French Revolution

Chapter 20

Anatomy of a Revolution

In 1938, historian Crane Brinton published his studies of the English Revolution, French Revolution, and Russian Revolution. In studying all three, he noted several similarities and ultimately determined that revolutions tend to follow the same course. • In his work, Anatomy of a Revolution, he outlines this course, borrowing many of his

terms from pathology, comparing a revolution to a fever or a disease:• The revolutionary "fever" begins with the appearance of certain "symptoms."• It proceeds by advances and retreats to a crisis stage, or "delirium."• The crisis ends when the "fever" breaks.• A period of convalescence follows, interrupted by a relapse or two before the

recovery is complete.• Let's take a look at the first part of a revolution: Conditions Present Before a

Revolution Occurs. Take a close look at these items and see how true they are as we study the origins of the French Revolution.

•

Road to the Revolutioni.e. Causes

The French Revolution was not an overnight event nor was it inevitable as economic crises from the previous 2 decades made any sort of change a possibility. However, there are several reasons for the onslaught of revolutionary fervor:• Enlightenment ideals• Royal Neglect• Droughts and Famines• Fiscal Irresponsibility• War Debt• Tax Inequities

The Enlightenment and Royal Neglect

The Enlightenment • In its beginnings in France and after an excursion in America, those same ideals re-found their

way back home. Many of the theories stressed equality before law and placed monarchies under greater scrutiny.

Royal Neglect • When he took the throne, Louis XVI was in his 20's and had never traveled beyond Paris. The

majority of his life had been spent at Versailles. He was more interested in hunting, carpentry and clock workings than ruling.

• Marie Antoinette was Austrian and married Louis as the result of an arrangement to strengthen French and Austrian ties.

• Louis, however, is uninterested in family life, leaving his wife to try more and more outlandish ways to gain his attention, including modeling her fashion style after Madame Pompadour, Louis XV's mistress.

• She was widely resented for being a foreign queen and living extravagantly. • She appeared to be out of touch with many of the citizens of France including having a country

home built at Versailles so that she could "live like a peasant" though she never did utter the words "Let them eat cake." She was extremely unhappy and the root of several scandals.

War Debts By the late 1700's, France had been fighting with Britain and others on and off for the last 100 years. Financial support to the American Revolution was via loans arranged by Jacques Necker. Three-fourths of the states expenses went to maintaining the army and navy as well as paying debts owed from the War of Austrian Succession, 7 years war and American Revolution.

Mo’ money Mo’ Problems • The totals above list what obligations the King and France had, but

not necessarily what was paid out each month. So where did France's money actually go?

• 50% went to interest• 25% went to expenses maintaining the Army & Navy & paying off

war debts• 6% to king• 19% to the country• Where to find the money?• The third estate pays most all of the taxes as the clergy are

exempt, and the second estate pays very few. Under absolutism, France was inept at collecting taxes and there was no central bank, which meant France relied on loans from individuals in order to stay afloat.

Nobility issues • Social lines between nobles and bourgeois became blurred over the last

century - despite opposition from older established nobles. • Between 1774-1789, 2,500 families bought titles. • This serves to create a new class distinction: Nobles of the Sword and Nobles of the Robe. • Many Nobles of the Sword had fallen on hard times and are doing

everything they can to distinguish themselves, including clinging to any and all privileges.

• Nobles of Sword depended on privileges to maintain status and resented provincial parliaments that became filled with new nobles.

• The monarchy became dependent upon the sale of titles and offices for long term credit and by 1789 there were over 50,000 offices.

• But sales were coming to a close as any more could destroy confidence and lessen values of already held offices.

• In 1771, Louis XV exiles the Parliament of Paris, and establishes new law courts that are more subservient than before.

And so it begins - the snowballing of activities that lead directly to the revolution.• Jacques Necker attempts to float more loans while straightening out the

finances. • In 1781, ministers convince Louis XVI to fire Necker which he does. But by

1782, Necker is rehired and inflates the figures to reassure the French and get new loans.

• This tactic doesn't work, instead most nations refuse to loan France any more money.

