THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

1. THE FRENCH REVOLUTION A REPUBLIC BORN IN BLOOD

2. Causes of the Revolution • Society based on inequality • Three estates • First Estate = Catholic clergy • Made up 1% of the population, owned 10% of the land, and paid no taxes • Second Estate = nobility • Made up 2% of the population, owned 35% of the land, paid some fees, but no taxes • Got the best positions in gov’t and military • Third Estate = peasants, bourgeoisie (middle class) • Made up 97% of the population, paid all the taxes

3. Many of the bourgeoisie have money, but not the privileges of the nobility • Relics of feudalism = aristocratic privileges • Peasants had to pay rents and fees to use village facilities • All part of the Ancien Regime, or the old order • Weak King Louis XVI and his queen Marie-Antoinette, whom the people of France despise • She is Austrian, unpopular, and spends lots of money • Ideas of the Enlightenment • Want to put Enlightenment ideas into effect, see how successful the American colonists were

4. American Revolution • American colonists are successful and the money France gives to the colonists partially bankrupts France • Financial crisis • The near collapse of gov’t finances is the immediate cause • 1/3 of the country is starving – no food, bad winters • France deeply in debt, half the taxes used to pay off debt • Gov’t still spends lots of money • First and Second Estates refuse to pay taxes • King Louis XVI is forced to call the Estates-General for money

5. Start of the Revolution • Meeting of the Estates-General • Had not met for 175 years, representatives would bring cahiers, or lists of grievances, with them • Each estate gets one vote • First and Second Estates could always outvote the Third • Members of the Third Estate demand that each representative gets one vote • Have a new sense of importance • The king refuses, saying he is in favor of the old system, but he does double the number of representatives in the Third Estate

6. In response the Third Estate declares itself a National Assembly with the right to make laws for France and to draft a constitution • The king has them locked out of their meeting hall • They meet at a nearby indoor tennis court instead • Tennis Court Oath = swear that they will continue to meet until they create a French constitution • Louis XVI orders troops to Paris and Versailles to protect the monarchy • The National Assembly feared the king was preparing to use force against them, but they are saved by the common people

7. Storming of the Bastille – July 14, 1789 • A mob of Parisians attack the Bastille, an armory and prison • Were looking for gunpowder to protect themselves from the king’s troops • They dismantle the prison and kill the commander, then cut off his head and parade it around the streets on a long stick • The Great Fear – violence in the countryside • Many people were afraid the king would punish them and the Great Fear was a time of rumors that people would be attacked • Some peasants rebelled and burned homes of nobles, along with records of feudal dues

8. A New Government • National Assembly 1789 to 1791 – liberal • Its first act was to abolish relics of feudalism and nobles gave up all their privileges • Also adopts the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen • Inspired by the American Declaration of Independence and Constitution, and the English Bill of Rights • Co-written by Thomas Jefferson • Proclaims free and equal rights for all men • Access to public office based on talent, no exemptions from taxation, and free speech and press

9. States basic principles of the Revolution – “liberty, equality, fraternity (brotherhood)” • Did not extend to women • Olympe de Gouges wrote a declaration of rights for women, she is later beheaded • Women’s march to Versailles • Louis remains at Versailles, refusing to accept the Declaration and the abolition of the relics of feudalism • In October 1789 women of Paris grew upset over the price and lack of bread and decide to bring their grievances to the king • Thousands of women march to Versailles and demand to see the king

10. When they king hesitates about seeing them, the women become enraged and break into the palace, intent on killing the queen • They massacre the palace guards, decapitate them, and put their heads on pikes • They force the king to accept the decrees and Louis and his family go to Paris to take up residence in the Tuileries Palace • He brings wagonloads of flour as a goodwill gesture, but the royal family is now prisoners in Paris • Church reforms • The National Assembly seizes church lands and sells them to pay off France’s debt

