The French Revolution

and Napoleon, 1789–1815

Previewing Main Ideas
ECONOMICS The gap between rich and poor in France was vast. The
inequalities of the economy of France were a major cause of the French
Revolution.
Geography Why do you think the royal palace at Versailles became a focal
point for the anger of the poor people of Paris during the Revolution?

REVOLUTION Driven by the example of the American Revolution and such

Enlightenment ideas as liberty, equality, and democracy, the French ousted
the government of Louis XVI and established a new political order.
Geography Why do you think some historians cite the “wind from America”
as a cause of the French Revolution?

POWER AND AUTHORITY After seizing power in 1799, Napoleon

conquered a huge empire that included much of Western Europe. His
attempt to conquer Russia, however, led to his downfall.
Geography What challenges and hazards of invading Russia might be
inferred from the map?

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• Chapter Quiz

648
649
 How would you change an
unjust government?
You are living in France in the late 1700s. Your parents are merchants who earn a
good living. However, after taxes they have hardly any money left. You know that
other people, especially the peasants in the countryside, are even worse off than
you. At the same time, the nobility lives in luxury and pays practically no taxes.
Many people in France are desperate for change. But they are uncertain how
to bring about that change. Some think that representatives of the people should
demand fair taxes and just laws. Others support violent revolution. In Paris, that
revolution seems to have begun. An angry mob has attacked and taken over the
Bastille, a royal prison. You wonder what will happen next.

One of the mob leaders

triumphantly displays
the keys to the Bastille.

Although they were in

search of gunpowder
and firearms, the
conquerors of the
Bastille took whatever
they could find.

One man drags the royal

standard behind him.

▲ The conquerors of the Bastille parade outside City Hall in Paris.

EXAM I N I NG the ISSU ES

• How would you define an unjust government?

• What, if anything, would lead you to take part in a violent
revolution?
Discuss these questions with your classmates. In your discussion,
remember what you’ve learned about the causes of revolutionary
conflicts such as the American Revolution and the English Civil
War. As you read about the French Revolution in this chapter, see
what changes take place and how these changes came about.
650 Chapter 23
 1

The French Revolution Begins

MAIN IDEA WHY IT MATTERS NOW TERMS & NAMES

ECONOMICS Economic and Throughout history, economic • Old Regime • National

social inequalities in the Old and social inequalities have at • estate Assembly
Regime helped cause the times led peoples to revolt • Louis XVI • Tennis Court
French Revolution. against their governments. • Marie Antoinette Oath
• Estates-General • Great Fear

SETTING THE STAGE In the 1700s, France was considered the most advanced
country of Europe. It had a large population and a prosperous foreign trade. It
was the center of the Enlightenment, and France’s culture was widely praised
and imitated by the rest of the world. However, the appearance of success was
deceiving. There was great unrest in France, caused by bad harvests, high
prices, high taxes, and disturbing questions raised by the Enlightenment ideas
of Locke, Rousseau, and Voltaire.

The Old Order TAKING NOTES

Analyzing Causes
In the 1770s, the social and political system of France—the Old Regime— Use a web diagram to
remained in place. Under this system, the people of France were divided into identify the causes of
three large social classes, or estates. the French Revolution.
The Privileged Estates Two of the estates had privileges, including access to
high offices and exemptions from paying taxes, that were not granted to the
members of the third. The Roman Catholic Church, whose clergy formed the Causes of
First Estate, owned 10 percent of the land in France. It provided education and Revolution
relief services to the poor and contributed about 2 percent of its income to the
government. The Second Estate was made up of rich nobles. Although they
accounted for just 2 percent of the population, the nobles owned 20 percent of
the land and paid almost no taxes. The majority of the clergy and the nobility
scorned Enlightenment ideas as radical notions that threatened their status and
power as privileged persons.
The Third Estate About 97 percent of the people belonged to the Third Estate. The
three groups that made up this estate differed greatly in their economic conditions.
The first group—the bourgeoisie (BUR•zhwah•ZEE), or middle class—were
bankers, factory owners, merchants, professionals, and skilled artisans. Often, they
were well educated and believed strongly in the Enlightenment ideals of liberty and
equality. Although some of the bourgeoisie were as rich as nobles, they paid high
taxes and, like the rest of the Third Estate, lacked privileges. Many felt that their
wealth entitled them to a greater degree of social status and political power.
The workers of France’s cities formed the second, and poorest, group within
the Third Estate. These urban workers included tradespeople, apprentices, laborers,
and domestic servants. Paid low wages and frequently out of work, they often
The French Revolution and Napoleon 651
 The Three Estates

