1. French Revolution

2. Preparing for the Estates-General
Winter of
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

3. 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

4. IF VOTING WAS BY POPULATION
First Estate = 1 Vote or 130,000 Votes
Second Estate = 1 Vote or 110,000 Votes
Third Estate = 1 Vote or 25,000,000 Votes
IF VOTING WAS BY POPULATION

5. The Tennis Court Oath
“The National Assembly, considering that it has been summoned to establish the constitution of the kingdom, to effect the regeneration of the public order, and to maintain the true principles of monarchy; that nothing can prevent it from continuing its deliberations in whatever place it may be forced to establish itself; and, finally, that wheresoever its members are assembled, there is the National Assembly; “Decrees that all members of this Assembly shall immediately take a solemn oath not to separate, and to reassemble wherever circumstances require, until the constitution of the kingdom is established and consolidated upon firm foundations; and that, the said oath taken, all members and each one of them individually shall ratify this steadfast resolution by signature.”

6. Tennis Court Oath by Jacques Louis David

7. Tennis Court Oath
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.
The Third Estate relocated to a nearby tennis court where its members vowed to stay together and create a written constitution for France.
Louis XVI responded by locking the Third Estate out of the meeting – June 20, 1789.
The Third Estate declared itself to be the National Assembly – June 17, 1789.

8. The Storming of The Bastille
The Bastille was a large fortress which doubled as a prison; to the revolutionaries it was a sign of opression.
On July 14th, 1789 the people and some soldiers stormed the fortress looking for prisoners (of which there were only seven) and weapons to fight back against the King’s army.
This became the point where reform turned into the full fledged revolution.

9. Four Phases (Periods) of the French Revolution
National Assembly ( )
Legislative Assembly ( )
Convention ( )
Directory ( )

10. National Assembly ( )
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

11. Uprising in Paris People of Paris seized weapons from the Bastille
July 14, 1789
Parisians organized their own government which they called the Commune
Small groups – factions – competed to control the city of Paris
Uprising spread throughout France
Nobles were attacked
Records of feudal dues and owed taxes were destroyed
Many nobles fled the country – became known as émigrés
Louis XVI was forced to fly the new tricolor flag of France

13. Consolidating the Revolution
August 4, 1789
National Assembly swept away much of the Old Regime
King no longer rules of divine right
Constrained by powers spelled out in a constitution
Adopted the Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen

14. Declaration of the Rights of Man
Freedom of religion
Freedom of speech
Freedom of the press
Guaranteed property rights
“Liberty, equality, fraternity!”
Right of the people to create laws
Right to a fair trial

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

16. 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

17. Tuileries Palace (Paris, France)

18. 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

19. Reforms in Local Government
The 30 provinces and their “petty tyrants” (Intendants) were replaced with 83 new departments
Ruled by elected governors
New courts, with judges elected by the people, were established

20. *** Compare and Contrast the views of Burke “Reflections on the Revolution” and Paine “Rights of Man” on this stage of French Gov’t -- text pages 80 &81

21. 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 newly created government became known as the Legislative Assembly (Phase 2 of Rev.)

22. Changes under the National Assembly
Abolishment of guilds and labor unions
Abolition of special privileges
Constitution of 1791
Declaration of the Rights of Man
Equality before the law (for men)
Many nobles left France and became known as émigrés
Reforms in local government
Taxes levied based on the ability to pay

23. Legislative Assembly

24. Constitution of 1791
Sept. 1791: Constitution accepted by Louis – Paris celebrated the ‘end of the Revolution’
Oct. 1791: Legislative Assembly held first session
Democratic features:
France had become a limited constitutional monarchy (King was merely the head of state)
All laws were created by the Legislative Assembly (name of new government)
Feudalism was abolished
Undemocratic features:
Voting was limited to male taxpayers
Offices were reserved for property owners

25. 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

26. The Radical Phase
Election of the new Legislative Assembly (Oct 1791)
745 deputies
Girondins (majority)
Feuillants
Jacobins
Conservative monarchists who wanted to limit further changes
Republican, supported by peasants
Equal rights for all
Republican, more radical, highly centralized republic, supported by mob

27. Events and Opposition…
April 1792: Legislative Assembly declared war on Austria
Assembly was afraid members of Austrian Royal family (Marie Antoinette’s family) would attack revolutionaries
Leftists hoped war would spread Revolution to Europe
Reactionaries hoped preoccupation with war would cool off Revolution; defeat might restore old Regime
Following declaration of war, Austrian and Prussian troops invade France
In the uproar of war, the Commune took control of Paris – lead by Danton (a Jacobin)
Voters began electing representatives for a new convention – would write a republican constitution for France
Republic: a government in which people elect representatives who will create laws and rule on their behalf
Sept. 1792: thousands of nobles were executed under suspicion that they were conspirators in the foreign invasion, and 1200 prisoners in Paris were killed for being counter-revolutionaries (event known as September massacre)

