The French Revolution, 1789-1794

Economic and social inequalities in the 1700s helped cause a major event known as the French Revolution.

Introduction:

• In the 1700s, France was considered the most advanced country of Europe. It was the center of the Enlightenment. It had a large population and a prosperous foreign trade. France’s culture was widely praised and emulated by the rest of the world. However, the appearance of success was deceiving. There was great unrest in France, caused by high prices, high taxes, and disturbing questions raised by the Enlightenment ideas of Rousseau and Voltaire.

I. The Old Regime

I. The Old Regime• The Old Regime was a system of

feudalism left over from the middle ages. • The people of France were divided into

three large social classes, or estates.

I. The Old Regime

• 1st Estate – Roman Catholic Clergy– Did not agree with enlightenment

ideas.

• 2nd Estate – Rich Nobles– Held all the power in government.– Paid no taxes

• These two estates made up 2% of the population but owned 30% of the land in France.

I. The Old Regime• 3rd Estate – Bourgeoisie (merchants), city

workers (cooks, servants, etc.), and peasant farmers.– Had no government power– Paid high taxes– Embraced enlightenment ideas

• Many of the bourgeoisie were wealthy and educated.

• The workers and peasants, which made up over 80% of the population, were paid low wages, were frequently out of work, and often went hungry.

I. The Old Regime

• What does the cartoon say about the three estates?

• Why might the 1st and 2nd Estates be opposed to change?

II. Reasons for Change

II. Reasons for ChangeEnlightenment Ideas• Used words like: Equality, Liberty, and

Democracy• People began questioning long-

standing ideas about government and society.

• Inspired by the success of the American Revolution, and the ideas of Rousseau and Voltaire.

II. Reasons for ChangeEconomic Woes• 3rd Estate paid 50% of their income

to taxes.• Bad weather led to widespread

crop failures.• The price of bread doubled in 1789

and many people faced starvation.

II. Reasons for ChangeA Weak Leader• Louis XVI became king in 1774.• Extravagant spending sank the

government into debt.• Borrowed heavily to help the American

revolutionaries.• He was indecisive and paid little

attention to his advisors.• Instead, he spent his time hunting and

tinkering with locks.

II. Reasons for ChangeA Weak Leader• Louis’ wife Marie

Antoinette was unpopular in France.

• She was a member of the royal family of Austria, France’s long-time enemy.

• As queen, she spent so much money on gowns, jewels, and gifts that she became known as “Madame Deficit.”

III. Revolution Dawns

III. Revolution Dawns• To get approval for tax reform, Louis

called a meeting of the Estates-General, an assembly of representatives from all three estates.

• The meeting was held at the palace in Versailles on May 5, 1789 – the first in 175 years.

III. Revolution Dawns• The 1st and 2nd Estates had dominated

the Estates-General throughout the Middle Ages and expected to do so in the 1789 meeting.

• Under the rules, each estate’s delegates met in a separate hall to vote, and each estate had one vote.

• The two privileged estates could always outvote the 3rd Estate.

III. Revolution Dawns• On June 17th, in order to

gain power, the 3rd Estate delegates voted to name themselves the National Assembly and pass reforms in the name of the French people.

• This proclaimed the end of absolute monarchy and the beginning of a democratic government.

• This was the first act of revolution.

III. Revolution Dawns• Three days later, the 3rd Estate delegates

found themselves locked out of their meeting room, so they broke down the door to an indoor tennis court.

• Tennis Court Oath - They pledged to stay until they finished a new constitution.

III. Revolution Dawns

• Louis tried to make peace by yielding to the National Assembly’s demands.

• At the same time he stationed his mercenary army of Swiss guards in Paris.

• Rumors flew that foreign troops were coming to massacre the French citizens.

• People began to gather weapons in order to defend Paris against the king’s foreign troops.

III. Revolution Dawns• On July 14, a mob

stormed the Bastille, a prison, to get gunpowder.

• The Bastille fell to the control of the citizens and became a great symbolic act of revolution to the French people.

• Today, July 14 is a French holiday, Bastille Day, similar to the U.S. 4th of July.

IV. A Great Fear Sweeps France

Before long, rebellion spread from Paris to the countryside. From one village to the next, wild rumors circulated that the nobles were hiring outlaws to terrorize the peasants.

IV. The Great Fear• A wave of senseless

panic called the Great Fear rolled through France.

• When the peasants met no enemies, they became outlaws themselves.

• Waving pitchforks and torches, they broke into noble’s houses and tore up legal papers and in some cases burned the house.

IV. The Great Fear• October 1789, 6,000

Parisian women rioted over the rising price of bread.

• Seizing knives and axes, the women and a great many men broke marched on Versailles.

• They broke into the palace and demanded Louis and Marie Antoinette come to Paris.

