The French Revolution

The French Revolution 1789-1791

Just Do It Activity • Directions: Look at the following picture. Write down which social class each person in the photograph might represent in France. Explain why in 3-5 sentences.

Causes of the Revolution 1. Practical Problems 2. Ideas

Practical Problems • Debt from the American Revolution put on the shoulders of the 3rd Estate. • Bad harvests caused food prices to rise, many did not have enough to eat. (Bread at the time was ¾ of the average person’s income.) • Manufacturing depression which led to high unemployment. • Growing middle class: • Had the means and education to participate. • Were as qualified as nobles but with no rights.

“Meanwhile, as the middle classes became more prosperous and more self-important, they could hardly fail to become more resentful of the extravagance, inefficiencies and petty tyranny of a Court and government to whose upkeep they largely contributed but over which they had no control.”Rude, George, Revolutionary Europe 1783-1815

The French Revolution caused a... T.E.R.R.O.R.

E. Estate system - 3rd estate treated unfairly by 1st & 2nd -3rd estate = poor & middle class -1st = clergy, 2nd = nobility Q: What does this picture represent? Q: What will the 3rd estate want to do if they feel social injustice, economic distress, and that there is an unpopular method of rule?

“It is not always by going from bad to worse that a society falls into a revolution. It happens most often that a people, which has supported without complaint, as if they were not felt, the most oppressive laws, violently throws them off as soon as their weight is lightened….Feudalism at the height of its power had not inspired French men with so much hatred as it did on the eve of its disappearing. The slightest acts of arbitrary power under Louis XVI seemed less easy to endure than all the despotism of Louis XIV.” Alexis de Tocqueville

R. Revolution begins - storm of the Bastille

R. Revolution begins - storm of the Bastille -3rd estate wants rights & equality -July 14, 1789 - take over Bastille prison -3rd estate forms new gov’t - people are sovereign Q: What would Hobbes say should happen now that the people are sovereign?

R. Reign of Terror - kills anyone against the revolution -3rd estate radicals use guillotine to execute opponents (17,000) Q: Does the 3rd estate seem at all hypocritical? Q: Does Hobbes seem right or wrong in this case?

“…whole ranges of houses, always the most handsome burnt. The churches, convents, and all the dwellings of former patricians were in ruins. When I came to the guillotine, the blood of those who had been executed a few hours beforehand was still running in the street…I said to a group of sansculottes that it would be decent to clear away all this human blood. Why should it be cleared? One of them said to me. It’s the blood of aristocrats and rebels. The dogs should lick it up.” German Observer

Louis XVI O. Off with absolute monarch Louis XVI’s head

Off with absolute monarch Louis XVI’s head O.

Off with absolute monarch Louis XVI’s head O. Q: According to Hobbes, would a gov’t without a king be able to meet the needs of the people? Why or why not? -new gov’t is weak & corrupt

Rise of Napoleon - becomes dictator after coup d’etat R. -coup d’etat = quick take over of gov’t Q: Would Hobbes say things would be better or worse now that an absolute ruler is in charge?

Ideas • The ideas of the Enlightenment were prevalent in European culture (Both nobles and middle class). • America had proven that enlightened ideas could actually work in a government.

Immediate Causes • Financial crisis is so bad that Louis XVI had to call the Estates-General. (Ex. 1/2 of governments budget is set aside for paying off interest on debts) • The Estates-General had not met since 1614! • Basically shows that Louis XVI was desperate.

The Estates-General • Meets in Versailles starting on May 5, 1789. • Consisted of nobles from all three orders of French society (1st, 2nd, 3rd Estate). • The government had ruled that the 3rd Estate would get double representation (represent 97% of population). • Many disagreements followed over how to vote. (Peasants wanted voting per person. Nobles wanted voting per order (ex. 1st Class votes yes, 2nd class votes yes., 3rd class votes no.)

“What is the 3rd Estate? Everything. What has it been thus far in the political order? Nothing. What does it demand? To become something.” • Abbe Sieyes

Estates-General • 1st Estate wins and chooses voting by order. • 3rd Estate decides to form the “National Assembly” and draws up a constitution. • Three days later when they try to attend a meeting, they are locked out! • They decided to move to a nearby tennis court to start a new government.

The Tennis Court Oath

How Does the Revolution Start? • Louis XVI had plans to use force to end the National Assembly. • It is now the commoners who lead uprisings that save the early revolutionaries from the king’s actions.

The Bastille • July 14, 1789 • Had symbolic significance and also showed Louis XVI that his troops were not reliable.

Chaos Spreads • Other cities began to have revolutions. • Once again royal authority (i.e. king’s authority) collapsed. • Peasant rebellions begin in the countryside. • Period called the “Great Fear”.

The Destruction of the Old Regime • The National Assembly continues meeting in August. • Accomplishments: • Declaration of Rights of Man and the Citizen • Abolition (Outlawing) of noble privileges.

What’s The King Doing? • For a few months he is a lame duck at Versailles. • He does recognize the revolution, but he also cannot stop it. • All this will change on October 5, 1789.

Bread Riots • On October 5, thousands of women march to Versailles demanding bread. • They were so forceful that they killed many of Louis’ guards and forced the National Guard to lead the march. • They forced the king and his family to return to Paris. • The king is basically a prisoner in Paris.

The king is escorted back by women with pikes (some of which had his guards’ severed heads on them). Women sang, “We are bringing back the baker, the baker’s wife, the baker’s boy.”

The First Estate-The Church • Much of their land seized. • The church was secularized. • Clergy had to be elected by the people and paid by the state. • They had to swear an oath of allegiance to the Constitution. • Only 54% of the clergy took the oath. • Catholic Church was now an “enemy of the revolution”. • Probably one of the biggest mistakes the the National Assembly made. • Why?

The Constitution • Finally completed in 1791 • Limited the monarch. • Mostly set up to give the middle class power. • Isolated many different groups including peasants and nobles. • Led to radical groups forming like the Jacobins. • Government was still suffering due to massive tax evasion. • Why would that happen?

Opposition from Abroad • Many leaders in other countries feared the ideas of the revolution spreading. • Austria (Leopold II) and Prussia (Frederick II) promised to attempt to restore Louis XVI. • France quickly declares war. • As the war goes badly, a search for scapegoats begins. • The French Revolution will go into a far more radical stage.

REFLECTION • How would you feel as a member of the 1st Estate? 2nd Estate? 3rd Estate?

The French Revolution