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The French Revolution

The French Revolution replaced the "Old Regime" with a modern society, profoundly influencing future revolutions. King Louis XV's reign, the Three Estates, causes, and societal changes leading to revolutionary upheaval are explored in detail.

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The French Revolution

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  1. C.O. 11 The French Revolution

  2. Overview: The French Revolution became the most momentous upheaval of the revolutionary age • It replaced the “Old Regime” with a modern society • It profoundly influenced future revolutions

  3. I. King Louis XV (1715-1774) A. The nobility gained influence during his reign B. His ministers and mistresses exercised undue influence -- Madame de Pompadour: most famous mistress of the 18th century; influenced Louis’ political decisions

  4. C. Parlementof Paris regained the right to approve the king’s decrees 1. Consisted largely of robe nobles 2. Refused Louis’ tax increases to pay for the Seven Years’ War 3. Louis appointed Rene de Maupeou(chancellor) to reduce judicial opposition a. Abolished Parlement b. Created new docile parlement c. Privileged groups were taxed once again d. Public was highly critical

  5. 4. Louis XVI(r. 1774-1793) a. Dismissed Maupeou and reinstated the Parlementof Paris b. Rise of liberalism among the bourgeoisie and the king’s stalemate with the Parlement resulted in the French Revolution

  6. II. Overview: France in 1789 • France was in many ways the most advanced country in the world 1. Largest population in Europe 2. Wealthiest country in Europe (but not per capita) 3. Productive economy: French exports to Europe were larger than Britain’s 4. French culture dominated Europe

  7. 18th Century French Society 1st Estate: clergy (1% of pop. owned 20% of land 2nd Estate: nobility (2-4% of pop; owned 25% of land

  8. B. Social stratification model (the Three Estates) did not reflect the modern French nation      1. First Estate – clergy a. Less than 1% of population but the Gallican Church owned 20% of all lands          b. Exempt from taxes         c. Issues regarding the clergy were NOT a major cause of the revolution

  9. 2.  Second Estate -- nobility a. 2-4% of population; exempt from taxation b. Owned 25% of land c. Major resurgence after death of Louis XIV in 1715 d. Taxed the peasants for their own profit due to medieval manorial rights still in existence

  10. Members of the Second Estate enjoyed economic and societal privileges

  11. 3. Third Estate ­­– everyone else: wealthy merchants & professionals, middle class, urban artisans, urban workers, peasants a. Bore largest share of taxes: • taille: land tax • tithe: church tax (10% of annual income) • Income tax • Poll tax • Salt tax (gabelle)

  12. b. Peasants had additional feudal obligations • Owned 40% of all lands • Second Estate taxed the peasantry for its own profit • The corvéeobligated peasants to work for nobles several days a year for free (e.g. fixing roads) • Nobles had hunting rights, including peasant lands • French peasants still better off than serfs in E. Europe

  13. A period cartoon illustrates the common complaint of the Third Estate - peasants felt that they carried the financial weight of the clergy and nobility upon their backs.

  14. Traditional apparel of the members of the three estates: The Second Estate, the Third Estate, and the First Estate.

  15. A Gentleman of the Third Estate with his Family

  16. c. The bourgeoisie demanded more political and economic power. • Resented the first and second estates who held all the power • Wanted reduction of privileges for the nobility and tax relief for themselves • Hated thelettre de cachet: gov’t could imprison anyone without charges or trial

  17. III. Causes of the French Revolution A. Long-term causes: breakdown of the old order (ancien regime) 1. Influenced by the American Revolution a. Many French soldiers had served in America b. French bourgeoisie and lower nobility were intrigued by American ideals of liberty c. Massive French aid to the Americans increased France’s already huge debt

  18. 2. Increased criticism of the French gov’t was spurred by rising expectations of the Enlightenment a. Ideas of Locke, Montesquieu, and Rousseau were popular b. Laissez faire ideas of Quesnay and Adam Smith were popular among the middle class c. Criticism of gov’t corruption and aristocratic privileges d. “Divine right” ideology of the French monarchy did not fit in with the era’s “Enlightened despotism”

  19. 3. The Three Estates did not reflect the realities of wealth and ability in French society 4. Historical interpretations of the French Revolution a. Traditional view: rising bourgeoisie vs. rising aristocracy b. Recent view: Bourgeoisie and aristocracy formed two parallel social ladders joined at the top. -- Both groups were frustrated with absolutism

  20. B. Immediate Cause: Financial mismanagement of 1. During reign of King Louis XVI France was nearly bankrupt a. Half the French budget went to paying debt interest        b. Government could not declare bankruptcy as in the past as aristocratic and bourgeois creditors would not allow it      c. Gov’t had no central bank, paper currency or means of creating credit.       