A First Estate Population of France, 1787

• made up of clergy of
Roman Catholic Church 97% (Third Estate)
• scorned Enlightenment ideas
less than 1%
A
B Second Estate (First Estate)
B • made up of rich nobles
• held highest offices in government 2% (Second Estate)

• disagreed about Enlightenment ideas

C C Third Estate Percent of Income Paid in Taxes
• included bourgeoisie, urban
lower class, and peasant farmers 2% (First Estate)
• had no power to influence
government 0% (Second Estate)

• embraced Enlightenment ideas 50% (Third Estate)

• resented the wealthy First and
Second Estates. 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

SKILLBUILDER: Interpreting Charts and Political Cartoons

1. Drawing Conclusions How do the chart and the graphs help explain the
political cartoon?
2. Making Inferences Why might the First and Second Estates be opposed to
change?

went hungry. If the cost of bread rose, mobs of these workers might attack grain
carts and bread shops to steal what they needed.
Peasants formed the largest group within the Third Estate, more than 80 per-
cent of France’s 26 million people. Peasants paid about half their income in dues Vocabulary
to nobles, tithes to the Church, and taxes to the king’s agents. They even paid taxes tithe: a church tax,
on such basic staples as salt. Peasants and the urban poor resented the clergy and normally about one-
the nobles for their privileges and special treatment. The heavily taxed and discon- tenth of a family’s
income
tented Third Estate was eager for change.

The Forces of Change

In addition to the growing resentment among the lower classes, other factors
contributed to the revolutionary mood in France. New ideas about government,
serious economic problems, and weak and indecisive leadership all helped to gen-
erate a desire for change.
Enlightenment Ideas New views about power and authority in government were
spreading among the Third Estate. Members of the Third Estate were inspired by
the success of the American Revolution. They began questioning long-standing
notions about the structure of society. Quoting Rousseau and Voltaire, they began
to demand equality, liberty, and democracy. The Comte D’Antraigues, a friend of
Rousseau, best summed up their ideas on what government should be:

PRIMARY SOURCE
The Third Estate is the People and the People is the foundation of the State; it is in fact
the State itself; the . . . People is everything. Everything should be subordinated to it. . . .
It is in the People that all national power resides and for the People that all states exist.
COMTE D’ANTRAIGUES, quoted in Citizens: A Chronicle of the French Revolution

Economic Troubles By the 1780s, France’s once prosperous economy was in

decline. This caused alarm, particularly among the merchants, factory owners, and
652 Chapter 23
 bankers of the Third Estate. On the surface, the economy appeared to be sound,
because both production and trade were expanding rapidly. However, the heavy
burden of taxes made it almost impossible to conduct business profitably within
France. Further, the cost of living was rising sharply. In addition, bad weather in
the 1780s caused widespread crop failures, resulting in a severe shortage of grain.
The price of bread doubled in 1789, and many people faced starvation.
During the 1770s and 1780s, France’s government sank deeply into debt. Part of
the problem was the extravagant spending of Louis XVI and his queen, Marie
Antoinette. Louis also inherited a considerable debt from previous kings. And he
borrowed heavily in order to help the American revolutionaries in their war against
Great Britain, France’s chief rival. This nearly doubled the government’s debt. In
1786, when bankers refused to lend the government any more money, Louis faced
serious problems.
A Weak Leader Strong leadership might have solved these and other problems.
Louis XVI, however, was indecisive and allowed matters to drift. He paid little atten-
tion to his government advisers, and had little patience for the details of governing.
The queen only added to Louis’s problems. She often interfered in the government,
and frequently offered Louis poor advice. Further, since she was a member of the
royal family of Austria, France’s long-time enemy, Marie Antoinette had been unpop-
ular from the moment she set foot in France. Her behavior only made the situation
Vocabulary worse. As queen, she spent so much money on gowns, jewels, gambling, and gifts
deficit: debt that she became known as “Madame Deficit.”
Rather than cutting expenses, Louis put off dealing with the emergency until he
practically had no money left. His solution was to impose taxes on the nobility.
However, the Second Estate forced him to call a meeting of the Estates-General—
an assembly of representatives from all three estates—to approve this new tax. The
meeting, the first in 175 years, was held on May 5, 1789, at Versailles.

