Chapter 18 Section 1

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION BEGINS

BACKGROUND TO THE REVOLUTION• Monumental events of 1789

• United States sets out as a new independent country• French Revolution begins

• French Revolution is more complex, more violent, and more radical than the American Revolution• Tried to create a new political order and a

new social order• Often seen as a major turning point in

European political and social history

ESTATES• Before the Revolution, population was divided

into estates, creating inequality• Long-range cause of French Revolution

• First Estate• The clergy

• Second Estate• The nobility

• Held many leading positions in government, military, courts, high church offices

ESTATES• Third Estate

• Commoners• Vast array of occupation, wealth, education

level• Most were peasants• Relics of feudalism owed to local landlords

• Payment for use of flour mill, community oven, etc.• Skilled craftspeople, shopkeepers, wage earners• Bourgeoisie – middle class of merchants, bankers,

& professionals

ESTATES• Middle class upset with privileges of nobility• Both aristocrats and bourgeoisie drawn to

ideas of Enlightenment• Upset with monarchical system based on

privileges and the old, rigid social structure• Ultimately leads to uprising

FINANCIAL CRISIS• Immediate cause of French Revolution was the

near collapse of government finances• Poor harvests & manufacturing slow down

led to food shortages, rising food prices, and unemployment in 1787-1788

• However, government continued to spend large sums of money on wars and court luxuries

ESTATES-GENERAL TO NATIONAL ASSEMBLY• Estates-General, composed of representatives

from all estates, met at Versailles on May 5, 1789• First problem was voting

• Each estate had one vote, so First and Second could easily outvote the Third

• Third Estate established compromise, king denied

• Third Estate forms National Assembly and decided to write a constitution• Find themselves locked out of meeting

VERSAILLES

ESTATES-GENERAL TO NATIONAL ASSEMBLY• Tennis Court Oath

• Deputies of National Assembly meet on a tennis court and promise to continue to meet until create French constitution

• King Louis XVI prepares to use force v. Third Estate• July 14 – mob of Parisians storm the Bastille, an

armory and prison, and dismantle it• Growing hatred of landholding system led to

popular uprisings throughout France

STORMING OF THE BASTILLE• Bastille Day – July 14th

• Symbol of uprising of the modern nation and reconciliation of all French

• Parades• President used to

give an interview and pardon criminals• Sarkozy hasn’t

DESTRUCTION OF THE OLD REGIME• National Assembly votes to abolish rights of

landlords and financial privileges of nobles and clergy• Declaration of the Rights of Man

• Inspired by Declaration of Independence• Proclaimed freedom and equal rights for all

men, access to public office based on talent, and end to tax exemptions

• Also called for freedom of speech and press• Debate over if women were to be included

DESTRUCTION OF THE OLD REGIME• King Louis XVI remains at Versailles

• Until thousands of armed women march to Versailles• Met with King and described their starving

children and forced him to accept their demands• Crowd insisted the royal family travel to Paris to

show support for National Assembly• Bring wagonloads of flour as gesture of goodwill• King and family are essentially prisoners in Paris

CHURCH REFORMS• National Assembly seized and sold lands of the

Church• Church was also secularized• Bishops and priests were to be elected by

the people and paid by the state• French government controls Church

NEW CONSTITUTION• Constitution of 1791• Sets up a limited monarchy

• King remains, but Legislative Assembly to make laws• Only men over 25 who pay a fee can vote

• King Louis XVI tries to flee France• Captured and returned to Paris

RISE OF THE PARIS COMMUNE• Radical political groups in Paris declared

themselves a commune and organized a mob attack on royal palace and Legislative Assembly• Took the king captive• Legislative Assembly forced to call

National Convention• Chosen based on universal male suffrage

• Power passed to Paris Commune• Called themselves sans-culottes – ordinary

patriots without fine clothes

Chapter 18 Section 2

RADICAL REVOLUTION & REACTION

MOVE TO RADICALISM• Georges Danton led the sans-culottes in seeking

revenge on those who aided the king• Thousands arrested and massacred

• National Convention meets in September 1792• Abolished monarchy and established French Republic• Split into factions – Girondins and Mountains

• Girondins – people outside city who feared radical mobs

• Mountains – radicals residing in city• King Louis XVI beheaded on January 21, 1793

THE GUILLOTINE• Executed through

beheading• Believed to kill

quickly and painlessly

• Form of entertainment that drew large crowds• Sold programs• Children came too

CRISES AND RESPONSE• Execution of Louis XVI outraged most of Europe

• Informal coalition of Austria, Prussia, Spain, Portugal, Britain, Dutch Republic take up arms against France

• By late spring of 1793, France poised for invasion• Revolution would cease, old regime reestablished

• National Convention gives power to Committee of Public Safety, a special committee of 12 people• Dominated by Maxmilien Robespierre

REIGN OF TERROR• Committee of Public Safety rules from 1793-1794• Acted to defend France from foreign and

domestic threats• Instituted the Reign of Terror• Revolutionary courts set up to prosecute

internal enemies of the republic• Approximately 40,000 killed

• Used guillotine, grapeshot, and drowning• People from all classes were killed

REPUBLIC OF VIRTUE• Committee of Public Safety creates Republic of

Virtue• Democratic republic composed of good

citizens• Law requiring primary education for all was

passed, but not widely implemented• Slavery was abolished in French colonies• Established price limits on necessities

• These measures failed to work because the government couldn’t enforce them.

REPUBLIC OF VIRTUE• In an attempt to build a society based on reason,

National Convention pursued a policy of dechristianization• “Saint” removed from street names, churches

pillaged and closed by revolutionaries, priests told to marry

• Notre Dame was designated a “temple of reason”• Created a new calendar that eliminated Sundays

and renamed months after seasons• Dechristianization fails because most of France is still

Catholic

A NATION IN ARMS• To protect France from foreign enemies, decreed

universal mobilization of the nation• Men were called to fight• Women were called to make clothes and tents• Children were called to make lint of old cloth

• Republic’s army was largest in European history• By summer of 1794, French had defeated most of

their foes• Robespierre continued fighting until condemned to

death – ending the Reign of Terror

THE DIRECTORY• Churches reopened for public worship and a new

constitution was created• Created a legislative body of elected members who

voted on the laws• The Directory, a group of five men who acted as the

executive committee, ruled with the legislature• Period of corruption and resistance• The Directory was unable to solve economic problems• Coup d'état led by Napoleon Bonaparte overthrows