11. All religious orders disbanded as well • Civil Constitution of the Clergy • Bishops and priests are now elected by the people and paid by the state, have become gov’t employees • Many Catholics become enemies of the Revolution • In 1791 the National Assembly finishes the constitution, which creates a moderate gov’t called the Legislative Assembly • Sets up a limited monarchy • Still a king, but the Legislative Assembly will make the laws • Only men over 25 who pay a certain amount of taxes can vote

12. The old order is completely destroyed and there is opposition to the new order: • Catholic priests and nobles (many flee the country, become known as emigres) • Lower classes hurt by a rise in the cost of living, bread actually becomes more expensive • Radicals who don’t think that the reforms have gone far enough yet • Louis watches his power slowly be taken away and decides its time to flee France • He and his family, wearing servant disguises, flee Paris in the middle of the night • Get within miles of the Austrian border before they are recognized and dragged back to Paris

13. The king is now seen as a coward at best and a traitor at worst • Foreign reaction to the Revolution • In the beginning other nations are delighted • Most believe they can gain territory at the expense of France • Great Britain hopes this will lead to better relations between the two nations and they celebrate the revolution • Only Edmund Burke speaks out about the Revolution, claiming it will lead to violence • European leaders now fear that revolution will spread to their countries

14. Austria and Prussia start massing troops at the border and the Legislative Assembly declares war • Many noble military commanders defect at the battles and the French army does not do well • Foreign troops are now on French soil • A Prussian general issues a warning to the people of Paris, warning that he will destroy their city if any harm comes to the royal family • In response the people of Paris attack the Tuleries Palace, but the king and his family make it to safety in the meeting hall of the Legislative Assembly • The palace guards are slaughtered and those not killed will be the first to be beheaded by the guillotine

15. September Massacres – the people of Paris are afraid that if foreign troops get to Paris, that the people in the prisons would join with them and kill the people of Paris • Parisian mobs break into the prisons and kill thousands of the prisoners • These attacks were carried out by the sans-culottes • Ordinary patriots “without knee breeches” • Wore long pants instead of fine clothes • These were the artisans and workers of the Third Estate • Seek revenge on those who helped the king and resisted popular will • Thousands arrested and killed

16. The sans-culottes are members of the Paris Commune, the radical gov’t in control of Paris • Radical = favor extreme change • Force the Legislative Assembly to suspend the monarchy and call for a National Convention chosen on the basis of universal male suffrage • Suffrage = right to vote • Universal male suffrage = all adult men can vote • 1792 the National Convention, a radical gov’t, takes over • First act was to abolish the monarchy and establish the first French Republic

17. The French Republic • The National Convention splits into factions (dissenting groups) over the fate of the king • Girondins – represent the provinces and fear the radical mobs of Paris • They are more moderate and supported a constitutional monarchy and want to keep the king alive • The Mountain – radical members of the Jacobin Club, they represent the interests of the people of Paris • Supported by the sans-culottes, want the king to die to prevent the return of the monarchy • The Plain – in the middle, are the swing votes

18. King Louis XVI is put on trial for treason • The Mountain win and they convince the Convention to pass a decree condemning the king to death • January 21, 1793 King Louis XVI is beheaded by the guillotine • Invented by a doctor, it was adopted because it kills quickly and humanely • The execution of the king creates enemies both in France and abroad • Radical leaders of the Revolution • Maximalien Robespierre – great speaker who will lead the gov’t during its bloodiest phase • Georges Danton – violent agitator, extremely popular with the public

19. Jean-Paul Marat – one of the leaders of the sans-culottes, advocates violence in his newspaper • Spends most of his time in his bathtub due to a skin disease he acquired while living in the sewers • Feels that the way to make France better is to kill more and more people • Crises – foreign • Coalition of Austria, Prussia, Spain, Portugal, Britain, Russia, and the Dutch Republic take up arms against France • French armies are falling back • Late spring of 1793 the coalition is situated to invade

20. Crises – domestic • The National Convention does not rule all of France • Counterrevolution = a revolution against a gov’t that was established by revolution • Resistance lay mostly in the countryside • Revolt in a region of western France called the Vendee, leads to civil war • They refuse to accept the authority of the Convention • In response, the Committee of Public Safety is created • To deal with the crises, the National Convention gives broad powers to a special committee of 12 known as the Committee of Public Safety