Louis XVI Marie Antoinette

1754–1793 1755–1793
Louis XVI’s tutors made little effort to Marie Antoinette was a pretty,
prepare him for his role as king—and it lighthearted, charming woman.
showed. He was easily bored with However, she was unpopular with the
affairs of state, and much preferred to French because of her spending and
spend his time in physical activities, her involvement in controversial court
particularly hunting. He also loved to affairs. She referred to Louis as “the
work with his hands, and was skilled in poor man” and sometimes set the
several trades, including lock-making, clock forward an hour to be rid of
metalworking, and bricklaying. his presence.
Despite these shortcomings, Louis Marie Antoinette refused to wear
was well intentioned and sincerely wanted to improve the the tight-fitting clothing styles of the day and introduced a
lives of the common people. However, he lacked the loose cotton dress for women. The elderly, who viewed the
ability to make decisions and the determination to see dress as an undergarment, thought that her clothing was
policies through. When he did take action, it often was scandalous. The French silk industry was equally angry.
based on poor advice from ill-informed members of his In constant need of entertainment, Marie Antoinette often
court. As one politician of the time noted, “His reign spent hours playing cards. One year she lost the equivalent of
was a succession of feeble attempts at doing good, $1.5 million by gambling in card games.
shows of weakness, and clear evidence of his inadequacy
as a leader.”
RESEARCH LINKS For more on Louis XVI and Marie
Antoinette, go to classzone.com

