French Revolution

Preparing for the Estates-General

Winter of 1788-1789Members of the estates elected representatives

CahiersTraditional lists of grievances written by the people

Nothing out of the ordinary Asked for only moderate changes

Meeting of the Estates-General:

May 5, 1789Voting was conducted by estateEach estate had one voteFirst and Second Estates could operate as a bloc to stop the Third Estate from having its way

◊ First Estate + ◊ Second Estate - vs. - ◊ Third Estate

Representatives from the Third Estate demanded that voting be by population

This would give the Third Estate a great advantage

Deadlock resulted

IF VOTING WAS BY POPULATION

The Tennis Court Oath“The National Assembly, considering that it has been

summoned to establish the constitution of the kingdom, to effect the regeneration of the public

order, and to maintain the true principles of monarchy; that nothing can prevent it from

continuing its deliberations in whatever place it may be forced to establish itself; and, finally, that

wheresoever its members are assembled, there is the National Assembly;

“Decrees that all members of this Assembly shall immediately take a solemn oath not to separate, and to reassemble wherever circumstances require, until the constitution of the kingdom is established and consolidated upon firm foundations; and that, the

said oath taken, all members and each one of them individually shall ratify this steadfast resolution by

signature.”

Tennis Court Oath by Jacques Louis David

Tennis Court Oath

The Storming of The Bastille

- The Bastille was a large fortress which doubled as a prison; to the revolutionaries it was a sign of opression.

- On July 14th, 1789 the people and some soldiers stormed the fortress looking for prisoners (of which there were only seven) and weapons to fight back against the King’s army.

- This became the point where reform turned into the full fledged revolution.

Four Phases (Periods) of the French Revolution

National Assembly

(1789-1791)Louis XVI did not actually want a written constitution

When news of his plan to use military force against the National Assembly reached Paris on July 14, 1789, people stormed the Bastille

Uprising in Paris

Consolidating the Revolution

August 4, 1789National Assembly swept away much of the Old Regime

King no longer rules of divine rightConstrained by powers spelled out in a constitution

Adopted the Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen

Declaration of the Rights of Man

Goodbye, Versailles! Adieu, Versailles!

Parisian Commune feared that Louis XVI would have foreign troops invade France to put down the rebellion

Louis XVI’s wife, Marie Antoinette, was the sister of the Austrian emperor

A group of women attacked Versailles on October 5, 1789

Forced royal family to relocate to Paris along with National AssemblyRoyal family spent next several years in the Tuileries Palace as virtual prisoners

Tuileries Palace (Paris, France)

End of Special Privileges

Church lands were seized, divided, and sold to peasants

Civil Constitution of the Clergy required that Church officials be elected by the people, with salaries paid by the government

2/3 of Church officials fled the country rather than swear allegiance to this

All feudal dues and tithes were eradicated

All special privileges of the First and Second Estates were abolished

Reforms in Local Government

The 30 provinces and their “petty tyrants” (Intendants) were replaced with 83 new departments

Ruled by elected governors

New courts, with judges elected by the people, were established

*** Compare and Contrast the views of Burke “Reflections on the Revolution” and Paine “Rights of Man” on this stage of French Gov’t -- text pages 80 &81

Constitution of 1791Democratic features

France became a limited monarchyKing became merely the head of state

All laws were created by the Legislative AssemblyFeudalism was abolished

Undemocratic featuresVoting was limited to taxpayersOffices were reserved for property owners

This newly created government became known as the Legislative Assembly (Phase 2 of Rev.)

Changes under the National Assembly

Legislative Assembly1791-1792

Constitution of 1791Sept. 1791: Constitution accepted by Louis – Paris celebrated the ‘end of the Revolution’

Oct. 1791: Legislative Assembly held first session

Democratic features:France had become a limited constitutional monarchy (King was merely the head of state)All laws were created by the Legislative Assembly (name of new government)Feudalism was abolished

Undemocratic features:Voting was limited to male taxpayersOffices were reserved for property owners

Legislative Assembly (1791-1792)

Royal family sought help from AustriaIn June, 1791, they were caught trying to escape to Austria

Nobles who fled the revolution lived abroad as émigrés

They hoped that, with foreign help, the Old Regime could be restored in France

Church officials wanted Church lands, rights, and privileges restored

Some devout Catholic peasants also supported the Church

Political parties, representing different interests, emerged

GirondistsJacobins

The Radical Phase 1791 - 1795

Election of the new Legislative Assembly (Oct 1791)

745 deputies

Girondins (majority)

Jacobins

Feuillants

Republican, supported by peasantsEqual rights for all

Republican, more radical, highly centralized republic, supported by mob

Conservative monarchists who wanted to limit further changes

Events and Opposition…April 1792: Legislative Assembly declared war on Austria

Assembly was afraid members of Austrian Royal family (Marie Antoinette’s family) would attack revolutionariesLeftists hoped war would spread Revolution to EuropeReactionaries hoped preoccupation with war would cool off Revolution; defeat might restore old Regime

