The French

Revolution 1789

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 The Old Regime (Ancient Regime)
• Old Regime – In most of Europe during the 18th
century -
• Countries were ruled by absolutism – the
monarch had absolute control over the
government
• Classes of people – privileged and unprivileged
– Unprivileged people – paid taxes and treated badly
– Privileged people – did not pay taxes and treated
well
 Society under the Old Regime
• In France, people were divided into three
classes
1. The Nobality
2. The Clergy
3. The peasents or labour class
 Government under the Old Regime:
The Divine Right of Kings
• Monarch ruled by divine right
– God put the world in motion
– God put some people in positions of power
– Power is given by God
– No one can question God
– No one can question someone put in power by
God
– Questioning the monarchy was blasphemy because
it meant questioning God
 France Is Bankrupt
• The king (Louis XVI) lavished money on himself
and residences like Versailles
• Queen Marie Antoinette was seen as a wasteful
spender
• Government found its funds depleted as a result
of wars
– Including the funding of the American Revolution
• Deficit spending – a government spending
more money than it takes in from tax revenues
• Privileged classes would not submit to being
taxed
 Philosophy of the French Revolution:
The Enlightenment (Age of Reason)
• The eighteenth century was marked by the
emergence of new ideas and philosophies that
underpinned the ideals of the French Revolution:
religion, superstition and irrational beliefs were being
replaced by science, reason and new theories about
the rights of man.
• People started to question that if rules of monarch
are by god then they are against people
 Long-term Causes of the French
Revolution
Everything previously
Also
discussed
• Absolutism • System of mercantilism
• Unjust socio-political which restricted trade
system (Old Regime) • Influence of other
• Poor harvests which left successful revolutions
peasant farmers with • England’s Glorious
little money for taxes Revolution (1688-1689)
• Influence of • American Revolution
Enlightenment philosophes (1775-1783)
 Short-term Causes of the French
Revolution
Bankruptcy Great Fear Estates-General

• Caused by deficit • Worst famine in • Louis XVI had no

spending memory choice but to call for a
• Financial ministers • Hungry, impoverished meeting of the Estates-
(Turgot, Necker, peasants feared that General to find a
Calonne) proposed nobles at Estates- solution to the
changes General were seeking bankruptcy problem
• But these were greater privileges • All three estates
rejected • Attacks on nobles • Had not met since
• Assembly of Notables occurred throughout 1614
voted down taxation the country in 1789 • Set in motion a series
for the nobility in 1787 of events which
resulted in the
abolition of the
monarchy and a
completely new socio-
political system for
France
 Preparing for the Estates-General
• Winter of 1788-1789 estate general formed
by the king
– Members of the estates elected representatives of
all three segments
• Cahiers
• --Traditional lists of grievances written by the
people
– Nothing out of the ordinary
• Asked for only moderate changes
 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
 Tennis Court Oath
The Third Estate declared itself to be the National Assembly.

Louis XVI responded by locking the Third Estate out of the meeting.

The Third Estate relocated to a nearby tennis court where its members vowed to stay
together and create a written constitution for France.

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.
Tennis Court Oath by Jacques Louis David
Four Phases (Periods) of the French
Revolution
National Assembly (1789-1791)

Legislative Assembly (1791-1792)

Convention (1792-1795)

Directory (1795-1799)
National Assembly
(1789-1791)
• 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
 Goodbye,Versailles!!
• Parisian Commune feared that Louis XVI
would have foreign troops invade France to
put down the rebellion
• 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
Tuileries Palace (Paris, France)
Changes under the National Assembly

Abolishment of
Abolition of Constitution of
guilds and labor
special privileges 1791
unions

Many nobles left

Declaration of the Equality before the France and
Rights of Man law (for men) became known as
émigrés

Taxes levied based

Reforms in local
on the ability to
government
pay
 Declaration of the Rights of Man

