1789-1799

The French Revolution

Ancien Regime

King Louis XVI was leader of France

Ancien regime was the old order in France

Three different estates Social classes

Ancien Regime (cont.)

First Estate made of church and clergy

Second Estate made up of nobility

Third Estate everyone else

Ancien Regime (cont.)

France heavily in debt during this time

Tennis Court Oath

Estates General was French “Congress”

Reps from each estate meet to vote separately

First and Second Estate always outvote Third

Tennis Court Oath

Third Estate fed up with being outvoted despite making up most of France

Called for all Estates to meet and vote “by head”

Tennis Court Oath

Third Estate reps finally had enough; called themselves National Assembly

Met at an indoor tennis court

Took Tennis Court Oath Oath stated they’d never separateand meet when the circumstancesrequire until they make a Constitution

Tennis Court Oath

Reform-minded clergy and noblemen join National Assembly

Louis XVI accepts it, though plans to dissolve it

Bastille

Rumors that royal troops were going to occupy Paris

Peasants stormed prison called the Bastille looking for weapons

Gain Bastille, but no weapons. Still symbol of revolution

The “Great Fear”

Rumors that peasants and villages being attacked

Peasants start attacking noblemen

People look up to Marquis de Lafayette Leader that fought alongside George

Washington

National Assembly Acts

National Assembly issues “Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen”

Insisted that governments must acknowledge the natural rights of men

National Assembly Acts (cont.) Declaration did not mention women

Olympe de Gouges, female journalist, speaks out against this

Many women imprisoned during revolution for speaking out

Marie Antoinette

Marie Antoinette was the Austrian-born queen

Lived very lavish life; caused unrest among citizens

Never actually said “Let them eat cake”

Louis in Paris

Louis XVI lived in Versailles

6,000 women marched miles from Paris to Versailles, demanding to see the king Wanted him to return to Paris

Louis in Paris (cont.)

Royal family agrees to move to Paris

Louis XVI is now virtual “prisoner”

National Assembly Presses Onward National Assembly starts writing

Constitution

Put controls on Catholic Church Caused great divide

National Assembly Presses Onward (cont.) Constitution finished in 1791

Established limited monarchy

New legislative branch created

Louis’ Escape

Louis XVI attempts to escape Paris

Disguises himself as servant

Gets caught because someone recognizes his face from a coin

Internationally

Other rulers fear the “spread” of the revolution

Joseph II, Marie Antoinette’s brother, tells revolutionaries that Austria and Prussia will intervene to save French monarchy Most likely bluff, but revolutionaries took

it seriously and prepared for war

Radicals Fight for Power

New Legislative Assembly takes over

Economy too bad for L.A. to act

Sans-culottes, working-class men and women, push for more radical means

Radicals Fight for Power

Many sans-coulottes wanted a republic Government ruled by elected

representatives

Several factions within National Assembly start fighting for power

Sans-culottes find allies in the radical Jacobins

War on Tyranny

French revolutionaries declare war on European monarchs

Declare war on Austria, Prussia, Britain, and others