The French Revolution 1789-1799

1. The French Revolution1789-1799 ENLIGHTENMENT IDEAS IN ACTION!!!

2. To Revolt or not to Revolt, that is the question! • How would you define an unjust government? • What, if anything, would lead you to take part in a violent revolution?

3. Ch.23.1 Essential Questions • What were the three Estates of the Old Regime ? • What were the factors that led to the French Revolution? • What events led to the formation of the National Assembly? • What is the significance of the storming of the Bastille? • What is the significance of both the Great Fear and the Women’s Bread March?

4. French Revolution Causes • Political - no representation, King Louis XVI weak, inefficient government • Economic - Inequitable taxation, economic crisis • Religious - Church power corrupt • Social - Urban poor, feudalism, rising middle class, but an inability to rise to the next social level • Intellectual - Enlightenment ideas attacked power of King, Church

5. Course of the French Revolution Phase 1 (Moderate): National Assembly (1789-91) Meeting of the Estates General Tennis Court Oath Storming of the Bastille Declaration of Rights of Man Constitution of 1791

6. Phase 2 (Radical): National Assembly(1792-1794) • War with Austria, Prussia, and Britain • Second Revolution • Reign of Terror

7. Course of the French Revolution • Phase 3: The Directory (1795-99) • Directory Established • Military success • Napoleon Takes Control • Military genius, conquers much of Europe • Makes peace within France • Finally defeated at Waterloo

8. Let’s start at the beginning: The Old Regime • FRENCH SOCIETY WAS BASED UPON A RIGID CLASS SYSTEM > THE OLD REGIME • It was made up of three classes, known as Estates.

9. The First Estate The First Estate > made up the Church clergy: priests, bishops, etc. They were the: • Smallest Class- about 1% of the population, but they owned 10% of the land • They paid virtually no taxes. • They collected their own tax known as a tithe (10% church tax).

10. The Second Estate Made up of the Nobility They were the: • Second smallest class- about 2% of the population; but they owned 20% of the land • Had special rights and privileges- hunting on royal lands; the only ones who could become military officers. Known by the swords they wore. • Paid virtually no taxes> the most hated class in France

11. The Third Estate • Made up of three groups- a well-educated middle class (doctors, lawyers, merchants, artisans, factory owners) known as the bourgeoisie- they believed strongly in Enlightenment ideals like liberty and equality; poor city workers/dwellers; and the peasants. • They were the: • Largest class- about 97% of the population • Paid almost all of the taxes • Had no political rights

12. HISTORICAL PRELUDE TO THE FRENCH REVOLUTION Prior to 1788, France goes into heavy debt • Louis XIV(the Sun King) • Builds the Palace of Versailles • Fights numerous wars • Louis XV -fights and loses the French and Indian War; incurs more debt due to extravagant spending. • “Apresmoi, le deluge.” • After me, the deluge.

13. More Debt! • Louis XVI (grandson of Louis XV) • Gives generous support to the American colonists in their bid for independence • Doubles the national debt.

14. Marie Antoinette- The Teen Queen • Daughter of Maria Theresa of Austria • Married to Louis @ age 14 (by proxy; she didn’t actually meet Louis until 5 yrs. later) • “Madame Deficit” • Extravagant spender • Despised by the French people as a foreigner • A symbol of all that was wrong with the Old Regime

15. NO MORE MONEY! • 1788- Louis 16th runs out of money; • £520 million in loans along with crippling interest • Banks refuse to lend to him; he must find a way to pay off the debt • Finance Minister Jacques Necker suggests taxing the First and Second Estates. • Louis gets laughed at; fires Necker.

16. Calling of the Estates General • Louis calls for the Estates General (much like our Congress) • First time they have been called to meet in 175 years! • Representatives from all three estates meet in Paris • First obstacle to overcome: how will they vote?

17. The First Obstacle: How do we vote??? • First and Second Estates suggest 1 vote per class; they can then outvote the Third Estate on any measure. • Third Estate suggests one vote per representative; they can then outvote the 1st and 2nd Estates combined. • In anger, the 1st and 2nd Estates lock the 3rd Estate reps out of the meeting.

