French Revolution

1. French Revolution

2. Essential Questions • What caused the French Revolution? • What happened during the first events of the Revolution? • How did the French create a new nation?

3. King Louis XIV and Queen Marie Antoinette

4. Old Regime • French society divided into 3 orders, or estates • Clergy • Nobles • Peasants (everyone else)

5. 1st Estate Clergy • Church was a state within a state • Responsibilities: • Registered births, marriages, and deaths • Collected tithes • Censored books dangerous to religion and morals • Operated schools • Distributed wealth to poor • Owned 10% of the land • Paid NO taxes, gave a “free gift” • Upper clergy similar to nobility

6. 2nd Estate Nobles • 2 sets: nobles of the sword and nobles of the robe • Held highest positions • Paid NO taxes • Owned between 1/4 and 1/3 of the land

7. 3rd Estate Bourgeoisie, peasants, and urban laborers (96% of the population) • Bourgeoisie • Merchants, lower officials, intellectuals • Wanted to rise socially • Peasants • Given low wages and taxed the most • Sans culottes • Artisans and workers of the cities • Lived in poverty No work = no food

8. Early Influences • American Revolution • Enlightenment philosophes • Financial issues • Bourgeoisie grievances

9. “Liberty, Equality, Fraternity” • Legitimate governments: • Written constitution • Elections • Powerful legislatures • Equality before the law for everyone • Nation’s well being could override individual interests

10. French Financial Problems • Tariffs on goods going across provinces • Overlapping and conflicting law systems • Wars, including aid for American Revolution • Inefficient and unjust tax system • King and Queen’s lavish lifestyle

11. Estates General • Louis XVI ordered Estates General to meet to solve financial problems • Had not met in 175 years • Each estate wrote “notebooks” called cahiers which stated their grievances • Third Estate wanted to change voting rules • Proclaimed themselves a legislature (the National Assembly) • Were locked out of meeting • Tennis Court Oath: wouldn’t leave until constitution was written for France

12. National Assembly 1789-1792 • Conflict between the 1st and 2nd Estate and 3rd Estate • 1st and 2nd Estate represented 20% of population • 3rd Estate represented 80% of population • 3rd Estate invited 1st and 2nd to join assembly • Not one noble came • On June 17, 1789, 3rd Estate established NA • Louis XVI commanded NA into orders, but 3rd Estate refused • Nobles/clergy join king

13. National Assembly Reforms • Abolition of special privileges • Statement of human rights • Subordination of church to state • Constitution to France • Administrative and judicial reforms • Aid for business

14. Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen • liberty, equality, fraternity” • Inspired by the Bill of Rights, American Declaration of Independence, and writings of Enlightenment philosophers • “All men are born equal and remain equal before the law” • Rights did not extend to women

15. Storming of Bastille • In July 1789 tensions were high in Paris • Fearing aristocratic plan to crush them, peasants search for weapons • July 14: 900 Parisians gathered at Bastille and take over • Crucial victory: Bastille seen as symbol of Old Regime

16. Storming of Bastille

17. The Great Fear • Great Fear was a peasant myth of terror • Economic crisis worsened • Burn manor houses, refuse to pay royal taxes, tithes, and manorial dues • Feared aristocrats banding together to crush them • Took up arms to fight • Result: Nobles give up special privileges (August decrees)

18. March on Versailles • Parisian wives (and men) marched to Versailles in 1789 • Protest lack of bread • Joined by Paris Guards, 20,000 citizen guards Result: King had to return to Paris • Promise of bread • Approved decrees and Declaration of Man

19. Results of the Moderate Stage Accomplishments of 1789 Revolution: 1. Equality before the law 2. Careers open to talent 3. A written constitution 4. Parliamentary government Revolutionaries felt no need to go futher

20. Formation of a New Government • 1791: Constitution completed by Assembly • Broad voting rights for citizens • Men at least 25 years old had right to vote • Kept the monarchy • Severely restricted the king’s power • Created new legislative body called the Legislative Assembly

21. Radical Stage 1792-1794 1. Bourgeoisie 2. Sans-culottes 3. Foreign invasions 4. The Jacobins

22. Bourgeoisie vs. San-culottes • Discontent of sans-culottes propelled radicalism • Feared bourgeoisie would replace the fallen aristocracy • By close of 1792 demanded equality with the bourgeoisie

23. Foreign Invasion • Revolution might not have gone radical if France remained at peace • War with Austria and Prussia in April of 1972 • Worsened internal dissensions, economic conditions, and threatened to undo Revolution reforms

24. End of the Monarchy • August 10, 1792 – mob marched on Tuileries Palace • Slaughtered guards • Threw Louis XVI, Marie-Antoinette, and children in prison • Legislative Assembly calls for election of new legislature • National Convention • Favored extreme change (radicals) • Declared France a republic

25. Essential Questions • What changes did the radical government make in French society and politics? • What was the Reign of Terror, and how did it end?

26. The Republic 1792-3 • In September 1792, National Convention abolished the monarchy and created a republic • Tried to purify France and start over • Got rid of King and Queen • Got rid of anything that dealt with the Old Regime

27. Revolutionary Culture • Reminded people everyday that they were patriots, rational, and non religious society • Brought rise to modern nationalism

28. The Jacobins • Replaced leadership in 1793 • Wanted strong, centralized government in Paris • Opposed government interference in business • Supported by the sans-culottes

29. Issues • Civil war • Economic distress • Blockaded ports • Foreign invasion *Feared that liberty and equality would perish if they failed

30. Achievements • New constitution (1793) • Gave all adult males the right to vote • Abolished slavery in French colonies • Made plans for free public education • Never gets implemented

31. The Terror (1793-94) • Robespierre, active Jacobin • Made terror a governmental policy • Enemies of the state were executed • Massive executions took place • 16,000 died by guillotine; 40,000 executed; 20,000 died in prison • Formulated questions: • What was the meaning of the French Revolution ? • To what extent reversed the ideals of Declaration? • Violence of mass executions indicate abandonment of reason

32. The Guillotine

33. Fall of Robespierre and the Jacobins • On July 28, 1794 he was guillotined • Jacobins dismantled • In 1795 • New constitution • Reestablished property requirements for voting • New republican government (Directory) takes over • Eventually ends with Napoleon in 1804 declaring himself “Emperor of France”

34. Consequences of the French Revolution • Dynastic state was transformed into the modern state • Modern state: national, liberal, secular, and rational • State belonging to the people as a whole • No longer subjects, but citizens • Served as frame of reference for 19th century movements: conservatism, liberalism, socialism • Unleashed 3 destructive forces: total war, nationalism, and utopian mentality