28. Convention

29. The Convention Sept. 22, 1792: the Convention met for the first time
First act: Establish the first French Republic
Opposition from within: fighting between different parties (moderate/majority Girondists and radical Jacobins allied with sans-culottes)
Opposition from abroad: Austria, England, Holland, Prussia, Sardinia, and Spain formed a Coalition invading France
= France was fighting an internal civil war and an external hostile war

30. Abolishment of the Monarchy
As long as the royal family lived, the monarchy could be restored
King and Queen were put on trial for treason (trying to leave France)
Jan. 21, 1793: Louis XVI guillotined
Oct. 16, 1793: Marie Antoinette guillotined
Daughter allowed to go to Vienna in (could never become Queen)
Son beaten until he died in prison (only 10 years old!)

31. The Counter Counter-Revolution (i. e
The Counter Counter-Revolution (i.e. against those who were against the Revolution…)
The Convention feared counter revolts against the weakening Girondists, therefore…
Strengthened laws against emigrés
Established Watch Committees (March 1793)
April 1793: Created the Committee for Public Safety (CPS) – original purpose was to eliminate counter-revolutionary movements, raise new armies, and assure food supplies for both armies and cities
First leader: Danton (Jacobin)

32. Reign of Terror September 5, 1793-July 27, 1794
(still during the time of the Convention…)

33. Events
While the Convention remained the official government, it was the CPS that had all the power – despite military success, the Convention continued to face problems domestically
Jacobins (lead by Danton) came to dominate French politics
Two months after the creation of the CPS, it was ‘re-created’ with 12 new representative, all extremist revolutionaries
Lead first by Danton, later Robespierre
Anyone accused of treason was put on trial by the Committee’s Revolutionary Tribunal …
Officially 16,000 people died on the guillotine (9 month period) - historical records suggest closer to 50,000
* Members of the CPS saw the Terror and the war as a national mission against evil inside and outside France (“enemies of liberty”)

34. The Guillotine: the “National Razor”
During the 1700s, executions in France were public events – most common execution was quartering – upper-class criminals could buy their way into less painful deaths
Doctor Joseph Guillotin wanted a capitol punishment method equal for all classes – invented guillotine (named after him)

35. Growing coalition against the French
European countries (Coalition) were afraid revolutionary ideals would spread (wanted to restore monarchy), while France wanted to spread its ideas – called wars “revolutionary wars”
The Convention drafted Frenchmen into the army – the people supported military operations because they did not want the country back under the Old Regime (very effective as citizens’ army fighting for ideals)
One group of guardsmen from the provinces came singing “Marseillaise” (written by Rouget de Lisle) – song came to inspire troops while lead into battle, became the French national anthem
Two years of wars resulted in the Coalition being defeated and France gaining territory

36. The CPS: A new culture
Replaced all formality of aristocracy and monarchy – people were even executed for using former ‘titles’, now had to refer to everyone as ‘citizen’
Anti-Christianity: goal was to destroy the church
Forced Priests to marry
Abolished Catholicism
Notre Dame became the “Temple of Reason”
Made a new calendar to replace the old Christian calendar, began with 1792 as the birth of the new Republic
Named months after seasons

37. So… how did the Reign of Terror end?
Girondists tried to end the Terror – many were executed by the CPS for treason
Danton eventually wanted to end the executions, resulted in himself being executed for treason
CPS taken over by Robespierre – became even more violent
Convention came to blame Robespierre for Terror
June 1794: military success in war – French people becoming angry over the violence of the Terror
Lead to “Thermidorean Reaction” – July 27 Terror ended, Robespierre guillotined July 28

38. The Directory

39. The Directory
1795 (year III of the Republic): with foreign invaders defeated and the Reign of Terror over, the Convention was finally able to inaugurate its new constitution: created the Directory
The Government under the Directory:
The new constitution split the nation’s power between a two-housed Assembly and a Directory of 5 men
Executive: 5 men appointed by the legislature
Legislature: Lower house (500 members) proposed laws, Upper house (250 members) voted on these laws

40. The Directory suffered from corruption and poor administration
People of France grew poorer and more frustrated with their government
Even with these struggles (or perhaps because of them), the French developed strong nationalism, which was fueled by military successes
What came next…? Napoleon Bonaparte, coming to power through a coup d’etat (1799) to end the ten year period of the French Revolution!