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The French Revolution: A Struggle for Equality and Liberty

Explore the societal unrest, economic hardships, and political turmoil that fueled the French Revolution, transforming France from a monarchy to a republic and paving the way for modern ideals of freedom and rights. Witness the four stages of revolution as the people rebel against oppressive aristocracy and demand representation. Learn about the Reign of Terror and its haunting aftermath on the path to a new France.

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The French Revolution: A Struggle for Equality and Liberty

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  1. Chapter 19 A Revolution in Politics: The Era of the French Revolution and Napoleon

  2. Reorganization, Resistance, and Rebellion Britain’s victory in the Seven Years’ War (quadrupled national debt) Indirect political representation in England Colonists claim “No taxation without representation” (direct tax) Petitions to Parliament Boycotts & tax repeals Boston Massacre Boston Tea Party War for Independence Thomas Paine, Common Sense, 1776 Thomas Jefferson, Declaration of Independence, 1776 Battle of Saratoga, 1777 Commitment of European aid Battle of Yorktown, 1781 Peace of Paris, 1783 U.S.A. officially recognized The American Revolution

  3. The American Revolution (cont.) • Forming a New Nation • Articles of Confederation 1781-1789 (the government does not work—had no power) • Constitution 1789 • Bill of Rights (10 Amendments) 1791 • Impact of the American Revolution on Europe • The concepts of freedom and natural rights---the Enlightenment ideals of Locke, Montesquieu, Voltaire, and Beccaria implemented. (who did they leave out?)

  4. Map 19-1, p. 576

  5. p. 577

  6. Background to the French Revolution Social Structure of the Old Regime: • First & Second Estates • First Estate • Clergy • 1% of pop. Owned 10% of land • Hated enlightenment ideas • Did not pay taxes • Second Estate • Rich nobles • 2 % of pop. owned 20% of land • Disagreed over enlightenment ideas • Did not pay taxes

  7. The Third Estate (taxed) • Almost 97 % of the population • Divided into 3 groups: • Peasants (poor farmers) • 85% of the population, own 50% of the land, and paid out half of income in custom dues, and taxes. • Bourgeoisie (middle class) • 10% of the population, Skilled artisans, shopkeepers, and wage earners, Own 20% of the land. • Urban Lower Class (workers, cooks, servants, etc.) • 2% of the population. • All were eager for some change.

  8. p. 579

  9. Other Problems Facing the French Monarchy • Bad harvests in 1787 and 1788 (cost of bread goes up) • Cost of living goes up (rents) • One-third of the population is poor • Privileges of the clergy and nobility (tax exemptions) • Financial crisis (France virtually bankrupt from inadequate tax system, war debts, excess government spending) • Failure of France to make economic reforms • All lead to the Summoning the Estates General

  10. The French Revolution Four Stages • Stage 1 (1789-1791) • Calling of the Three Estates to deal with the financial crisis (300 delegates each to the First and Second Estate and 600 delegates to the Third Estate). Each Estate had one vote • Cahiers de doléances (political grievances) • Estates General meets May 5, 1789 • Question of voting by order or head • Abbé Sieyès “What is the Third Estate?” • All 3 to meet together on Kings Tennis Court • National Assembly Constituted, June 17 • Tennis Court Oath (Constitution or bust), June 20 • Intervention of the Common People • Attack on the Bastille (French prison), July 14 • Peasant rebellions, July 19-August 3 “Great Fear” • senseless panic sweeps through France and peasants trash property of nobles

  11. p. 582

  12. p. 574

  13. Destruction of the Old Regime • Stage 2(1791-1792) • National Assembly in action: • Seigneurial rights abolished (August 4, 1789) • Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen (August 26, 1789) (see pages 584-585) • Does this include women? (no) • The Women’s March to Versailles (October 5, 1789) Return the king to Paris • Olympe de Gouges, Declaration of the Rights of Woman and the Female Citizen (1791) • Great on paper, but not widely accepted.

