The French Revolution

CLASS IX HISTORY
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 The Old Regime (Ancien Regime)

• Old Regime – socio-political system which

existed in most of Europe during the 18th century
• Countries were ruled by absolutism – the
monarch had absolute control over the
government
• Classes of people – privileged and unprivileged
– Unprivileged people – paid taxes and treated badly
– Privileged people – did not pay taxes and treated
well
 Society under the Old Regime

• In France, people were divided into three estates

– First Estate
• High-ranking members of the Church
• Privileged class
– Second Estate
• Nobility
• Privileged class
– Third Estate
• Everyone else – from peasants in the countryside to
wealthy bourgeoisie merchants in the cities
• Unprivileged class
 Government under the Old Regime:
The Divine Right of Kings
 Monarch ruled by divine right
› God put the world in motion
› God put some people in positions of power
› Power is given by God
› No one can question God
› No one can question someone put in power by God
› Questioning the monarchy was blasphemy because it
meant questioning God
 France Is Bankrupt
• The king (Louis XVI) lavished money on himself and
residences like Versailles
• Queen Marie Antoinette was seen as a wasteful
spender
• Government found its funds depleted as a result of
wars
– Including the funding of the American Revolution
• Deficit spending – a government spending more
money than it takes in from tax revenues
• Privileged classes would not submit to being taxed
 Philosophy of the French Revolution: The
Enlightenment (Age of Reason)
• Scientists during the Renaissance had discovered laws that
govern the natural world
• Intellectuals – philosophes – began to ask if natural laws
might also apply to human beings
– Particularly to human institutions such as governments
– Philosophes were secular in thinking – they used reason and
logic, rather than faith, religion, and superstition, to answer
important questions
– Used reason and logic to determine how governments are
formed
• Tried to figure out what logical, rational principles work to tie
people to their governments
– Questioned the divine right of kings
 Long-term Causes of the French
Revolution
Everything previously
Also
discussed
• Absolutism • System of mercantilism
• Unjust socio-political which restricted trade
system (Old Regime) • Influence of other
• Poor harvests which left successful revolutions
peasant farmers with little • England’s Glorious
money for taxes Revolution (1688-1689)
• Influence of Enlightenment • American Revolution
philosophes (1775-1783)
 Short-term Causes of the French
Revolution
Bankruptcy Great Fear Estates-General
• Caused by deficit • Worst famine in memory • Louis XVI had no choice
spending • Hungry, impoverished but to call for a meeting
• Financial ministers peasants feared that of the Estates-General to
(Turgot, Necker, nobles at Estates-General find a solution to the
Calonne) proposed were seeking greater bankruptcy problem
changes privileges • All three estates
• But these were rejected • Attacks on nobles • Had not met since 1614
• Assembly of Notables occurred throughout the • Set in motion a series of
voted down taxation for country in 1789 events which resulted in
the nobility in 1787 the abolition of the
monarchy and a
completely new socio-
political system for
France
 Preparing for the Estates-
General
 Winter of 1788-1789
› Members of the estates elected representatives

 Cahiers
› Traditional lists of grievances written by the people
› Nothing out of the ordinary
 Asked for only moderate changes
 Meeting of the Estates-General:
May 5, 1789
• Voting was conducted by estate
– Each estate had one vote
– First and Second Estates could operate as a bloc to stop the
Third Estate from having its way

◊ First Estate + ◊ Second Estate - vs. - ◊ Third Estate

• Representatives from the Third Estate demanded that

voting be by population
– This would give the Third Estate a great advantage
• Deadlock resulted
 Tennis Court Oath
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 to a nearby tennis court where its members vowed to stay together
and create a written constitution for France.

On June 23, 1789, Louis XVI relented. He ordered the three estates to meet together as the
National Assembly and vote, by population, on a constitution for France.
 Four Phases (Periods)
of the French Revolution
National Assembly (1789-1791)

Legislative Assembly (1791-1792)

Convention (1792-1795)

Directory (1795-1799)
 National Assembly
(1789-1791)
• Louis XVI did not
actually want a
written constitution
• When news of his
plan to use military
force against the
National Assembly
reached Paris on July
14, 1789, people
stormed the Bastille
 Uprising in Paris

People of Paris seized weapons Uprising spread throughout

from the Bastille France
• July 14, 1789 • Nobles were attacked
• Parisians organized their own • Records of feudal dues and
government which they owed taxes were destroyed
called the Commune • Many nobles fled the country
• Small groups – factions – – became known as émigrés
competed to control the city • Louis XVI was forced to fly
of Paris the new tricolor flag of
France
 Goodbye, Versailles! Adieu, Versailles!

• Parisian Commune feared that Louis XVI would have

foreign troops invade France to put down the rebellion
– Louis XVI’s wife, Marie Antoinette, was the sister of the Austrian
emperor
• A group of women attacked Versailles on October 5, 1789
– Forced royal family to relocate to Paris along with National
Assembly
– Royal family spent next several years in the Tuileries Palace as
virtual prisoners
Tuileries Palace (Paris, France)
 Changes under the National
Assembly
Abolishment of
Abolition of special Constitution of
guilds and labor
privileges 1791
unions

Many nobles left

Declaration of the Equality before the
France and became
Rights of Man law (for men)
known as émigrés

