The French Revolution

•Umair Maqboool Ch.

• Saqib Saeed

• Hassan Tariq

INTRODUCTION

Definition

• Revolution – Struggle put up to change the way of being ruled

• In France, from 1789 to 1799– Feudal, religious and aristocratic privileges

vanished– ‘Enlightment’ principles of citizenship and

inalienable rights introduced

Causes

• Famine

• Rising debt

• Taxation

• Failure of reforms

Estates-General (1789)

• Due to conflict between Second and Third Estates

• Convened on 5 May 1789

• Great misjudgment by the king in deciding core issues

National Assembly (1789)• 10 June 1789 - Third

Estate declared itself to be independent body

• Louis ordered closure of Salle des États to prevent meeting

• Meeting held in Royal Tennis Court (Tennis Court Oath)

• Clergy and nobility joined them later

NATIONAL CONSTITUENT ASSEMBLY (1789 – 1791)

Storming of Bastille

• Louis XVI dismissed Necker on the suggestion of his privy council

• Parisians assumed arrival of foreign troops under French service as sign of trouble

• French Guard joined the rebels• Mob attacked Bastille Fort, to capture the

weapons cache

Storming of Bastille (contd.)

• Rebels captured the fort and killed the Governor, despite ceasefire

• Louis XVI visited Paris on 17th July, and people cheered for him

• Necker was reinstated• Nobles were not satisfied by apparent

reconciliation; began to flee France

The Great Fear• Spirit of insurrection

spread throughout France– Mobs burned châteaux – Killed the feudal lords and

their families

• Rumors of royal plotting going on at Versailles, and of widespread unemployment in Paris contributed to the unrest

Working towards a Constitution• 4 Aug 1789 – Feudalism

abolished, seigneurial rights of First and Second Estates swept away

• 26 Aug 1789 – Declaration of Man and of The Citizen published

• Unicameral Assembly established– King only retained

‘Suspension Veto’ power

a bill of rights modeled on English and American examples, which guaranteed that "men are born and remain free and equal in rights." It also guaranteed that "property being an inviolable and sacred right, no one may be deprived of it except for an obvious requirement of public necessity, certified by law . . . ."

Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen

Women’s March on Versailles• 1 Oct 1789 – Rumors of

King’s bodyguards trampling upon national cockade

• 5 Oct 1789 – Women complained to Parisian authorities of the hardships

• Receiving no response, 7000 women marched to Versailles, bringing cannons and arms

• Finally, King agreed to move back to Paris

Revolution and the Church• Power weakened in

Estates-General meeting• 12 July 1970 – Civil

Constitution of the clergy– Turned clergy into state

servants

• Clergy required to take oath of loyalty to Civil Constitution

• De- Christianization efforts during Reign of Terror

The National Assembly became a house divided. They began to form alliances based on class and belief. The lower classes felt left out…again.

Radicalism

•

• Jacobins• Radicals• wanted the king

completely out of the picture

• Girondins• Moderates• in favor of

retaining the constitutional monarchy

Royal flight to Varennes• General Bouillé assured

Louis XVI of his support at his camp

• 20 June 1791 – Royal family fled under the guise of servants– Were caught the next day

at Varennes

• The Assembly provisionally suspended the king

Completing the Constitution• Majority of the Assembly still favored

constitutional monarchy– Still, attempts to instigate people against the

King• Rest of Europe afraid of the revolutionary

spirit– Declaration of Pillnitz passed

• Assembly gathered all the laws passed, and formulated the constitution– The King endorsed it

French neighbors feared that revolution would spread to their countries.

Neighboring countries requested the return of Louis XVI.

Girondins took offense and declared war on Austria and Prussia.

LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY

Failure of the Constitutional Monarchy

• Under the Constitution, the King had to share power with the elected Assembly– Though he still retained veto power

• 1 Oct 1971 – Assembly met for the 1st time– Degenerated into chaos within a year– Comprised of representatives from different

groups• The King used to veto legislations against

clergymen

Constitutional Crisis• 10 Aug 1792 – Insurgents assailed the

Tuileries Palace– The royal family ended up prisoners

• Rump session of the Assembly suspended the monarchy

• Insurgents executed 1400 prisoners without trial

• 21 Sep 1972 – Monarchy abolished and country declared to be a republic

WAR AND COUNTER- REVOLUTION

• Almost everyone supported the war with Austria

• Initially, Austria and Prussia had success– However, monarchy had become a thing of past

