The French Revolution World History AP

Preliminary Stage

Causes of the French Revolution

The Enlightenment Political & Legal Equality (Rousseau) Personal Freedoms (Voltaire) Social Contract (Hobbes) Popular Sovereignty & Natural Rights (Locke) Global Influence of Enlightenment Values American Revolution Overthrow the ancien régime (old order)

Inept Ruler? King Louis XVI

Financial Crisis During 1780s, 50% of revenue went to pay off debts American Revolution? Lavish lifestyle of the monarchy Series of bad harvests 1787 & 1788 Bread prices went up 50% in 1789 Need for tax reform Louis XVI hoped to raise taxes on ancien régime Aristocracy resisted reforms Forced Louis to call the Estates-General for the first time since 1614

Estates General First Estate: 100,000 Catholic clergy Did not pay taxes Second Estate: 400,000 nobles Exempt from many taxes Third Estate: Rest of Population Sans-culottes Provided bulk of French tax revenue

Discussion Questions What were the similarities between the long-term causes of the American and French Revolutions? Differences?

Initial Stage (1789-1791)

Calling of the Estates-General May 5, 1789

Liberty, Equality, Fraternity The National Assembly June 20, 1789 Liberty, Equality, Fraternity

Storming of the Bastille French citizens fearing King Louis XVI would use violence to put down the revolution stormed the Bastille on 14 July 1789

Declaration of Rights of Man and the Citizen Passed by the National Assembly on August 26, 1789 Not a Constitution but a statement of general principals Defines individual and collective rights Does not address women or slavery

Women’s March Storming of Versailles October 1, 1789

Crisis Stage (1792-1794)

Radicals Take Control Arrest of Louis XVI August 10, 1792

Execution of Louis XVI January 21, 1793

Radical Reforms of the Jacobins Universal adult male suffrage Abolished slavery Fuels Haitian Revolution Universal military conscription Increased rights of women Could not participate in politics Attacked Catholicism Spirit of nationalism Set price controls & seized crops from farmers

Festival of the Supreme Being

Reign of Terror Led by Maximilien Robespierre According to records 16,000+ died under the guillotine Historians estimate could be as high as 40,000 “The first maxim of our politics ought to be to lead the people by means of reason and the enemies of the people by terror.”

British View of Reign of Terror

End of the Terror July 28, 1794

Discussion Question How were the actions of American radicals and French radicals similar? How were they different?

Recovery Stage (1794-1815)

Napoleon Bonaparte Moderate government, the Directory, rules for four years following Reign of Terror Failed to solve economic problems of France Napoleon staged a coup d’etat in 1799 Becomes emperor in 1804

Domestic Policies of Napoleon Maintained some rights gained during the revolution Freedom of religion Napoleonic Code (Civil Code) Schools and universities Reversed other gains Rights of women Freedom of expression Reformed economy Revised tax code Central bank

Napoleon’s Empire Left: Napoleon’s Empire by 1912 Above: Napoleon’s Retreat from Russia

Napoleon’s Invasion of Russia

Napoleon on Elba This should NOT be a prison

Battle of Waterloo

Legacy of the French Revolution Global Independence movements Haitian Revolution Latin American independence Triggered by Napoleon’s invasion of Spain Egypt broke away from Ottoman Empire Slave Trade and Slavery England abolished slave trade in 1807; slavery in 1833 Brazil—Last to abolish slavery (1888) Abolition of serfdom Except in Russia

Legacy of the French Revolution Women’s Rights Played major role in the revolutions Sewing uniforms, nurses, running businesses, some even fought Lost many rights after revolution Napoleon Feminist Movements Mary Wollstonecraft Spread of nationalism in Europe German and Italian unification Greek independence