1 / 44

The French Revolution

The French Revolution. “Let them eat cake”. French Monarchy. Marie Antoinette & Louis XVI. Louis XVI. Louis XVI was a weak leader Married Marie Antoinette when he was still a teenager. Often procrastinated issues and spent his time hunting and tinkering with clocks.

necia
Download Presentation

The French Revolution

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. TheFrenchRevolution “Let them eat cake”

  2. French Monarchy Marie Antoinette & Louis XVI

  3. Louis XVI • Louis XVI was a weak leader • Married Marie Antoinette when he was still a teenager. • Often procrastinated issues and spent his time hunting and tinkering with clocks.

  4. Impact of the American Revolution • Wanted to aid America and payback the British for the defeat during French Indian War. • Louis XVI borrowed heavily from bankers to help finance the American Revolution. • French debt doubled. • Needed more money but banks refused to give him any.

  5. French Economy • Economy was failing. • Taxes high. • Food shortages throughout kingdom. • King tried to tax people. TheParlements, the French high courts, vetoed this action. Said only the people could vote on taxes. • King had to call the Estates-General(elected members of populous) to vote on new tax.

  6. French Society • The estates were the way in which French society was divided -- • The first estate was the clergy • The second estate were the nobles • The third estate was comprised of the rest of the population of France. • Delagates had to be elected and then venture to Versailles to meet.

  7. Louis XIV insisted that the ancient distinction of the three orders in voting be conserved in its entirety. 1 Clergy 1st Estate 1 Aristocracy 2nd Estate 1 Commoners 3rd Estate

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

  9. Convening the Estates General May, 1789 • Most delegates wanted to move away from absolutism. • Wanted regular meetings of the Estates-General • Wanted the power to tax in the hands of people.

  10. “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.

  11. Tennis Court Oath • On June 17th, the Assembly showed up to work. The meeting hall had been “closed for repairs.” • Smelling a conspiracy, they found a indoor tennis court to meet. In their they took the Tennis Court Oath.Promising to not stop working till a new constitution was written for France.

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

  13. The Great Fear • Began with rumors that the aristocracy were sending hired brigands to attack peasants and pillage their land.

  14. The Great Fear • Before the night was over: • The feudal regime in France had been abolished. • All Frenchmen were, at least in principle, subject to the same laws and the same taxes and eligible for the same offices.

  15. March of the Women,October 5-6, 1789 • These women stormed Versaillesand killed the guards and captured the king and his family • A spontaneous demonstration of Parisian womenfor bread. “We want the baker, the baker’s wife and the baker’s boy!”

  16. The “October Days” (1789) The king was forced to move to Paris and reside at the Tuileries Palace.

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

  18. The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen August 26, 1789 • Liberty! • Property! • Resistance to oppression! • Thomas Jefferson was in Paris at this time.

  19. The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen Posed New Dilemmas • Did women have equal rights with men? • What about free blacks in the colonies? • How could slavery be justified if all men were born free? • Did religious toleration of Protestants and Jews include equal political rights?

  20. 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. • A permanent, elected, single chamber National Assembly. • Had the power to grant taxation. An independent judiciary. A newly elected LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY.

  21. Financing the New Govt. 1. Confiscate Church Lands (1790) One of the most controversial decisions of the entire revolutionary period.

  22. Financing the New Govt. 2. Printed Assignats • They began circulating as paper currency. • Government printed more  INFLATION [they lost 99% of their value ultimately]. • Issued by the National Constituent Assembly. • Interest-bearing notes which had the church lands as security.

