The French Revolution "Bourgeois" Phase: 1789-1792

1. The French Revolution "Bourgeois" Phase: 1789-1792

2. It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity… -- Charles Dickens A Tale of Two Cities

3. Some deep-seated causes of the First French Revolution (1789-91) • Encounters btw the land-owning nobility and the peasantry increased increased demand for restrictions on noble privileges • Ongoing food shortages in cities created a militant citizenry vs. authorities blamed for high P of bread • Advocacy of reform, especially by Enlightenment thinkers • Conflict btw Crown and nobility (long-time) over Constitutional issues—despotic king!

4. Major economic crisis that bankrupted the monarchy and deprived it of its authority. Crisis led to a revolt of nobles vs. crownbrought down entire system of absolutism. Only after this collapse did various groups with grievances vs. the regime take the initiative and established a new political order filled the power void. Immediate cause of the First French Revolution

5. The French Urban Poor

6. Financial crisis: Debt from Seven Years Wars Debt from helping American Revolutionaries If Americans paid their debt, the French would have been flush! 1787: Revenue = 475 million livres Expenses = 600 million livres Beginning of the Revolution

7. Lettres de Cachet • The French king could warrantimprisonment or death in asigned letter under his seal. • A carte-blanche warrant. • Cardinal Fleury issued 80,000during the reign of Louis XV! • Eliminated in 1790.

8. Ancien Regime Map, 1789

9. The Suggested Voting Pattern:Voting by Estates Clergy 1st Estate 1 Aristocracy 2nd Estate 1 1 Commoners 3rd Estate Louis XIV insisted that the ancient distinction of the three orders be conserved in its entirety.

10. The Number of Representativesin the Estates General: Vote by Head! Clergy 1st Estate 300 Aristocracy 2nd Estate 300 648 Commoners 3rd Estate

11. Emmanuel Joseph Sieyes 1stWhat is the Third Estate?Everything! 2nd What has it been heretofore in the political order? Nothing! 3rd What does it demand? To become something therein! Abbé Sieyès1748-1836

12. Convening the Estates General May, 1789 Last time it was called into session was 1614!

13. Need to deal with taxes Some nobles OK with paying some taxes E-G: Had not convened since 1614 Regional Parlements (including the v. powerful Parlement of Paris) said only E-G had the power to approve new taxes. Estates-General

14. “The Third Estate Awakens” • The commoners finally presented their credentials not as delegates of the Third Estate, but as “representatives of the nation.” • They proclaimed themselves the “National Assembly” of France when the voting controversy is not resolved to their liking.

15. “The Tennis Court Oath”by Jacques Louis David June 20, 1789

16. Europe on the Eve of theFrench Revolution

17. Storming the Bastille, July 14, 1789 • A rumor that the king was planning a military coup against the National Assembly. 17,000 troops into Paris • 18 died. • 73 wounded. • 7 guards killed. • It held 7 prisoners [5 ordinary criminals & 2 madmen].

18. The Great Fear: Peasant Revolt(July 20, 1789) • Rumors that the feudal aristocracy [the aristos] were sending hired brigands to attack peasants and pillage their land.

19. The Pathof the“GreatFear”

20. National Assembly took THREE Revolutionary Steps: 1. Elimination of noble and clerical privilege 2. Promulgated the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen 3. Complete Reorganization of the Church Between August 1789 and September 1790

21. National Assembly1789 - 1791 Liberté! Egalité! Fraternité! August DecreesAugust 4-11, 1789 (A renunciation of aristocratic privileges!)

22. Abolished: feudal dues paid by peasants to lord private legal jurisdiction of noblemen The collection of tithes by the clergy Exclusive games rights of lords Noble titles Eliminate noble and clerical privilege

23. France not longer a society divided into various groups with own privileges. Now, France has only citizens! Equal at law Social distinctions based on merit, not birth! No intermediary powers between King and individual subject! All Frenchmen were, at least in principle, subject to the same laws and the same taxes and eligible for the same offices. Results

24. BUT . . . . . • Feudal dues were not renounced outright [this had been too strong a threat to the principle of private property!] • Peasants would compensate their landlords through a series of direct payments for obligations from which they had supposedly been freed. • Therefore, the National Assembly made revolutionary gestures, but remained essentially moderate. Their Goal Safeguard the right of private property!!

