The French Revolution, Part 3: The “Radical” Phase & Reaction
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HIS 102 Western Civilization IIKara Heitz
Phase I – Liberal (1789-1792)
Phase II – Radical (1792-1794)
Phase III – Moderate (1795-1799)
Napoleon (1799-1815)
Phases of French Revolution
End of the “Liberal” Phase
• By 1792, France had:
– Constitutional monarchy
– Abolished feudalism
– Legal equality for all men; ~2/3 could vote
– Primary beneficiaries: middle class (bourgeoisie)
• Why doesn’t French Revolution end here?
Radical Political Actors• Sans-culottes
– Urban working classes
– Many can’t vote or run for office under 1791 Constitution
– Involved in urban revolts and “street” politics
Radical Political Actors• Jacobins
– Radical political faction within National Assembly
– Grow in numbers and power with 1792 elections
– 900 Jacobin clubs across France
– Mainly from middle class but supporters of “radical” equality
Why did the Revolution radicalize?
1) External pressures
• French fears of foreign invasion
• Collaboration with nobles who had fled the country
• Wars of the First Coalition (1792-1797)
Why did the Revolution radicalize?2) Internal pressures
• Questions about King’s loyalty
• Civil Wars in France– Vendée revolts (Royalist peasants)– Federalist revolts in major cities
(though Paris had too much power)– Rumors of royalist plots by nobility
• Continuing economic crisis & perisitent food shortages
The Vendée rebels in 1793.
Revolts and Invasions 1792-1794Yellow: loyal to the Revolution; Light green: Royalist revolts; Dark green: Federalist revolts; Purple: countries fighting against France; Orange: areas conquered by France
End of the French Monarchy
• Questioning the King’s loyalty
• Storming of the Tuileries (Aug. 10, 1792)
– Sans-culottes massacre kings guards
End of the French Monarchy
• Republic declared (Sept. 22, 1792)
– Universal male suffrage
– New social rights
• King Louis XVI executed (Jan. 21, 1793)
The Reign of Terror (1793-1794)
• New constitution suspended– “State of Emergency”
• Committee of Public Safety– Robespierre
• Purging of the “enemies of the revolution”– Guillotine
The Reign of Terror• 1793-1795
– 200,000-400,000 imprisoned
– ~40,000-50,000 executed– Of those, 16,000
guillotined
• Initially under some legal framework but later becomes increasingly arbitrary
• Who was executed?
Revolutionary Tribunal, 1793
Satirical political cartoon where Robespierre guillotining the executioner after having guillotined everyone else in France (1794)
Moderate Phase (1795-1799)
• Thermadorian Reaction
– July 28th, 1794: Robespierre and his supporters guillotined
Moderate Phase (1795-1799)
• Another new Constitution (Sept. 1795)– “Liberal” rights but no
“social” rights– Bring back more limited
suffrage
• Directory– Tolerated by most but not
well-liked – Increasingly relied on the
military for order– Opens the door for …..
Napoleon