Reign of Terror Chapter 12 Section 3 Notes

So What Happens to France Now? Welcome the Constitution of 1791 The Constitution of 1791 was the document put into place following the forced fleeing of King Louis XVI from the throne The Constitution mandated a weak central government What does that mean? Answer: Document meant to transfer power from the King to the people What document was this similar to? Answer: Articles of Confederation This constitution lasted only 1 year because of its many problems Weak Executive Branch Powerful, Inexperienced Legislative Branch Not all French people supported the revolution Catholic Priests Nobles

War! What Is It Good For? The Legislative Assembly in France was like Congress in the U.S. today and similar to our overall political scene as well It was made up of three political groups of people: Radicals (“the Left”) Moderates (“the Middle”) Conservatives (“the Right”) Despite the turmoil in France, all 3 political groups supported war against other countries, so the country (and their political group) could gain more power King Louis XVI saw this as an opportunity…

A Hail Mary Goes Unanswered… King Louis XVI began to help foreign countries in their wars vs. France His thought was that if helped these foreign powers defeat France, they would re-install him as king of France However, it didn’t work as France defeated Prussia and Austria, essentially eliminating King Louis XVI for good King Louis XVI was overthrown during the war for being unfaithful to the revolution, setting an ugly precedent for the future

A New French Society 3 groups vied for France’s control in a Louis-less society The two main groups were the Girondins and the Jacobins Girondins: Feared the domination of France by Paris Jacobins: Believed French government should be dominated by the politicians in Paris Some were extreme radicals who wanted reforms that would benefit all classes of society Key people: Georges-Jacques Danton, Maximilien Robespierre, Jean-Paul Marat

Jacobin Rule Ruled through the National Convention for three years while figuring out what to do with the government And when I say they were radical, what we really mean is that they were crazy! The Jacobins declared the monarchy was over and that another new French Constitution had to be written They found Louis XVI guilty of plotting against the security of the nation and sentenced him to death by guillotine Many foreign countries (including the U.S.) worried about the radicals’ extreme ways of governing…and understandably thought chopping a former king’s head off was a bit excessive…

Committee of Public Safety The Committee of Public Safety’s job was to protect the newly established republic against foreign attacks and internal rebellion The committee directed the army to crush foreign invaders and try any “enemies of the Revolution” in court

Heads Start Rollin’…Get it? Rollin’!…They Were Chopped Off!…That’s Funny! Marat, one of the key Jacobins, was killed (in a bathtub) by Charlotte Corday, a Girondin When this happened, Robespierre and Danton took over and began the Reign of Terror (September 1793-July 1794) Punished enemies of the Republic and occasionally executed people suspected of counterrevolution (including Marie Antoinette) Punishment was directed against anyone suspected of disloyalty, not only the nobles In fact, twice as many bourgeoisie killed as nobles Twice as many peasants killed as bourgeoisie So much for it being a revolution for the people…

The Death of a Friend War effort against foreign powers going well so Danton felt the Reign of Terror should end Robespierre disagreed and accused Danton and his followers of disloyalty to the Revolution Danton and his followers put to death

Kill the Crazy One Before He Kills Us! It’s pretty much understood that the murder of Danton proved Robespierre had gone crazy Members of the National Convention arrested Robespierre in July 1794 and put him to death The Jacobins, since many of their leaders are either crazy, dead, or crazy and dead, lose power (because it’s hard to rule France from the grave) Another new Constitution was created in 1795 within a new government called The Directory It included a two-house legislature Lower House proposed laws Upper House accepted or rejected laws and selected the 5 directors of the government’s executive branch It somewhat worked for 4 years, but no one really liked it…plus, it was time for a little man to rule…we’ll welcome Napoleon tomorrow…