  14. p. 586

  15. Constitutional Monarchy • The Catholic Church • Land confiscated & sold for money (assignats) • Civil Constitution of the Clergy (paid by the state) July, 1790 • A New Constitution Written Power now rests in the Legislative Assembly • Self-denying ordinance (no multiple terms, thus different members than the National Assembly) • Flight of the king, June 1791 • Opposition from abroad • Declaration of war on Austria, April 20, 1792 • Opposition from within • Lafeyettists (right/pro-monarchy) and the Jacobins & Sans-culottes (left/anti-monarchy) split the Assembly and in Aug.1792 “Paris Commune” led by Georges Danton

  16. Radical Revolution • Stage 3 (1792-1794) • National Convention created, September 1792 • Universal male suffrage • Abolish the monarchy, September 21 • Domestic Crisis • Factions within the Jacobins • Girondins (pro-war, no price supports, don’t want to execute the king) • The Mountain (pro-war, price supports, want to execute the king) • Execution of Louis XVI, January 21, 1793 • Counterrevolution • Foreign Crisis • Military losses • A Nation in Arms • Universal Mobilization of the nation (mass conscription)

  17. p. 588

  18. p. 589

  19. p. 590

  20. p. 590

  21. Map 19-2, p. 591

  22. The Reign of Terror & Its Aftermath • Committee of Public Safety formed and Reign of Terror begins July 1793 -July 1794 • Lead by Danton but taken over by Maximilien Robespierre • Rid France of counter revolutionaries • Victims include from Marie Antonette, to Olympe de Gouges, to Danton himself. 50k executed (men, women, and children) • “Republic of Virtue” • Price controls (especially on bread), Nationalization of workshops (shoes, clothing, etc.) • Women (not given equality) • De-christianization and a New Calendar • Notra-Dame becomes the “Temple of Reason” • New calendar (new months, 3 ten day weeks) • Decline of the Committee of Public Safety • Execution of Robespierre, July 28, 1794

  23. p. 593

  24. p. 596

  25. Chronology, p. 596

  26. Reaction and the Directory • Stage 4 (1794-1795) • Thermidorian Reaction and the Directory • National Convention Curtails much of the Terror’s policies • Conservative turn of the Revolution • New Constitution of 1795 • Two house Assembly (Council of 500 and Council of Elders) limited suffrage based on property ownership • Executive Five person Directory • Re-establishes the Catholic Church, gets rid of price supports and new calendar • Supports War efforts

  27. Problems for the Directory • Economic stagnation • Political corruption by directory members • Threats from the left (Gracchus Babeuf’s Conspiracy of Equals) • Threats from the Right (Royalists who want a return to a stronger government— a monarchy) • This would lead to a “Coup d'état” by Napoleon in 1799. • “I am the Revolution” • Consulate established (3 consuls= Napoleon Bonaparte, Abbe Sieyes, Roger Duco)

  28. Age of Napoleon • Rise of Napoleon • Born in Corsica, 1769 • Commissioned a lieutenant 1785 (16) Promoted to brigadier general 1794 (24) • Victory in Italy, 1797 • Defeat in Egypt, 1799

  29. p. 598

  30. The Republic and the Empire • Republic of France proclaimed, 1799 • First Consul • First Consul for life, 1802 • Crowned Emperor Napoleon I, 1804 • Domestic Policies of Emperor Napoleon • Napoleon and the Catholic Church • Concordat of 1801(Catholicism is official religion of France, but tolerance of other faiths, salaries still paid by the state & church lands not returned, but primary school is under Catholic control) • A New Code of Laws • Napoleonic Civil Codes (equality before the law, right to own property, equality to inheritance ((no primogenitor laws)), all careers open to talent—for men (women not included) • The French Bureaucracy • Centralization of administration (think Intendant System)

  31. p. 599

  32. Napoleon’s Empire and the European Response • Peace of Amiens, 1802 • Renewal of war, 1803 • Military victories, 1805-1807 • Napoleon’s Grand Empire • Failure of the Grand Empire • Problems: • Great Britain and Nationalism • Seas controlled by G.B. • Continental System, 1806-1807 (hurts his European allies) • Spanish Ulcer (guerilla fighting) • Nationalism in Europe (backfires on Napoleon)

  33. Map 19-3, p. 602

  34. p. 603

  35. The Fall of Napoleon • Invasion of Russia in 1812 (goes in with 500K troops but only 40K make it out in 1813) • Defeat of Napoleon in April 1814 (Battle of Leipzig or the Battle of Nations) • Exiled to Elba in 1814, but Escapes 1815 (100 days) • Battle of Waterloo, June 18, 1815 (a decisive victory for the allies) • Exile to St. Helena (off the coast of Africa where he dies in 1821)

  36. Chronology, p. 604

  37. Timeline, p. 605

  38. Discussion Questions • What role did the Enlightenment play in the American and French revolutions? • After becoming a constitutional monarch, how did Louis XVI’s actions affect the French revolution? • Compare the urban and rural revolutions in France. • What impact did the French Revolution have on the Catholic Church in France? • What social and political changes in society were brought about by the French Revolution? • Examine Napoleon’s rise to power. Did he carry on the ideals of the revolution? What lasting changes did his reign have on Europe? What were his military mistakes?

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