How Can Nationalism Develop?

1. How Can Nationalism Develop? France: A Case Study

2. Questions for Inquiry: • How did nationalism develop in France? • How did Napoleon contribute to French nationalism? • How has nationalism developed in recent times?

3. Background: • During the French Revolution a series of events and conditions prompted the French people to revolt against the King and form a new nation • Before 1789, France was an absolute monarchy and a feudal society that favoured the aristocracy and the Catholic clergy

4. Key Terms • Absolutism- a system where the monarch (king, queen) is given the power to rule by divine right of kings. They answer only to God. • Feudal ism – a system that allowed the King and nobility to own all the land in the country. Peasants could farm the land but were forced to give a portion of their crops the nobles who owned the land

5. Key Terms • Aristocracy – a privileged group of people that owned most of the land and wealth. A small fraction of the population • Catholic Clergy – Religious leaders in the Catholic church. The church was powerful, wealthy and owned a tremendous amount of land in France. • Serfs – poor peasant farmers. They could not own land and represented the majority of the French population.

6. Historical and Social Factors in the Development of Nationalism • From about 400 – 1500 CE, powerful kingdoms in Europe developed such as England and France. • Before the French Revolution the political system in France was called the ancien regime. • The ancien regime divided French society into 3 estates.

7. The Three Estates of the Ancien Regime • The First Estate was the Roman Catholic Clergy • Male dominated • 250, 000 people • Landowners paid no taxes • Had political decision making power

8. The Three Estates of the Ancien Regime • The Second Estate was the nobility • 250, 000 people • Landowners paid no taxes • Political decision making power • Enjoyed other privileges such as hunting rights, and access to high ranks in clergy and the military not available to the third estate

9. The Three Estates of the Ancien Regime • The Third Estate included serfs/peasants, merchants (bourgeoisie), and artisans/ workers • 25, 000, 000 people (mostly serfs) • Could not own land • Paid heavy taxes • Little/no political power

11. Consider: • How might the division of members of society into three separate estates have affected identity in pre-1789 France? • How might a member of the Third Estate feel about members of the First and Second Estate? • To what extent might the members of all three estates have shared a collective identity?

12. Old Regime had to go • Inequalities in society • Lavish lifestyle of royal family • King Louis XVI, shy and indecisive • Unpopular, self-indulgent queen, Marie-Antoinette • Rest of French society divided into three classes, called estates • Rise of a middle class - they demanded democracy. • French treasury was empty • Widespread starvation / unemployment

14. Versailles – Hall of mirrors

15. Marie Antoinette’s bedroom

16. Language: • Until the year 1539, Latin was the language used in official French documents • In 1539 a piece of legislation called the Ordinance of Villers-Cotterets made French the official language in court proceedings and government administration • French became the language used by people across the country

20. The Age of Enlightenment • European intellectuals began thinking about the world in a new way in the 17th (1600s) and 18th (1700s) centuries • Instead of looking to religion for answers Enlightenment philosophers looked to reason, evidence and proof • French writers such as Montesquieu, Voltaire and Rousseau questioned the authority of the monarch and the church.

21. Meeting of the Estates General • May 1789 • Louis XVI calls representatives of Estates General • The representatives bring lists of grievances to encourage the King to make political changes • Louis XVI was stubborn and little was agreed upon • Meeting considered a failure

22. The Estates General

23. National Assembly and Tennis Court Oath • After failed Estates General meeting, representatives of Estates General declare themselves the National Assembly • June 20th Louis XVI locks them out of their meeting room and they meet on a nearby handball (tennis) court. • They swear to continue until France had a written constitution – called the “Tennis Court Oath”

24. Tennis Court Oath

25. The People Revolt • King does not recognize the National Assembly • Royal troops are assembled in Paris and National Assembly fears an attack • July 14th 1789 - Crowds sympathetic to the National Assembly storm the Bastille to release political prisoners and collect weapons

26. The Bastille

28. Poor economy , scarcity of food and rising prices cause attacks on the nobility in the countryside • On August 4th 1789 the National Assembly abolishes the Estates General and the Feudal System • This gives the National Assembly legislative power in France

29. Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen • August 1789 the Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen was passed by the National Assembly. • Described rights of individuals and democratic principles • “All people shall have equal rights upon birth and ever after: the right to freedom, property, safety and the right to resist oppression.”

30. Constitutional Monarchy • 1790 – National Assembly wrote a new Constitution for France that kept the monarchy but limited the powers of the king. • It eliminated the nobility as a legally recognized class • Granted the same civil rights to all citizens • Stripped the clergy of property and special rights

31. The Jacobins and the Girondins • 1790 -1793 – during this period two political groups emerged, the radical Jacobins, and the moderate Girondins • Girondins wanted to keep the monarchy • Jacobins wanted to eliminate the monarchy and establish a republic – Robespierre and Marat

32. Republic of France • In 1792 – the Jacobins stormed the palace wher e the royal family was staying and the Legislative Assembly suspended the king from his duties • Many nobles flee to Austria and Prussia where they attempt to mobilize forces against the new French government • Sept. 1792 – The National Convention is formed with representatives from the Jacobins and the Girondins where they vote to remove the monarchy and establish a republic

33. Executions of Marie-Antoinette and Louis XVI • 1793 – Both Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette are found guilty of treason and executed by guillotine • This was controversial as many still saw Louis XVI as a representative of God

34. The Reign of Terror: 1793-94 • Committee of Public Safety established by the revolutionary government to eliminate those who threatened the goals of the Republic • Maximilien Robespierre was instrumental in the reign of terror

35. The Guillotine • Up to 40,000 perceived enemies of the state were executed, mostly by guillotine • In 1794 Robespierre himself was arrested and executed • The Guillotine was invented as a more humane way to execute people

36. Napoleon Bonaparte • Napoleon emerges as a strong military leader during the early years of the revolution • Nov. 1799 - Napoleon is approached to lead a coup against the government • He manipulated the situation and was elected first counsel, the new leader of France

37. What were the factors that led up to the Revolution? Historical • Since 14th century the Ancien Regime had divided the country into three estates • Catholic church had a long history of strong spiritual and political influence Political • King was an absolute ruler • Political power in the hands of the First and Second Estates • Lack of cohesion and structure in government (no central bank or federal taxation system) • No political representation by population

38. What were the factors that led up to the Revolution? Economic • France was on the edge of bankruptcy • Third Estate heavily taxed to pay government debt • Inflation and unemployment were increasing • Food shortages Social Factors • Feudal society that forced serfs and peasants to work land of nobility • Nobility and Clergy lived a life of privilege and freedom • Third estate lived in poverty and opression • Rise of the middle class

39. In a one page response explain how France was changed by the revolution and whether you think the changes made by the revolution were positive or negative for the people of France.