The French Revolution

1. The French Revolution

2. It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity… -- Charles Dickens A Tale of Two Cities

3. Ancien Regime Map, 1789

4. The French Monarchy:1775 - 1793 Marie Antoinette & Louis XVI

5. Marie Antoinette and the Royal Children

6. Marie Antoinette’s“Peasant Cottage”

7. Crane Brinton’s Anatomy of a Revolution • Compares a revolution to a fever or a disease: • The revolutionary “fever” begins with the appearance of certain “symptoms.” • It proceeds by advances and retreats to a crisis stage, or “delirium.” • The crisis ends when the “fever” breaks. • A period of recovery follows, interrupted by a relapse or two before the recovery is complete.

8. Crane Brinton: Conditions Present Before a Revolution Occurs • In your group, please read the slip of paper in BOLD. This slip contains one of the 10 conditions that is present before a revolution occurs. Take a few minutes in your group to make up a SYMBOL for this line. Be prepared to read the line to the class and show/explain your symbol.

9. PROBLEMS IN FRANCE

10. Socio-Economic Data, 1789

11. The French Urban Poor

12. Financial Problemsin France, 1789 • Urban Commoner’sBudget: • Food 80% • Rent 25% • Tithe 10% • Taxes 35% • Clothing 20% • TOTAL 170% • King’s Budget: • Interest 50% • Army 25% • Versailles 25% • Coronation 10% • Loans 25% • Admin. 25% • TOTAL 160% Everyone owes more than they take in!

13. Where is the tax money?

14. The Suggested Voting Pattern:Voting by Estates Clergy 1st Estate 1 Aristocracy 2nd Estate 1 1 Commoners 3rd Estate Louis XIV insisted that the ancient distinction of the three orders be conserved in its entirety.

15. The Number of Representativesin the Estates General: Vote by Head! Clergy 1st Estate 300 Aristocracy 2nd Estate 300 648 Commoners 3rd Estate

16. Emmanuel Joseph Sieyes 1stWhat is the Third Estate?Everything! 2nd What has it been heretofore in the political order? Nothing! 3rd What does it demand? To become something therein! Abbé Sieyès1748-1836

17. BEGINNING EVENTS

18. Convening the Estates General May, 1789 Last time it was called into session was 1614! Louis wanted to deal with France’s financial problems

19. “The Third Estate Awakens” • The commoners finally presented their credentials not as delegates of the Third Estate, but as “representatives of the nation.” • They proclaimed themselves the “National Assembly” of France.

20. Tennis Court Oath • 3rd estate is locked out of the General Assembly • Tennis Court • Pledge "not to separate, and to reassemble wherever circumstances require, until the constitution of the kingdom is established"

21. “The Tennis Court Oath”by Jacques Louis David June 20, 1789

22. REVOLUTION BEGINS

23. Crane Brinton: The Course that Revolutions Seem to Take • In your group, please read the slip of paper in italics andunderlined. This slip contains one of the 10 steps in the course that revolutions seem to take. Take a few minutes in your group to connect your line to a literary work OR current event. Be prepared to read the line to the class and explain your connection.

24. Storming the Bastille, July 14, 1789 • A rumor that the king was planning a military coup against the National Assembly. • 18 died. • 73 wounded. • 7 guards killed.

25. The Great Fear: Peasant Revolt(July 20, 1789) • Rumors that the feudal aristocracy were sending hired brigands to attack peasants and pillage their land. • Peasants arm themselves and attack manors

26. Night Session of August 4, 1789 National Assembly • Before the night was over: • The feudal regime in France had been abolished. • Peasant revolt was a deciding factor in abolishing feudalism • All Frenchmen were, at least in principle, subject to the same laws and the same taxes and eligible for the same offices. Equality & Meritocracy!

27. BUT . . . . . • Feudal dues were not renounced outright • Peasants would compensate their landlords even though they had been “freed” • Therefore, the National Assembly made revolutionary gestures, but remained essentially moderate. Their Goal Safeguard the right of private property!!

28. A DECLARATION!

29. Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen • In pairs at your pod, please read and interpret your assigned line from the Declaration. Prepare a short skit (30 seconds or less!) to explain it to the class.

30. The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen August 26, 1789 • Liberty! • Property! • Resistance to oppression! • Thomas Jefferson was in Paris at this time.

