The French Revolution 1789-1799

1. The French Revolution1789-1799 Part 1

2. Causes of the French Revolution Population divided into three Estates, or groups Age of Enlightenment Weak monarchy Financial difficulties American Revolution

3. Three Estates • First Estate: Roman Catholic clergy (paid no taxes to the government) • Second Estate: Nobles • Third Estate: • Bourgeoisie – bankers, merchants, and shop-keepers • Sans-culottes – Urban lower classes—butchers, weavers, and servants. As a class, these workers were called sans-culottes (those who are without knee britches) • Peasants – the largest group within the Third Estate. The poor people of France’s cities often went hungry.

4. Age of Enlightenment • Individuals can look for knowledge and use their own reason to understand the world rather than be told how to think by the church or the state. • The natural world is governed by fixed laws that man’s reason can discover. Science, not opinion or faith, will help us find truth and solve problems.  • Humans are progressing from immaturity, superstition, and slavery to maturity, reason, and freedom. All humans have the ability to be enlightened. • By nature, all humans are equal. • People are capable of ruling themselves. The aristocracy is not the only class that deserves to rule. The middle class should also play a part in politics. • Challenged the right to absolute rule. Government is an agreement between the people and their rulers.

5. Weak Monarchy • Louis XVI (1754-1793) was incapable of strong, decisive action • He preferred personal interests to court interests • He was strongly influenced by his spendthrift wife, Marie Antoinette (daughter of Maria Theresa of Austria– remember her?) • Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette lived at Versailles, away from Paris and the people’s troubles

6. Financial Difficulties • The French government had large debts with heavy interest, because of: • Extravagant spending • Ambitious wars (Britain, American Revolution) • Need for tax reform • The peasants and the bourgeoisie (Third Estate) were unhappy because they had to pay all the taxes • The nobles and the clergy were determined not to give up their tax concessions

7. American Revolution1776 • Like the French Revolution, the American Revolution began as a dispute over taxes. • France sent troops and supplies to aid the American revolutionaries • Introduction to revolutionary ideas • Take up arms against tyranny • Liberal freedoms for all men • No taxation without representation • A republic is superior to a monarchy • This revolution gave greater reality to Enlightenment ideals of individual liberty, representative government, and progressivism. • France felt the impact more than any other country, due to the expense as well as the ideals their soldiers were inspired by.

8. Story of the French Revolution Why were all Three Estates dissatisfied with the Old Regime? How did Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette add to the crises that France faced?

9. Louis XVI & Marie Antoinette1770-1793 Louis’s govt was in debt from war with Britain and financing the American Revolution Marie Antoinette spent lavishly and lived a luxurious lifestyle– very offensive to poor Parisians

10. Estates General • How did Louis XVI plan to get out debt? • Louis’s ministers hoped to avoid bankruptcy by taxing the nobles • The nobles refused to pay taxes unless the king called a meeting of the Estates General • How did the voting system in the Estates General work? • Under the estates’ rules, each estate (group of people) was to have one vote • Thus, the First and Second Estate could always out vote the Third Estate two to one • How did the Third Estate wish to change the system? • They demanded that all three estates meet together—the votes of all members would count equally • Siding with the nobles however, the king ordered the estates to follow the old rules • The king locked the Third Estate out of every meeting hall in the city to keep them from meeting

11. Tennis Court OathJune 20, 1789 • In defiance, the members of the Third Estate gathered in a large indoor tennis court. • There, they swore the famous Tennis Court Oath, pledging never to disband until they had written a newconstitution for France.

12. What becomes of this meeting, and what are the goals of this new government? • The Third Estate changed its name to the National Assembly. The assembly was called upon to pass laws and reforms in the name of the French people. • In effect, the assembly proclaimed an end to absolute monarchy and the beginning of representative government. • This was the first revolutionary legislature and was made up mostly of the Third Estate and a few nobles and clergy who joined them. • In session from 1789-1791.

