Causes of The French Revolution

1. Causes of The French Revolution

3. Historical interpretations of class conflict leading tothe French Revolution Traditional view: Modern: • Bourgeoisie was united by economic position and class interest and frustrated by feudal laws • Eventually, rose up to lead the Third Estate in the Revolution which resulted in abolition of feudal privileges and established a capitalist order based on individualism and a market economy. • Revisionist historians have questioned the existence of a growing social conflict between the bourgeoisie and feudal nobility. • Both groups formed two parallel social ladders, increasingly linked at the top by wealth, marriage, and Enlightenment culture.

4. Long-Term Causes – 1. Breakdown of the old order—ancien regime • The French Revolution was partly influenced by the American Revolution • Increased criticism of the French gov’twas spurred by rising expectations of the Enlightenment. • The Three Estates did not reflect the realities of wealth and ability in French society. • Middle class resented gov’t interference in their economic activities. • Criticism mounted of gov’t inefficiency, corruption, and privileges of the aristocracy. • The legal system was chaotic, with no uniform or codified laws.

5. The Old Regime (Ancien Regime) • Old Regime– socio-political system which existed in most of Europe during the 18th century • Countries were ruled byabsolutism– the monarch had absolute control over the government • Classes of people – privileged and unprivileged • Unprivileged people – paid taxes and treated badly • Privileged people – did not pay taxes and treated well

6. Welcome Back! • Bell Ringer… What Revolution help bring about the French Revolution? • Agenda and Objectives: Through notes and discussion study will identify the short term causes of the French Revolution.

7. The Three Estates

8. What does this contemporary political cartoon say about conditions in France under the Old Regime?

9. Government under the Old Regime:2. The Divine Right of Kings • Monarch ruled by divine right • God put the world in motion • God put some people in positions of power • Power is given by God • No one can question God • No one can question someone put in power by God • Questioning the monarchy was blasphemy because it meant questioning God

10. Examples of Absolutism…

11. 3. Economic Conditions under theOld Regime • France’s economy was based primarily on agriculture • Peasant farmers of France bore the burden of taxation • Poor harvests meant that peasants had trouble paying their regular taxes • Certainly could not afford to have their taxes raised • Bourgeoisie often managed to gather wealth • But were upset that they paid taxes while nobles did not

12. France Is Bankrupt • The king (Louis XVI) lavished money on himself and residences like Versailles • Queen Marie Antoinette was seen as a wasteful spender • Government found its funds depleted as a result of wars • Including the funding of the American Revolution • Deficit spending– a government spending more money than it takes in from tax revenues • Privileged classes would not submit to being taxed

14. Long-term Causes of the French Revolution

15. Short-term Causes of the French Revolution

16. Welcome Back! • Bell Ringer…Read Primary documents and answer the question “What were the causes of the French Revolution? • Agenda and Objectives: Through notes and article discussion students will identify the first stage and outcomes of the French Revolution

17. Estates General-- May, 1789 • Feudal assembly that represented the Three Estates • Had only met twice: 1302 (its inception) & 1614. • 1788-89 excitement swept over France on the eve of its very first election. • “Cahiers de doléances”: Each estate was instructed to compile a list of suggestions and grievances and present them to the king. • Common agreement among the Three Estates: • France should have a constitutional monarchy • Individual liberties must be guaranteed by law. • Position of parish clergy had to be improved • Abolition of internal trade barriers • The main issue dividing the three estates was how the Estates General should vote

18. Abbé Sieyès was the most influential writer in the 3rd Estate: wrote, “What is the Third Estate?” • Claimed the Third Estate should have the power in France. • nobility should be abolished. • Believed the Third Estate represented the vast majority of French society • Brought the ideas of Rousseau’s Social Contract to the forefront.

19. The French Revolution and the “Age of Montesquieu” • May 5, 1789: the Estates General met and the Third Estate was furious that the voting method was by Estate and not per capita. • Each estate was ordered to meet and vote separately. • The Third Estate refused and insisted that the entire Estates General vote together. • June 20th, the Third Estate declared itself the true NationalAssemblyof France. • When locked out of their meeting place by Louis XVI they met instead in an indoor tennis court. • Tennis Court Oath: The Third Estate swore to remain together until it had given France a constitution. • Third Estate thus assumed sovereign power on behalf of the nation.