18. The Tennis Court Oath • The Third Estate refuses to leave. Instead, they meet on a Tennis Court • Vow not to leave until a Constitution is drawn up (the Tennis Court Oath). • They declare themselves to be the National Assembly.

19. Let the Revolution Begin!!! • Louis gets nervous and calls in troops to restore order • Angry Parisians storm the Bastille. (a fortress prison in Paris). • It holds political prisoners,(well, 7 at the time), muskets, and gunpowder. It symbolizes the cruelty and oppression of the Old Regime. The citizens literally tear it down by hand, stone by stone • July 14, 1789- Bastille Day! • (comparable to our Independence Day)

20. Nothing… • In his diary on that day, July 14th, 1789 the King only wrote "Nothing". That was the result of his day's hunting. When the Duc de Liancourt informed the king of what happened at the Bastille, Louis asked his advisor “Is this a revolt?" and he was answered, "No Majesty, this is a revolution".

21. Revolt becomes Revolution! • The National Guard was quickly formed, composed of more than 40,000 people directed by the Marquis de Lafayette. • They adopted the tri-color rosettes as the new symbol of the Revolution. The White, the color of the Monarchy is encircled by the Blue and the Red, the colors of Paris. Those three colors are now the ones of the French Flag.

22. The Great Fear… • The Summer of 1789- the Great Fear! Peasants fear retribution from the nobility and the nobility fears a peasant uprising. • A few nobles are killed; some homes and tax records are burned; but basically, nothing happens.

23. The National Assembly • The National Assembly attempts to reform the Church. Reforms include: • the takeover of Church lands • the election of Church officials and priests • clergy are now to be paid state officials

24. Ch.23.2 Essential Questions • How did the National Assembly/National Convention change France’s government? • What were the positions of the three factions that tried to govern France? • How did war with foreign countries and the king’s execution affect the Revolution? • What were the events and aftermath of the Reign of Terror?

25. The Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen • Mobs form in Paris and demand action. • On August 26, 1789 the National Assembly forces King Louis 16th to sign the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen. • Its key principles include: • liberty, property, security • resistance to oppression. • The slogan of the revolution becomes “Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity!” • Sound familiar? Thomas Jefferson helped the Marquis de Lafayette write it!

27. The Women’s Bread March“We have the baker, the baker’s wife, and the baker’s son. We shall have bread.” • Economic conditions continue to worsen. • Hyperinflation causes the price of bread (the staple food of the French diet) to skyrocket. • October 5, 1789- 7,000 women march to the Palace of Versailles to demand bread; hence, the title- the Women’s Bread March. • Marie Antoinette: “Let them eat cake” Just a myth. • The women burst into the palace, and force the royal family to accompany them back to Paris. Louis and his family will never see Versailles again!

28. DIVISIONS DEVELOP… •  A new constitution was completed in September 1791, with the creation of a limited constitutional monarchy. Louis is forced to sign. • King loses much of his authority • The Legislative Assembly is formed and assumes much of the power

29. The Great Escape! • Unwilling to stay prisoner of his own people in Paris, Louis XVI tried to flee to his wife's native country, Austria. • On June 21st, 1791 Louis, Marie Antoinette and their children dressed as bakers and hit the road. • Rumors of the King's escape spread quickly across France • The royal refugees were recognized and captured few miles from the German border, in Varennes.

30. DIVISIONS DEVELOP (continued)… • New factions arise in the Legislative Assembly: • Jacobins: Radicals (left)- want sweeping changes; no monarchy • Girondins: Moderates -(middle) want some change; in favor of retaining the constitutional monarchy • Conservatives (right)- want few changes and limited monarchy

31. Other Influences… • Emigres- nobles and others who fled France. They tried to work from outside the country to undo the Revolution and restore the Old Regime • Sans-culottes- (those without knee breeches)- Parisian workers who used violence to influence others. • Jacobins Club- Radical element of the Assembly

32. FRANCE AT WAR! • Fearing a spread of revolution to their countries, neighboring Austria and Prussia urge the Legislative Assembly to restore Louis to his rightful place on the throne • France’s response is to declare war on Austria and Prussia in April 1792.