The French Revolution and Napoleon 653

 Dawn of the Revolution
The clergy and the nobles had dominated the Estates-General throughout the
Middle Ages and expected to do so in the 1789 meeting. Under the assembly’s
medieval rules, each estate’s delegates met in a separate hall to vote, and each estate
had one vote. The two privileged estates could always outvote the Third Estate.
The National Assembly The Third Estate delegates, mostly members of the bour-
geoisie whose views had been shaped by the Enlightenment, were eager to make
changes in the government. They insisted that all three estates meet together and
that each delegate have a vote. This would give the advantage to the Third Estate, Analyzing Motives
which had as many delegates as the other two estates combined. Why did the
Siding with the nobles, the king ordered the Estates-General to follow the medieval Third Estate pro-
pose a change in
rules. The delegates of the Third Estate, however, became more and more determined
the Estates-
to wield power. A leading spokesperson for their viewpoint was a clergyman sympa- General’s voting
thetic to their cause, Emmanuel-Joseph Sieyès (syay•YEHS). In a dramatic speech, rules?
Sieyès suggested that the Third Estate delegates name themselves the National
Assembly and pass laws and reforms in the name of the French people.
After a long night of excited debate, the delegates of the Third Estate agreed to
Sieyès’s idea by an overwhelming majority. On June 17, 1789, they voted to estab-
lish the National Assembly, in effect proclaiming the end of absolute monarchy and
the beginning of representative government. This vote was the first deliberate act
of revolution.
Three days later, the Third Estate delegates found themselves locked out of
their meeting room. They broke down a door to an indoor tennis court, pledging
to stay until they had drawn up a new constitution. This pledge became known
as the Tennis Court Oath. Soon after, nobles and members of the clergy who
favored reform joined the Third Estate delegates. In response to these events, Vocabulary
Louis stationed his mercenary army of Swiss guards around Versailles. mercenary army: a
group of soldiers
▼ The attack on the Storming the Bastille In Paris, rumors flew. Some people suggested that Louis who will work for
Bastille claimed the was intent on using military force to dismiss the National Assembly. Others any country or
lives of about 100
people.
charged that the foreign troops were coming to Paris to massacre French citizens. employer that will
pay them
 People began to gather weapons in order to defend the city
against attack. On July 14, a mob searching for gunpowder
and arms stormed the Bastille, a Paris prison. The mob over-
whelmed the guard and seized control of the building. The Bread
angry attackers hacked the prison commander and several Bread was a staple of the diet of the
guards to death, and then paraded around the streets with the common people of France. Most
families consumed three or four 4-
dead men’s heads on pikes.
pound loaves a day. And the
The fall of the Bastille became a great symbolic act of rev- purchase of bread took about half of
olution to the French people. Ever since, July 14—Bastille a worker’s wages—when times were
Day—has been a French national holiday, similar to the good. So, when the price of bread
Fourth of July in the United States. jumped dramatically, as it did in the
fall of 1789, people faced a real
threat of starvation.
A Great Fear Sweeps France On their march back from
Before long, rebellion spread from Paris into the countryside. Versailles, the women of Paris
happily sang that they were bringing
From one village to the next, wild rumors circulated that the
“the baker, the baker’s wife, and the
nobles were hiring outlaws to terrorize the peasants. A wave of baker’s lad” with them. They
senseless panic called the Great Fear rolled through France. expected the “baker”—Louis—to
The peasants soon became outlaws themselves. Armed with provide the cheap bread that they
pitchforks and other farm tools, they broke into nobles’ manor needed to live.
houses and destroyed the old legal papers that bound them to
pay feudal dues. In some cases, the peasants simply burned down the manor houses.
In October 1789, thousands of Parisian women rioted over the rising price of
bread. Brandishing knives, axes, and other weapons, the women marched on
Recognizing
Effects Versailles. First, they demanded that the National Assembly take action to provide
How did the bread. Then they turned their anger on the king and queen. They broke into the
women’s march palace, killing some of the guards. The women demanded that Louis and Marie
mark a turning Antoinette return to Paris. After some time, Louis agreed.
point in the rela-
A few hours later the king, his family, and servants left Versailles, never again
tionship between
the king and the to see the magnificent palace. Their exit signaled the change of power and radical
people? reforms about to overtake France.

SECTION 1 ASSESSMENT

TERMS & NAMES 1. For each term or name, write a sentence explaining its significance.
• Old Regime • estates • Louis XVI • Marie Antoinette • Estates-General • National Assembly • Tennis Court Oath • Great Fear

USING YOUR NOTES MAIN IDEAS CRITICAL THINKING & WRITING

2. Select one of the causes you 3. Why were members of the 6. FORMING AND SUPPORTING OPINIONS Do you think that
listed and explain how it Third Estate dissatisfied with changes in the French government were inevitable? Explain.
contributed to the French life under the Old Regime? 7. ANALYZING MOTIVES Why do you think some members of
Revolution. 4. How did Louis XVI’s weak the First and Second Estates joined the National Assembly
leadership contribute to the and worked to reform the government?
growing crisis in France? 8. COMPARING AND CONTRASTING How were the storming
5. How did the purpose of the of the Bastille and the women’s march on Versailles
Causes of
Revolution meeting of the Estates-General similar? How were they different?
in 1789 change? 9. WRITING ACTIVITY POWER AND AUTHORITY In the role of a
member of the Third Estate, write a brief speech explaining
why the French political system needs to change.

CONNECT TO TODAY CREATING A COLLAGE

Conduct research on how Bastille Day is celebrated in France today. Use your findings to
create an annotated collage titled “Celebrating the Revolution.”

