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French Revolution: Phase 1

French Revolution: Phase 1. 1789-1792. 1789: Financial State of Monarchy. Seven Years’ War: France defeated and monarchy in debt Aristocracy refused to pay new taxes Necker declared possibility of a surplus if aristocrats’ pensions were cut and American war hadn’t been funded.

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French Revolution: Phase 1

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  1. French Revolution: Phase 1 1789-1792

  2. 1789: Financial State of Monarchy • Seven Years’ War: France defeated and monarchy in debt • Aristocracy refused to pay new taxes • Necker declared possibility of a surplus if aristocrats’ pensions were cut and American war hadn’t been funded Necker, explaining deficits 1774-1788 to Louis XVI

  3. 1789 Economic Downturn • Necker’s successors, Calonne and Brienne, both suggested land tax, rejected by the nobles • French peasantry could own land, and were by some definitions the freest in Europe • Deep economic downturn from 1787: crop failures, food shortages and rising prices The Three Estates

  4. The Estates General • Paris Parlement and nobles demanded the king call the Estates General • Three Estates: Clergy(1st), Nobility (2nd), Commoners (3rd: wealthy lawyers, businessmen, et al) • Vote by head, or by Estate? Louis XVI doubled size of Third Estate to counter nobles • Third Estate broke away to become the National Assembly, and invited clergy & nobles • Tennis Court Oath: not to disband until France had a constitution Awakening of the Third Estate

  5. Bastille and Reaction • King asked nobles and clergy to join newly named National Constituent Assembly • Fall of the Bastille: urban uprising reacting to fear that Louis XVI might crush uprising • “Great Fear:” rural uprising: burning chateaux, destruction of feudal records, refusal to pay dues, seizure of food supplies and land • Nobility on Constituent Assembly surrendered their feudal rights Fall of the Bastille

  6. Declaration of Rights of Man and Citizen • 26 Aug 1789: Enlightenment declaration of principles • 17 Articles, defining freedom and central political philosophy • “Men are born and remain free and equal in rights. Social distinctions may be founded only upon common utility.” • “The source of all sovereignty resides essentially in the nation. No body nor individual may exercise any authority which does not proceed directly from the nation.” • 7,000 Parisian women force Louis to move to Tuileries palace in Paris

  7. Initial Reconstruction of France • Constitution of 1791: constitutional monarchy with unicameral legislature and monarchical veto • “Active” and “passive” citizens defined by amount of taxes paid transferred political power from landed nobility to citizenry of moderate wealth • France divided into departments Allegory of the Constitution of 1791

  8. Reconstruction Continued • Liberalized economy: workers’ organizations prohibited • Confiscation and sale of church lands • “Civil Constitution of the Clergy:” clergy to be elected as branch of government • Austria, Prussia issued Declaration of Pillnitz: would intervene to preserve monarchy National Assembly

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