Marie Antoinette and King Louis XVi

1. Marie Antoinette and King Louis XVi Thursday Oct. 3

2. We’ve learned about Louis… Now let’s get to Marie! • Louis 16th married Marie Antoinette in 1770 (latter half of the 18th century) • She was a member of the Austrian royal family • Austria was an enemy of France… so people didn’t like her from the start! • She was very out of touch with the realities of life in France • She lived an extravagant lifestyle in Versailles and never really knew what life was like for peasants

3. Marie Antoinette • She helped to select government ministers without knowing the responsibilities of their area of government • She would ‘fire’/dismiss people she simply didn’t like • Neither Marie or Louis wanted to curtail their spending! • …. But they didn’t really agree on how To run France

4. A Revolution Begins! Thursday Oct.3

5. France in Crisis • Remembering what you have learned so far… • What was happening in France that needed to be changed?

6. France in Crisis • Remembering what you have learned so far… • People were starving to death • People couldn’t feed their kids (over 40,000 kids were abandoned each year!) • The poorest people were paying the most taxes, this money went to support the king and did not help the people • Louis had spend a lot of money

7. France in Crisis • Monarchy was completely out of touch with the plight of the people • France was still a feudal country • There were a series of famines in the 1780s • The Industrial Revolution had begun in Britain and was putting many French people out of work • The assembly line, machines to replace people

8. Murmurs of Change • The philosophes and other French people openly expressed their displeasure with the government (sometimes they rioted!) • Recall: What was a ‘salon’?

9. The royal court splits in 2! • The royal court split into two groups • One that supported the King and changes to the economy • Louis didn’t want to stop spending, but was ok with taxing more people, like the nobles (eventually) • Another that supported Marie Antoinette and more power for the nobles • Marie didn’t want to change a thing in the economy, and thought nobles should get MORE

10. What did the middle class want? • Democracy! • They wanted what they saw in England • Many French officers had gone to the US in the American Revolution and came back with democratic views too

11. Extreme responses • While some people spoke openly, some protested, others reacted in an extreme way • The “Paris Mob” a group of radical protesters was violent and unpredictable • … later we will learn how they resulted in the Reign of Terror • Crowds rioted in Paris against the high price of bread (a main food staple)

12. The Estates General The King’s hope to find a solution to France’s problems

13. The Estates General • First estate: Clergy • Second estate: Aristocrats • Third Estate: The middle class…. But they never really met to come up with a solution • Therefore the privileged people had the most voting power • Louis called the Estates General when his government was in a serious crisis • He allowed them to have a say in the tax system… • But members would not “bow” to the king’s wishes

14. Read pages 75- 76 • Questions: (In your own words) • Explain what the fall of the Bastille was and why you think that this may have frightened Louis. • What were the reasons for the “Great Fear”? • What extraordinary changes happened as a result of unrest in the country? (get points from all the sections)

15. Declaration of The rights of man and the citizen Setting out basic human rights that governments cannot overlook!

16. p. 76-77, 78: QUESTIONS • Read about the Declaration of the rights of man and the citizen • What was it? • How did it come about? • What is the significance of this document? • Read page 78: Compare the Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen with the English Bill of Rights. Are they similar? In what ways? (show your evidence!)