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Divisions DevelopDivisions Develop1791: National Assembly creates a new constitution

◦ Creates a limited constitutional monarchy Strips king of most authority Creates a Legislative Assembly King Louis XVI agrees (no choice!)

Old problems still exist◦ Food shortages◦ Government debt◦ Poverty

Factions split revolutionaries◦ Radicals/Left: get rid of king, redo

government◦ Moderates/Center: wanted some changes

in government◦ Conservatives/Right: wanted to keep a

limited monarchy with few changes in government

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Two illustrations of sans-culottes

Divisions Develop…Divisions Develop…

Émigrés (the rich who fled France during the revolution) took actions to try to undo the revolution to get back their land

Sans-culottes (the lower-class in Paris) wanted even more radical change

◦ They had no power in the assembly (but that didn’t stop them!)

Movie poster for A Tale of Two Cities, based on the novel by Charles Dickens about the French Revolution and an émigré

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War and ExecutionWar and ExecutionAustria and Prussia fear revolution will spread.

◦ They pressure France to restore monarchy.◦ 1792: France responds by declaring war.

Prussian commander warns that he will destroy Paris if royal family is harmed.

August 10, 1792: Parisians furious at threat.◦ They storm the Tuileries (place where the royals were

under arrest). Mobs massacre royal guard, takes royal family

prisoners

Storming of the Tuileries Palace, Paris

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War and Execution…War and Execution…Rumor: King’s supporters in Paris prisons are

going to break out and retake Paris◦ Mobs raid prisons, and murder over 1,000 nobles

= September MassacresRadicals force

◦ Legislative Assembly to set aside the 1791 Constitution◦ Creation of a new government, National Convention

New government◦ Abolishes monarchy◦ Declares France a republic◦ Adult males given right to

vote

Illustration by Armand Fouquier of the September Massacres

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War and Execution…War and Execution…

National Convention, led by radical Jacobians put Louis XVI on trial and sentence him to death

◦ January 21, 1793: Louis beheaded by guillotine. War with Prussia continues.

◦ Prussia and Austria are joined by England Holland Spain

◦ National Convention takes extreme step of ordering a draft of men and women

Illustration of the execution of Louis XVI

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Reign of TerrorReign of Terror Many groups in France fighting for power

◦ Peasants loyal to Catholic Church and/or king◦ Clergy resisting government control◦ Rival leaders in different regions of France

1793: Maximilien Robespierre gains power◦ Vowed to build a “republic of virtue” by erasing

France’s past. Changed calendar

◦ Eliminated Sundays Closed churches

Reign of Terror = Robespierre = leader of Committee of Public Safety and virtual dictator

◦ Goal = protect revolution from its enemies Bogus arrests, trials Lots of torture and death

◦ Many “enemies of the revolution” = personal enemies of Robespierre because of their challenges to his power

◦ Apprx. 40,000 killed◦ 85% = peasants or middle class, those

who were supposed to benefit from the revolution

Top: Robespierre Bottom: Poster for movie

version of the Scarlet Pimpernel, a story of intrigues and love during the Reign of Terror

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End of TerrorEnd of Terror 1794: Fearing for own safety, members of National

Convention turn on Robespierre◦ Demand his arrest and execution

Reign of Terror ends on July 28, 1794 with Robespierre’s execution

◦ Public opinion shifts Tired of terror Tired of inflation for necessities

◦ 1795: National Convention creates third government since 1789

Gives more power to upper middle class Creates two-house legislature (like U.S. Congress) Created Directory = five men acting as

executive body (like U.S. president) Directory gives command of France’s armies to

Napoleon Bonaparte

Top: Illustration of the execution of Robespierre Bottom: Painting of Napoleon Bonaparte

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ReviewReview Ideas are powerful!

◦ The scientific revolution shattered long-held views about the universe. Enlightenment questioned society and government:

◦ Locke (contract between government and governed)◦ Montesquieu (checks and balances)◦ Rousseau (individual freedom and civilization corrupts)◦ Voltaire (freedom of thought and expression)

◦ Their radical beliefs in the natural rights of man inspired the American and French Revolutions.

New thinking encouraged

New thinking leads to revolutions in America and France

Scientific revolution