13. Response to National Assembly • In the crisis, Louis XVI tried to make peace with the assembly by yielding with their demands • However, mobs were rioting in the streets believing Louis had hired foreign troops to massacre French citizens • The riots reached their peak when mobs stormed the Bastille (the prison) in search of gunpowder to defend against the kings troops

14. Storming of the Bastille July 14, 1789 • Angry attackers hacked the prison commander of the Bastille and several guards to death, and then paraded around the streets with the dead men’s heads on spikes • The fall of the Bastille became a great symbolic act of revolution to the French people for several reasons

15. Bastille Day • Forced Louis XVI to abandon his plans of bringing in foreign troops to assert his power • It reduced the king’s power and saved the National Assembly • It became a symbol of the revolution—BastilleDay

16. The Great Fear • Before long, rebellion spread from Paris to the countryside • Rumors were circulating that the nobles were hiring outlaws to terrorize the peasants • A new wave of panic called the Great Fear rolled through France • Peasants armed with guns and pitchforks broke into manor houses and destroyed the old legal papers that bound them to pay feudal dues • Many peasants burned down the manor houses

17. Bread Riots • In October of 1789, thousands of Parisian women began rioting over the high prices of bread. Carrying knives, axes, and other weapons, they marched to Versailles demanding the king and queen do something about it. • They broke into the palace, killing some guards. The women demanded that Louis and Marie return to Paris. After some time, Louis agreed.

18. Revolution Brings Reform & Terror

19. Declaration of the Rights of Man • The Old Regime is now dead. The National Assembly then adopts a statement of revolutionary ideas called the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen: • Liberty, property, security, and resistance to oppression • Equal justice, freedom of speech, and freedom of religion • In keeping with the ideas of revolution, the French people adopted the slogan— “Liberty, Equality, Fraternity”

20. The Church • The National Assembly then focused on the Church • Church officials and priests were to be paid as state officials • Church land was sold and used to pay off France’s huge debt • What caused the peasants to oppose many of these reforms? • The effort to make the Church part of the state offended them • They believed the Pope should rule over the Church and it should remain independent

21. Legislative Assembly, 1791 • A new government formed at this time called the Legislative Assembly • The leaders were still prosperous and well-educated, but were younger and less cautious than their predecessors in the National Assembly. Many belonged to a political club called the Jacobins (a radical republican group). • Declaration of Pillnitz: a declaration of the monarchs of Europe that they would intervene if the French monarchy was threatened.

22. Threat of War • As France faced revolution, they also faced a war with Austria and Prussia who urged the French to restore Louis to his position as absolute monarch. • War between the two countries was declared in 1792. The Prussian commander threatened to destroy Paris if the revolutionaries harmed any member of the royal family. • In retaliation, mobs stormed the palace and massacred the king’s guards. Louis and Marie were deposed and imprisoned in a stone tower.

23. September Massacre, 1792 • Fearful citizens began raiding prisons and murdering over 1,000 prisoners, mostly nobles, priests, and royalist sympathizers. This event was known as the September Massacre. • What effects did the September massacre have on the government? • Under the threat of war, the Legislative Assembly gave up the idea of a limited monarchy. • A new governing body was created called the National Convention. • It abolished the monarchy and made France a republic.

24. Jacobins • New radical political organizations began to appear at this time. The most prominent was a group called the Jacobins. • One of the most prominent of the Jacobins was a man named Jean-Paul Marat. Marat edited a newspaper in which he would call for the death of all those who continued to support the king. • Georges Danton was another member of the Jacobins. He used passionate, fiery, speeches to call for the death of many against the revolution.

25. Death of Louis XVI • The National Convention votes to abolish the monarchy. Under the new republic, Louis becomes a common citizen and prisoner. • The Jacobins tried Louis for treason and sentenced him to death.

26. The Reign of Terror

27. Robespierre • One Jacobin leader, Maximilien Robespierre, slowly gained power. Robespierre set out to build a “republic of virtue” by wiping out every trace of the monarchy. • He was nicknamed “the Incorruptible.” • Robespierre became the leader of the Committee of Public Safety. His rule became known as the Reign of Terror. He justified his use of terror by enabling citizens to be true to the ideas of the Revolution. The “Committee” began executing enemies of the revolution.

28. Reign of Terror • As many as 40,000 people were executed during the terror. • Even Georges Danton was tried and sentenced to death for his opposition to the terror.

29. Reign of Terror • Jean-Paul Marat was stabbed while bathing in his medicinal tub by a woman who wanted the killing to stop. • She was quoted as saying “I killed one man to save 100,000.”

30. Death of Marie Antoinette • Marie Antoinette, the widowed queen, was also tried, found guilty, and sentenced to the guillotine.

31. Reign of Terror • Fearing for their own safety, many members of the National Convention turned on Robespierre. • They demanded his arrest and execution. • He was shot in the jaw then later condemned to death by the same method as thousands of others

32. Directory • Moderate leaders drafted a new constitution. Five men headed up the new executive body called the Directory. • The Directory also found a new leader to crush their enemies—NapoleonBonaparte.