The French Revolution and Napoleon 655

 2
Revolution Brings
Reform and Terror
MAIN IDEA WHY IT MATTERS NOW TERMS & NAMES

REVOLUTION The revolutionary Some governments that lack the • Legislative • guillotine
government of France made support of a majority of their Assembly • Maximilien
reforms but also used terror and people still use fear to control • émigré Robespierre
violence to retain power. their citizens. • sans-culotte • Reign of
• Jacobin Terror

SETTING THE STAGE Peasants were not the only members of French society
to feel the Great Fear. Nobles and officers of the Church were equally afraid.
Throughout France, bands of angry peasants struck out against members of the
upper classes, attacking and destroying many manor houses. In the summer of
1789, a few months before the women’s march to Versailles, some nobles and
members of clergy in the National Assembly responded to the uprisings in an
emotional late-night meeting.

TAKING NOTES The Assembly Reforms France

Recognizing Effects
Use a flow chart to Throughout the night of August 4, 1789, noblemen made grand speeches, declar-
identify the major events ing their love of liberty and equality. Motivated more by fear than by idealism,
that followed the they joined other members of the National Assembly in sweeping away the feu-
creation of the dal privileges of the First and Second Estates, thus making commoners equal to
Constitution of 1791.
the nobles and the clergy. By morning, the Old Regime was dead.
The Rights of Man Three weeks later, the National Assembly adopted a statement
Assembly
Creates a of revolutionary ideals, the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen.
Constitution Reflecting the influence of the Declaration of Independence, the document stated
that “men are born and remain free and equal in rights.” These rights included
“liberty, property, security, and resistance to oppression.” The document also
guaranteed citizens equal justice, freedom of speech, and freedom of religion.
In keeping with these principles, revolutionary leaders adopted the expression
“Liberty, Equality, Fraternity” as their slogan. Such sentiments, however, did not
apply to everyone. When writer Olympe de Gouges (aw•LIMP duh GOOZH) pub-
lished a declaration of the rights of women, her ideas were rejected. Later, in 1793,
she was declared an enemy of the Revolution and executed.
A State-Controlled Church Many of the National Assembly’s early reforms
focused on the Church. The assembly took over Church lands and declared that
Church officials and priests were to be elected and paid as state officials. Thus,
the Catholic Church lost both its lands and its political independence. The rea-
sons for the assembly’s actions were largely economic. Proceeds from the sale of
Church lands helped pay off France’s huge debt.
The assembly’s actions alarmed millions of French peasants, who were devout
Catholics. The effort to make the Church a part of the state offended them, even
656 Chapter 23
 One of the people

▲
who stopped Louis
from escaping said
that he recognized
the king from his
portrait on a French
bank note.

though it was in accord with Enlightenment philosophy. They believed that the
pope should rule over a church independent of the state. From this time on, many
peasants opposed the assembly’s reforms.
Louis Tries to Escape As the National Assembly restructured the relationship
between church and state, Louis XVI pondered his fate as a monarch. Some of his
advisers warned him that he and his family were in danger. Many supporters of the
monarchy thought France unsafe and left the country. Then, in June 1791, the royal
family tried to escape from France to the Austrian Netherlands. As they neared the
border, however, they were apprehended and returned to Paris under guard. Louis’s
attempted escape increased the influence of his radical enemies in the government
and sealed his fate.

Divisions Develop
For two years, the National Assembly argued over a new constitution for France. By
1791, the delegates had made significant changes in France’s government and society.
A Limited Monarchy In September 1791, the National Assembly completed the
new constitution, which Louis reluctantly approved. The constitution created a lim-
ited constitutional monarchy. It stripped the king of much of
his authority. It also created a new legislative body––the
Legislative Assembly. This body had the power to create
laws and to approve or reject declarations of war. However, Left, Right, and Center
the king still held the executive power to enforce laws. The terms we use today to describe
Factions Split France Despite the new government, old where people stand politically derive
problems, such as food shortages and government debt, from the factions that developed in
the Legislative Assembly in 1791.
remained. The question of how to handle these problems
• People who want to radically
caused the Legislative Assembly to split into three general change government are called left
Recognizing
groups, each of which sat in a different part of the meeting wing or are said to be on the left.
Effects hall. Radicals, who sat on the left side of the hall, opposed • People with moderate views often
How did differ- the idea of a monarchy and wanted sweeping changes in the are called centrist or are said to be
ences of opinion on way the government was run. Moderates sat in the center of in the center.
how to handle such the hall and wanted some changes in government, but not as • People who want few or no
issues as food changes in government often are
shortages and debt
many as the radicals. Conservatives sat on the right side of
called right wing or are said to be
affect the Legislative the hall. They upheld the idea of a limited monarchy and
on the right.
Assembly? wanted few changes in government.

