Chapter 11

1. Chapter 11 The Era of the French Revolution: Affirmation of Liberty and Equality Readings: Page 292. Primary Source. Maximilien Robespierre, Republic of Virtue. Pages 279 (The Jacobins) – 283. Pages 289 (The Meaning of the French Revolution) – 291.

4. The French Revolution (1789) • Hoping to achieve ideals of the Enlightenment • Emancipation from superstition of Catholic religion • To get rid of tyranny and achieve liberty for all • Reason and justice in public institutions leading to equality =THE END OF CENTURIES OF OPPRESSION AND MISERY

5. The Old Regime Three Orders were legally defined • First Estate: Clergy (Church) • Second Estate: Nobility (The King and those he appointed to be Nobles) • Everyone else The clergy and nobility = 500,000 (150,000 Clergy + 350,000 Nobles) Everyone else = 25,500,000 This equates to a ratio of 52:1 52 people worked and paid taxes for every 1 person in the clergy and nobility that enjoyed the privilege and benefits of their labours

6. Privileges that were funded by taxation • Pension from the King • Profitable positions were given by the King The unfairness of the Kings arbitrary decisions produced tension that led to the revolution

7. The First Estate The Catholic Church So much wealth and power that it was considered a State, within the French Empire • With huge amounts of property, the revenue (profits) were great • The church did not pay taxes, but determined the amount that it would contribute to the state, which was considered a gift. Question. If the church did not have to pay taxes, and their contribution to the state was considered a gift, does that put them above the law?

8. The upper clergy benefited from the riches controlled by the church • The Parish Priests came from the common people and resented the benefits and privileges of the upper clergy and the nobility, which is where they were appointed Birth determined whether your life would be easy or faced with challenges Question. Is this still true today, even though we have free market economies?

9. The Second Estate The Nobility • Held (were appointed) to the highest positions in the church • Exempt from most taxes and used their influence to evade paying most taxes • Owned approximately 30% of the land in the country • Collected Manorial Dues from the peasants Manorialism was right to manage and profit from land granted by a King, to a Nobleman. The Lord of the Manor chose peasants who were permitted to work the land and were required to pay him by • giving labour to his other businesses or industries • In kind (a share of the product that was grown) • Or, on rare occasions, coin (money).

10. Nobles were beginning to non-aristocratic enterprises as banking and finance • This distinguished those who were ‘able’ from those who were simply living off the taxes of the peasants • Most Nobles did not trust the Philosophes who were introducing new ideas about equality and public offices Montesquieu was a Noble (summarized) Separation of powers: • Legislative – law makers • Executive – civil servants • Judiciary – judges Political and social behaviour must be studied in relation to geographic, economic, and historic conditions. Each society requires constitutional forms and laws that pay heed to the character of its people.

11. Nobles (continued) Considered despotism corrupt because it was unchecked by law. The despot can do what ever he wants, without regard for the suffering of the people, but thinking only of his own passions at the expense of all others. In despotic society, economic activity slows to a halt, because the entrepreneurial people fear the loss of their efforts. Question. How do we explain the contradiction between the noble privilege of men like Montisquieu and the ideas they spread?

12. Variations of Nobility 350,000 Nobles • Nobles of the Sword traced their status back several hundred years. • The most influential had positions in Versailles and Paris but were few in number • Most Nobles were not extremely wealthy and lived on their land and were no more well off than the new bourgeoisie (business class) • Nobles of the Robe were newly appointed from among the bourgeoisie that had the ability to pay the King for Judicial Offices in the Law Courts • Some Nobles were influenced by Liberal ideas of the philosophes while others opposed new ideas which would put an end to their privileges

13. The Third Estate (bourgeoisie and peasants) The revolution relied on leadership from the bourgeoisie and the mass of peasants • Bourgeoisie = merchant manufacturers, wholesale merchants, bankers, craftsmen, doctors, lawyers, intellectuals and middle management government officials • Bourgeoisie wanted more respect. Some bought noble, clergy or military positions • By 1789 the bourgeoisie owned 20% of the land in France

14. Bourgeoisie Grievances • Wanted positions in the church, army and state to be open to men of talent regardless of birth • Parliament that made laws for the ‘people’ • A Constitution that • limited the King’s power • Guaranteed freedom of thought, fair trials, religious toleration • Administrative reforms that eliminated waste, inefficiency, and interference with business

15. The power of a good Political CartoonTitle : “Let’s Hope That The Game Finishes Well” This political cartoon shows a labouring class woman carrying smug representatives of the privileged orders on her back. Question. Do you think the privileged were thoughtful enough about equality to understand the injustice? Answer. Some yes, some no.

