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ATTACK ON THE BASTILLE

ATTACK ON THE BASTILLE. Workers and tradesmen of Paris begin to break into arsenals and arm themselves Feared invasion of starving peasants and military repression Stormed ancient fortress of the Bastille on July 14, 1789 All defenders and 98 defenders killed

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ATTACK ON THE BASTILLE

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  1. ATTACK ON THE BASTILLE • Workers and tradesmen of Paris begin to break into arsenals and arm themselves • Feared invasion of starving peasants and military repression • Stormed ancient fortress of the Bastille on July 14, 1789 • All defenders and 98 defenders killed • Gave Revolution its baptism in blood • Gave French a national holiday

  2. IMAGES OF THE FALL OF THE BASTILLE

  3. THE GREAT FEAR • Mass panic in countryside • Triggered by rumors of approaching beggar and bandit armies • Rumors were exaggerated and reflected general feeling of unease and disorder caused by events in Paris and Versailles • Rumors served as pretext for looting and settling old scores • Resulted in full-scale rural insurrection by late July

  4. THE END OF THE OLD REGIME • National Assembly had no choice but to ratify what the peasants were already doing on their own • Had to abolish the Old Regime officially since it had already been destroyed unofficially • August 4, 1789 • All privileges and exemptions of aristocrats, clergy, cities, guilds and provinces given up during all night session • “Feudalism is abolished!”

  5. DECLARATION OF THE RIGHTS OF MAN AND CITIZEN I • August 26, 1789 • Brief 17 paragraph blueprint for the new society that would replace the Old Regime • Declared that all men are “born free and equal in rights” • Life, liberty, security, and resistance to oppression • Freedoms of speech and religion guaranteed • Freedom could only be taken from a person through due process of law • Taxes could only be levied by popular consent and would be based on a person’s ability to pay • All men equal before the law and equally eligible for public office

  6. DECLARATION OF THE RIGHTS OF MAN AND CITIZEN II • Good, brief summary of Enlightenment political principles • Abolished absolute monarchy, the nobility, the basic institutions of the Old Regime, and inequality in a few paragraphs • Modeled on the American Declaration of Independence and English Bill of Rights • Easy to write because of the utter bankruptcy of the Old Regime Freedom and Reason Triumph

  7. PROBLEMS • National Assembly now had to write constitution to create new government • Big problem was Louis XVI • Had not openly rejected work of National Assembly but had not openly approved it either • Following strategy of passive resistance • Underlined by flight of his brother, the comte d’Artois, and other nobles into exile • Big question was whether to give king power of veto in new constitution Comte d’Artois

  8. MARCH TO VERSAILLES • October 5, 1789 • Parisian women march to Versailles to protest high food prices and shortages • Joined by Parisian National Guard • Began to demand that Louis return to Paris where he could be watched to make sure he didn’t run away • Forced Louis and family to return with them to Paris • Took up residence in Tuileries Palace

  9. RESULT? • An intimidated Louis XVI gives his official approval to the decrees of August 4 and the Declaration of the Rights of Man • Spontaneous mass action had delivered National Assembly from an impasse

  10. SITUATION IN LATE 1789/1790 • Slogan of French Revolution was “liberty, equality, and fraternity” • But French were not united on the future direction of their country • On one extreme were about 20,000 people who had fled the country and completely rejected the revolution • Mainly nobles • Peasants were generally satisfied • Destruction of feudalism and their feudal obligations had been all they ever wanted—and they had got them • Chiefly concerned from this point on with consolidating their gains and would be a conservative force

  11. SANS-CULOTTES • Urban workers who had not gained in a material sense from the Revolution • Included artisans, laborers, and apprentices • Made up 50% of population of Paris • Controlled Paris through neighborhood committees and assemblies • Also formed political clubs which exercised influence over representatives in National Assembly • They were a demanding and radical group who were becoming increasingly well-organized and who believed that the Revolution still had a long way to go before they would concretely benefit from it

  12. CONSTITUTIONAL PROBLEMS I • Constitution was determined by two factors • Distrust of king • Fear of radical people of Paris • Did think it was wise to dump the king • Only visible link between old and new France • Still represented the only valid symbol of authority for many • On the other hand, his opposition to the new order was clear • He could not be trusted to rule but neither could he simply be cast aside • Solution? • Retain him as a figurehead • Create unicameral legislature which would have all real power • Only give king a weak veto power