  23. New Relations Between Church & State • Government paid the salaries of the French clergy and maintained the churches. • The church was reorganized • The pope had NO voice • Transformed France’sRoman Catholic Churchinto a branch of the state!! Pope Pius VI[1775-1799]

  24. The Royal Family Attempts to Flee • June, 1791 • Headed toward the Luxembourgborder. • The King was recognized at Varennes, near the border

  25. The “Second” French Revolution • The National Convention: • Girondin Rule: 1792-1793 • Jacobin Rule: 1793-1794[“Reign of Terror”] • Thermidorian Reaction: 1794-1795 • The Directory  1795-1799

  26. The September Massacres, 1792(The dark side of the Revolution!) • Rumors that the anti-revolutionary political prisoners were plotting to break out & attack from the rear the armies defending France, while the Prussians attacked from the front. • Buveurs de sang [“drinkers of blood.”] over 1000 killed! • It discredited the Revolution among its remaining sympathizers abroad.

  27. The National Convention(September, 1792) • Its first act was the formal abolition of the monarchy on September 22, 1792. • The Year Iof the French Republic. • The Decree of Fraternity • it offered French assistance to any subject peoples who wished to overthrow their governments.

  28. The Politics of the National Convention (1792-1795) • Power base in Paris. • Main support from the sans-culottes(the urban poor) • Would adopt extreme measures to achieve their goals. • Saw Paris as the center of the Revolution. • More centralized [in Paris] approach to government. • Power base in the provinces. • Feared the influence of the sans-culottes. • Feared the dominance of Paris in national politics. • Supported more national government centralization [federalism]. Montagnards Girondists

  29. Politics and the King • For theMontagnards, the king was a traitor. • The Girondinsfelt that the Revolution had gone far enough and didn’t want to execute the king.

  30. Louis XVI’s Head (January 21, 1793) • The trial of the king was hastened by the discovery in a secret cupboard in the Tuilieres of a cache of documents. • They proved conclusively Louis’ knowledge and encouragement of foreign intervention. • The National Convention voted 387 to 334 to execute the monarchs.

  31. Marie Antoinette on the Way to the Guillotine

  32. Attempts to Controlthe Growing Crisis • Revolutionary Tribunal in Paris • try suspected counter-revolutionaries. • keep an eye on foreigners & suspects. • Sanctioned the trial & execution of rebels and émigrés, should they ever return to France.

  33. Attempts to Controlthe Growing Crisis • Controlled prices, production and rationed goods. They also printing of more assignatsto pay for the war. • Committee of Public Safety • to oversee and speed up the work of the government during this crisis. • Committee of General Security • responsible for the pursuit ofcounter-revolutionaries, thetreatment of suspects, & other internal security matters.

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

  35. Charlotte Corday • Jean-Paul Marat was a radical newspaper writer who called for the blood of 1,000s in his paper. • Marat assassinated by Charlotte Corday, 1793 “The Death of Marat”by Jacques Louis David, 1793

  36. Maximillian Robespierre(1758 – 1794) • Was put in charge of the Committee of Safety • Had dictatorship power • Arrested anyone not loyal to new government • Nationalized Government • De-Christianize France • His reign is known as The Reign of Terror

  37. Committee for Public Safety • Revolutionary Tribunals. • 300,000 arrested. • 16,000 – 50,000 executed.

  38. The Reign of Terror • The Revolutionary Tribunal of Paris alone executed 2,639 victims in 15 months. • The total number of victims nationwide was over 20,000! Terror is nothing other than justice, prompt, severe, inflexible. -- Robespierre

  39. The Radical’s Arms: No God!No Religion!No King!No Constitution!

  40. The “Thermidorean Reaction,” 1794 • July 26  Robespierre gives a speech illustrating new plots & conspiracies. • he alienatedmembers of the government • many felt threatened by his power.

  41. The “Thermidorean Reaction,” 1794 • July 27  the Convention arrest Robespierre. • July 28  Robespierre is tried & guillotined!

  42. The Arrest of Robespierre • Robespierre Lies Wounded Before the Revolutionary Tribunal that will order him to be guillotined, 1794.

  43. A New Government • After the death of Robespierre’sand the end of the Reign of Terror a National Convention meet to write a new Constitution • Created a bicameral legislature. The Council of Five Hundered(HR)and Council of Ancients(Sen). • The Executive Branch called the Directory

More Related