Following declaration of war, Austrian and Prussian troops invade France

In the uproar of war, the Commune took control of Paris – lead by Danton (a Jacobin)

Voters began electing representatives for a new convention – would write a republican constitution for France

Republic: a government in which people elect representatives who will create laws and rule on their behalf

Sept. 1792: thousands of nobles were executed under suspicion that they were conspirators in the foreign invasion, and 1200 prisoners in Paris were killed for being counter-revolutionaries (event known as September massacre)

Convention1792-1795

The Convention

Sept. 22, 1792: the Convention met for the first time

First act: Establish the first French Republic

Opposition from within: fighting between different parties (moderate/majority Girondists and radical Jacobins allied with sans-culottes)

Opposition from abroad: Austria, England, Holland, Prussia, Sardinia, and Spain formed a Coalition invading France

= France was fighting an internal civil war and an external hostile war

Abolishment of the Monarchy

As long as the royal family lived, the monarchy could be restored

King and Queen were put on trial for treason (trying to leave France)

Jan. 21, 1793: Louis XVI guillotined

Oct. 16, 1793: Marie Antoinette guillotined

Daughter allowed to go to Vienna in 1795 (could never become Queen)

Son beaten until he died in prison (only 10 years old!)

The Counter Counter-Revolution (i.e. against those who were against

the Revolution…)

The Convention feared counter revolts against the weakening Girondists, therefore…

Strengthened laws against emigrés Established Watch Committees (March 1793)April 1793: Created the Committee for Public Safety (CPS) – original purpose was to eliminate counter-revolutionary movements, raise new armies, and assure food supplies for both armies and cities

First leader: Danton (Jacobin)

Reign of TerrorSeptember 5, 1793-July 27, 1794(still during the time of the Convention…)

EventsWhile the Convention remained the official government, it was the CPS that had all the power – despite military success, the Convention continued to face problems domestically

Jacobins (lead by Danton) came to dominate French politics

Two months after the creation of the CPS, it was ‘re-created’ with 12 new representative, all extremist revolutionaries

Lead first by Danton, later Robespierre Anyone accused of treason was put on trial by the Committee’s Revolutionary Tribunal … Officially 16,000 people died on the guillotine (9 month period) - historical records suggest closer to 50,000

* Members of the CPS saw the Terror and the war as a national mission against evil inside and outside France (“enemies of liberty”)

The Guillotine:

the “National

Razor”• During the 1700s,

executions in France were public events – most common execution was quartering – upper-class criminals could buy their way into less painful deaths

• Doctor Joseph Guillotin wanted a capitol punishment method equal for all classes – invented guillotine (named after him)

Growing coalition against the French

European countries (Coalition) were afraid revolutionary ideals would spread (wanted to restore monarchy), while France wanted to spread its ideas – called wars “revolutionary wars”

The Convention drafted Frenchmen into the army – the people supported military operations because they did not want the country back under the Old Regime (very effective as citizens’ army fighting for ideals) One group of guardsmen from the provinces came singing “Marseillaise” (written by Rouget de Lisle) – song came to inspire troops while lead into battle, became the French national anthem

Two years of wars resulted in the Coalition being defeated and France gaining territory

The CPS: A new cultureReplaced all formality of aristocracy and monarchy – people were even executed for using former ‘titles’, now had to refer to everyone as ‘citizen’

Anti-Christianity: goal was to destroy the church

Forced Priests to marryAbolished CatholicismNotre Dame became the “Temple of Reason”Made a new calendar to replace the old Christian calendar, began with 1792 as the birth of the new RepublicNamed months after seasons

So… how did the

Reign of Terror

end?• Girondists tried to end the Terror

– many were executed by the CPS for treason

• Danton eventually wanted to end the executions, resulted in himself being executed for treason

• CPS taken over by Robespierre – became even more violent

• Convention came to blame Robespierre for Terror

• June 1794: military success in war – French people becoming angry over the violence of the Terror

• Lead to “Thermidorean Reaction” – July 27 Terror ended, Robespierre guillotined July 28

The Directory1795-1799

The Directory

1795 (year III of the Republic): with foreign invaders defeated and the Reign of Terror over, the Convention was finally able to inaugurate its new constitution: created the Directory

The Government under the Directory:The new constitution split the nation’s power between a two-housed Assembly and a Directory of 5 men

Executive: 5 men appointed by the legislature

Legislature: Lower house (500 members) proposed laws, Upper house (250 members) voted on these laws

• The Directory suffered from corruption and poor administration

• People of France grew poorer and more frustrated with their government

• Even with these struggles (or perhaps because of them), the French developed strong nationalism, which was fueled by military successes

• What came next…? Napoleon Bonaparte, coming to power through a coup d’etat (1799) to end the ten year period of the French Revolution!