• Necker is thus replaced with Charles Alexandre de Calonne. He demonstrates that Necker's figures were inflated, but attempts to reassure the king and queen by buying 2 chateaux and building 4 more.

You say you want a revolution

Well you knowWe all want to change the world

• The Parliaments highly dislike Calonne as they think he is arrogant, wants to tax the land and identify him with fiscal irresponsibility.

• Thus Calonne attempts to sidestep Parlement by having the king convene the Assembly of Notables expecting the assembly to endorse its proposals, which did include a land tax, as well as overhaul the tax system.

• The assembly refused. • The upper 2 estates were concerned they would lose privileges and thus

the nobles convince Louis to fire Calonne on April 8, 1788. • He is replaced with Archbishop of Toulouse who asked for a land AND

stamp tax. • Some of the assembly had been willing to consider the new taxation

provided it came with some concessions they requested such as:• Calling regular meetings of Estates-General• Allow more power to the Parlements• Reforms to guarantee protection of rights

You tell me that it's evolution• Louis is now caught between a rock and a hard place.• He needs the nobles to resolve the financial crisis, but doesn't want to

give in to demands.• Instead, Louis banishes them to a town south of Paris, soon smaller

parliaments followed suit - one even called for a meeting of it's estates without monarchical approval.

• Other provincial parliaments began demanding meetings of the Estates-General. In response to the growing situation, land and stamp taxes are withdrawn in exchange for a tax on income and the Parliament of Paris is recalled from exile.

• Louis ordered new loan edicts without presenting it to Parliament which is technically illegal as Parliament has control of monetary issues.

• Louis's response?

1st Stage Outbreak of Revolution • In May 1788, the king arrested 2 of

the Parlement's most radical members. Small riots soon broke out, with one town throwing roof tiles and stones at royal soldiers.

• On August 8, 1788, Louis announced he would envoke Estates-General in May of the following year.

• He reappointed Necker.• With the announcing of the

Estates-General, questions were raised as to voting process. In the past, the representatives at the Estates voted by block, meaning each estate received one vote:

Group activity

Three Estates • Clergy • Nobility • Everybody else ( peasants, merchants,

farmers) • Using your book and Mercardo notes please

list the reasons for your discontent with the French Monarchy on your poster paper.

Listening to the past… Read page 626 Answer questions 1-3

• The Society of 30 forms with Lafayette at the head. They met to discuss, debate, and distribute pamphlets. Abbé Emmanuel Joseph Sieyes, previously an obscure priest, issues a public statement:

ONE MAN ONE VOTE !

• Many of the 3rd estate begin advocating for "One Man, One Vote." Fear led Louis to double the number of 3rd estate representatives but maintained each block would have only 1 vote.

• Louis asked local assemblies to draw up list of grievances. –BAD IDEA • What resulted was a wide variety of complaints from concrete reforms to the foul breath of

sheep ruining Lorraine's pastures. • Some listed problems with king. The predominant issue, however were the lettres de cachet

which allowed a person to be arrested for any reason, without cause. • Some of the cahiers praised the king while shifting fault to his advisors, yet most were

edited before reaching the king.

• On May 5, 1789, over 1,000 members meet at Versailles for the Estates-General. Louis quickly greeted the 1st and 2nd estates, but kept the 3rd estate waiting for 2 hours.

• After announcing that each estate would be a block vote, the 3rd estate began delaying the proceedings by requesting all 3 estates meet together.

• June 17th, the 3rd estate declares itself the National Assembly and the true representatives of sovereignty, thereby giving them as much, if not more power than the king.

• The 1st estate considers joining them. On June 20, the meeting hall where the 3rd estate had been gathering was locked ("for repairs.") Rather than leaving, the 3rd estate met at a nearby indoor tennis court and demanded defined limits on the king's authority.

