1. French Revolution

2. Louis XVI 1754 – 1793 Became king at 11
Inherited a France with BIG economic problems
Married to Austrian princess Marie Antoinette in 1770, but failed to consummate the marriage until 1778
Too weak and indecisive to be an effective absolute monarch

3. Marie Antoinette
1755 – 1793
Initially a very popular queen, but she failed for years to produce an heir
Her political influence and stories of her spending and sexual depravities were greatly exaggerated by her enemies

4. The Three Estates The First Estate = clergy (priests, monks, nuns)
Higher ups in the Church were powerful and rich; these people were often from noble families and supported the king
Village priests were often as poor or even poorer than the villagers they served; they tended to support change

5. The Three Estates Second Estate = nobility
Some nobles held important government or military positions; they were rich and powerful and supported the king
Many nobles were “land rich” (owned a lot of land) but “money poor” (had very little real wealth); they tended to support the movement to make reforms

6. The Three Estates Third Estate = everyone else (98% of French people)
A very few of the wealthiest members supported the king
Most resented the privileges of the clergy and nobility and supported the movement to make reforms

7. Economic Issues
France was deeply in debt from many years of heavy personal spending by the kings and fighting wars
Several years of poor harvests caused food prices to go up sharply; many poor could no longer afford bread, so food riots became common
King Louis XVI was finally forced to convene the Estates General (France’s version of Parliament) in 1789 for the first time in 175 years in order to try to raise taxes

8. The Estates General of 1789
The representatives of the Third Estate ignored the king and declared themselves to be a new body, the National Assembly
They pressured the other two Estates into joining them in writing a constitution

9. The Tennis Court Oath June 20, 1789
After the king attempted to block the new National Assembly from meeting, the group reconvened at a tennis court (the sport was played indoors in those days) and took an oath to complete their work

10. The New Constitution The Declaration of the Rights of Man
Transformed France into a republic and constitutional monarchy (still have a king, but he must share power with the legislature)
Abolished the 3 Estates, made all men equal
Called for “Liberté, égalité, fraternité” (Liberty, Equality, and Brotherhood)

11. The Revolution Begins
Concerned, the king moved troops into Paris, causing the people of Paris to revolt
Parisians stormed the Bastille (a prison) on July 14, 1789 and released the political prisoners inside
At about the same time, starving peasants began rebelling in the countryside over food prices

12. Royal Family Captured
Rioting Parisian women marched to Versailles and attacked the palace
Cornered, King Louis XVI and his family were forced to move from Versailles back to Paris, where they were kept under house arrest for three years
Louis pretended to cooperate with the National Assembly in order to ensure his safety

13. The National Assembly 1789-1791
Made many moderate reforms that mostly helped the middle class
Nobles agreed to give up all of their special privileges
To pay off the government’s debts, the Assembly seized all of the Catholic Church’s land and sold it
this upset the Pope
it also upset many peasants, who were religiously conservative, creating a rift between the urban and rural revolutionaries

14. War on Top of Revolution
In June 1791, Louis XVI and his family tried to flee to Austria, but were caught and brought back to Paris as traitors
Prussia and Austria, alarmed by the revolution in France, threatened to invade
In April 1792, the Assembly declared war on Austria, Prussia, and England
The war did not go well at first for France; many accused the nobles and clergy of secretly aiding France’s enemies, leading to class violence

15. Radical Takeover
Radicals took over the National Convention (the new name for the Assembly) and passed a series of more drastic reforms
Seized the estates of all of the nobles and abolished titles of nobility
Late in 1793 the tide of war turned in France’s favor as they overran the Netherlands and Italy

16. The Guillotine Named for it’s inventor, Dr. Joseph-Ignace Guillotin
Designed to sever the head cleanly, resulting in a more “humane” form of execution and immediate death
Remained the only legal means of execution in France until 1981! (Last used in 1977)

17. Louis XVI’s Fate
Louis was stripped of the title of king and charged with treason against France
January 21, 1793: Louis was publicly executed
October 16, 1793: Marie Antoinette was also publicly executed for “crimes against Nature”

18. Louis XVII 1785 – 1795 Louis & Marie’s only son
Kept in solitary confinement after his father’s execution
Beaten, tortured, forced to stay drunk, sing and curse, sleep with prostitutes, all to entertain his guards
Told that his parents were alive and just didn’t want him anymore
Died at age 10 of combined tuberculosis & malnutrition
His sister was exiled to Austria

19. The Reign of Terror July 1793 – July 1794
Government under the leadership of the charismatic Maximilien Robespierre
Hasty trials sentenced thousands to death for treason
The guillotine became the standard means of execution
So many were executed (about 40,000 in 1 year) that the streets of Paris actually ran red with blood
Eventually the people turned on even Robespierre and he himself was executed, closing out the Reign of Terror

20. The Revolution Fails
After the fall of Robespierre, France passed another new constitution and reorganized the government yet again
The government remained unstable until 1799, when a new leader seized power in France – a successful general named Napoleon Bonaparte