.”

Source 2: A painting of a

revolutionary tribunal.

CASE FILE: The Terror

Source 4: From theExecution Record, 1793.

A) - Jean-Baptiste Henry,

aged 18, journeyman tailor,

convicted of having sawn

down a tree of liberty,

executed 6th September,

1793.

B) – Marie Plaisant,

seamstress, convicted of

having exclaimed that she

was an aristocrat and that

she did not care a fig for

the nation, condemned to

death and executed the

same day.

C) - Henriette

Francoise Marboeuf,

aged 55, convicted

of having hoped for

the arrival of the

Austrians and

Prussians and of

keeping food for

them, condemned to

death and executed

the same day.

D) – Francois

Bertrand, aged

37, publican,

convicted of

having provided

the defenders

of the country

with sour wine,

condemned and

executed the

same day.

E) – Jean Julien,

wagoner having been

sentenced to twelve

years hard labour,

took it into his head

to cry ‘long live the

king’, brought back to

the Tribunal and

condemned to death.

End of the Reign of Terror

People get tired of Robespierre and his scare tactics

He, along with Marat are killed by the people.

Marat killed in his tub, Robespierre beheaded by the guillotine.

1795- New constitution gave power to the Directory and Legislature

Directory was a council of 5 men called directors

Ineffective so people look to army for leadership

They find Napoleon

Effects of the French Revolution

Both the King and Queen were beheaded

French monarchy no more

In addition to the Royal family, 17,000 people were executed with the guillotine.

Napoleon Bonaparte was elected leader, then appoints himself emperor of France.

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