20. Storming of the Bastille – July 14, 1789 • “Parisian” revolution began in response to food shortages, soaring bread prices, 25% unemployment, and fear of military repression. • On July 14, an angry mob stormed the Bastille in search of gunpowder and weapons. • Citizens appointed Marquis de Lafayette commander of the city’s armed forces. • Paris was lost to the king. • The storming of the Bastille inadvertently saved the National Assembly.

21. The “Great Fear” of 1789 • Spirit of rebellion spread to the French countryside, sparking a wave of violence. • Peasants attacked manor houses in an effort to destroy the legal records of their feudal obligations.

22. Results… • August 4, 1789 National Assembly voted to abolish feudalism in France and declared equality of taxation to all classes. • Constituted one of the two great social changes of the Revolution (the other was the abolition of guilds) • Amounted to a peaceful social revolution • Ended serfdom (where it existed), exclusive hunting rights for nobles, fees for justice, village monopolies, the corvée, and other dues.

23. The Tennis Court Oath by Jacques Louis David

24. The Fall of the Bastille

26. Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen August 26, 1789 • Became the constitutional blueprint for France. • Enlightenment philosophy: classical liberalism • “Men are born and remain free and equal in rights.” • Natural rights are “liberty, property, security, and resistance to oppression.” (Locke) • Law is expression of the “General Will” (Rousseau) • “Citizen” applied to all French people, regardless of class.

27. Rights of Women • Women gained increased rights to divorce, to inherit property, and to get child support from the fathers of their illegitimate children. • Drawback of Declaration of Rights: Women did not share in equal rights. • Olympe de Gouges: The Rights of Woman, 1791 • Mary Wollstonecraft in England published Vindication of the Rights of Woman in 1792.

28. Welcome Back! • Bell Ringer: • 1. List three outcomes of the constitution of 1789. • 2. List two characteristics from the “Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen.” • 3. What were three “rights” women gained during the Revolution? • Agenda and Objective: Through notes and discussion, students will be able to identify the three stages of the French Revolution. • Friday: French Revolution Thesis Paper DUE!

29. Women’s march to Versailles (Oct. 1789) • Women pushed the revolution forward in October when shortages of bread persisted. • Incited by Jean-Paul Marat, 7,000 women marched 12 miles from Paris to Versailles • Demanded to see "the Baker," "the Baker's wife," and "the Baker's boy". • The King met with some of the women and agreed to distribute all the bread in Versailles to the crowd. • King and Queen forced to move to Paris to live at the Tuleries, the royal residence in Paris • It was the last time the King saw Versailles. • King’s power reduced to temporary veto in lawmaking process.

30. Women's march to Versailles

31. The Civil Constitution of the Clergy (1790) • In essence, secularized religion • Created a national church with 83 bishops and dioceses. • Convents and monasteries abolished. • All clergymen would be paid by the state and elected by all citizens. • Protestants, Jews, and agnostics could legally take part in the elections based on citizenship and property qualifications. • Clergy forced to take a loyalty oath to the new gov’t (since the pope had condemned the Revolution). • Half of French priests refused to accept it—“refactory clergy” • Result: deeply divided France over the issue of religion.

33. Welcome Back! • Bell Ringer: What was the Civil Constitution of the Clergy? • Document packet due WEDNESDAY! • Objective: Through notes and discussion, students will be able to identify the three stages of the French Revolution.

34. 1791: France became a constitutional monarchy witha unicameral Legislative Assembly • Half of males over 25 years eligible to vote • Nobility was abolished • The National Assembly divided France into 83 departments governed by elected officials. • Economic reform—favored the middle rather than the lowest classes. • Le Chapelier Law (1791) outlawed strikes, workers coalitions and assemblies • Monopolies also were prohibited • Assignats became new paper currency. Church land sold to pay off national debt-Much of it purchased by peasants.

