The French Revolution

1. The French Revolution Modern World History Harris

2. Background of the Revolution • France’s population in 1789 was about 27 million. However, power and wealth were unequally distributed. • The estate system, was a system used in France to divide up society and determine who had to pay taxes. Under this system, the people of France were divided into three different estates. The First Estate – The First Estate in France consisted of the clergy members of the church. There were about 130,000 people in this estate. This group owned 10% of all the land in France. The Second Estate – The Second Estate was made up of the nobility in France. This group had about 350,000 members and owned about 30% of the land in France. The Third Estate – The Third Estate was made up of the rest of the population. This group had a total population of about 26,520,000 and owned about 60% of the land.

3. Three Estates

4. Three Estates

7. Background to the Revolution • The Taille - The biggest problem with the estate system was what it made people do. The first and second estates were exempt from the taille, this was France’s main tax. This meant that the people who had money didn’t need to pay taxes and the poorest people did. • Relics of Feudalism – these aristocratic privileges were obligations that survived from an earlier age. They included the payment of fees for the use of village facilities such as the flour mill, community oven, and winepress, as well as contributions to the clergy. This also included general up keep on the items and other infrastructure. The First and Second estates were also exempt from this.

8. Background to the Revolution • The Third estate included the group known as the bourgeoisie. This group made up the middle class. It included about 2.3 million people. This group also owned about 25% of the land. • The bourgeoisie were educated professionals like lawyers, bankers, doctors, and writers. • The bourgeoisie were allowed to hold some public offices. It was also possible for a member of the bourgeoisie to obtain enough wealth that they could move from the third estate into the second.

9. Crisis Begins • The estate system had upset a number of people for years, yet there were not enough people angry at the system to get anything changed. This however changed in 1788. France had seen back to back years of crop failures. This lead to an increase in food prices and downturn in manufacturing. The manufacturing slowdown left many people without a job. • With the number of unemployed people growing and the price of food continuing to climb, the third estate was no longer willing to tolerate the spending of the king and queen. • People were also angry at the amount of money that had been spent fighting the Seven Years War and helping with the American Revolution. People were especially upset at the fact that they gained nothing from either of these wars.

10. Meeting of the Estates General • The concerns of the French Government had grown to the point that they felt something needed to be done. The King, Louis XVI, decided that a meeting of the Estates General should be called. • The Estates General was the French parliament. However, it had very little power and had not even met since 1614. • The reason the King called the meeting was to actually raise taxes. This is because the government was on the verge of collapse because of its spending habits. • The goal of the Third Estate was to set up a constitution government that would limit the power of the king and remove the tax exemptions enjoyed by the First and Second Estates.

11. Meeting of the Estates General • The meeting began on May 5, 1789 at Versailles. • The First and Second Estates each had about 300 representatives at the meeting. While the Third Estate had about 600 people there. • Despite the large number of people in attendance, the system was set up to work for the First and Second Estate. Regardless of the actual number of representatives present, each estate only received one official vote. This was especially problematic when you consider the fact that the majority of the First Estate came from families in the Second Estate. • The representatives from the Third Estate knew that this was a problem and attempted to change the system. Despite some support from individuals in the First and Second Estate, ultimately their push for change failed. This was in part do to the fact that any change in the way voting was done would have to be approved using the old system.

12. Meeting of the Estates General • With the King working to prevent any real change to the system, the Third Estate decided to act on its own. • On June 17, 1789, the Third Estate decided to call itself the National Assembly. The group continued to meet with the rest of the Estates General, but conducted their own business. They called themselves the National Assembly because they had shown up with petitions and support from thousands of people asking for change and felt that this meant they were the only ones that truly represented the country. With the formation of the National Assembly, the Third Estate began writing a constitution.

13. Meeting of the Estates General • On June 20, 1789, the National Assembly arrived at Versailles to find the meeting room locked. They then moved to a tennis court next door and pledged to meet were ever was necessary to get the constitution written. This became known as the Tennis Court Oath.

