Revolutionary France.

1. France before the revolution.

The eighteenth-century France and the society of orders. There were three main e
lements that caused the crisis in France in the eighteenth century: social and l
egal divisions, the inadequacy of institutions and financial situation. French s
ociety was divided into three classes (states): • Clergy. • Nobility. • Third: T
his category included all those who did not belong to the first two. In any orde
r could coexist with diverse individuals in economic conditions. The main distin
ction was of legal. Each order had its own specific privileges (very large for t
he clergy and nobility, was low for the third). In this scenario, there was a se
nse of social belonging. First of all an individual membership felt his order. F
rance could not be defined as a set of subjects of the king, but as a set of cla
sses. Magnitude and privileges of the clergy and nobility. • Clergy. Approximate
ly 130,000 individuals. Was exempt from taxes. Was not considered by state court
s and civil laws, but by canon law and ecclesiastical courts. Had very large est
ates, they were badly managed, not produced, but were not affected because they
belong to the church. For a long time went on the proposal to confiscate this la
nd to give it to people who would be able to better manage them. Finally, the ch
urch absorbed a large amount of revenue through the collection of tithes (which
were tax). • Nobility. Approximately 25,000 individuals. Also did not pay taxes
and had great estates, but distributed unevenly, in fact there were many noble e
conomically poor, then even more concerned to assert their privileges. Even the
nobles, feudal tradition, they imposed their taxes low and also administered jus
tice. Boasted other prerogatives of legal, were tried by special courts and suff
ered less pain. In this class were given the major government offices and army.
Over time the nobility increasingly seeking to become a closed class, making sur
e not to give new titles, all this to maintain their privileges. The Privilege.
The privilege and a measure for an individual or group, which constitutes a spec
ial situation compared to the normal rule. The absolute monarchy tried to limit
the privileges. There could, indeed, over time, annexing new areas, they wanted
to assert its administrative and enforce their privileges. Social composition of
the Third. Clergy and nobility were 2% of 26 million inhabitants, all others we
re part of the Third. The Third Estate was internally divided into several categ
ories: • Ceto high-bourgeois exercised more paid work, were not noble, but they
could aspire to be. • middle class: exercise works very well paid. • Craftsmen,
retailers and wage labor. • Employees of the earth. 20 million people who are fu
rther divided into: 1. Smallholder farmers and off, often even the richest of ur
ban workers. 2. Sharecroppers or tenant farmers: They had a small amount of live
stock and cultivated lands of large landowners. 3. Poor farmers: They did not ha
ve enough land to support the family, working for large farms. All the poorest w
orkers of the campaign, however, pay taxes and tithes to the church to the Lords
. The survival of the feudal regime. In France, the servants had now disappeared
. Farmers now had full rights on their own property, but this freedom was still
restricted from many taxes. There was in fact the distinction between: • Propert
ies helpful: What was carried out by the farmer. • Property eminent: Exercised t
he land lord. In this way it was as if each property there was a grant and, ther
efore, a priority right from the lord. Therefore, in favor of the Lord, every ch
ange of ownership was paid a fee. In addition, every year was a second set, whic
h varied from region to region and was considered an abuse of feudal times. Beca
use the payment of these fees and ecclesiastical tithes, farmers lost much of th
eir income. Other taxes on peasants were contractual, ie those who worked their
lands, paying the owners a certain time. The bourgeoisie could, however, unlike
most of Europe, buying land classified as noble, but the feud by paying Franco (
a very heavy duty), each change of ownership. The fiscal mess and rising public
debt. In 700 attempts were made to abolish feudal privileges, but failed.€In the
field of state finances was clearly insufficient. Indirect taxes were subcontra
cted to the Ferme Générale, controlled by French and Swiss financiers. This syst
em caused the loss of most taxes, whether due to corruption. Furthermore, becaus
e of participation in the war, France was in serious deficit, then between 1777
and 1781 attempted to reform the administrative and tax during the term of finan
ce minister Jacques Necker, but parliament (aristocratic) opposed, and he resign
ed. Public debt grew more. The Old Regime. Initially with the name refers to the
feudal system. After 1789 the term was extended to the complex socioeconomic ex
isting before 1789. Finally it was reported to the monarchical system, then, eve
n during debates on the Constitution (1791), was seen in a negative way. From th
is revolution was seen as a sharp cut with
past. For example, a new timetable was introduced just as a symbol of this.
2. To the revolution: the States General.
Nobility against absolutism and the controversy about the States-General. Since
1781, the finances went from bad to worse. The aristocracy dumped all the blame
on the monarchy. The reform proposals brought forward by the king, nobles were p
resented to the public as an attempt to increase absolutism. In this way the ari
stocracy found the popular support and were thus summoned the States General. St
ates General was an assembly consisting of representatives of all social order.
