The French Revolution "Bourgeois" Phase: 1789 -1792

1. The French Revolution "Bourgeois" Phase: 1789-1792

2. 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

3. The French Monarchy:1775 - 1793 Marie Antoinette & Louis XVI

4. Socio-Economic Data, 1789

5. The French Urban Poor

6. Financial Problemsin France, 1789 • Urban Commoner’sBudget: • Food 80% • Rent 25% • Tithe 10% • Taxes 35% • Clothing 20% • TOTAL 170% • King’s Budget: • Interest 50% • Army 25% • Versailles 25% • Coronation 10% • Loans 25% • Admin. 25% • TOTAL 160%

7. French Budget, 1774

8. Where is the tax money?

9. Lettres de Cachet • The French king could warrantimprisonment 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.

10. The Suggested Voting Pattern:Voting by Estates Clergy 1st Estate 1 Aristocracy 2nd Estate 1 1 Commoners 3rd Estate Louis XIV insisted that the ancient distinction of the three orders be conserved in its entirety.

11. The Number of Representativesin the Estates General: Vote by Head! Clergy 1st Estate 300 Aristocracy 2nd Estate 300 648 Commoners 3rd Estate

12. Convening the Estates General May, 1789 Last time it was called into session was 1614!

13. “The Third Estate Awakens” • The commoners finally presented their credentials not as delegates of the Third Estate, but as “representatives of the nation.” • They proclaimed themselves the “National Assembly” of France.

14. “The Tennis Court Oath”by Jacques Louis David June 20, 1789

15. Europe on the Eve of theFrench Revolution

16. 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].

17. The Great Fear: Peasant Revolt(July 20, 1789) • Rumors that the feudal aristocracy [the aristos] were sending hired brigands to attack peasants and pillage their land.

18. The Pathof the“GreatFear”

19. Night Session of August 4, 1789 • Before the night was over: • The feudal regime in France had been abolished. • All Frenchmen were, at least in principle, subject to the same laws and the same taxes and eligible for the same offices. Equality & Meritocracy!

20. National Constituent Assembly1789 - 1791 Liberté! Egalité! Fraternité! August DecreesAugust 4-11, 1789 (A renunciation of aristocratic privileges!)

21. BUT . . . . . • Feudal dues were not renounced outright [this had been too strong a threat to the principle of private property!] • Peasants would compensate their landlords through a series of direct payments for obligations from which they had supposedly been freed. • Therefore, the National Assembly made revolutionary gestures, but remained essentially moderate. Their Goal Safeguard the right of private property!!

22. The Tricolor (1789) The WHITE of the Bourbons + the RED & BLUE of Paris. Citizen!

23. The Tricolor is the Fashion!

24. The “Liberty Cap”: Bonne Rouge

25. Revolutionary Symbols Cockade Liberté La Republic Revolutionary Clock

26. The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen August 26, 1789 • Liberty! • Property! • Resistance to oppression! • Thomas Jefferson was in Paris at this time.

27. March of the Women,October 5-6, 1789 A spontaneous demonstration of Parisian women for bread. We want the baker, the baker’s wife and the baker’s boy!

28. Louis XVI “Accepts” the Constitution & the National Assembly. 1791

29. The Royal Family Attempts to Flee • June, 1791 • Helped by the Swedish Count Hans Axel von Fusen [Marie Antoinette’s lover]. • Headed toward the Luxembourgborder. • The King wasrecognized atVarennes, nearthe border

30. Olympe de Gouges (1745-1793) • Women played a vital role in the Revolution. • But, The Declaration of the Rights of Man did NOT extend the rights and protections of citizenship to women. Declaration of the Rights of Womanand of the Citizen (1791)

31. French Soldiers & the Tricolor:ViveLe Patrie! • The French armies were ill-prepared for the conflict. • ½ of the officer corps had emigrated. • Many men disserted. • New recruits were enthusiastic, butill-trained. • French troops often broke ranks and fled in disorder.

32. French Expansion: 1791-1799

33. The French Revolution "Radical" Phase: 1793-1794

34. The National Convention(September, 1792) • Its first act was the formal abolition of the monarchy on September 22, 1792. • The Year I of the French Republic. • The Decree of Fraternity • it offered French assistance to any subject peoples who wished to overthrow their governments. When France sneezes, all of Europe catches cold!

35. The Political Spectrum TODAY: 1790s: The Plain(swing votes) Montagnards(“The Mountain”) Girondists Monarchíen(Royalists) Jacobins

36. Louis XVI as a Pig • For the Montagnards, the king was a traitor. • The Girondins felt that the Revolution had gone far enough and didn’t want to execute the king [maybe exile him].

37. Louis XVI’s Head (January 21, 1793) • The trial of the king was hastened by the discovery in a secret cupboard in the Tuilieres of a cache of documents. • They proved conclusively Louis’ knowledge and encouragement of foreign intervention. • The National Convention voted387 to 334 to execute the monarchs.

38. The Death of “Citizen” Louis Capet Matter for reflectionfor the crowned jugglers. So impure blooddoesn’t soil our land!

39. Marie Antoinette as a Serpent The “Widow Capet”

40. Marie Antoinette on the Way to the Guillotine

41. Marie Antoinette Died in October, 1793

42. Attempts to Controlthe Growing Crisis Revolutionary Tribunal in Paris trysuspected counter-revolutionaries. • Representatives-on-Mission • sent to the provinces & to the army. • had wide powers to overseeconscription. B. Watch Committees [comité de surveillance] • keep an eye on foreigners & suspects. C. Sanctioned the trial & execution of rebels and émigrés, should they ever return to France.

43. Attempts to Controlthe Growing Crisis • The printing of more assignats to pay for the war. • Committee of Public Safety [CPS] • to oversee and speed up the work of the government during this crisis. • Committee of General Security [CGS] • responsible for the pursuit ofcounter-revolutionaries, thetreatment of suspects, & other internal security matters.

44. Committee for Public Safety • Revolutionary Tribunals. • 300,000 arrested. • 16,000 – 50,000 executed.

45. Maximillian Robespierre(1758 – 1794)

46. Georges Jacques Danton(1759 – 1794)

47. The Reign of Terror Terror is nothing other than justice, prompt, severe, inflexible. -- Robespierre Let terror be the order of the day! • The Revolutionary Tribunal of Paris alone executed 2,639 victims in 15 months. • The total number of victims nationwide was over 20,000!

48. Different Social Classes Executed 7% 8% 28% 25% 31%

49. The “Monster” Guillotine The last guillotine execution in France was in 1977!

50. Political Propaganda