Tennis Court Oath • They also swore the Tennis Court Oath, in which they swore not to disband until a

new constitution was written. Louis initially declared them invalid, but on June 23, he announced substantial reforms:

• Would periodically convoke Estates-General• Abolish the taille and corvee• Eliminate tariffs and tolls• Allowed The three estates to vote by head so long as it did not concern "ancient and

constitutional rights of the 3 orders"• June 22, Louis fires Necker again, forced to rehire him after thousands invade the

Tuileries Palace. • On June 27, Louis orders the 2 remaining estates to join the 3rd estate. • July 11th, Necker is once again fired and the next day demonstrators carry statue

busts of Necker. • People began to arm themselves due to increased military presence. Shortly after the

final dismissal of Necker, Parisian crowds went in search of weapons.

The Storming of the Bastille • On July 14, 1789, thousands of people seized

weapons stored in a veterans hospital. As they moved throughout the day, the crowd swelled to 80,000 people.

• Believing ammunition and gun powder was stored there, the crowd made their way to the Bastille.

• They quickly laid siege to the fortress, the soldiers inside resisted and a minor battle ensued.

• Shortly after the troops surrendered, but not before dozens of civilians had been killed, becoming martyrs for the cause.

• The mob began to attack, a butcher decapitated the commander of the fortress and his head was carried on a pike throughout the streets.

• The mob seized the weapons and gunpowder and freed the prisoners.

The Beginnings of Chaos • The storming of the Bastille perhaps

saved the National Assembly from being dissolved by force.

• Later that evening, royal officials were replaced with a revolutionary municipality and citizen militias were organized in order to patrol the city.

• Additional revolutions occurred in 26 out of the 30 main cities, Paris was not isolated occurrence.

• Louis becomes uncertain of the army's loyalty so he sends away most troops, recognizes the new municipal government, the "Commune of Paris, " and the national guard led by Lafayette.

• He once again recalls Necker and on July 17, he goes to Paris to meet with commune, accepting the tricolor. July 14th 1789 Bastille Day!

The Great Fear.• Elsewhere, peasants had gained hope with calling of the Estates-General and the cahiers. • News of the Bastille inspired revolts in the countryside, and between July 19 and August

3rd peasants attacked chateaux burning title deeds and obligation papers. • Consider this. A rumored plot on behalf of the aristocrats resulted in the mobilization of

many peasants as townspeople and peasants began forming militia to defend themselves and save the harvest.

• This became known as the Great Fear. Rumors also abounded that the vagrants were actually in the pay of nobles, destroying harvests in order to keep the peasants submissive. Peasant revolts worried the National Assembly, yet they decided to appease the peasants rather than denounce the violence.

• Thus on August 4th, the National Assembly formally abolished feudal regime as well as:• Abolished personal obligations and privilege.• Abolished sale of offices, exclusive rights of nobles to hunt.• Called for end of tithing, simony.• The Assembly later declared that seigneurial dues would end only after the peasants had

paid compensation to their lords, most peasants refused and eventually all dues were abolished without the regained compensation under the new radical 1793 government.

• The changes did away with the old regime, destroyed absolutism by redefining subject king relationship, and determining the king was to be constrained by a constitution.

• The decrees also allowed the Assembly to create a new government.

Declaration of the Rights of Man August 1789

PSD Declaration on rights of Man Please read and answer questions to both documents

Women's March on ParisOctober 1789

Women March on Versailles – They believe that Marie Antoinette is hording grain at Versailles

Armed Women March kill a few guards and demand to see Queen

ResultsMarie and Louis are moved back to Paris

The Moderate Phase continues.For the next two years, until 1791, the government showed consolidation of a

liberal revolution:Nobility abolished• Constitutional monarch (Louis accepts 1790)• Women's ability to get a divorce, inherit property, seek financial assistance for illegitimate children, but no vote or office• France was turned into 83 departments rather than it's traditional 27 regions. Each department was to have the same institutions, subdivided

into districts, cantons and communes to promote local autonomy. They were, however, subordinate to the legislature in Paris. There were instruments for promoting national integration and uniformity:

• Created boundaries for new judicial system– justice of the peace in each canton– civil court in each district– criminal court in department– judges to be elected– civil cases had no jury, but felonies to be tried by juries– defendants right to council– encouraged arbitration and mediation to avoid formal litigation– justice was to be faster and more accesible.