21. First led by Danton, but mostly dominated by Robespierre • Duty is to defend France from foreign and domestic threats • To deal with the foreign crises, the Committee implements a draft • All men ages 18 to 45 are to serve in the army • All other French citizens are to help out in any way they can, from making weapons to making clothes • Called Levee en masse = draft the entire population for the war effort • People’s war = step towards nationalism • To deal with the domestic problems and civil war the Committee will launch the Reign of Terror

22. The Reign of Terror • Lasted from spring of 1793 to 1794 • Revolutionary courts set up to prosecute internal enemies of the republic, goal was to eliminate people who threatened the revolution • Robespierre stated that terror needed to be used to defend the republic • Most executions take place by the guillotine • Victims are taken to the guillotine, which is in a public place for everyone to view, in an open cart • People would watch and usually throw food • Efficient – could execute more than one person a minute

23. People in Paris complained of the blood overflowing the city’s drainage ditches • In all, 300,000 people were arrested, 17,000 were executed by the guillotine, and thousands more died in the revolt in the Vendee • Famous victims during the Reign of Terror included the queen Marie-Antoinette, who was beheaded a year after her husband, the boy prince, and Marat • Marat was stabbed to death in his bathtub by Charlotte Corday, a woman from the countryside who blamed Marat for the violence in France • She was beheaded and Marat became saint-like • The Girondin were also sent to the guillotine

24. The Committee of Public Safety also sent armies to bring rebellious cities in the Vendee under control • Makes an example out of Lyons • 1,880 citizens were executed • First guillotined, then shot over open graves when the guillotine proves too slow • In Nantes the victims were executed by being sunk in barges in the Loire River while their family and friends watched • The Great Terror • the last phase of the Reign of Terror, the pace of execution picks up • At the end 800 a month were being executed in Paris alone

25. In the end the Reign of Terror was no longer needed • Danton stated that the Terror should be ended and Robespierre has Danton and his followers sent to the guillotine • Robespierre is obsessed with ridding France of all its corrupt elements • Robespierre would present lists of “traitors” and they would be rounded up and executed the next day • In August of 1794 he says he has a new list and he would give the names the next day • Thermidor • When Robespierre comes to give the list, he and his followers are arrested

26. Robespierre tries to commit suicide, but only ends up shooting his jaw • The next day Robespierre and his followers are executed by the guillotine • The death of Robespierre ends the Reign of Terror

27. The Republic of Virtue • The Committee of Public Safety, under Robespierre, wants to create a new order and society • Wants a democratic republic composed of good citizens • Erase all connections to the old ways • Changes • “citizen” and “citizeness” replace mister and madame • Women wear long robes inspired by ancient times • Slavery abolished in the colonies • Set up schools to produce good citizens • A metric system replaces the old system of weights and measures

28. Pursue a policy of dechristianization • Churches are closed and priests encouraged to marry • Priests and nuns who refuse visit the guillotine • The word saint is removed from street names the title on the Bible is changed to “Declaration of the Rights of Man” • Notre Dame is designated as a “temple of reason” • Adoption of a new calendar • 12 months with new names • Each month has 3 ten day weeks, with the tenth day as a day of rest • Cult of the Supreme Being created by Robespierre, worship the goddess of wisdom and reason

29. Enthusiasm for the revolution was the object of worship and Marat is made a saint • The Republic of Virtue comes to an end with the death of Robespierre and the end of the Terror • The power of the Committee of Public Safety is reduced and churches reopen

30. The Directory • With the end of the Reign of Terror, a new constitution is created that establishes the Directory, a reactionary gov’t, in 1795 • Reactionary = want conditions to return to those of an earlier time • It had a legislative assembly with two chambers and five directors who acted as the executive committee • Gov’t was weak and corrupt • The Directory is brought to an end by the coup d’etat by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1799 • Coup d’etat = sudden overthrow of the gov’t