  21. 2. Gov’t was dependent on the poorest classes in society for revenue despite its having been taxed to its limit 3. Businessmen and merchants attacked France’s state- controlled mercantilist economy for its restrictive features      4. Inflation between 1730 and 1780s resulted in dramatic price increases while wages did not keep up

  22. 5. Privileged classes refused to pay higher taxes. 6. Louis XVI summoned Assembly of Notables (1787) hoping to get tax increases            a.  Nobles refused king’s proposal            b. Demanded calling of Estates General to decide tax issues           c. King issued new taxes by decree

  23. 7. Parlementsblocked king’s tax increases a. On July 5, 1788, the king finally consented to call the Estates General, 1788 b. Thus, the revolution was initiated with a noble tax revolt

  24. The Estates General, May 1789

  25. C.  Estates General – May 1789 1. Ancient feudal body represented the three estates       2. Election fever swept France in 1788-89 as representatives were elected for the first time         3. Cahiers de doleances: each estate was instructed to compile a list of suggestions and grievances and present them to the king

  26.         4. Agreement among the estates:          a. France should be a constitutional monarchy             b. Individual liberties should be guaranteed by law c. Position of parish clergy should be improved          d. Internal trade barriers should be eliminated

  27. 5. Main issue dividing the Estates General: how it should vote? a. Each estate was expected to elect its own representatives b. Necker convinced Louis to double the representatives in the Third Estate c.  Parlement of Paris decreed estates should vote separately • This would favor common interests of 1st & 2nd estates • Third Estate was furious

  28. d.  Abbè Sieyès: What is the Third Estate? • Claimed the Third Estate should rule France • Stated the nobility should be abolished • Believed the Third Estate represented the vast majority of French society (“everything”) • Invoked Rousseau’s social contract and the “General Will”

  29. e.  The election took place during the worst depression in 18th century France f. May 5, 1789: the Estates General met and the Third Estate was furious the voting method was by Estate and not per capita -- A six-week deadlock followed

  30. IV. The French Revolution and the “Age of Montesquieu”     A. National Assembly, 1789-1791          1. June 17, Third Estate declared itself the true National Assembly of France a. Locked out of the assembly hall by Louis XVI and met on an indoor tennis court b. Tennis Court Oath (June 20) • Swore to give France a new constitution c. Assumed sovereign power in France

  31. Tennis Court Oath: June, 1789

  32. “The Third Estate Rises”

  33. d. June 27, defections from 1st & 2ndEstates force king to recognize the National Assembly after he dissolved the Estates General e. Nat’l Assembly dominated by bourgeoisie f. King was now allied with the nobles g. July 11, Necker was removed, infuriating millions of French people who saw him as an ally among the nobility

  34. Jacques Necker, the liberal Finance Minister under Louis XIV, sympathized with the Third Estate and oversaw the meeting of the Estates General. His dismissal by Louis XVI in July 1789 helped provoke the storming of the Bastille.

  35. 2.Storming of the Bastille: July 14, 1789 a. “Parisian” revolution began in response to food shortages, soaring bread prices, 25% unemployment, and fear of military repression b. Stormed the fortress for gunpowder and weapons                 -- Paris was lost to the king c. Significance: event saved the National Assembly

  36. The Bastille contained only seven prisoners when it was taken. 98 attackers and 1 defender were killed during the actual fighting, although some officers were subsequently killed by the angry mob.

  37. 3.  The Great Fear of 1789 a. The revolution spread to the countryside b. Peasants attacked manor houses to destroy the legal records of feudal obligations c. Middle-class owners also attacked d. Recent enclosures were undone, old common lands were reoccupied, forests were seized, and taxes went unpaid.

  38. 4. August 4, feudalism was abolished by the National Assembly and declared equality of taxation for all classes a. Constituted one of the two great social changes of the Revolution (the other was the abolition of guilds) b. Ended serfdom (where it existed), exclusive hunting rights for nobles, fees for justice, village monopolies, the corvée, and other dues

  39. 5. Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen, Aug. 26 a. Constitutional blueprint for France b. Enlightenment philosophy: classical liberalism -- “Men are born & remain free and equal in rights.” c. Freedom of expression and religion d. Taxes could be raised only with the common consent

  40. e. All public servants accountable for conduct in office f. Separation of powers through separate branches g. Confiscation of property from private persons had to be done with fair compensation h. “Citizen” applied to all French people, regardless of class

  41. 6. Unity of the National Assembly began to unravel regarding the monarch’s power 7. Rights of women a. Women gained increased rights to divorce, to inherit property, and to get child support from the fathers of their illegitimate children

  42. b. Declaration of Rights did not give women equal rights • Women could not vote or hold office; existing system gave males the advantage in family law, property rights, and education. • At this point, very few that believed in gender equality. • Among the leaders of the revolution, only Condorcet argued for gender equality

  43. c. Olympe de Gouges: The Rights of Woman, 1791 • Applied each of the 17 articles of the Declaration to women’s rights • Asserted right to divorce under certain conditions, to control property in marriage, equal access to to higher education, and civilian careers & public employment.

  44. d. Mary Wollstonecraft: Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792) • Defended de Gouges’ ideas e. Madame de Stael • Ran a salon and wrote widely-read books • Opposed the subordination of women that the Revolution did so little to change

  45. 8. Oct 5, 1789: women’s march to Versailles a. Women pushed the revolution forward when bread shortages persisted b. Incited by Jean-Paul Marat, 7,000 women demanded the king redress economic grievances c. Women invaded the royal apartments, slaughtering body guards while searching for Queen Marie Antoinette

  46. “[We have] the Baker, the Baker’s Wife, and the Baker’s Little Boy”

  47. d. King and Queen were forced to move to Paris to live at the Tuleries, the royal residence in Paris e. The National Assembly also moved to Paris and was intimidated by the Parisians

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