• France soon took over Austrian Netherlands• The King executed in Jan 1793

– Britain and Spain joined the war against France– French forces faced defeats on all fronts– Rebellion broke up in western and southern

France• Fall 1793 – Rebellions crushed, and Allied

advance halted

• Summer 1794 – stalemate broken– Conquered Austrian Netherlands again– Swept Allies to the right bank of Rhine

• 1795 – Holland conquered– House of Orange expelled– Alliance against France collapsed– Only Britain and Austria at war now

NATIONAL CONVENTION (1792 – 1795)

Execution of Louis XVI

• Brunswick Manifesto made Louis appear a traitor

• 17 Jan 1973 – Louis XVI condemned to death– 21 Jan 1973 – executed by guillotine

• Royalty across Europe horrified– Many neutral nations joined war against France

Sid

e no

te

Jack and Jill went up the hillto fetch a pail of waterJack fell down and broke his crownAnd Jill came tumbling after.Up got Jack, and home did trot As fast as he could caperHe went to bed and bound his headWith vinegar and brown paper.

Jack and Jill Rhyme

GUILLOTINEKilling device used extensively during, and after Reign of Terror.

Sid

e no

te

Mary Mary quite contrary,How does your garden grow?With silver bells and cockle shellsAnd pretty maids all in a row.

Mary Mary Quite Contrary Rhyme

Economy• All funding spent on war

• Max. possible prices set on food items– Widespread shortage and famine– crowd jeered when Robespierre was sent to

guillotine

• Dragoons sent to seize crops– Solved problem for Paris; worsened it for rest of

the country

Reign of Terror• Rule of Jacobins

• At least 16,594 people executed without satisfactory trial– Historians declare the figure to be close to

40,000

• The Convention adopted ‘Constitution of the Year I’

Peasant Revolt

• Old supporters of Catholic Church and Monarchy

• Revolt and suppression claimed at least 1,17,000 lives– Many historians claim it to be ‘genocide’

• All peasantry armed in response to local and foreign threats

Time period when Robespierre was so afraid of opposition that he executed people that might be a threat.

De- Christianization

• Atheist movement started– 10 Nov 1793- Flame of Reason burned at

Notre Dame Cathedral

• Army officers were promoted considering their patriotism– Revolts and foreign attacks easily repelled

Thermidorian Reaction• Robespierre and other prominent Jacobins

arrested and executed• New govt. comprised of surviving Girondins

– Took revenge on Jacobins– Period known as ‘white terror’

• 22 Aug 1795 – ‘Constitution of the Year III’ approved– A public plebiscite also supported it

DIRECTORY (1795 – 1799)

After the reign of terror the French were fearful of a too powerful government . The Directory was formed to oversee the balance of responsibilities and appointments.

Increased corruption was the result.

• First bicameral legislature• Distrusted by the citizens

– Used war for prolonging their rule• The army, under General Napoleon,

suppressed all uprisings with ease– 9 Nov 1799- Napoleon staged Coup of 18

Brumaire– 1804- Proclaimed himself Emperor

Napoleon took over and France

became a dictatorship for

the next 15 years.

A picture is worth a thousand words.

A man will fight harder for his interests than for his rights.

A revolution can be neither made nor stopped. The only thing that can be done is for one of several of its children to give it a direction by dint of victories.

A true man hates no one.

“Take time to deliberate, but when the time for action has arrived, stop thinking and go in.”

?

ROLE OF WOMEN

Background

• Had no political rights before revolution

– Were not even considered citizens

– The Encyclopédie contained very humiliating definitions

Feminist Agitation

• The March to Versailles• 6 Mar 1792 – Pauline Léon presented a

petition– Was immediately rejected

• 20 June 1792 – March of armed women• Rampage of 20 May 1793• Punished harshly

– Flogged, arrested, executed and exiled

Women Writers• Olympe de Gouges – wrote plays and short

stories– Tried to warn the people of the extremism of the

Revolution– She also defended the king, and so, was

executed• Madame Roland – wrote letters to

Revolution leaders and hosted gatherings– Said: “O liberty! What crimes are committed in

thy name!”, while being led to scaffold

LEGACY

Different Opinions

• Middle Class becoming conscious of its social importance

• Product of a few thinkers brainwashing the whole population

• Marxists title it as a gigantic class struggle, with peasants realizing their importance

• Angle of study has shifted from political ideas to social history

Impact on World

• Seen as dawn of modern era

• In France – crippled aristocracy and drained Church’s wealth

• Had profound effect on Russian Revolution

• Mao Zedong used the ideas in his efforts to

make China, a communist state

Thank You