The French Revolution

1789-1799

The Old Regime (Ancien Regime)

• Old Regime – social & political system which existed in most of Europe during the 18th century

• Countries were ruled by absolutism• Divine Right

• Societies were divided by class

Society under the Old Regime

• French people were divided into three social classes–First Estate • High-ranking clergy (Church)

–Second Estate• Nobility

–Third Estate• Everyone else – from peasants in the countryside to wealthy bourgeoisie merchants in the cities

Privileged Class

Unprivileged Class

The Three EstatesEstate Populatio

nPrivileges Exemption

sBurdens

First •Circa 130,000

•High-ranking clergy

•Collected the tithe•Censorship of the press•Control of education•Kept records of births, deaths, marriages, etc.•Catholic faith held honored position of being the state religion (practiced by monarch and nobility)•Owned 20% of the land

•Paid no taxes•Subject to Church law rather than civil law

•Moral obligation (rather than legal obligation) to assist the poor and needy•Support the monarchy and Old Regime

Second

•Circa 110,000

•Nobles

•Collected taxes in the form of feudal dues•Monopolized military and state appointments•Owned 20% of the land

•Paid no taxes •Support the monarchy and Old Regime

Third •Circa 25,000,000

•Everyone else: artisans, bourgeoisie, city workers, merchants, peasants, etc., along with many parish priests

•None •None •Paid all taxes•Tithe (Church tax)•Octrot (tax on goods brought into cities)•Corvée (forced road work)•Capitation (poll tax)•Vingtiéme (income tax)•Gabelle (salt tax)•Taille (land tax)•Feudal dues for use of local manor’s winepress, oven, etc.

Economic Conditions under the Old Regime

• France’s economy - primarily agriculture• Peasant farmers bore the burden of

taxation• Poor harvests - 1788– Food shortages led to high prices–Had trouble paying regular taxes–Could not afford to have taxes raised

• Bourgeoisie often managed to gather wealth–But were upset by the inequality – They paid taxes while nobles did not

France Is Bankrupt• King Louis XVI & Queen Marie Antoinette

were seen as a lavish & wasteful spenders

France Is Bankrupt• Government

funds depleted from wars– Loss of the

Seven Years’ War

– $ to the Amer. Revolutionaries

• Deficit spending – a government spending more money than it takes in from tax revenues

• Privileged classes would not submit to being taxed

Les États-Généraux: Estates General

• Louis XVI called the E-G to assemble in May 1789– To override the parlements refusal to tax

nobles–Had not met since 1614

• Cahiers - grievances

First Estate = 1 Vote or 130,000 Votes

Seco

nd

Esta

te =

1 Vo

te o

r

110,

000

Vote

s

Third Estate =

1 Vote or 25,000,0

00 Votes

Deadlock!

Tennis Court Oath1789

The Third Estate declared itself to be the National Assembly.

Louis XVI responded by locking the Third Estate out of the meeting.

The Third Estate relocated, vowed to stay together and create a written constitution

for France.

Tennis Court Oath

The Tennis Court Oath“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.”Louis XVI relented … ordered all three

estates to meet together as the National Assembly & vote, by population, on a

constitution.

Storming of the Bastille

Le Grande Peur• “The Great Fear” – famine caused panic of

1789• Chronic hunger, elevated bread prices,

and rumors of a “famine plot”• Peasants took up arms in

self defense• Some attacked manor

houses• Led to the abolishment

of the feudal system

Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen

• Established universal rights as the basis for a new constitution

• Passed by the National Assembly• Earlier that month the NA had abolished

the Ancien Regime• Influenced by T. Jefferson &

Enlightenment ideals

Women’s March• Parisian women fed up with food scarcity

and high bread prices• Joined by revolutionary protesters • Ransacked city armory• Marched to and besieged Palace of

Versailles • King and family

moved to Paris• Symbolized a

shift of power to the people

Tuileries Palace (Paris, France)

Constitution of 1791• New government known as Legislative

Assembly• Democratic features– France became a limited monarchy• King merely the head of state

–All laws were created by the Legislative Assembly

– Feudalism was abolished• Undemocratic features–Voting was limited to taxpayers–Offices were reserved for property owners

Legislative Assembly (1791-1792)

• June 1791, royal family tried to escape to Austria

• Nobles fled the revolution lived abroad as émigrés

• April 1792, declared war on Austria & Prussia, which invaded France

• Jacobins arrested the King and Queen, who were both executed by guillotine for high treason

Reign of Terror• Era of radicalism led by the Jacobins• Suspected enemies of the Revolution

were executed by the thousands

• Robespierre’s “Committee of Public Safety”

• Also changed the measurements of time to multiples of ten

• Robespierre himself was executed by guillotine when people revolted against the Terror.

Revolution’s End, Napoleon’s Rise

• After a series of failed Constitutions and leaders, General Napoleon Bonaparte seized power

• Coup d’etat = violent takeover • Bonaparte abolished the unpopular Girondin “Directory” government

• Appointed himself France’s First Consul, later Emperor

• Dictatorial ruler