Day One
Jan 05, 2016
Day One
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
Socio-Economic Data, 1789
a Urban Commoner’sBudget:
– Food 80%– Rent 25%– Tithe 10%– Taxes 35%– Clothing 20%– TOTAL 170%
a King’s Budget:– Interest 50%– Army 25%– Versailles 25%– Coronation 10%– Loans 25%– Admin. 25%– TOTAL 160%
Financial Problemsin France, 1789
Lettres de Cachet
The French king could warrant imprisonment or death in asigned letter under his seal.
A carte-blanche warrant.
Cardinal Fleury issued 80,000during the reign of Louis XV!
Eliminated in 1790.
The French Monarchy:1775 - 1793
Marie Antoinette & Louis XVI
Day Two
Convening the Estates General May, 1789
Last time it was called into session was 1614!
Commoners3rd Estate
Aristocracy2nd Estate
Clergy1st Estate
The Suggested Voting Pattern:Voting by Estates
1
1
1
Louis XIV insisted that the ancient distinction of the three orders be conserved in its entirety.
Commoners3rd Estate
Aristocracy2nd Estate
Clergy1st Estate
The Number of Representativesin the Estates General: Vote by Head!
300
300
648
“The Third Estate Awakens”Y The commoners finally presented their credentials not as
delegates of the Third Estate, but as “representatives of the nation.”
Y They proclaimed themselves the “National Assembly” of France.
“The Tennis Court Oath”by Jacques Louis David
June 20, 1789
Europe on the Eve of theFrench Revolution
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.
It held 7 prisoners [5 ordinary criminals & 2 madmen].
The Pathof the“GreatFear”
Louis XVI “Accepts” the Constitution & the National Assembly. 1791
National Constituent Assembly1789 - 1791
August DecreesAugust 4-11, 1789
(A renunciation of aristocratic privileges!)
Liberté!
Egalité!
Fraternité!
The Tricolor (1789)
The WHITE of the Bourbons + the RED & BLUE of Paris.
Citizen!
The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen August 26,
1789
V Liberty!
V Property!
V Resistance to oppression!
V Thomas Jefferson was in Paris at this time.
The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen Posed New Dilemmas
1. Did women have equal rights with men?
2. What about free blacks in the colonies?
3. How could slavery be justified if all men were born free?
4. Did religious toleration of Protestants and Jews include equal political rights?
Day Three
March of the Women,October 5-6, 1789
We want the baker, the baker’s wife and the baker’s boy!
A spontaneous demonstration of Parisian women for bread.
The Royal Family Attempts
to FleeY June, 1791
Y Helped by the Swedish Count Hans Axel von Fusen [Marie Antoinette’s lover].
Y Headed toward the Luxembourgborder.
Y The King wasrecognized atVarennes, nearthe border
Louis XVI as a Pig
c For the Montagnards, the king was a traitor.
c The Girondins felt that the Revolution had gone far enough and didn’t want to execute the king [maybe exile him].
Louis XVI’s Head (January 21, 1793)c The trial of the king
was hastened by the discovery in a secret cupboard in the Tuilieres of a cache of documents.
c They proved conclusively Louis’ knowledge and encouragement of foreign intervention.
c The National Convention voted387 to 334 to execute the monarchs.
Marie Antoinette as a Serpent
The “Widow Capet”
Marie Antoinette on the Way to the
Guillotine
Marie Antoinette Died in October, 1793
Committee for Public Safety
Revolutionary Tribunals. 300,000 arrested. 16,000 – 50,000 executed.
Maximillian Robespierre(1758 – 1794)
The Reign of Terror
Terror is nothing other than justice, prompt, severe, inflexible. -- Robespierre
Let terror be the order of
the day!c The Revolutionary
Tribunal of Paris alone executed 2,639 victims in 15 months.
c The total number of victims nationwide was over 20,000!
Different Social Classes Executed
28%
31%
25%
8%
7%
The “Monster” Guillotine
The last guillotine execution in France was in 1977!
The Radical’s
Arms:
No God!No Religion!
No King!No
Constitution!
The Arrest of Robespierre
The Revolution Consumes
Its Own Children!
Danton Awaits Execution, 1793
Robespierre Lies WoundedBefore the Revolutionary
Tribunal that will order him to be guillotined, 1794.