14. Fighting Begins • After the swearing of the Tennis Court Oath, many people from the First and Second Estates joined the National Assembly. • Word slowly spread about what had happened at the meeting of the Estates-General. People found out in Paris and then the information spread through the countryside. As more and more people learned of the efforts of the National Assembly, messages of support and encouragement were sent to the members of the Assembly. • At this point the King made two big mistakes. First, he began to call for reinforcements of troops in and around Paris and Versailles. Second, he fired his Finance Minister, Jacques Necker. Necker was well liked by the Third Estate, because he attempted to limit the King’s spending and he was the one responsible for calling the Estates General with the double representation of the Third Estate. He also worked with the Third Estate to try and get the voting rules changed.

16. Fighting Begins • To the members of the Third Estate in Paris, the firing of Necker on July 11, 1789, was seen as the beginning of the Kings attempt to stop the National Assembly. In response, the public began to protest and quickly turned to violence. • On July 14, the people of Paris attempted to form a militia to protect themselves from the King’s army. As people gathered, it was decided that gunpowder was need to arm the group. The only place that had this much gunpowder was an old fort/prison in the city known as The Bastille. • As the repeated requests for gun powder were turned down the crowd got angry. By the afternoon, the crowd had turned into an angry mob and invaded the fort. After gaining support from some of the Royal Army, the fort was taken over.

17. The Revolution Moves Forward • The storming of the Bastille is celebrated as the beginning of the revolution. • With the rebellion of some of the Royal Army, the King was told he could no longer trust his troops. • The Bastille was slowly taken down, brick by brick, and became a symbol of the revolution. • Word of the storming of the Bastille spread throughout France sparking violent uprisings throughout the countryside. • On August 4, 1789, the National Assembly took away the tax exemptions of the First and Second Estate. • On August 26, 1789, the National Assembly adopted the Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizens.

18. The Revolution Moves Forward • Olympe de Gouges was a woman who was interested in what the revolution could do for women in France. She argued that the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen should give political rights to women. The National Assembly decided the Declaration would not do this. • Despite the exclusion of women from its most important document up to that point, women did play a significant role in the revolution. By October 5, 1789, the Revolution had gone on for several months but little progress had been made. Food problems were particularly troubling for many poor families in France. On this date, a large group of women marched to Versailles carrying pitchforks and torches, demanding the King return to Paris to deal with problems. The king conceded and returned with the women. At this point, he and his wife have become a virtual prisoner in Paris.

19. The Revolution Moves Forward • Church Reforms – The National Assembly targeted the Church for reform early on in the revolution. They seized and sold much of the Church’s land in an attempt to build back up some of the countries bank accounts. They also decided that church officials should be elected not appointed. This allowed almost anyone to become a church official. Many supporters of the church became enemies of the revolution. • By 1791, the National Assembly had put together the new constitution. This document created a government where the king still ruled and a Legislative Assembly was created. The Legislative Assembly consisted of 745 elected officials. Only males over 25 who paid a certain amount in taxes could vote. Many people didn’t support this new government. Even the King tried to escape in June of that year, he was caught.

20. The Revolution Sputters • War – As the revolution continued, Prussia and Austria began to make threats of invading to fully restore the power of Louis XVI. To deal with this problem, France went ahead and declared war on both countries. This decision was directed by the king, as he saw both outcomes as a win for himself. As could be predicted, this was a total disaster. Rumors spread about betrayals of the king, generals, and other politicians. • Eventually, the French were able to win at the Battle of Valmy. This defeat sent the Prussians home and saved the Revolution.

21. The Paris Commune • Defeats in the war and the continued food crisis throughout the country, led to increasing numbers of demonstrations against the King and the Legislative Assembly. • Finally, by August of 1792, a radical group of revolutionaries stormed the royal palace and Legislative Assembly in Paris. This group becomes known as the Paris Commune. • The Paris Commune arrested the King and ordered the Legislative Assembly to hold a National Convention. This convention would create a new French government and would be attended by people chosen through universal manhood suffrage. • Many of the members of the Paris Commune referred to themselves as “sans-culottes.” This was in reference to the pants they wore. The style among the upper class individuals of the time was to wear pants that breeched at the knees. Poor people wore pants that did not breech or sans-culottes.

