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The French Revolution

The French Revolution . *in the 1700s, France was considered the most advanced country in Europe – was the center of the Enlightenment But there was great unrest in France due to high prices & high taxes. Old Regime – the government that had been in place in France since the Middle Ages.

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The French Revolution

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  1. The French Revolution

  2. *in the 1700s, France was considered the most advanced country in Europe – was the center of the Enlightenment • But there was great unrest in France due to high prices & high taxes

  3. Old Regime – the government that had been in place in France since the Middle Ages

  4. estates – three large social classes that existed in France • 1st Estate – Roman Catholic Church • 2nd Estate – Aristocrats • 3rd Estate – EVERYBODY else !! (18% - rich merchants, lawyers, doctors, 80% - servants, poor farmers, & peasants)

  5. The Forces of Change: • 1) Enlightenment Ideas • 2) Economic woes – bad weather in the 1780s caused grain/crop failures  -- France financed the revolution in America (bankruptcy!)

  6. 3) Weak leadership – Louis XVI was indecisive – preferred hunting to running the country • Unpopular Queen: Marie Antoinette was Austrian, spent a lot on jewel$ and gown$ (“Madame Deficit”)

  7. *Estates General – an assembly of representatives from all three estates – met at Versailles on May 5, 1789 (1st time in over a century) : • 3rd Estate wanted to change the name to the National Assembly & pass laws/reforms in the name of the people

  8. *June 17th , 1789  they voted to establish a representative government & abolish the absolute monarchy • *June 20th - 3rd Estate representatives found themselves locked out of the meeting hall

  9.  broke into nearby indoor tennis court & swore to stay there until a new constitution was written (called the Tennis Court Oath) • Joined joined by members of the 1st and 2nd Estates who also wanted change

  10. *July 14th, 1789 – the people of Paris, fearing an attack by the king’s army, stormed the Bastille (prison & armory) to get gunpowder • * Rebellion spread through the countryside - the French Revolution had begun!

  11. Burning houses as peasants riot in the country side

  12. *the Great Fear – a wave of senseless panic that spread throughout France

  13. *October, 1789 – 6,000 Parisian women rioted over the rising price of bread & the rumored response of Marie Antoinette, “Let them eat cake.” – the women broke into Versailles & forced the royal family to move to Paris

  14. *August 27th, 1789 – Declaration of the Rights of Man & the Citizen adopted by the National Assembly - “Liberty, Equality, & Fraternity”

  15. *June 1791 – Louis XVI tries to escape to Austria & is captured & returned to Paris

  16. *National Assembly created a limited constitutional monarchy & changed name Legislative Assembly (which was split into 3 factions – disagreeing groups) _____________________________________ Radicals ModeratesConservatives *opposed the king & monarchy * wanted LIMITED changes *wanted to KEEP the idea *wanted SERIOUS changes of a limited monarchy

  17. “Culottes” – “breeches”

  18. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sans – Culottes (without “knee britches”) Emigres – nobles Jacobins who had fled France *wanted to spread revolution through all of Europe

  19. *April 1792 – Austria & Prussia proposed that France put Louis XVI back on the throne – France responded by declaring war on Austria & Prussia • *September 1792 – constitution was thrown out, new elected body called National Convention – deposed king & declared France a republic

  20. *January 21, 1793 – Louis XVI executed by guillotine – Great Britain, Holland, & Spain joined Prussia & Austria in war against France (known as 1st coalition)

  21. *inside France itself, terror ruled !! Maximilien Robespierre – head of the Committee of Public Safety that wanted to wipe out any trace of the monarchy & nobility – picked out enemies of the state & sent them to the guillotine (time period referred to as the Reign of Terror – lasted 1 year) -

  22. Robespierre executed on July 28, 1794 • *1795 – a new constitution was drafted that created a 2 house legislature & an executive body of five men called the Directory

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