The aristocracy believed he had now the capacity to diminish the powers of the m
onarchy, through the States-General, but it had not, because: • the interests of
the aristocracy and the people were very different. • the Assembly was not able
to represent interests in a manner acceptable to all, indeed, expressed only th
e superiority of the clergy and nobility. The three classes because they all had
the same number of representatives, despite the clear numerical superiority of
the third state, by population. " Also counted, not the votes for the head, but
the votes for class, so he always won the nobility-clergy alliance. Because of t
his, in short, for the people to the aristocracy diminished. The Third Estate th
en got to see an increase in the number of their representatives to the other tw
o classes together. Moreover, it continued to struggle for acceptance of the vot
e to head. " The aristocracy had raised the people, but now he was losing contro
l. The elections and the Cahiers de doléance. To elect the Members, the Third wa
s first designated the primary assemblies, the assemblies choose "electors", who
finally showed the deputies. Participation in elections was very extensive. Sin
ce the lowest level, were completed Cahiers de doléance, which were reported in
the complaints and demands of the population. Cahiers were drawn up about 60000,
the most common reasons for discontent in the lower classes were the privileges
of the ruling classes. In the Cahiers of the less educated was expressed the ca
ll to transform the States-General in a Constituent Assembly. The opening of the
general states. May 4, 1789 in the States General were opened with a march to V
ersailles. At the beginning of the parade were the deputies of the third was dre
ssed in black, who were mostly lawyers and intellectuals. After parading their n
obles with flashy clothes. At the end of the procession was the clergy, in turn
divided into provincial-poor-pastors and bishops. As for the Assembly and the va
rious interests involved: • Clergy and Aristocracy: They wanted to permanently d
ismantle the absolute power. • Third country: She wanted it heard the voice of t
he people and abolish tax privileges and greater social justice. • Monarchy: Mea
nwhile, the monarchy sought to limit the activity of this assembly to a simple v
ote to approve a new loan in favor of the crown. Member National General Assembl
y. The question of the vote went ahead. The third proposed rule that all Members
shall hold a meeting with voting for the head. " So it was not, so the Third Es
tate broke away, opening a new assembly (June 10) and inviting other Members. Me
mbers did not answer the call, then in June 17, independently Assembly proclaime
d himself the new National Assembly. With this event, was passing from the conce
pt of "orders" to the "nation," key step towards the revolutionary mentality. Lo
uis XVI sided with the nobles. On 23 June he ordered the assembly was dissolved,
but his instructions were ignored. They began to join the meeting some members
of the aristocracy and the aristocracy.€On 9 July the Assembly was proclaimed a
National Constituent Assembly, the first step to the Constitution and therefore
a constitutional monarchy. If Louis XVI had tried to take this step with some co
mpromise, the revolution would be peaceful. Necker therefore chose as a mediator
, but kept being too conciliatory in accordance with the king then dismissed him
. The dismissal was seen by the mass of the people as evidence that he believed
the rebels and the king had no intention to mediate as he did believe.
3. Events of 1789.
The Parisian insurrection of July 14. After the convocation of the general situa
tion was becoming increasingly tense, this by: • the increase in the price of br
ead due to the harvest of 1788, which was very low. • reductions in demand for m
anufactured goods. • unemployment that was spreading among the urban classes. •
Of the rumors about a conspiracy by the aristocrats to dissolve the General Asse
mbly. But what it did ignite the popular revolt was the dismissal of Necker. Eve
n the middle classes were much affected by this dismissal, because a failure of
the constituent assembly would bring the king to ask the bankruptcy state, conde
mning the hunger a large proportion of the population. July 12: They formed larg
e groups of demonstrators clashed with troops in Paris. The movements culminated
in the attacks on the square where the goods pay customs duties, because this t
ime before the king had rejected the request to abolish duties on flour, inquiry
carried out by the increased cost of bread .-. July 13: The looting increased.