• Economic freedom– monopolies, guilds, trade barriers gone– free trade– no government regulation over wages or quality of goods– workers must bargain as individuals, therefore associations and strikes were banned– individuals were free to cultivate land as they saw fit– Metric system unifies weights and measures

• Religious Alignment– Religious freedom to Jews and Protestants– Nationalized the church- Civil Constitution of the Clergy– Abolished monasteries as useless relics of the past– Church property backed new money - assignats– Sold church properties at auction– Remaining church property was nationalized which made the state responsible for upkeep of the church.– reduced the number of bishops from 130 to 83 reshaped diocese to conform to the new departments– Bishops and parish priests to be elected, were to be paid according to uniform salary scale

The Counter-Revolution

• It began as early as the day after the fall of the bastille. • Many aristocrats (first the king's family and friends) began leaving the country in disgust. • During the next 3 years, thousands joined including 213 of the royal officers corps. • Many went to Austria and Germany and began forming an army. The Flee to Varenns In June 1791, he and his family dressed in peasants clothes and fled to Montmédy on the Belgian border hoping to raise an army in order to gain support from Marie Antoinette's brother, the Austrian Emperor Leopold. Instead, the royal family was recognized and captured at Varennes.Moderates hoped this would end any of Louis' opposition as the assembly needed his help to make the constitutional monarchy work. Radicals had a different view, many such as Marat, began speaking even more vigorously about the treachery of the king. Marat attacked the assembly for not acting vigorously enough, while the assembly, determined to maintain the status quo, reaffirmed the king's position as well as upheld the notion that king was kidnapped.

Jean-Paul Marat was a journalist who ardently supported the rights of the Third Estate. He was often seen as the link to the Jacobins and helped encouraged the turn to the more radical phase of the revolution. He was assassinated in July of 1793 by Charlotte Corday. The Jacques Louis David painting, ''Death of Marat'' is below

Radical Phase 1792- 1794

• In September 1791, under house arrest at the Tuileries Palace, Louis is left with no other choice but to accept the final version of the constitution. Robespierre remarks that the revolution is over.

• October 1791, the National Assembly is dissolved, as none of its members are eligible for Legislative Assembly.

• Out of the new representatives, many distrusted Louis and overall the group was inclined to proceed less cautiously than the National Assembly

Attitudes & actions

of monarchy& court

Fear ofCounter-Revoluti

on

Religious

divisions

Political

divisions

WarEcono

micCrises

The Causes of Instability in France

1792 - 1795

The JacobinsJacobin Meeting House

They held their meetings in the library of a former Jacobin monastery in Paris.

Started as a debating society. Membership mostly middle

class. Created a vast network of clubs.

The Sans-Culottes:The Parisian Working Class

Small shopkeepers.

Tradesmen. Artisans.

They shared many of the ideals of their

middle class representatives in

government!

War what is it good for ?? Money ! • April 1792 France declares war on Austria. Prussia joins with Austria and

France is near defeat until an argument between Austria and Prussia over Poland keeps France from falling.

• August 3, 1792, the Duke of Brunswick issued the Brunswick Manifesto which states if harm comes to the royal family, the Austrians will level Paris.

• Rather than retreat from conflict, on August 10, 1792, a crowd attacks the Tuileries in search of the king. Louis flees to the Legislative Assembly, who suspended him, imprisoned him and called for a new constitution. New elections, with universal male suffrage, were called for.

• A second revolution begins. The September Massacres result in over 1000 deaths. A new revolutionary calendar is created and Year 1 begins.

The “Second” French Revolution

The National Convention: Girondin Rule: 1792-1793 Jacobin Rule: 1793-1794

[“Reign of Terror”] Thermidorian Reaction: 1794-

1795 The Directory 1795-1799

The Storming of the Tuilieres:

August 9-10, 1792

This was triggered in part by the publication in Paris of the August 3 Brunswick Manifesto,

which confirmed popular suspicions concerning the king’s treason.

The September Massacres, 1792

(The dark side of the Revolution!)

Rumors that the anti-revolutionary political prisoners were plotting to break out & attack from the rear the armies defending France, while the Prussians attacked from the front.