Freedom of Freedom of Freedom of

religion speech the press

Guaranteed “Liberty, Right of the

property equality, people to
rights fraternity!” create laws

Right to a fair
trial
 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 new government became known as the
Legislative Assembly
 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
 Opposition to the New Government
• European monarchs feared that revolution would
spread to their own countries
– France was invaded by Austrian and Prussian troops
• In the uproar, the Commune took control of Paris
– Commune was led by Danton, a member of the Jacobin
political party
• Voters began electing representatives for a new
convention which would write a republican
constitution for France
– A republic is a government in which the people elect
representatives who will create laws and rule on their
behalf
– Meanwhile, thousands of nobles were executed under the
suspicion that they were conspirators in the foreign
invasion
 Convention (1792-1795)
• On September 22, 1792, the Convention met
for the first time
• Established the First French Republic
• Faced domestic opposition and strife
– Girondists were moderates who represented the
rich middle class of the provinces
– Jacobins (led by Marat, Danton, and Robespierre)
represented workers
• Faced opposition from abroad
– Austria, England, Holland, Prussia, Sardinia, and Spain
formed a Coalition invading France
 Abolishment of the Monarchy
• The Convention abolished the monarchy
– As long as the royal family lived, the monarchy could
be restored
– Put the royal couple on trial for treason
• Convictions were a foregone conclusion
– Louis XVI was guillotined on January 21, 1793
– Marie Antoinette was guillotined on October 16,
1793
– Daughter Marie-Thérèse was allowed to go to
Vienna in 1795
• She could not become queen because of Salic law, which did
not allow females to succeed to the throne
– Son Louis-Charles, a.k.a. Louis XVII (lived 1785-
1795) was beaten and mistreated until he died in
prison
 Growing Coalition against the French
• Convention drafted Frenchmen into the army to defeat
the foreign Coalition
– These troops were led by General Carnot
– The people supported military operations because they
did not want the country back under the Old Regime
• Rouget de Lisle wrote the “Marseillaise”
– Became the French national anthem
– Inspired troops as they were led into battle
• After two years
– Coalition was defeated
– France had gained, rather than lost, territory
 Reign of Terror:
September 5, 1793-July 27, 1794
• Despite military successes, the Convention
continued to face problems domestically
• Danton and his Jacobin political party came to
dominate French politics
• Committee of Public Safety
– Headed by Danton (and later Robespierre)
– Those accused of treason were tried by the
Committee’s Revolutionary Tribunal
– Approximately 15,000 people died on the guillotine
• Guillotine became known as the “National Razor”
• Including innovative thinkers like Olympe de Gouges and
Madame Jeanne Roland
From Convention to Directory
By early 1793, France was at war with most of Europe. Within
France, peasants and workers were in rebellion against the
government.The Convention itself was bitterly divided.

To deal with threats to France, the Convention created the

Committee of Public Safety-12 man group in charge of the
Reign of Terror.

The Reign of Terror lasted from about July 1793 to July 1794.
Under the guidance of Maximilien Robespierre, some 40,000
people were executed at the guillotine.

In reaction to the Reign of Terror, moderates created another

constitution, the third since 1789. The Constitution of 1795 set
up a five-man Directory and a two-house legislature.
 Constitution of the Year III of the
Republic (1795)

• With the foreign invaders vanquished and the

Reign of Terror at an end, the Convention was
finally able to inaugurate its new constitution

• Constitution of the Year III of the Republic

(1795) created the Directory
 Government under the Directory

Executive • 5 directors appointed by the Legislature

• Lower house (500 members) proposed laws

Legislature • Upper house (250 members) voted on these laws

• 2/3 of the Legislature would initially be filled by members
of the Convention

• Girondists (middle-class party) had defeated the Jacobins

(working- and peasant-class party)
Qualifications • Girondists’ constitution stated that suffrage (the right to
vote), as well as the right to hold office, were limited to
property owners
 Causes and Effects of the French
Revolution
Long-Term Causes Immediate Causes

Corrupt, inconsistent, and insensitive Huge government debt

leadership Poor harvests and rising price of bread
Prosperous members of Third Estate Failure of Louis XVI to accept financial reforms
resent privileges of First and Second
estates Formation of National Assembly
Storming of Bastille
Spread of Enlightenment ideas
Immediate Effects Long-Term Effects

Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Napoleon gains power

Citizen adopted Napoleonic Code established
France adopts its first written constitution French public schools set up
Monarchy abolished French conquests spread
Revolutionary France fights coalition of nationalism
European powers Revolutions occur in Europe and
Reign of Terror Latin America