25. The Tricolor (1789) The WHITE of the Bourbons + the RED & BLUE of Paris. Citizen!

26. The Tricolor is the Fashion!

27. The “Liberty Cap”: Bonne Rouge

28. Revolutionary Symbols Cockade Liberté La Republic Revolutionary Clock

29. The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen Revolutionary Step #2! August 26, 1789 • Liberty! • Property! • Resistance to oppression!

30. March of the Women,October 5-6, 1789 A spontaneous demonstration of Parisian women for bread. We want the baker, the baker’s wife and the baker’s boy!

31. The “October Days” (1789) The king was thought to be surrounded by evil advisors at Versailles so he was forced to move to Paris and reside at the Tuileries Palace.

32. Planting the Tree of Liberty 1790

33. Third Revolutionary Step:The Civil Constitution of the Clergy July 12,1790 Church is now a department of the state.

34. Q: How to Finance the New Government? A: Confiscate Church Lands (1790) One of the most controversial decisions of the entire revolutionary period.

35. 2. Print Assignats • Issued by the National Assembly. • Interest-bearing notes which had the church lands as security.

36. Depreciation of the Assignat • Whoever acquired them were entitled to certain privileges in the purchase of church land. • The state would retire the notes as the land was sold. • They began circulating as paper currency. • Government printed more  INFLATION [they lost 99% of their value ultimately]. • Therefore, future governments paid off their creditors with cheap money.

37. New Relations Between Church & State • Government paid the salaries of the French clergy and maintained the churches. • The church was reorganized: • Parish priests  elected by the district assemblies. • Bishops  named by the department assemblies (laymen). • The pope had NO voice in the appointment of the French clergy. • It transformed France’sRoman Catholic Churchinto a branch of the state!! • Pope Pius condemned the DRMC and also the CCC! Pope Pius VI[1775-1799]

38. Louis XVI “Accepts” the Constitution & the National Assembly. 1791

39. Constitution of 1791

40. The French Constitution of 1791: A Bourgeois Government • The king got the “suspensive” veto [which prevented the passage of laws for 4 years]. • He could not pass laws. • His ministers were responsible for their own actions. • K directs Foreign Policy • K commands Armed Forces • A permanent, elected, single chamber Legislative Assembly. • Had the power to grant taxation. • An independent judiciary.

41. The French Constitution of 1791: A Bourgeois Government • “Active” Citizen [who pays taxes amounting to 3 days labor] could vote vs. “Passive” Citizen. • 1/3 of adult males were denied the franchise. • Domestic servants were also excluded. • A newly elected LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY. GOAL Make sure that the country was not turned over to the mob!

42. 83 Revolutionary Departments February 26, 1790

43. Formally abolished all hereditary legal privileges Law legislation granted Jews and Protestants full civil rights and toleration Eliminated primogeniture Marriage now a civil contract Divorce, so husband and wife freely contracting individuals No appeal to “ancient past” and the recovery of “lost freedoms” (ala English Revs). Promoted a new view of French society as a nation composed of = citizens possessing natural rights New Constitution and other laws

44. Reactions to the FFR:Sir Edmund Burke (1790):Reflections on the Revolution in France • The conservative response to the French Revolution by Burke: horror at the way in which abstract philosophy destroyed the traditional social order of France. • Prussian official called the FFR, “the first practical triumph of philosophy … the hope and consolation of so many of those ancient ills under which mankind has suffered.” • Catherine denounced the new Polish Constitution of 1791, modeled on the French one, as a product of French radicalism. She shut down the presses, revived censorship, turned against the philosophes and banned Voltaire’s works!

45. Olympe de Gouges (1745-1793) • Women played a vital role in the Revolution. • But, The Declaration of the Rights of Man did NOT extend the rights and protections of citizenship to women. Declaration of the Rights of Womanand of the Citizen (1791)

46. The Royal Family Attempts to Flee • June, 1791 • Helped by the Swedish Count Hans Axel von Fusen [Marie Antoinette’s lover]. • Headed toward the Luxembourgborder. • The King wasrecognized atVarennes, nearthe border

47. The First Coalition &TheBrunswick Manifesto(August 3, 1792) Duke of Brunswick if the Royal Family is harmed, Paris will be leveled!! 1792-1797 FRANCE AUSTRIAPRUSSIA This military crisis undermined the new Legislative Assembly.

48. French Soldiers & the Tricolor:ViveLe Patrie! • The French armies were ill-prepared for the conflict. • ½ of the officer corps had emigrated. • Many men disserted. • New recruits were enthusiastic, butill-trained. • French troops often broke ranks and fled in disorder.

49. French Expansion: 1791-1799