The French Revolution

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION!

REVIEW

What were the three estates?

What were some of the ideas the Enlightenment that might lead to Revolution?

What were some of the economic problems facing ordinary people?

THE CRISIS IN 1789

The French monarchy had serious money problems Huge expenses in fighting wars (especially helping pay for the

American Revolution) Nobles and clergy exempt from most taxes Fixing the crown’s finances would mean even more taxation of

commoners

Louis XVI, Marie Antoinette, and their advisers unable to solve problems

Meanwhile, wages were falling and the price of bread was rising, making life difficult for peasants and workers

THE MONARCHS

RISING PRICE OF BREAD AND CORRUPT, INEFFECTIVE, AUTOCRATIC LEADERS (SOUND FAMILIAR?)Tahrir Square—Cairo, Egypt (2011)

PRAGUE, CZECHOSLOVAKIA (1990)

ESTATES GENERAL

Louis XVI force to call the Estates General to assemble for the first time in 150 years

Tradition: Each estate gets one vote First and Second (clergy and

nobles) can always outvote Third

Demand of Third Estate: “One man, one vote!” Third Estate had more

representatives, plus some nobles and many parish priests sympathized with commoners

Bourgeois (middle-class) political leaders became more and more radical

Demanded that this meeting of the Estates General would truly give the common people a say

Printing presses were busy printing the works of radical political thinkers

THE REVOLUTION SPREADS

May, 1789:

Third Estate declared itself the National Assembly and invited sympathetic nobles and clergy to join

Now a legislature which would represent the nation

Swore an oath that they wouldn’t disband until they had written a new constitution (the Tennis Court Oath)

France was now supposed to be a constitutional monarchy

July, 1789

King Louis nervous about National Assembly—sent troops to Paris

The common people (sans culottes) responded by storming the Bastille to look for weapons

Troops refused to attack the crowd and General Lafayette began foming a new citizen army

Peasants throughout France attacked their lords’ manors

THE END OF THE OLD REGIME

Bourgeois and working-class revolutionaries now controlled Paris

Outlawing of feudal privileges

Catholic Church placed under government control, and much property taken away

Many nobles fled France and began plotting against the Revolution (the emigres)

Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen approved by the National Assembly in August, 1789

CONSTITUTIONAL REVOLUTION TO RADICAL REVOLUTION

1791—Constitution Approved France now a constitutional monarchy Most power in hands of Assembly Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette furious

—captured as they tried to flee France

Monarchies of Europe feared the Revolution—Prussia and Austria declared war on France, with British support

Meanwhile, peasants began revolting against revolutionary government Distrusted urban revolutionaries and angry

with attacks on Catholicism

THE RADICAL REVOLUTION (1792-1795)

Threat of invasion caused fear among poor of Paris The September Massacres:

mobs attacked anyone thought to be a traitor—encouraged by revolutionary leaders

Assembly abolished monarchy and declared France a republic

The Jacobins (most radical faction) now in control Led by Georges-Jacques Danton

and Maximilien Robespierre

King and Queen executed in 1793

RADICAL CULTURAL CHANGES

New education system

Abolition of slavery in French colonies

New calendar and system of measurement (metric system) 1792 declared Year One

Attempt to create a new religion for France: “The Cult of Reason”

“This is a very terrible business. But they are our deadly enemies, and those who are delivering the country from them are saving your life and the lives of our dear children.” Revolutionary during the

September Massacres

“It often happens, especially in time of revolution, that one has to applaud actions that one would not have wanted or dared to perform one’s self.” Georges Jacques Danton

THE REIGN OF TERROR

The Committee of Public Safety took control—justified actions by saying they would save the revolution

Used conscription to create a massive citizen army--troops defeated Prussia, Austria, Britain

The Reign of Terror (1793-4) Mass executions of those suspected of disloyalty to Revolution All classes targeted Finally ended when Robespierre himself executed

The Directory (5 men) took over and imposed order—military increasingly politically powerful

DO REVOLUTIONS REQUIRE VIOLENCE?

“Liberty cannot be secured unless criminals lose their heads.” Maximilien Robespierre

“Strength does not come from physical capacity, it comes from an indomitable will…Given a just cause, capacity for endless suffering, and avoidance of violence, victory is certain.” Mahatma Gandhi

“We abhor fighting for Freedom. Freedom gotten by the sword is an established bondage to some part or other of the creation. Victory that is gotten by the sword is a victory that slaves get over one another.” Gerrard Winstanley, English revolutionary, 1650