The French Revolution

WHH McCoy 2011

The Estates-General of France
The First and Second Estate

 The Clergy
– 1% of population
– 20% of land
– Exempt from royal taxes

 The Nobility
– 2-4% of the population,
20% of the land
– “of the sword”
– “of the robe”
– Exercise feudal obligations
over the Third Estate
 The Third Estate

 Middle class, urban

artisans, and peasants
– 95% of the population

 Feudal taxes
– Taille, land tax
– Tithe, church tax
– Gabille, salt tax

 Becoming educated and

inspired by the new
philosophy of the
Enlightenment
 The Old Regime

 Louis XVI
– Grandson of Louis XIV
– Self-interested king that lacked
decisiveness needed by an
absolute monarch

 Marie Antoinette
– Daughter of the Habsburg Holy
Roman Emperor
– Manipulative mother despised by
French people

 Monarchy distant from people

at Versailles

 Government debt due to losing

the Seven Years War and
supporting the American
Revolution
 Financial Crisis- the Spark of Revolution Jacques Necker, Finance
Minister of France
 Defeat during the Seven Years War (1756-
1763) and the financial support of the American
Revolutionaries left country bankrupt
– In reality, Britain and France had similar debt, but
more advanced fiscal structure allowed Britain to
manage debt
– France, though the wealthier country, had poor fiscal
structure/policies and thus the debt was more
burdensome

 1776, Necker becomes the effective (unofficial

b/c he was protestant) financial minister
– Realizes that the Third Estate was carrying the
financial burden
– Argued that the 1st/2nd Estate should be taxed more
– Necker was relieved in 1783, and new minister
(Calonne) also proposed new tax codes (Necker is
reappointed just prior to the Revoluation)

 Excesses of the Court

– In addition to financial troubles…the percieved
excesses of Louis and Marie coupled with terrible
famine in 1787-1788 placed the monarchy on rocky
ground

 Facing financial collapse and pressure from the

Second Estate, Louis calls the Estates-General
for the first time since 1614
– The Estates are set to meet at Versailles in May,
1789
 The Estates-General, 1789
 Prior to meeting the deputies of the
Third Estate (representatives) had
petitioned and one the right to have
600 reps instead of the traditional 300
– Many considered this a revolution in
itself and expected the Third Estate to
have a new voice
– However, despite more reps each state
would still have the traditional single
vote

 The Estates meet at Versailles, May

1789
– Immensely ceremonial with festivities
and traditions
– The Third Estate took their traditional
seat at the end of the hall, with the First
and Second Estate sat in the center in
full regalia
– Became physically obvious that the
Third Estate was not being given a
deserving voice

 King and advisors sought to

immediately deal with taxes
– King wanted the estates to vote “by
orders” while the Third Estate wanted to
vote “by heads”
– Third Estate refuses to discuss taxes
until voting is amended
 The Moderate Revolution The Abbey Sieyes
 Despite the kings desire to talk taxes,
the first item on the agenda in the
verification of powers
– Each estate proceeded to discuss this
separately, soon became apparent that an
impasses was reached
– First and Second Estate knew they stood
to lose power if they proceeded

 June 1, 3rd estate invited 1st and 2nd to

join them and verify the new powers
– Unable to reach a resolution, the Third
Estate took a more radical attempt and…
– Declared themselves the National
Assembly on June 17, 1789 in
representation of the people

 The King Intervenes…

– Closes the meeting hall in order to
abolish the new decrees and proceed
with the Estates-General
– National Assembly meets in the “tennis
court” and swears not to dissolve until a
new constitution is drafted

 National Constituent Assembly

– Renamed themselves on July 9th
The Tennis Court Oath
 The Storming of the Bastille
 I n response to the actions of the
National Assembly…
– Now consisting of most of the 1st Estate
and significant amounts of the 2nd
– The army began to assemble outside
Paris and Versailles
– Necker, the finance minister, published a
public report of the king’s finances, for
which he was dismissed
– Many Parisians took this as evidence that
the king was now moving against the
“revolution,” especially in light of the
movements of the army

 July 14, 1789

– Riots begin to break out in Paris,
especially after the get the support of
some of the French Guard (elite soldiers)
– Fearing an attack by the army, the mob
begins to look for weapons…the Bastille

 The Bastille
– Located in the center of the city
– Symbol of royal/feudal power
– Used by the monarchy as a prison and
place of torture
– The prison is easily captured, and the
governor beheaded
– The Bastille is eventually torn down
 Destruction of the Old Regime

 Declaration of the Rights of Man

 August 4, the feudal taxes and obligations abolished

 Louis forced to leave Versailles- Oct. 5, 1789

– Louis brings flour
– “we are bringing back the baker, the baker’s wife, and the baker’s
boy”

 Civil Constitution of the Clergy

– French government now controlled the state

 National Assembly drafts the Constitution of 1791

– New government formed, the Legislative Assembly
 The Revolutionary Wars
 Prussia and Austria declare
war in 1792
– Sought to restore monarchy

 France does poorly, Danton

rallies troops to victory at
Valmy
– “Boldness, forever boldness,
and the fatherland will be
saved”

 Defeat and economic hard

times allow radicals to
assume power
 Sans-cullotes force new Charles François Dumouriez,
government, the National French victory at the Battle of Valmy, 1792
Convention in 1793
 Execution of Louis XVI
 Sans-culottes and the Paris
Commune want king
executed
– Many believed, including
Robespierre, that if the king
lives the revolution is wrong

 Convention splits…
– The Mountain, kill
– The Girondins, live

– Both Jacobins who desired

radical measures to ensure
loyalty

 Executed Jan. 21, 1793

 Countryside erupts in
rebellion
– War in the Vendee
– Nobility and lower classes
lived in relative equality- less
sympathy for the revolution
 The Reign of Terror (1793-94) Maximilien François Marie Isidore de Robespierre
 The Convention creates…
– Committee of Public Safety
– Lead by Robespierre
– Consisted of 12 men
– Adopted the French Constitution of 1793

 The Reign of Terror

– Sought a republic of virtue through terror
(executions)
– Great Terror
 Final phase of Robespierre’s “reign”
 Officially- 17,000 people died by the guillotine
 Historians think as many as 40,000

 Other Activities:
– War in the Vendee (West) of France
– Revolutionary armies supress and kill as many
as 100,000 “enemies” of the Revolution
– Jean-Paul Marat assassinated by Charlotte
Corday on July 13, 1793
– Marie Antionette executed on October 16, 1703

 De-Christianized France- 1794

– Create religion of reason- Cult of the Supreme
Being
– Robespierre assumes role as new leader of
reason
– Many feared him assuming total power
The Thermidorian Reaction-July
1794

 The Reactionary Revolution

 Triggered by the execution of

Robespierre
– Led by the followers of Danton

 Lasts until the National

Convention gives power to the
Directory, Oct. 1795

 Allowed greater religious

tolerance

 Economic inflation continues

 The Directory and the
Revolutionary Wars

 Directory assumes power in

Oct. 1795
– 5 men rule
– Call upon young Napoleon to
disperse initial revolts

 Weak and ineffective rule

 France advances on all fronts

– Napoleon defeats Austrians in
Italy
– Napoleon becomes national hero

 Napoleon invades Egypt in

1789 to try to cut off British
from India