16. The Peasants • Most French peasants lived in poverty • 1715-1789 the population is thought to have increased from 18 million to 26 million people • The distribution of wealth thinned out • Less land for each person to feed themselves • The King Louis XIV continued to live in the highest of style while • The peasants were heavily taxed to support his wars and his lifestyle • The peasants continued to live in hunger

17. Peasants continued to pay Lords “in kind” for the following services • Grind their grain in the lord’s mill • Bake their bread in his ovens • Press their grapes in his winepress • Between 1785-1789 cost of living increased by 62% while wages froze by only 22%. Question. How do you think the people reacted? Lords maintained exclusive hunting rights and damaged crops grown by the peasants • Most held on to these rights not just for the income, but for symbol of authority and social esteem. POWER. Question. What does this expression mean to you? “desperate times result in desperate measures” Question. How would you feel about an authority figure that did everything to ‘keep you down’, ‘oppress you’, ‘limit your future opportunity’? Example. Nurture vs. Disciplinarian. To help or hinder. Late submissions, rewrites, retakes.

18. France’s Shortage of Money Start 6 - 11 • To raise money, the King sold government positions to the highest bidders. • Positions were owned, rather than awarded on ability • The government (the King) could not pay it’s obligations but continued to accumulate debt owed to an inefficient bureaucracy and Court Lifestyle. • The tax system continued to be unjust, heavily taxing peasants • France was on the brink of bankruptcy

19. On the brink of Bankruptcy • The King’s ministers proposed that the church and nobility give up some of their tax exemptions Question. If you were a church leader of noble, would you give up some of your privilege to get the country back in a healthy financial position? Let’s have a vote. Raise your hand if you would. Count. Raise your hand if you would not. Count.

20. What happened? The privileged orders said NO! Question. Why do you think the church officials said no, and why do you think the nobles said no? • Church officials said no because they did not want to give up their free lifestyle, they believed they were closer to God and deserved to live of the labours of the third estate. • Nobles. Many nobles believed the same as the church officials. • The Liberal Nobles saw an opportunity to force reforms, so they used a strategy of agreement hoping for reforms. STRATEGIC VOTING

21. The Role of the Enlightenment American Influence on the French Revolution • The American Declaration of Independence ( 1776) proclaimed that the NATURAL RIGHTS of MAN sanctioned resistance against a government that deprived men of these rights. • The United States showed that a nation could be established on the principle that sovereign power derived from the people. • Liberal French aristocrats observed what happened in the United States and were optimistic about the possibilities of reforming French society.

22. Natural Rights (reviewed) • The power to govern derives from the consent of the governed and the state’s authority is limited by agreement…Rulers hold their authority under the law and when they act outside the law, they forfeit their right to govern • State interference with personal property leads to the destruction of liberty • Government derives it authority from the people being governed • Human beings are born with natural rights and the government has a responsibility to protect them • Citizens have the right to resist a government that deprives them of these rights The state, • Is required to protect individual rights • Must reject monarchy and hereditary aristocracy • Derives power from the people • Must separate powers and included checks and balances to safeguard against abuse of power

23. Talks broke down • With disagreement by all sides on how to solve the economic problems, the King believed he had a solution. He ordered a meeting of the Estates General on May 5th, 1789. • The king and church and some nobles believed that the voting would proceed in the traditional way. • Each estate would vote separately, resulting in 3 votes. They believed that the Church and Nobles would result in two votes against reforms and defeat the 1 vote of the Third Estate. • The Third Estate disagreed with the unfairness of this process, given that they constituted 25 million people and the First and Second Estates less than ½ of 1 million Question. Where did they get this idea of fairness from?

