The French Revolution

1. Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité The French Revolution Detail From Triumph of Marat, Boilly, 1794 (Musee des Beaux-Arts)

2. Setting the Stage • Louis XVI – Absolute Monarch • Versailles Lifestyle • Marie Antoinette • Enlightenment – • Enlightenment ideas popular within French society • French philosophers: Rousseau, Montesquieu, Voltaire • Success of ideas in American Revolution

3. Setting the Stage • Before the Revolution French people were divided into three groups: • First Estate • Second Estate • Third Estate The Third Estate

4. The First Estate • The First Estate = Clergy • Consisted of both rich and poor • Wealthy church officials, members of the aristocracy, lived in luxury from wealthy church lands • Poor parish priests, lived much like peasants • Pay no taxes

5. The Second Estate • The Second Estate = Nobility • Inherited titles, wealth from the land • Most enjoyed privileges and wealth • Some nobility had little money, but still had all the privileges of noble rank • Pay little or no taxes

6. The Third Estate • The Third Estate = Common People • 98% of the population of France • Included: • Wealthy merchants • Doctors and lawyers • Shopkeepers • Urban poor - Paris • Peasants on the land • Tax burden was the heaviest

7. Financial Crisis • France was bankrupt in 1789 • The crisis resulted from: • Unfair tax burden on the Third Estate • An empty treasury the result of: • Overspending on luxury – Versailles • Years of war with England • Aid to the American Revolution • Declining supply and high cost of bread • Greatest impact on the poorest of the Third Estate

8. Calling the Estates General • Louis XVI tried to solve the financial crisis by removing some of the nobility’s tax exemptions and collect more taxes • Louis XVI was forced to call a meeting of the Estates General in 1789 • Had not met in 175 years • Second Estate expected to “vote” down new taxes with help from First Estate • Third Estate has different ideas

9. The meeting of the Estates General May 5, 1789

10. To Vote by Head or by Order • Traditional vote was 1 vote per order (another name for estate) • Third Estate delegates insisted that the three estates meet together and the vote be taken by head, rather than by order • Third Estate would have a majority with more delegates • Louis XVI refused their request • The Third Estate would not back down 

11. The Tennis Court Oath • The Third Estate declares itself a National Assembly • The delegates agree to an oath: • Known as the Tennis Court Oath • It said: "The National Assembly, considering that it has been summoned to establish the constitution of the kingdom... decrees that all members of this assembly shall immediately take a solemn oath not to separate... until the constitution of the kingdom is established on firm foundations..."June 20, 1789

12. The Tennis Court Oath by Jacques Louis David

13. Triumph of the Third Estate • Louis XVI orders the Third Estate to disperse the National Assembly • Third Estate refuses; Louis XVI was unwilling to use force and ordered the First and Second Estates to join the new National Assembly • The new National Assembly created the influential document The Declaration of the Rights of Man • Based on ideas of the Enlightenment

14. Declaration of the Rights of Man • "Men are born free and equal in their rights....These rights are liberty, property, security and resistance to oppression. • The fundamental source of all sovereignty resides in the nation. • The law is the expression of the general will. All citizens have the right to take part personally, or through representatives, in the making of the law." The Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen

15. Revolution Spreads to Common People • Price of bread extremely high and supplies short due to harvest failures • Rumors spread that the King and Queen were responsible for the shortages • French troops marched to the capital • Rumors spread quickly among the already restless mobs that Louis XVI was intending to use them against the people • On July 14, 1789 the Paris mob stormed the Bastille • A prison and fortress in Paris, symbol of repression • Arm themselves for expected clash with French troops

16. The Fall of the Bastille

17. Revolution Spreads to Common People • July and August 1789 peasant riots in the countryside • It was called "The Great Fear" • First and Second Estates give up feudal rights; feudalism dead in France • October Women’s March to Versailles • Demand bread and force Louis XVI and family to return to Paris

18. Women's march to Versailles

19. VIDEO: CAUSES OF FRENCH REVOLUTION

20. ESTATES GENERAL GAME

21. The End of Constitutional Monarchy • Louis XVI becomes increasingly unpopular and foreign monarchies attack France out of fear Revolution will spread • Many believe Marie Antoinette is aiding her native Austria • National Convention establishes a radical republic and put Louis XVI on trial • Executed by guillotine January 1793 • Marie Antoinette executed October 1793

22. The Reign of Terror • After the death of Louis XVI, Reign of Terror implemented to prevent counter-revolution • Robespierre mastermindof the Reign of Terror • Committee of Public Safety • “Terror is nothing other than justice, prompt, severe, inflexible...” • 2,400 people executed in Paris by July 1794; across all of France 30,000 people executed • Support for Robespierre and the Terror ends • Robespierre himself was arrested and sent to the guillotine, the last victim of the Reign of Terror

23. Napoléon Bonaparte • By 1795, the radical republic replaced by the conservative Directory • Napoléon – strong military leader, won victories, popular with people • Coup d'etat of Napoléon Bonaparte in 1799 • France and Europe enter a new era

24. VIDEO: REIGN OF TERROR