Buveurs de sang [“drinkers of blood.”] over 1000 killed!

It discredited the Revolution among its remaining sympathizers abroad.

The Sans-Culottes

Depicted as Savages by a British Cartoonist.

The National Convention

(September, 1792) Its first act was the formal abolition of the monarchy on September 22, 1792.

The Year I of the French Republic. The Decree of Fraternity

it offered French assistance to any subject peoples who wished to overthrow their governments.

When France sneezes, all of Europe catches

cold!

The Politics of the National Convention

(1792-1795)Montagnards Girondist

s Power base in Paris. Main support from the

sans-culottes. Would adopt extreme

measures to achieve their goals.

Saw Paris as the center of the Revolution.

More centralized [in Paris] approach to government.

Power base in the provinces.

Feared the influence of the sans-culottes.

Feared the dominance of Paris in national politics.

Supported more national government centralization [federalism].

Louis XVI as a Pig

c For the Montagnards, the king was a traitor.

c The Girondins felt that the Revolution had gone far enough and didn’t want to execute the king [maybe exile him].

Louis XVI’s Head (January 21, 1793)c The trial of the king

was hastened by the discovery in a secret cupboard in the Tuilieres of a cache of documents.

c They proved conclusively Louis’ knowledge and encouragement of foreign intervention.

c The National Convention voted387 to 334 to execute the monarchs.

The Death of “Citizen” Louis Capet

Matter for reflection

for the crowned jugglers.

So impure blooddoesn’t soil our land!

Jack and Jill Went up the hill to fetch a pail of water, Jack fell down and broke his crown and Jill

came tumbling after.• In January of 1793, Louis sentenced to death.• Marie in October the same year • Laborers are the ones who have driven the revolution, in particular the san

culottes. Their interest was always economic and by 1793 inflation, unemployment and food shortages are rampant. By spring 1793, many became interested in politics. As san culottes become more politically active the Mountain join with them, help orchestrate an uprising and caused 31 Girondists arrested for treason - allowing power to be passed to the Mountain.

• Members of the Mountain, including Robespierre, form the Committee of Public Safety which the convention gave dictatorial power in order to deal with the national emergency. Activities in Paris Paris triggered revolts in other cities as peasants revolted and the Republican Army was driven back.

Marie Antoinette as a Serpent

The “Widow Capet”

Marie Antoinette on the Way to the

Guillotine

Marie Antoinette Died in October, 1793

The Committee on what?? …heads will roll…

• By 1794, the Committee of Public Safety accomplished the following:• Planned Economy

– maximum allowable prices for key products– Rationing was introduced "bread of equality"– white bread and pastries were outlawed as luxuries

• Total war– nationalized small workshops– requisitioned raw materials

• Reign of Terror– special courts which ignored normal legal procedures and judged severely– 40,000 executed or died in prison– 300,000 more suspects in prison and came close to death

Thermidorian Reaction.

• By August 1793 changes had come to the army as well.• all unmarried men were subject to the draft• 800,000 soldiers on duty• French army outnumbered opponents 4 to 1• Success of the army led the Committee of Public Safety to relax

standards and in March 1794, they began to focus on Robespierre's opponents.

• Two weeks later, Danton , a former collaborator, is executed.• As a result, several fearing they would be next, join forces to bring down

Robespierre. • On the 9th of Thermidor, he is denounced and put on trial where he is

not allowed to speak. The next day he is brought before the guillotine and executed, followed by his closest supporters.

Thermidorian Reaction.

• With the death of Robespierre, the middle class reasserts itself. • The National Convention retook control - abolishing price controls and

restricting political organizations in which the san culottes had found strength.

• Under the guidance of a new constitution, the nation is officially ruled by a panel of 5 men known collectively as the Directory.

• Wealthy bankers and the nouveau riche celebrate with self indulgence, in many ways replacing the old aristocracy with a new, non-titled one.

• The working poor attempt to revolt, but are quickly put down and given no concessions.

• The urban poor won't see political strength again until 1830. Many of the villages simply want peace.