23. Move to Radicalism • Before the National Convention had an opportunity to meet and establish a new form of government, the Paris Commune began to run things. One of the first things they did was to name Georges Danton, minister of justice. • Danton was a member of the sans-culottes and sought revenge on those who added the king and resisted popular will. Thousands of people were arrested. • New leaders of the revolution began to emerge. Jean Paul Marat was a scientist and a writer. He published the paper, The Friend of the People, and pushed the revolution in a more radical direction. • In September of 1792, the National Convention finally meet. The convention quickly split into factions. The two main factions were the Girondins and the Mountain. Both groups were members of a French society known as the Jacobin Club. • The Mountain represented the radicals from within Paris, and the Girodins represented the people from outside the cities.

24. Move to Radicalism • The question at hand was what to do with the imprisoned king. The longer he was left alive, the risk of royal supporters mounting a counter revolution existed. On the other hand, killing the king would risk a response from other European countries. • Ultimately, in January of 1793, the Mountains were able to convince the National Convention to execute the King. On January 21, he was beheaded on the guillotine.

25. The Reign Of Terror • The execution of the king didn’t solve anything for the National Convention. Disputes between the Girodins and the Mountains were taking place on a daily basis which slowed down the progress of the Convention. • The Paris Commune was in charge of governing the city of Paris and continued to push the National Convention to adopt ever more radical solutions. • Questions of who was running the country abounded. The National Convention was technically in charge, however, peasants in western France and citizens of most major cities refused to recognize the National Convention was in control. • Concern over the response of Europe to the execution of the King turned out to be accurate. The countries of Austria, Prussia, Spain, Portugal, Britain, and the Dutch Republic took up arms against France. The country was no match for such a large coalition and soon found itself struggling to protect its land.

26. George Danton Maximilien Robespierre

29. The Reign of Terror • In response to internal and external threats, the National Convention gave broad powers to special committee of 12. This committee was given the title of the Committee of Public Safety. • This group was first controlled by Georges Danton but was later by Maximilien Robespierre. Danton was seen by some as enjoying luxuries too much, implying that he could be bought off. Robespierre was known as the incorruptible. • To deal with the threats, the Committee of Public Safety began to eliminate all threats foreign and domestic. Thousands of people were arrested, tried in front of a Revolutionary Court, and then executed. In all over 40,000 people were executed, including 16,000 by the guillotine. • One of the persons responsible for identifying enemies to arrest was Marat. However, he was assassinated in his bathtub on July 13, 1793, by Charlotte Corday. Following this murder, the Committee of Public Safety arrested and execute many of the Girodins. Corday was a Girodin and the murder was a response to Marat’s and Danton’s earlier efforts to eliminate them.

30. The Reign of Terror • One of the first things done by the Committee of Public Safety, was to establish and train a large standing army. This group was then sent in to bring cities into line. • In Lyon, 1,880 people were executed. Many were shot when the guillotine proved to be too slow. • In Nantes, several hundred people were executed by being tied up to boats and then the boats were sank in the Loire River. • No one was spared the Committee’s wrath. In all, the clergy and nobility made up 15% of the people executed during the reign of terror.

31. The Republic of Virtue • The ultimate vision of France, as seen by Robespierre and the Committee of Public Safety, was known as the Republic of Virtue. This would be a democratic society composed of good citizens. • Many things were changed in this society. • Citizen and Citizeness replaced Mr. and Mrs. as a title. • France was dechristianized. The word Saint was removed from public names. Churches were pillaged and closed. Priests were encouraged to marry. • Notre Dame became a temple of reason. • Years began at September 22, 1792, the date that France became a republic. Each month consisted of three 10 day weeks. Sundays were eliminated as days of worship. • Names of months were changed to reflect the time of year, temperature, and state of vegetation. One example was the month of Vendemiaire translated to seed time.

32. The end of the Terror • On August 23, 1793, the Committee of Public Safety mobilized the entire country. This created the largest army Europe had ever seen. With such a large army, Frances enemies were defeated. • With their external enemies defeated and domestic threats under control, the national convention felt it was time to act. The group was scared of Robespierre, but they were able to gather enough votes to condemn him. On July 28, 1794, Robespierre was guillotined. After his death, the Jacobins lost control and moderates took over.