  13. COMPLEX VOTING SYSTEM • To protect new legislature from being manipulated by radical common people, a new and complex electoral system was devised • Electorate divided into passive and active citizens • Passive citizens • Full civil rights but could not vote • Active citizens • Owned specified amount of property and could vote • Active citizens were only qualified to vote for a group of 50,000 electors • Defined by an even higher property qualification • Electors voted for 500 representatives to Legislative Assembly • System granted vote to more people than could vote in England at the time • But it was rigged to limit the 50,000 electors to men of relative wealth and leisure • ie., the upper levels of the bourgeoisie

  14. CONSTITUTION OF 1791 • All former courts and jurisdictions were abolished • A uniform code of administration was established • 26 former provinces divided into 83 departments • Newly named and equal in population • Independent judicial system established • Elected judges and juries for criminal trials • All local officials to be elected, not appointed from Paris • Only problem was new administrative system was not given any orders about what it was supposed to do

  15. CONFISCATION OF CHURCH PROPERTY • Members of Constituent Assembly refused to repudiate national debt • Held government bonds themselves • Instead, they confiscated land of Roman Catholic Church in France • Sold it to public in order to liquidate debt • Government bondholders were issued paper currency in an amount equal to their bonds • Called assignats • They were to be used to buy confiscated Church property

  16. BIG CHANGES IN THE CHURCH • Made Church ward of the state • Clergy became salaried employees of the state • Chosen by election • Number of bishops reduced to 83 and position of archbishop abolished • Monastaries were dissolved and all religious orders abolished • Authority of pope in France reduced to zero

  17. CIVIL CONSTITUTION OF THE CLERGY • Embodied all changes in the Church • All clergy required to take oath to obey and protect the document • 50% of clergy refused to take oath • Known as “refractory priests” • Became natural focus of resistance to the Revolution • Church turned into bitter enemy of the Revolution

  18. SUMMARY • Work of Constituent Assembly had mixed results • It laid the foundation of the modern French state • But it failed to solve many immediate problems • Central government, divided between a weak chief executive and unwieldy legislature, was not viable • Local administration was left to fend for itself without direction and guidance • Tax revenue fell and assignats provoked serious inflation • Constitutent Assembly left behind an unworkable and incomplete governmental system • Would not last more than ten months

  19. FLIGHT TO VARENNES • June 20, 1791 • Royal family attempts to flee country • Captured at border town of Varennes by peasants and hauled back to Paris • Convinced some that new constitution would never work • Constitutional monarch clearly didn’t support the constitution • Wanted to dump the concept of monarchy and set up a “Republic”

  20. JACOBINS • Best known of political clubs in France • Named after their meeting place • Jacobin Monastary • Originally led by Jacques Brissot • Emerged as dominant faction in new Legislative Assembly

  21. WAR • Leopold II of Austria and Frederick William II of Prussia issue “Declaration of Pillnitz” on August 17, 1791 • Threatened military intervention against France unless Louis XVI restored to old powers • Brissotins call for “war of peoples against kings” • Argued that Revolution could not be confined to France • France would not be safe as long as the rest of Europe remained under kings • Pushed for war of liberations against rest of Europe • Legislative Assembly declares war on Austria on April 20, 1792

  22. BAD TIMING • French army in deplorable condition • 2/3s of officer corps had deserted or quit • Horrible inflation • Serious food shortages • Food riots erupting in Paris • General breakdown in law and order everywhere • French army suffered defeat after defeat at hands of Austrians and Prussians • Many began to feel that war effort was being sabotaged by traitors • Chief among these was the king

  23. END OF CONSTITUTIONAL MONARCHY • As mood in Paris turned ugly, Brissot backtracked and supported Louis • Another faction of Jacobins demanded removal of king • Led by Maximilian Robespierre • Supported by sans-culottes • Armed mob attacks king’s palace on August 10, 1792 • Louis and family flee for their lives • Constitution suspended and Legislative Assembly calls for a National Convention to write a new, republican constitution • With no king

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