31. March of the WomenOctober 5-6, 1789 A spontaneous demonstration of Parisian women for bread. We want the baker, the baker’s wife and the baker’s boy!

32. The “October Days” (1789) The king was thought to be surrounded by evil advisors at Versailles so he was forced to move to Paris and reside at the Tuileries Palace. Bread marchers compelled King to return to Paris with them

33. Louis XVI “Accepts” the Constitution & the National Assembly. 1791

34. The French Constitution of 1791: A Bourgeois Government • The king got the “suspensive” veto [which prevented the passage of laws for 4 years]. • He could not pass laws. • His ministers were responsible for their own actions. • A permanent, elected, single chamber National Assembly. • Had the power to grant taxation. • An independent judiciary.

35. The Royal Family Attempts to Flee • June, 1791 • Helped by the Swedish Count Hans Axel von Fusen [Marie Antoinette’s lover]. • Headed toward the Luxembourgborder. • The King wasrecognized atVarennes, nearthe border

36. TheBrunswick Manifesto(August 3, 1792) Duke of Brunswick On the King’s side - if the Royal Family is harmed, Paris will be leveled!! 1792-1797 FRANCE AUSTRIAPRUSSIABRITAINSPAINPIEDMONT This military crisis undermined the new Legislative Assembly.

37. French Soldiers & the Tricolor:ViveLe Patrie! • The French armies were ill-prepared for the conflict. • ½ of the officer corps had emigrated. • Many men disserted. • New recruits were enthusiastic, butill-trained. • French troops often broke ranks and fled in disorder.

38. "Radical" Phase: 1793-1794

39. The “Second” French Revolution • The National Convention: • Girondin Rule: 1792-1793 • Jacobin Rule: 1793-1794[“Reign of Terror”] • Thermidorian Reaction: 1794-1795 • The Directory  1795-1799

40. Attitudes & actions of monarchy& court Fear ofCounter-Revolution Religiousdivisions The Causes of Instability in France1792 - 1795 EconomicCrises Politicaldivisions War

41. The Jacobins Jacobin Meeting House • They held their meetings in the library of a former Jacobin monastery in Paris. • Started as a debating society. • Membership mostly middle class. • Created a vast network of clubs.

42. The Sans-Culottes:The Parisian Working Class • Small shopkeepers. • Tradesmen. • Artisans. They shared many of the ideals of their middle class representatives in government!

43. The Storming of the Tuilieres:August 9-10, 1792 This was triggered in part by the publication in Paris of the August 3 Brunswick Manifesto, which confirmed popular suspicions concerning the king’s treason.

44. The September Massacres, 1792(The dark side of the Revolution!) • Rumors that the anti-revolutionary political prisoners were plotting to break out & attack from the rear the armies defending France, while the Prussians attacked from the front. • Buveurs de sang [“drinkers of blood.”] over 1000 killed! • It discredited the Revolution among its remaining sympathizers abroad.

45. The National Convention(September, 1792) • Its first act was the formal abolition of the monarchy on September 22, 1792. • The Year I of the French Republic. • The Decree of Fraternity • it offered French assistance to any subject peoples who wished to overthrow their governments. When France sneezes, all of Europe catches cold!

46. The Political Spectrum TODAY: 1790s: Montagnards(“The Mountain”) Girondists MonarchíenRoyalists Jacobins

47. The Politics of the National Convention (1792-1795) Montagnards Girondists • Power base in Paris. • Main support from the sans-culottes. • Would adopt extreme measures to achieve their goals. • Saw Paris as the center of the Revolution. • More centralized [in Paris] approach to government. • Power base in the provinces. • Feared the influence of the sans-culottes. • Feared the dominance of Paris in national politics. • Supported more national government centralization [federalism].

48. Louis XVI as a Pig • For the Montagnards, the king was a traitor. • The Girondins felt that the Revolution had gone far enough and didn’t want to execute the king [maybe exile him].

49. Louis XVI’s Head (January 21, 1793) • Trial of king hastened by discovery of a hoard of document sin a secret cupboard in the Tuilieres. • They proved conclusively Louis’ knowledge and encouragement of foreign intervention. • The National Convention voted387 to 334 to execute the monarchs.

50. The Death of “Citizen” Louis Capet Matter for reflectionfor the crowned jugglers. So impure blooddoesn’t soil our land!