Reforms in local Taxes levied based

government on the ability to pay
 Declaration of the Rights of Man

Freedom of Freedom of Freedom of the

religion speech press

“Liberty, Right of the

Guaranteed
equality, people to
property rights
fraternity!” create laws

Right to a fair
trial
 Declaration of the Rights of Woman

Women did gain some

rights during the French
Revolution, but these were
designed for purposes other
Journalist Olympia de Madame Jeanne Roland than liberating women.
Gouges argued in her also served as a leader in • Women could inherit property,
Declaration of the Rights of the women’s rights but only because doing so
weakened feudalism and reduced
Woman that women are movement, and was able to wealth among the upper classes.
equal citizens and should heavily influence her • Divorce became easier, but only
benefit from governmental husband (a government to weaken the Church’s control
reforms just as men did. official). over marriage.
 End of Special Privileges

• Church lands were seized, divided, and sold to

peasants
• Civil Constitution of the Clergy required that
Church officials be elected by the people, with
salaries paid by the government
– 2/3 of Church officials fled the country rather than
swear allegiance to this
• All feudal dues and tithes were eradicated
• All special privileges of the First and Second
Estates were abolished
 Constitution of 1791

• Democratic features
– France became a limited monarchy
• King became 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
• This new government became known as the
Legislative Assembly
 Legislative Assembly (1791-1792)
• Royal family sought help from Austria
– In June, 1791, they were caught trying to escape to Austria
• Nobles who fled the revolution lived abroad as émigrés
– They hoped that, with foreign help, the Old Regime could
be restored in France
• Church officials wanted Church lands, rights, and
privileges restored
– Some devout Catholic peasants also supported the Church
• Political parties, representing different interests,
emerged
– Girondists
– Jacobins
 Convention (1792-1795)
• On September 22, 1792, the Convention met for
the first time
• Established the First French Republic
• Faced domestic opposition and strife
– Girondists were moderates who represented the rich
middle class of the provinces
– Jacobins (led by Marat, Danton, and Robespierre)
represented workers
• Faced opposition from abroad
– Austria, England, Holland, Prussia, Sardinia, and Spain
formed a Coalition invading France
 Abolishment of the Monarchy
• The Convention abolished the monarchy
– As long as the royal family lived, the monarchy could
be restored
– Put the royal couple on trial for treason
• Convictions were a foregone conclusion
– Louis XVI was guillotined on January 21, 1793
– Marie Antoinette was guillotined on October 16, 1793
– Daughter Marie-Thérèse was allowed to go to Vienna
in 1795
• She could not become queen because of Salic law, which
did not allow females to succeed to the throne
– Son Louis-Charles, a.k.a. Louis XVII (lived 1785-
1795) was beaten and mistreated until he died in prison
The three most memorable
Jacobins were Georges
Danton, Maximilien
Robespierre, and Jean-Paul
Marat.

Because of a debilitating
illness, Marat was
eventually forced to work
from home. He was
assassinated (in the tub while
taking a medicinal bath) by
Charlotte Corday, a
Girondist sympathizer, in
July, 1793.

The Death of Marat by Jacques-Louis

David
 Growing Coalition against the French

• Convention drafted Frenchmen into the army to defeat the

foreign Coalition
– These troops were led by General Carnot
– The people supported military operations because they did not want
the country back under the Old Regime
• Rouget de Lisle wrote the “Marseillaise”
– Became the French national anthem
– Inspired troops as they were led into battle
• After two years
– Coalition was defeated
– France had gained, rather than lost, territory
 Reign of Terror:
September 5, 1793-July 27, 1794
• Despite military successes, the Convention
continued to face problems domestically
• Danton and his Jacobin political party came to
dominate French politics
• Committee of Public Safety
– Headed by Danton (and later Robespierre)
– Those accused of treason were tried by the
Committee’s Revolutionary Tribunal
– Approximately 15,000 people died on the guillotine
• Guillotine became known as the “National Razor”
• Including innovative thinkers like Olympe de Gouges
 End of the Reign of Terror
• Members of the Girondist political party tried to end the Reign
of Terror initiated by the Jacobin political party
– This opposition to the Committee of Public Safety caused many
Girondists to be tried and executed for treason
• Eventually, even Georges Danton wanted to end the executions
– This resulted in Danton being tried and executed for treason
• Maximilien Robespierre became leader of the Committee of
Public Safety
– He continued the executions
– Convention came to blame Robespierre for the Reign of Terror
• Thermidorean Reaction
– July 27, 1794 – ended the Reign of Terror
– Convention sent Robespierre and other members of the Committee of
Public Safety to the guillotine
• Robespierre was guillotined on July 28, 1794
 Government under the Directory

Executive • 5 directors appointed by the Legislature

• Lower house (500 members) proposed laws

• Upper house (250 members) voted on these laws
Legislature • 2/3 of the Legislature would initially be filled by members of
the Convention

• Girondists (middle-class party) had defeated the Jacobins

(working- and peasant-class party)
Qualifications • Girondists’ constitution stated that suffrage (the right to vote),
as well as the right to hold office, were limited to property
owners
 Review Questions
2. What human rights were
3. How did Olympe de
1. What Paris building was established in France by the
Gouges fight for women’s
stormed on July 14, 1789? Declaration of the Rights of
rights?
Man?

4. What were émigrés, and 5. Name and describe the

6. What was the
why did French two political parties that
Committee of Public
revolutionaries view them competed for power in
Safety?
as a threat? revolutionary France.

9. Looking back at the first

7. Describe the Reign of 8. Were the “excesses” of
half of 1789, could the
Terror and explain how it the French Revolution
French Revolution have
eventually came to an end. justified? Why or why not?
been avoided? If so, how?