IV. The Great Fear• Their exit signaled the change of power and

radical reforms about to take over France.

V. The Assembly Reforms France

Declaration of the Rights of Man

• On Aug. 27, 1789, the Old Regime was dead and the National Assembly adopted a statement of revolutionary ideas called the Declaration of the Rights of Man.

• It stated, “men are born and remain free and equal in rights” and that “the aim of all political association is the preservation of the natural rights of man. These rights are liberty, property, security, and resistance to oppression.”

Declaration of the Rights of Man

• The expression “Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity” became the slogan of the Revolution.

• However, the Declaration of the Rights of Man did not apply to women.

Declaration of the Rights of Man

• The assembly took over church lands and declared that church officials and priests were to be elected by property owners and paid as state officials.

• The Catholic church lost both its land and its political independence.

Declaration of the Rights of Man• The assembly’s action alarmed millions of devout French peasants, who rallied to the support of their parish priests.

• From this time on, the peasants often opposed further revolutionary change.

Louis Tries to Escape• In June 1791, Louis and his family tried to

escape from France to the Austrian Netherlands.

• As they neared the French border, however, a postmaster recognized the king from his portrait on some paper money.

• The royal family was returned to Paris under guard.

• By attempting to escape, Louis sealed his doom.

VI. Division, War, and Extreme Measures

A Limited Monarchy• After two years of arguing over a new

constitution, the National Assembly made significant changes in France’s government and society.

• The National Assembly created a constitutional monarchy - king enforced the laws and the Assembly made the laws.

• September 1791, the constitution was approved and the Legislative Assembly took control.

Factions Split France

• Despite the new government, old problems, such as food shortages and government debt, remained.

• Angry cries for more liberty, more equality, and more bread soon caused the Revolution’s leaders to turn against one another.

• The Legislative assembly split into three groups.

War with Austria and Prussia• Monarchs and nobles

in many European countries feared the changes that were taking place in France.

• They worried that peasant revolts similar to the ones in France could break out in their own countries.

War with Austria and Prussia• French radicals hoped to spread their revolution to all the peoples of Europe.

• Austria and Prussia proposed that France put Louis back on the throne.

• The Legislative Assembly responded by declaring war on Austria in April 1792.

• The war began badly for the French forces. By summer enemy armies were advancing toward Paris.

• The Prussian commander threatened to destroy Paris if the royal family was harmed.

War with Austria and Prussia

• Infuriated, 20,000 Parisians stormed the royal palace, killed 900 Swiss guards and imprisoned Louis, Marie Antoinette, and their child in a stone tower.

War with Austria and Prussia• Also, there were

rumors that royalists imprisoned in Paris would try to seize control of the city.

• Angry citizens raided the prisons and murdered over 1,000 royalists, nobles, and clergymen in the “September Massacres”.

Radicals Execute the King• On September 21, the

National Convention declared France a republic – representative democracy.

• They tried Louis XVI for treason and found him guilty.

• On Jan. 21, 1783 he was beheaded by the guillotine.

VII. The Reign of Terror

Maximilien Robespierre• Maximilien Robespierre

gained control of the French government in July 1793 and tried to wipe out every trace of France’s past monarchy.

• Many families changed their name.

• Even the kings, queens, and jacks in decks of cards were changed to revolutionary figures.

Maximilien Robespierre• His committee often

had people tried in the morning and guillotined the same afternoon.

• He governed France almost as a dictator and the period of his rule became known as the Reign of Terror.

Marie Antoinette Executed• The most famous victim of

the Terror was Marie Antoinette.

• Calm and dignified, she rode in the death cart past jeering crowds.

• On the scaffold, she accidentally stepped on the executioner’s foot.

• “Monsieur,” she apologized, “I beg your pardon. I did not do it on purpose.”

Reign of Terror

• Thousands of unknown people were sent to death.

• An 18-year-old youth was sentenced to die for cutting down a tree planted as a symbol of liberty.

• A tavern keeper was executed because he sold sour wine “to the defenders of the country.”

Reign of Terror• During the Reign of

Terror , approximately 3,000 people were executed in Paris.

• Some historians believe that as many as 40,000 were killed all together.

• About 85 percent were common people for whose benefit the Revolution had supposedly been carried out.

VIII. End of the Terror

End of the Terror

• By July 1794, the members of the National Convention turned on Robespierre to save themselves.

• The Reign of Terror ended when Robespierre lost his head.

End of the Terror

• In 1795, the National Convention drafted a new kind of government.

• It called for a two-house legislature and an executive body of five men, known as the Directory.

• Despite their corruption, however, they gave their troubled country a period of order.

Napoleon Bonaparte• The Directory

also found the right general to command France’s armies.

• This supremely talented young man was named Napoleon Bonaparte.