35. Medallion commemorating the Night of August 4, the end of feudalism in France

36. French Government Restructure • Divided into 83 districts – local elections – identical laws • Trade unions abolished to spur competition (Chapelier Law) • Assignats issued – government bonds backed by confiscated church lands

37. Reaction to France • Many aristocrats leave - plan counter-revolution • Leopold II and Frederick the Great issue “Declaration of Pillnitz” – “If royal family harmed, Austria, Prussia, Britain & Russia will intervene” • Leaders reject as dangerous & exportable

38. The Flight to Varennes • Although the King reluctantly accepted the new constitution, he could not accept all the reforms (e.g., the Civil Constitution of the Clergy) and decided to leave the country. • On June 20, 1791, the King and his family set out for the border in a carriage.

39. The apprehension of Louis XVI at Varennes

40. The Paris Mob • The news of the King's flight destroyed the last of the King's popularity with the people of Paris. • The popular press portrayed the royal family as pigs and public opinion plummeted. • Increasingly there were demands for an end to the monarchy and the creation of a new kind of government, a republic. 

41. International Reaction • Edmund Burke (1729-1797): Reflections on the Revolution in France (1790) • One of the great intellectual defenses of European conservatism. • Defended inherited privileges, especially those of English monarchy and aristocracy. • Predicted anarchy and dictatorship in France. • Advised England to go slow in adapting its own liberties. • Thomas Paine: Rights of Man (1791) • Defending Enlightenment principles and France’s revolution. • Saw triumph of liberty over despotism. • Kings and nobles of Europe, some of which initially welcomed the Revolution, began to feel threatened.

42. Legislative Assembly, 1791-1792 • A completely new group of legislators replaced the National Assembly in the new government. • New gov’t reflected emergence of political factions • Jacobins, named after their political club, came to dominate the Legislative Assembly • The Girondins, a group of Jacobins, became he left or advanced party of the Revolution in the Legislative Assembly and led the country into war. • Passionately committed to liberal revolution.

43. Bell Ringer Review!!!! • Compare document packet with your neighbor • Agenda and Objective: Through notes and discussion, students will identify important events and outcomes of the 2nd and 3rd stages of the French Revolution.

44. War • Declaration of Pillnitzissued by Prussia and Austria in August, 1791. • Émigrés, French nobles who fled France beginning in 1789, influenced Prussia and Austria to declare the restoration of the French monarchy as their goal. • Legislative Assembly declared war on Austria in April 1792 • Girondins became the party of international revolution. • Claimed the Revolution could never be secure in France until it spread throughout the world

45. War of the First Coalition • French revolutionary forces were soundly defeated by the Austrian military. • Jacobins blamed their defeat on Louis XVI, believing him to be part of a conspiracy with Prussia and Austria. • July 25, 1792: Brunswick Manifesto issued by Prussia and Austria and threatened to destroy Paris if the royal family was harmed. • Revolutionary sentiment was stoked by Robespierre, Danton, and the journalist, Marat • August 10, 1792: Tuleries (the King’s palace in Paris) was stormed and the King was taken prisoner, after fleeing to the Legislative Assembly

46. August 10, 1792, attack on the Tuileries

47. Mob placing the red cap of liberty on the King's head at the Tuileries Marked the beginning of the “Second Revolution”

48. 2nd Phase (radical) The end of Monarchyand the rise of The Commune 1792 • Revolutionary municipal gov’t set up in Paris, which effectively usurped the power of the Legislative Assembly. • Led by Georges-Jacques Danton • At the urging of radicals, the Legislative Assembly suspended the Constitution of 1791. • Ordered new elections based on universal male suffrage to summon a new national convention to give France a republican form of gov’t.

49. September Massacres • led by Paris Commune-Rumors spread that imprisoned counterrevolutionary aristocrats and priests were plotting with foreign invaders • Prussia invades eastern France • In response, mobs slaughtered over a thousand priests, bourgeoisie, and aristocrats who opposed their program; many were in prison.

50. The “Age of Rousseau”: 1792-1799 • The National Convention, 1792-1795 • France was proclaimed a republic on Sept. 21, 1792 • Based on the ideas of Equality, Liberty, Fraternity • Two factions emerged among the Jacobins: • The Mountain: radical republicans; urban class (Danton and Robespierre) • Girondins: more moderate than the Mountain and predominantly rural