33. The Directory • With the end of the Reign of Terror, the National Convention reduced the amount of power the Committee of Public Safety had. They also allowed churches to reopen for worship. • In August of 1795, the National Convention finished its work and created a new constitution. Under this constitution, the government consisted of a legislature with two branches. The lower house was known as the Council of 500 and the upper house was known as the Council of Elders. The Council of Elders consisted of 250 people. • Under this design, the Council of 500 would originate legislation and the Council of Elders would either accept or decline the legislation after debate. • These two groups were chosen through an election. However, to be eligible to vote you needed to own a certain amount of land. The amount of land needed changed so that only 30,000 could vote.

34. The Directory • From a list made by the Council of 500, the Council of Elders elected 5 people to form what was known as the Directory. This group would act as an executive committee. • From 1795-1799, the Directory was known for corruption and greed. Both Royalists, who wanted a return of the monarchy, and revolutionaries plotted against the government. • In 1799, a coup d’etat overthrew the government and placed Napoleon Bonaparte in charge.

35. Napoleon Bonaparte • Napoleon Bonaparte was born on the island of Corsica in 1769. The island is off the coast of Italy and had in fact only been recently acquired by France. His parents were from lower nobility, which allowed him to enter some of the top French military schools of the times. In 1785 he was done with school and formally entered the army as a lieutenant, he was 16. • For the next several years, Napoleon continued to study military history and tactics. This helped him rise quickly through the ranks.

36. The Rise of Napoleon • When the Revolution began, Napoleon was serving as a French Army Officer on the island of Corsica. There he supported the Jacobins until he was forced to flee to France in 1793. • Once back in France, he was made artillery commander and was responsible for coming up with a successful battle plan in Toulon. Toulon was a French port that was under British control. This was the first French victory over the British in many years. This victory made him a very popular figure in France. • In 1795, he successfully defended The Directory from rioting royalists and counter-revolutionaries. He dispersed the crowds with a “whiff of grapeshot.” • The victory earned him a great deal of respect from The Directory. In 1796, he was appointed head of the French Army in Italy.

37. The Rise of Napoleon • While in Italy, Napoleon was very successful. This is where he earns his title of military genius. Here he defeats most of the Italian States and Austria. The treaties that he signs as a representative of France give the country a significant amount of land in central Europe. • After a successful Italian campaign, Napoleon won the approval of the Directory to turn his attentions towards Egypt. With ties to Britain and the Ottoman Empire, Napoleon saw the possibility of victory here as major move for France. • Despite success on the battle field, Napoleon’s troops were significantly weakened by illness and a lack of supplies. The British had been successful in blocking the French supply ships. Eventually, Napoleon collected a few Egyptian artifacts, declared victory and returned to France.

38. The Rise of Napoleon • Upon his return to France in 1799, Napoleon was greeted by the people as a hero. Despite the public’s support for Napoleon, there was growing discontent for the Directory. • Napoleon along with a few close friends and allies decided that they should overthrow the government. With the support of his troops, the Directory stepped down without a fight. • Napoleon was named First Consul.

39. Napoleon as Emperor • Napoleon twice won a voter referendum as Consul. The first vote was in 1800, and reaffirmed his status as First Consul. This vote took place because of some infighting between the people who helped stage the coup that brought Napoleon to power. The second referendum gave Napoleon the job of First Consul for life. The validity of both of these votes is somewhat in question, in both Napoleon received over 99% approval. • In 1804 an assassination plot was discovered against Napoleon. It was discovered that Louis XVI’s family, the Bourbons, were responsible for this. Upon this discovery, Napoleon pushed to restore the monarchy and make him Emperor. The thought was that the Bourbons was have no claim to the throne if the Bonaparte line was officially worked into the constitution.

40. This is a painting of Napoleon’s coronation by David. During the coronation, it was traditional for the pope place the crown on the head of the ruler. However to show that he was not controlled by the church, Napoleon was handed the crown and placed on is own head.