The French Revolution and Napoleon 657

 In addition, factions outside the Legislative Assembly wanted to influence the
direction of the government too. Émigrés (EHM•ih•GRAYZ), nobles and others
who had fled France, hoped to undo the Revolution and restore the Old Regime. In
contrast, some Parisian workers and small shopkeepers wanted the Revolution
to bring even greater changes to France. They were called sans-culottes
(SANZ kyoo•LAHTS), or “those without knee breeches.” Unlike the upper classes,
who wore fancy knee-length pants, sans-culottes wore regular trousers. Although
they did not have a role in the assembly, they soon discovered ways to exert their
power on the streets of Paris.

War and Execution

Monarchs and nobles in many European countries watched the changes taking
place in France with alarm. They feared that similar revolts might break out in their
own countries. In fact, some radicals were keen to spread their revolutionary ideas
across Europe. As a result, some countries took action. Austria and Prussia, for
example, urged the French to restore Louis to his position as an absolute monarch.
The Legislative Assembly responded by declaring war in April 1792.
France at War The war began badly for the French. By the
summer of 1792, Prussian forces were advancing on Paris.
The Prussian commander threatened to destroy Paris if the
revolutionaries harmed any member of the royal family. This
enraged the Parisians. On August 10, about 20,000 men and
women invaded the Tuileries, the palace where the royal fam-
ily was staying. The mob massacred the royal guards and
imprisoned Louis, Marie Antoinette, and their children.
Shortly after, the French troops defending Paris were sent
to reinforce the French army in the field. Rumors began to
spread that supporters of the king held in Paris prisons
planned to break out and seize control of the city. Angry and
fearful citizens responded by taking the law into their own
hands. For several days in early September, they raided the
prisons and murdered over 1,000 prisoners. Many nobles,
priests, and royalist sympathizers fell victim to the angry Analyzing Causes
Jean-Paul Marat mobs in these September Massacres. What did the
1743–1793 Under pressure from radicals in the streets and among its September
Massacres show
Marat was a thin, high-strung, sickly members, the Legislative Assembly set aside the Constitution
about the mood of
man whose revolutionary writings of 1791. It declared the king deposed, dissolved the assembly, the people?
stirred up the violent mood in Paris. and called for the election of a new legislature. This new gov-
Because he suffered from a painful
erning body, the National Convention, took office on
skin disease, he often found comfort
by relaxing in a cold bath—even
September 21. It quickly abolished the monarchy and
arranging things so that he could declared France a republic. Adult male citizens were granted
work in his bathtub! the right to vote and hold office. Despite the important part
During the summer of 1793, they had already played in the Revolution, women were not
Charlotte Corday, a supporter of a rival given the vote.
faction whose members had been
jailed, gained an audience with Marat Jacobins Take Control Most of the people involved in the
by pretending to have information governmental changes in September 1792 were members of a
about traitors. Once inside Marat’s radical political organization, the Jacobin (JAK•uh•bihn)
private chambers, she fatally stabbed Club. One of the most prominent Jacobins, as club members
him as he bathed. For her crime,
were called, was Jean-Paul Marat (mah•RAH). During the
Corday went to the guillotine.
Revolution, he edited a newspaper called L’Ami du Peuple
(Friend of the People). In his fiery editorials, Marat called for
658 Chapter 23
The Guillotine
If you think the guillotine was a cruel form of capital punishment, think
again. Dr. Joseph Ignace Guillotin proposed a machine that satisfied many
needs––it was efficient, humane, and democratic.
A physician and member of the National Assembly,
Guillotin claimed that those executed with the device
“wouldn’t even feel the slightest pain.”
Once the executioner cranked the
Prior to the guillotine’s introduction in 1792, blade to the top, a mechanism
many French criminals had suffered through horrible released it. The sharp weighted
punishments in public places. Although public blade fell, severing the victim’s
punishments continued to attract large crowds, not all head from his or her body.
spectators were pleased with the new machine. Some
witnesses felt that death by the guillotine occurred Some doctors believed that a
much too quickly to be enjoyed by an audience. victim’s head retained its hearing
and eyesight for up to 15 minutes
after the blade’s deadly blow. All
RESEARCH LINKS For more on the remains were eventually gathered
guillotine, go to classzone.com and buried in simple graves.