33. The French Republic1792-1795 • The National Convention succeeds the National Assembly as the new governing body • September 1792- Radicals (Jacobins) gain control of the National Convention. • The monarchy is abolished • Adult male citizens are granted the right to vote and hold office. • France officially becomes a republic!

34. Prominent figures of the National Convention: • Jean Paul Marat • Editor of a radical newspaper -The Friend of the People • Called for the death of those opposed to the cause • Was murdered in his bathtub by Charlotte Corday, a Girondin sympathizer

35. Prominent figures of the National Convention (continued)… • Georges Danton- a prominent lawyer • Devoted to the poor people of Paris. • Helped launch the campaign to end the king’s power • Would eventually be executed during the Reign of Terror for being too moderate

36. Prominent figures of the National Convention (continued)… • Maximilian Robespierre- most radical statesman • Wanted to build a “Republic of Virtue” by wiping out every trace of France’s past

37. GULP… • August 13, 1792Louis XVI was officially arrested and sent to prison. • The King had a trial in front of the Convention which decided to sentence him to death (by 1 vote!!!) January 1793. • He was accused of High Treason and Crimes against the State- an enemy of the Revolution!

38. End of the Old Regime! • On January 21st, 1793 Louis XVI was executed by a Guillotine in front of the people of France who saluted his death as the beginning of what they believed to be a better era.

39. Can the Revolution Survive? WAR • Great Britain, Holland and Spain join Austria and Prussia in their efforts to crush the Revolution, lest it spread to their countries. • The National Convention orders a draft of 300,000 (and eventually 800,000) French citizens to fight the foreign enemies CIVIL WAR • Revolts bloom in the country, where the peasants denounced the authority of the Convention and the idea of the Revolution. • They asked for the reestablishment of the Monarchy. • From March to September 1793, more than 100,000 people died from this opposition.

40. The Reign of TerrorSeptember 1793-July 1794 • July 1793- the Committee of Public Safety is created by Maximilian Robespierre to root out enemies of the Revolution within France itself. • Robespierre assumes dictatorial control. His period of rule becomes known as the Reign of Terror.

41. The Reign of Terror • Revolutionary committees conduct hasty trials and issue thousands of death sentences to “traitors to the revolution.”

42. Maximilian Robespierre: The Incorruptible • Robespierre was known as being very virtuous and incorruptible. • Among other things, he tried eliminating religion. • Notre Dame was renamed the Temple of Reason and Robespierre attempts to make a “religion of reason” • It doesn’t go over well, so he creates the Cult of the Supreme Being. • All the months were renamed and given 30 days each • The year began on the autumnal equinox • The weeks were ten days long with every tenth day being a holiday. • The days were: First Day, Second Day, Third Day, Fourth Day, etc. Good News! They also gave us the metric system!!!

43. Neighbor Against Neighbor • Reign of Terror claims as many as 40,000 lives, most of them (85%) members of the Third Estate. • Anybody who wasn’t radical enough was in danger of getting

44. Jack n’ Jill Went Up a Hill… • Marie Antoinette, wife of Louis XVI was executed in October 1793. • She died because she represented the King's heritage and was the perfect illustration of the fear that reigned at this time.

45. Robespierre falls victim to the National Razor • Members of the Convention eventually fear for their own heads and they betray him. • He’s arrested and executed • People didn’t like Robespierre’s radical actions and de-Christianization. • Robespierre’s execution signals the end of the Reign of Terror

46. The Directory1795-1799 • After the Reign of Terror the French were fearful of a too powerful government • The Directory was formed to oversee the balance of responsibilities and appointments. • An executive branch of 5 directors (moderates, not radicals) • Increased corruption was the result. • Inflation continues to rise

47. Napoleon… Dynamite! • Ineffectiveness of the Directory paves the way for Napoleon Bonaparte to seize power in France • Napoleon’s success on the battlefield makes him popular in France, a country longing for stability • France would soon come under the control of a dictatorship for the next 15 years!

48. Was the French Revolution a Success??? • Think about what they wanted to achieve • Were Enlightenment ideals instilled? • What was the impact of replacing one tyrant (Louis) with another (Napoleon)?

49. Time to Compare and Contrast American Revolution French Revolution