43. Napoleon as Emperor • Peace with the church – Napoleon understood that to be as successful leader, he would need to have the help of as many groups as he could. This meant trying to win back the support of the Catholic Church. In 1801 he signed an agreement with the Church which recognized the church as the religion of most people in France. In return, the Church would not ask for land that had been take by the government to be returned. • The Napoleon Code – Before the revolution there was not a single set of laws in France, but 300 different legal systems. Napoleon attempted to fix this by coming up with a single set of laws for the entire country. The Napoleonic Code as it was known, preserved most of the gains of the revolution by recognizing the equality of men before the law, the right of an individual to choose their own profession, religious toleration, and the abolition of serfdom. Employers were protected with the outlawing of trade unions and strikes. The Code was a step back for women, who now officially seen as “less equal than men,” in the eyes of the law.

44. Napoleon as Emperor • New Bureaucracy – To make the government function more efficiently, Napoleon created a new bureaucratic system. Bureaucrats are the ones in charge of the everyday workings of the government. In Napoleon’s system, these people won their job through ability only. This merit based system made the government function very effectively. • Napoleon also created an new aristocracy based merit and service to the country. This encouraged people to work hard and take jobs in government. Over, 3,250 nobles were created during his reign as emperor. Of these, only 22% came from the old nobility. While 60% came from the middle class.

45. Napoleon as Emperor • When Napoleon became First Consul in 1799, France was at war with most European countries. Despite being leader of the country, Napoleon still found time to battle plan for his Grand Army. With Napoleon and his military genius still behind the army, their success in Europe continued. By 1807, much of Europe either belonged to France or were allied with them. • Between 1807-1812, The Grand Empire of France consisted of three major parts: The French Empire, dependent states, and allied states.

47. Napoleon as Emperor • As the French empire spread, Napoleon hoped that the ideas of the revolution would spread with it. The ideas of legal equality, religious toleration, and economic freedom, all seemed to follow the expansion of the French empire. • One issue that Napoleon seemed to focus on was the elimination of the old order. This meant that in the countries now under French control, the clergy and nobility lost their privilege. This angered the nobility and the existing monarchy throughout Europe. • The most important thing that the French spread throughout the world was known as “nationalism.” Nationalism is the unique cultural identity of a people based one common language, religion, and national symbols. This was a critical element in the success of the French in their revolution. However, this idea would work against any invading force and weakened the French control over the new territories.

48. Napoleon’s Final Defeat • Napoleon’s brief reign as Emperor of France began to end in 1812. During this year, Napoleon decided that it was time for France to attack one of the few remaining enemies they had in Europe; Russia. Napoleon then proceeded to lead over 600,000 troops into Russia. Once there the Russians seemed to put up little resistance, they constantly retreated as the French advanced. As they retreated however, the Russians burned fields and cities along the way. The French pursued the Russians until the got to Moscow. The city was abandon and was soon set on fire. • Napoleon’s troops were low on supplies and exhausted from the trip and fighting. At this point he ordered his troops to retreat. As his troops began the long march home, the Russians began to attack the from the rear. The “Great Retreat” as it became known was a disaster for France. The troops were out of supplies because the had used what they brought with them and the Russians had burned the rest. All the while they were continuously being attacked by the Russians

49. Napoleon’s Final Defeat • The Great Retreat was made even worse by the onset of the Russian winter. These things all worked to make the Russian campaign the most disastrous of Napoleon’s career. Of the original 600,000, only 40,000 made it back. • Napoleon was responsible for bring some of his men’s anger on to himself. The entire miserable trip home, Napoleon rode in covered carriage and eat three meals a day. The man who was once loved by his troops as one of their own, was now despised by them. • With the French army in such a weakened condition, other European countries took this opportunity to rise up overthrow the French. • Armies soon invaded France, by March of 1814 Paris had been captured. Napoleon signed a treaty which forced him to leave. He was sent to the island of Elba in the Mediterranean. • The Bourbon Monarchy was restored to the throne of France. Louis XVI brother Louis XVIII was named king.