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FRENCH REVOLUTION

FRENCH REVOLUTION. OLD REGIME. First Estate: Church or Clergy 1% of population ,owned 5-10% of land, paid little taxes Second Estate: Nobles / Lords 2 % of the population owned 25 % of land, paid no taxes

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FRENCH REVOLUTION

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  1. FRENCH REVOLUTION

  2. OLD REGIME First Estate: Church or Clergy 1% of population ,owned 5-10% of land, paid little taxes Second Estate: Nobles / Lords 2 % of the population owned 25 % of land, paid no taxes Third Estate: Bourgeoisie (or Middle Class), Peasants, Workers, and Serfs 97% of the population, owned 40 % land, paid high taxes (half of their income! Population

  3. ESTATES GENERAL MEETING • (May 1789) • France is in debt • Nobles demand a meeting of the Estates General • King Louis XVI calls an assembly of the three estates to solve the problems of France • In the Estates General each estate had one vote (vote by order) King Louis XVI

  4. Background (not on notes) • The Third Estate is disgusted with their inability to make changes to the government and withdraw from the Estates General and create the National Assembly. • When the Third Estate attempts to meet, their meeting hall is locked and they head to a nearby Tennis Court to continue their plans • At the Palace of Versailles Tennis Court, the Third Estate swore an oath, “The Tennis Court Oath,” to never disband until France has a new constitution. • They invite members of the First and Second Estates to join them in their reforms. Some Clergy and Nobles do join, while others stay loyal to King Louis XVI. • King Louis reluctantly agrees to accept the National Assembly, but rumors spread that the King has secret plans to destroy it.

  5. The Tennis Court Oath June 20, 1789 On your notes… At the Versailles tennis court the third estate declares a new legislature – the National Assembly. They pledge to write a new constitution.

  6. Background (not on your notes)… • As rumors spread that King Louis is going to destroy the National Assembly, more and more peasants begin to starve • Hundreds of hungry people in Paris stormed the Bastille, a medieval prison • They were searching for gunpowder to fight off the King’s forces if he decides to end the Assembly • This signaled the start of the French Revolution • Peasants everywhere began to revolt • Bastille Day is celebrated in France as the Day of French Freedom (like the 4th of July in the United States)

  7. Storming of the BastilleJuly 14, 1789yes! This part is on your notes… • Hundreds of hungry people in Paris stormed the Bastille, a medieval fort and prison, to search for gunpowder signaling the start of the French Revolution. • Peasants everywhere revolt.

  8. Storming of the Bastille

  9. Storming of the Bastille

  10. March to VersaillesOctober 1789 • After months of bread shortages, seven thousand women march 12 miles from Paris to Versailles to demand bread • Marie Antoinette is rumored to have said, “Let them eat cake!” (a term referring to a poor man’s bread scraps) • The king and queen are forced to leave Versailles

  11. MARCH TO VERSAILLES

  12. Assembly Meets

  13. National Assembly1789 - 1791 • The new government, the National Assembly, created Declaration of the Rights of Man that guaranteed rights and liberties and freedoms • (They end the privileges of the nobles) • Couldn’t solve any financial problems because they were involved in wars and had too many political divisions. • A limited Monarchy was created with a constitution in 1791.

  14. The Declaration of the Rights of Man • This was the first step in writing a Constitution • It was modeled after the American Declaration of Independence (written 13 years earlier) and the American Bill of Rights • Its goals are reflected in the slogan of the French Revolution: “Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity [brotherhood]”

  15. Assembly Begins to Fall Apart • Assembly Weakened by … • Financial Problems • Foreign Wars • Political Divisions

  16. French Political Spectrum

  17. Reign of Terror • Maximilien Robespierre and other radicals, the Jacobins, execute Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette

  18. Trial and Execution of Louis XVI

  19. Trial and Execution of Louis XVI

  20. These radicals took control of the National Assembly and created a new legislative body called the National Convention. • A committee of Public Safety was created to deal with the threats to France

  21. REIGN OF TERROR CONTINUES Forty Thousand French people in two years were executed by guillotine

  22. The National Convention • turned on their leaders • and executed Robespierre • in July 1794 (killed by • his own people!) • The Reign of Terror • ends when a group of • moderates creates a • new constitution and • created a five man • Directory to run the • country

  23. Napoleon 1799-1814 • Napoleon overthrows the Directory and rules France as dictator and emperor for 15 years.

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