24. The French National Assembly • On June 17th, 1789 the Third Estate (bourgeoisie and peasants) declared themselves the National Assembly, refusing to participate, as a protest against the unfairness of the process • On June 27ththe King ordered the Clergy and Nobles to join the Third Estate in the National Assembly. • Many clergy and nobles who supported the enlightened reforms, had already gone to the National Assembly Question. Why would the King do this?

25. Political Risks The king had not resolved to allow a majority bourgeois dominated assembly and was prepared to use military force but decided against it after reports of uprisings by common people in Paris and the countryside led him to evaluate the risks. This uprising, in line with the ideals of Locke, saved the National Assembly.

26. Tension remained high Three reasons for high tension. • Calling of the Estates General had aroused hope for reform, but fear that the process would be sabotaged. • In July 1789 the price of bread cost 50% of a families’ monthly salary and by August it reached 80%. • Fear of an aristocratic plot to crush the National Assembly. Fearful of losing potential gains, common people of Paris searched for weapons.

27. Storming of the Bastille July 14, 1789, approximately 900 commoners stormed (attacked) the Bastille. The Bastille was a fortress used as a prison by the king, in the centre of the city where commoners lived. It was a symbol of royal despotism. The commoners had two objectives. • Get gunpowder for their defense. • Remove the cannon that could be used to fire upon their homes.

28. Storming of the Bastille, July 14, 1789 A partisan crowd stormed the dreaded fortress of Bastille, long identified with the abuses of the Old Regime. Question. What might have happened if the common people did not storm and take control of the Bastille?

29. Women’s march to Versailles A bread shortage and high prices sparked the protest march of thousands of women to Versailles in October 1789. The king was compelled to return to Paris, a sign of his diminishing power. Many aristocrats that were opposed to the Revolution and the loss of their privilege, fled the country. Question. Why was the price of bread so high if it was the people who farmed the grain?

30. Revolution in the countryside Question. Why did the commoners (third estate) become violent and how did they express their anger? • Economic misery and years of accumulated debt led the commoners (peasants) to burn manor houses and destroy the financial records of monies owed to the aristocrats. • The Great Fear of aristocratic attacks upon commoners led commoners to further attacks against aristocratic property.

31. The destruction of feudal remnants On August 4th, 1789 the Aristocrats, realizing that things must change quickly or the violence would reach more of them, acted to restore calm in the countryside. They surrendered the following special privileges. • Exclusive hunting rights • Tax exemptions • Monopoly of highest offices • Manorial courts • Right to demand labour services from peasants

32. The King delayed approvalof the reduction of privileges On October 5th, 1789, men and women from Paris marched to Versailles to the National Assembly to protest that lack of bread. They were joined by 20,000 sympathetic members of a citizen militia. The king realized he had no control and approved the decrees of August 4th. Many nobles who had wanted the king to use the military against the National Assembly, decided to flee from France to other countries.

33. National Assembly Reforms (summarized) • The end of special privileges enjoyed by the nobility and clergy, led to greater equality. • The Statement of Human Rights declared the Rights of Man and of the Citizen (as per the philosophes). • Affirmed the dignity of the individual • Asserted that government belonged to the people and not to any ruler and that its goal is the preservation of natural rights of the individual. This became known as the death warrant of the Old Regime. • In 1791 civil rights were granted to Jews and they were permitted to leave the Ghetto in which they had been jailed for hundreds of years, keeping them separated from Christians. Note: This did not last long. Jews were again persecuted and locked up in several years.

34. Subordination of Church to State (November 1789). • Ended the practice of tithes (Church deciding how tax to pay). • Sold some church lands to pay for infrastructure to improve the quality of life of the poor. • Implemented the Civil Constitution. Reduced the number church dioceses, reducing the number of bishops and priests and transformed them into government officials elected by the people and paid their salaries by the state (the people). Anger by devout Catholics would lead to a counterrevolution.

