Causes of Revolution Old Order Ideas of Enlightenment thinkers Everyone in France divided into three social classes, or estates Ideas of Enlightenment thinkers Poor leadership

First Estate Made up of the Roman Catholic Clergy About 1 percent of the population Paid no taxes, owned 10% of land & church leaders became very rich

Second Estate Made up of the Nobility About 2 percent of the population Controlled much of wealth but paid little taxes

Third Estate Made up of several groups Bourgeoisie → very wealthy but had no influence in gov’t Sans culottes → rural peasants Urban Peasants → miserably poor About 97% of the population If Church & Nobles pay no taxes...

Third Estate What is the Third Estate? Everything. What has it been now in the political order? Nothing. What does it want to be? Something. ----Abbe Emmanuel Sieyes---- What does this tell us?

Financial Troubles Deficit spending Louis XVI Estates-General When a government spends more than it takes in Louis XVI Well meaning but weak and indecisive Estates-General Legislative body consisting of representative from the three estates

Forming the National Assembly 1789 Estates-General had not been called for 175 years Traditionally, 1st, 2nd & 3rd Estate all had one vote. Problem- --? Third Estate split off, forming the National Assembly Locked out of meeting hall, members went to a neighboring Tennis Court [Tennis Court Oath] Swore to never separate and meet wherever the circumstances might require until they established a sound and just constitution

Storming the Bastille 14 July 1789 Enraged mob of Parisians attacked the Bastille Medieval fortress that represented years of abuse by the monarchy Mob pushed through and killed the commander & guards within Wake-up call to Louis XVI Existence of French regime now threatened

French Revolution Unfolds

Phases of Revolution Moderate phase of National Assembly (1789-1791) Radical phase (1792-1794) [led to Reign of Terror] The Directory (1795-1799) Age of Napoleon (1799-1815)

National Assembly Acts NA = members of the Third Estate Declaration of the Rights of Man Modeled after American Declaration of Independence Proclaimed ALL male citizens equal before the law

Assembly cont’d Church placed under State control Constitution of 1791 Forced to give up land and ended papal authority Constitution of 1791 Set up a limited monarchy Far cry from Louis XIV’s absolute monarchy Any tax-paying male citizen over 25 could vote

Radicals Take Over Rulers fear spread of Revolution Even Enlightenment rulers turned against France Some rulers made “threats” to intervene Revolutionaries took seriously and prepared for war

Radicals Take Over Sans-culottes Pushed revolution into more radical phase Wanted a republic instead of a monarchy The sans-culottes were the working class people of Paris, so named because they wore long pants (pantaloons) rather than the knee breeches (Knickers) favored by the aristocracy. The leaders of the Parisian sans-culottes were found in the sectional assemblies and the Commune, particularly after August 1792. Jacobins Supported sans-culottes in the Assembly Revolutionary “group” made up of middle-class lawyers & intellectuals The Jacobins were the most radical and ruthless of the political groups formed in the wake of the French Revolution, and worked with Robespierre- they instituted the Reign of Terror.