The civilians then decided to take matters in hand. The assemblies of voters ins
tituted a civilian militia with the task of controlling the insurgency and to op
pose all acts of repression Royal. July 14: He was attacked the barracks "Hotel
des Invalides, the insurgents took possession of guns and weapons and so they jo
ined another crowd to bring down the Bastille, where there were more weapons. Th
ere was a real battle with the final victory of the people and the subsequent fa
ll of the fortress. July 15: The king had lost control of the capital and could
not count on the loyalty of the troops-in fact, often these
were passed in favor of the insurgents. " A delegation of the National Assembly
moved to Paris to consolidate the power of citizens. The Marquis Lafayette took
command of the civilian militia, which became the National Guard. The flag of th
e king was replaced by the tricolor. July 16: Louis the government announced the
recall of Necker and the withdrawal of the military in Paris. July 17: The King
arrives in Paris, is greeted by a huge crowd and is decorated with the tricolor
cockade with the symbol of revolution. The insurgency campaign and the abolitio
n of feudalism. In the cities, power was now the middle classes, but the unrest
had spread even to rural areas. The peasants revolted and refused to pay tithes
to the church and the various taxes to the nobles. Many of the castles attacked
and burned the archives with the feudal rights. The revolt was unmanageable, so
the middle class decided to satisfy the demands of the rioters. August 11: It ab
olished the feudal system, with its privileges. More problematic was the situati
on regarding property tax. Nobody wanted to be abolished private property, but,
faced with claims of noble claiming the "eminent", it became necessary to modern
ize these archaic forms of property. The declaration of rights. August 26: Natio
nal Assembly proclaimed a Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen. This cla
imed the inalienable rights of all citizens and equality before the law, trample
d things so far, because, according to the Third, all the corruptions of the sta
te. They had also claimed the idea as a simple civil servant of the king and the
law as the will of the whole people. In the statement converged various politic
al theories including the one Democratic Rousseau. This document covers however
only the freedom that every man has from the outset, it was developed separately
from the constitution. In this statement, however, there were points about slav
ery and the right to vote extended to all, to avoid losing a share of supporters
.
4. The experiment and the end of constitutional monarchy.
The search for a new constitutional settlement. The people of Paris decided to i
ntervene again in October 1789, with an event to move the king, court and Nation
al Assembly from Versailles to Paris. Things seemed to re-establish,€but the lul
l was temporary and therefore needed a stable constitutional settlement. There w
ere no parties in the assembly of distinct, but the positions of thought identif
ied with the positions at the meeting: • Right: Compared to the position of the
presidency. It was not prone to changes. They wanted to inspire the English cons
titution, with a king could appoint an assembly parallel to that of the people,
and oppose the laws. • Left: Position of those who wanted a separation of powers
. They wanted a single parliament that could not be dissolved by the king, who h
ad a limited right of veto, that is not worth the second time that a law was pro
posed and approved in parliament. The debate on extending the right to vote. The
left, however, split into moderates (led by La Fayette and Mirabeau) and a grou
p aiming to democratic solutions (where Robespierre emerged). Were many problems
which were divided, but most important was the extension of suffrage. It stemme
d from the fact that all citizens were equal before the law, but the voting righ
ts of those who had had their freedom, then the male majority. Who did not have
this freedom (minors, women and servants) could not vote. So there was a distinc
tion between citizenship "passive", with no voting rights, and an "active" with
that right. The citizens voted for electors of the second degree (having a highe
r income), which in turn elect deputies, chosen in a more restricted number of p
eople. Participation in political life was not for everyone. The reshaping of Fr
ance. The various social classes were able to agree on several issues: • Aboliti
on of absolutism: They divided the various powers by making eligible charges for
these and eliminate the stewards (commissioners appointed by the King with full
power to tax) • Trade liberalization and production: They took the inland custo
ms privileges and monopolistic companies. • Remedy the dishonesty of the offices
: the administration of justice became free privileges and tax abolished, all ci
tizens were then able to access to public office. The company had changed profou
ndly, considering the titles removed and the granting of civil rights to Jews an
d Protestants. The problem of debt and assigned. A major problem was financial.
You could not remedy the debt with the only tax revenue in a short period, so th
ey decided to confiscate all church property and sell to pay off the debt. Altho
ugh the performance of these goods was high, the time of sale were still long an
d, shortly before, were issued by the Assembly of allocated (public debt securit
ies with a 5% interest) with which the state could begin to heal debt. These all
ocated could be used to buy Church property offered for sale, but slowly, were a
lso used for private payments and later became a paper money without interest, w
hich could not be refused if payment is made. The civil constitution of the cler
gy. Further reform on the church in France was that of 1790, called "civil const
itution of the clergy"
1. Priests and bishops were elected directly by citizens and not by the pope. 2.
The Episcopal Diocese were reduced to a number of departments, wasting several
bishops to their office
3. The priests would receive a state salary This reform, however, was rejected b
y most of the clergy, as was imposed without convening any council, leading to
a schism in the French church. The beginnings of the counter and the flight to V
arennes. Meanwhile outside, monarchies across Europe attended the events of the
French one hand were raised because the greatest European military power was in
crisis, the other feared that their crowds would follow the French example. Then
the kings of Europe are in favor of Louis XVI. The King of France, however, in
1791, recanted all the work of the revolution, trying to escape. This was crushe
d the next day when they were recognized at Varennes and brought back to Paris.