Tricoteuses, or “woman knitters,”

were regular spectators at
executions and knitted stockings
for soldiers as they sat near the
base of the scaffold.

1. Synthesizing In what ways was the

guillotine an efficient means of
Beheading by Class
execution?
Before each execution,
More than 2,100 people were executed during the last bound victims traveled See Skillbuilder Handbook, page R21.
132 days of the Reign of Terror. The pie graph below from the prison to the
displays the breakdown of beheadings by class. scaffold in horse-drawn 2. Comparing France continued to use
carts during a one and the guillotine until 1977. Four years
one-half hour procession later, France abolished capital
First Estate punishment. Conduct research to
through city streets.
Second Estate identify countries where capital
punishment is still used. Use your
Third Estate
findings to create a map titled
“Countries Using Capital Punishment.”
659
 the death of all those who continued to support the king. Georges Danton
(zhawrzh dahn•TAWN), a lawyer, was among the club’s most talented and passionate
speakers. He also was known for his devotion to the rights of Paris’s poor people.
The National Convention had reduced Louis XVI’s role from that of a king to
that of a common citizen and prisoner. Now, guided by radical Jacobins, it tried
Louis for treason. The Convention found him guilty, and, by a very close vote, sen-
tenced him to death. On January 21, 1793, the former king walked with calm dig-
nity up the steps of the scaffold to be beheaded by a machine called the guillotine
(GIHL•uh•TEEN). (See the Science & Technology feature on page 659.)
The War Continues The National Convention also had to contend with the con-
tinuing war with Austria and Prussia. At about the time the Convention took office,
the French army won a stunning victory against the Austrians and Prussians at the
Battle of Valmy. Early in 1793, however, Great Britain, Holland, and Spain joined
Prussia and Austria against France. Forced to contend with so many enemies, the
French suffered a string of defeats. To reinforce the French army, Jacobin leaders
in the Convention took an extreme step. At their urging, in February 1793 the
Convention ordered a draft of 300,000 French citizens between the ages of 18 and
40. By 1794, the army had grown to 800,000 and included women.

The Terror Grips France

Foreign armies were not the only enemies of the French republic. The Jacobins had
thousands of enemies within France itself. These included peasants who were hor-
rified by the king’s execution, priests who would not accept government control,
and rival leaders who were stirring up rebellion in the provinces. How to contain
and control these enemies became a central issue.
Robespierre Assumes Control In the early months of 1793, one Jacobin leader,
Maximilien Robespierre (ROHBZ•peer), slowly gained power. Robespierre and
his supporters set out to build a “republic of virtue” by wiping out every trace of
France’s past. Firm believers in reason, they changed the calendar, dividing the year
into 12 months of 30 days and renaming each month. This calendar had no Sundays
because the radicals considered religion old-fashioned and dangerous. They even
closed all churches in Paris, and cities and towns all over France soon did the same.
In July 1793, Robespierre became leader of the Committee of Public Safety. For
the next year, Robespierre governed France virtually as a dictator, and the period
of his rule became known as the Reign of Terror. The Committee of Public
Safety’s chief task was to protect the Revolution from its enemies. Under
Robespierre’s leadership, the committee often had these “enemies” tried in the
morning and guillotined in the afternoon. Robespierre justified his use of terror by
suggesting that it enabled French citizens to remain true to the ideals of the
Revolution. He also saw a connection between virtue and terror:

PRIMARY SOURCE
The first maxim of our politics ought to be to lead the people by means of reason Analyzing
and the enemies of the people by terror. If the basis of popular government in Primary Sources
time of peace is virtue, the basis of popular government in time of revolution is How did
both virtue and terror: virtue without which terror is murderous, terror without Robespierre justify
which virtue is powerless. Terror is nothing else than swift, severe, indomitable the use of terror?
justice; it flows, then, from virtue.
MAXIMILIEN ROBESPIERRE, “On the Morals and Political Principles of Domestic Policy” (1794)

The “enemies of the Revolution” who troubled Robespierre the most were fellow
radicals who challenged his leadership. In 1793 and 1794, many of those who had
led the Revolution received death sentences. Their only crime was that they were
660 Chapter 23
 considered less radical than Robespierre. By early 1794,
even Georges Danton found himself in danger. Danton’s
friends in the National Convention, afraid to defend him,
joined in condemning him. On the scaffold, he told the exe-
cutioner, “Don’t forget to show my head to the people. It’s
well worth seeing.”
The Terror claimed not only the famous, such as Danton
and Marie Antoinette, the widowed queen. Thousands of
unknown people also were sent to their deaths, often on the
flimsiest of charges. For example, an 18-year-old youth was
sentenced to die for cutting down a tree that had been
planted as a symbol of liberty. Perhaps as many as 40,000
were executed during the Terror. About 85 percent were
peasants or members of the urban poor or middle class—
for whose benefit the Revolution had been launched.

End of the Terror ▲ At his trial,

In July 1794, fearing for their own safety, some members of the National Georges Danton
Convention turned on Robespierre. They demanded his arrest and execution. The defended himself
Reign of Terror, the radical phase of the French Revolution, ended on July 28, so skillfully that the
authorities eventu-
1794, when Robespierre went to the guillotine.
ally denied him the
French public opinion shifted dramatically after Robespierre’s death. People of right to speak.
all classes had grown weary of the Terror. They were also tired of the skyrocketing
prices for bread, salt, and other necessities of life. In 1795, moderate leaders in the
National Convention drafted a new plan of government, the third since 1789. It
placed power firmly in the hands of the upper middle class and called for a two-
house legislature and an executive body of five men, known as the Directory. These
five were moderates, not revolutionary idealists. Some of them were corrupt and
made themselves rich at the country’s expense. Even so, they gave their troubled
country a period of order. They also found the right general to command France’s
armies—Napoleon Bonaparte.

SECTION 2 ASSESSMENT

TERMS & NAMES 1. For each term or name, write a sentence explaining its significance.
• Legislative Assembly • émigré • sans-culotte • Jacobin • guillotine • Maximilien Robespierre • Reign of Terror

USING YOUR NOTES MAIN IDEAS CRITICAL THINKING & WRITING

2. Do you think this chain of 3. What major reforms did the 6. SYNTHESIZING How did the slogan “Liberty, Equality,
events could have been National Assembly introduce? Fraternity” sum up the goals of the Revolution?
changed in any way? Explain. 4. What did the divisions in the 7. COMPARING AND CONTRASTING What similarities and
Legislative Assembly say about differences do you see between the political factions
Assembly
the differences in French in the Legislative Assembly and those in the U.S.
Creates a society? government today?
Constitution 5. How did the Reign of Terror 8. ANALYZING CAUSES What factors led to Robespierre
come to an end? becoming a dictator?
9. WRITING ACTIVITY REVOLUTION Working in small teams,
write short biographies of three revolutionary figures
mentioned in this section.

INTERNET ACTIVITY
Use the Internet to conduct research on governments that use INTERNET KEYWORD
terrorism against their own people. Prepare an oral report on the human rights
methods these countries use.
The French Revolution and Napoleon 661