35. A Constitution in 1791 included the following • Limited the power of the king • Guaranteed equal treatment under the law • In order to vote, a person had to pay a specified minimum of tax. Only men were permitted to vote, but 30% did not pay enough tax, so did not vote. • They still did not trust illiterate or propertyless men to participate in making of the laws • This constitution was more generous than that in England

36. Administrative and Judicial Reforms • The sale of judicial offices was ended • The criminal code put and end to torture and barbarous punishments • Aid for Business. The National Assembly • Ended tolls and duties on goods being transported within the country • Established a uniform system of weights and measure • Ended guilds (that blocked business expansion) • Outlawed unions and the right to strike

37. A quick evaluation of the constitution • The bourgeoisie gained control of the government by, • Ending absolutism and the power of the aristocracy • Preventing the mass of people from participating in the decisions of government • The Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen was provided for the benefit of all. • It proclaimed liberty and equality as the right of all and called on citizens to treat one another with respect

38. The counter revolution • The reforms had taken place without a widespread violence and the bourgeoisie leadership was happy to live with the new constitution and freedoms • THE PROBLEM A counter revolution was started by, • Nobles that were very unhappy with the loss of their power and privilege • Clergy who also lost privilege and became public officials receiving a pay cheque and no longer able to control wealth from the church lands • A majority of Catholic peasants who followed blindly and faithfully the directions of the angry clergy

39. Sans-Culottes became radicals • Sans-Culottes (small shopkeepers, artisans, and wage earners) were angry that they gained very little benefit from the revolution. • They observed that a privilege of wealth (bourgeoisie) was taking the place of a privilege of birth (nobility). • The Sans-Culottes were still very poor and living in poverty. They demanded the “Right of Existence”, which was philosophically opposite to the economic individualism of the bourgeoisie.

40. San-Culottes Demanded • That the government increase wages • Set price controls on food supplies • End food shortages • Pass laws to reduce the gap between rich and poor • Higher taxes on the wealthy • Redistribution of land • A voice for the common man (a vote) not limited to those with enough money to pay tax and land

41. Between 1789 and 1792 By 1792 the Sans Culottes had similar demands of the Bourgeoisie to what the Bourgeoisie had of the Nobility. If there was further democratization, the bourgeoisie would lose much of their gains.

42. The Radical Stage – Significant Events • June 1791 King Louis XVI and his family fled Paris to northeastern France to join nobles who were organizing a counter-revolutionary army and making allies with Austria and Prussia in order to attach France and restore the former Orders and Estate structure • The King was discovered. Captured. Returned to Paris • The people turned against the King • The French government declared a war of self defense on Austria

43. April 20th, 1792 Austrians and Prussians crossed into France and issued a declaration that if the King or his family was injured, that he would kill the citizens of Paris • August 10th, 1792 the citizens of Paris, angry with the involvement of the Austrians, and with militia from other French cities attacked the King’s palace, killing several hundred guards.

44. In September, as foreign troops advanced into France, rumors spread that jailed priests and aristocrats were planning to escape and join the counter revolutionaries • Citizens of Paris were fearful and panicked. They broke into the jail and killed 1,200 prisoners, including 200 priests

45. On September 21st and 22nd the National Convention abolished the monarchy and established a republic • In December, the King was placed on trial for conspiring against the liberty of the French people. • In January 1793 the King was executed

46. The Radical Stage Summarized • The August Uprising against the King’s palace guards • The September Massacres in the jail • Creation of a republic • Execution of King Louis XVI

47. Austrians and Foreigners Retreat The retreat was due to, • A shortage of supplies • Bad weather • Not enough soldiers • The French were successful against the Austrians and their allies in several battles in 1792 and 1793 and pushed into Belgium • The French, through the National Convention and their new republic, declared to the rest of Europe that they were waging a popular crusade against privilege and tyranny, against aristocrats and princes

48. The republic lost control • Urged on by the British, European nations formed an alliance against France, which they saw as a threat to the balance of power • In western France, protests against taxation and conscription (forced military service) by those loyal to the Catholic church, continued to attack the Republic. They fought a “guerilla warfare” for the return of their religion, royalism and their old way of life • In other areas of the country, citizens were protesting to the power of the new central government The republic had lost control and was unable to lead the country

49. End