The assembly but not the real accused and credited the story to a kidnapping. Me
anwhile, the Jacobins were divided between those who opted for a moderate-most c
hoice-and the rest turned to that most democratic evolution. In the latter stood
Robespierre faction that wanted to maintain an alliance with Paris, befriending
Danton and Marat. Sides to the Legislative Assembly. The king was restored to t
heir functions swearing allegiance to the constitution and then elections were h
eld for the Legislative Assembly.€There were 745 deputies who were divided into:
• Feuillants: Group moderated. • Jacobins. • Girondins: Followers of Jean-Pierr
e Brissot, represented the interests of the bourgeoisie of Bordeaux and Nantes.
The rest were neutral to these factions. The war and the second revolution. Euro
pe, frightened by a possible general revolution, threatening military interventi
on. This was intended by the king of France because he hoped to be so defeated a
nd so as to also suppress the revolution, even the Girondins wanted war, but the
y thought to win and overthrow the various tyrannies. Thus in 1792 the Girondins
attacked the Austrians, on charges that they had protected some aristocrats, bu
t the engagement proceeded down the Girondins themselves. The heavy situation an
d to defeat, or economic, took a few months after a revolt in Paris, the king wa
s imprisoned and new elections were held. After the front of Verdun the French s
oldiers surrendered, a crowd of common people in Paris (sans-culottes) went in s
earch of traitors from massacre, on charges that he sold to the enemy, the massa
cred but often had nothing to do with policy. Was later prepared a new constitut
ion and September 21 was proclaimed a republic, and the French a victory at Valm
y.
5. The Jacobin Republic.
The Convention and the condemnation of Louis XVI. Following the second uprising
in Paris there were changes, the group stopped Feuillants you exist, while some
filomonarchici decided it was best to move. They had three parties (Girondins, J
acobins, the neutrals), and even allies of revolution, struggling on the sentenc
ing of the king. But after incriminating documents found, were "satisfied" the J
acobins and the king was tried and put to death, guillotined in 1793. The extens
ion of the war front. After the victory of Valmy, the war seemed to turn in favo
r of the French proceeded with the invasion of Belgium and the Netherlands, hand
ing me as liberators and bearers of brotherhood. England, however, was so threat
ened: • Internally: the widespread success that the French Revolution was gainin
g • Externally: from France widened its borders. But the Girondins took countera
ttack England, declaring war before he could do it herself. Rallied against the
French then even the Netherlands, Spain, German and Italian princes. Thus the Pr
ussian troops entered Belgium and conquered the French, Savoy was revived by the
King of Sardinia and the Spaniards crossed the Pyrenees. The economic and polit
ical crisis of 1793. Meanwhile, however, rebellions flared up due to a strong ec
onomic crisis. This was given by the ever increasing unemployment, food shortage
s and rising prices through the roof, damaging farmers and artisans. The sale of
church property while wearing only benefit those who were better off economical
ly, since the lots were big enough for sale. The value assigned instead lost eve
ry day (inflation) and was forced to accept them as paper money, became the firs
t victim of inflation because they sell goods in exchange for granted. This situ
ation of constant crisis risked losing the support of the people, who was then t
he most affected, in fact, the peasants of the Vendée unleashed a revolt that th
rew himself on anyone who joined the revolution. Consequently, even the Parisian
s rose up again before the total collapse, and overthrew the Girondins. The gove
rnment's Public Health Committee. After several revolts was applied a new consti
tution, more democratic, which dominated rather intransigent leaders like Robesp
ierre, who had substituted Danton and the Girondins, too benevolent with corrupt
ion and speculation. This new kind of dictatorship was directed mainly by the pu
blic health committee, who took the crucial decisions: 1. Abolition of the redem
ption of fiefdoms. 2. Reduction of the church lots, to allow more people to buy.
3. Were imposed severe punishments against those who speculated on allocated. 4
. Was issued a decree on 'maximum' price, or the maximum price that each could a
chieve. 5. He organized a new army. 6. New effort to fight the Catholic Church.
Terror in Paris and France. The other side of this government was that of terror
to traitors, real or imagined, of the republic. In this period because the pris
oners in prisons increased excessively, as the death sentences. The guillotine w
orked continuously, not only in Paris, but in all provinces spread this climate
of repression against those who revolted (such as farmers
Vendée).€This continuous killing led to the various heads guillotine each other,
so that the same Danton was put to death. On the other hand the military situat
ion improved, the Vendée revolt was completely contained and the same for civil
warfare. Such stability opened the conquest of Belgium, which also focused Austr
ia and Prussia, which focused less on the French Revolution.
End.
Naomi Monni and Matthias Lai scolascico Year 2009 \ 10