REVOLUTION BRINGS REFORM AND TERROR
Unit 5: The French Revolution & Napoleonic
Era (1789-1815)
The National Assembly Reforms France
The Great Fear spread terror over France during the summer of 1789.
National Assembly – in response to uprisings met Aug 4th & killed Old Regime by wiping away privileges of 1st and 2nd Estates & making commoners equal to nobles & clergy.
They were probably motivated more by fear of anarchy & chaos than by Enlightenment idealism, but the American Revolution’s result certainly impacted some.
The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen
Aug 25, 1789 – like our own Dec. of Ind. but for France, it stated that:
1. men are born with equal rights (liberty, property, security, and resistance to oppression)
2. government’s responsibility is to secure rights3. it guaranteed free speech & religion 4. people are equal in eyes of the law5. people are innocent until proven guilty
“Liberty, Equality, Fraternity” became the slogan Writer Olympe de Gouges – She proposed a Dec. Rts.
Women was rejected & later she was executed in 1793.
The State Takes Control of the Church
National Assembly declared Church officials & priests were to be elected & paid by state.
Church lost land & political independence. Land sold to pay off national debt.
Many peasants didn’t agree that Church should be state-run & that Pope should rule over independent Church. It turned some of them against future Assembly reforms.
Notre-Dame de Paris1163-1345 A.D
Louis XVI & Family Try to Escape
His supporters felt monarchy in danger.
June 1791 – they try to escape to Austrian Netherlands.
They were spotted and forced to return to Paris under guard.
“I am no longer a King of France.”
The escape attempt only emboldened their enemies.
Divisions and Rivalries Develop
Sept 1791 – Louis agrees to the new constitution drafted by the National Assembly. It established a limited monarchy & Legislative Assembly- to create & adopt laws, & reject war declarations. The king was limited, but he still had executive power.
In spite of the new government, bread shortages & debt were still problems. How to best handle these problems will split the assembly into 3 different groups.
Left, Right, and Center
Radicals Moderates ConservativesSat on left and wanted to do away with monarchy and make many changes to the government.
Sat in the middle of the meeting hall; wanted some changes, but not as many as the left.
Sat on the right and backed the limited monarchy and wanted only a few changes.
Other factions outside the assembly also tried to have influence: Émigrés - nobles & others who fled who hoped to restore the Old Regime & sans culottes (those without knee breeches) – Parisian shop keepers & laborers who were not upper class wanted greater change in France. They searched for ways to exert their influence.
Exit Slip – The Assembly Reforms France
1. This landmark French document of August 1789 officially marked the end of the Old Regime?a. The Constitution b. French Bill of Rightsc. The Declaration of the Rights of Man & Citizen
2. Which group posed most opposition to the state’s takeover of the Catholic Church?a. 3rd Estate b. Peasants c. Sans-culottes
3. Louis XVI and family’s escape attempta. Succeeded b. Failed c. Never occurred
4. France’s new constitution established aa. Limited Monarchy b. Republic c. Dictatorship
Bell Ringer – The Assembly Reforms France
1. This group sat in the middle of the Legislative Assembly and favored only a few changes to France’s government?
2. This group sat on the right and liked the new constitution?
3. This group sat on the left and wanted drastic changes including doing away with the king?
4. Émigré’s or sans-culottes: Nobles who wanted to restore the Old Regime?
France is Invaded
Other countries feared that the changes in France would spread to their lands.
Austria & Prussia urged France to restore the monarchy. The Legislative Assembly declared war in April 1792.
At first the war went badly for France as Prussians neared Paris. They threatened to destroy the city if royal family was harmed.
Aug 10, 1792 – the Tuileries was stormed, guards massacred, & royal family imprisoned
The September Massacres (1792)
Rumors - supporters of the king in Paris prisons planned to escape & seize the city.
An angry mob began attacking prisons & murdered over 1000. Nobles, priests also fell.
Radicals in streets pressured Leg. Assembly to set aside Constitution of 1791 & elect a new legislature – National Convention (Sept. 21, 1791) – abolished the monarchy & declared France a republic.
The Jacobins Take Control
Jacobin Club – a radical political organization led by Jean-Paul Marat.
His newspaper, Friends of the People, called for the death of those who supported the king.
He later was murdered in the summer of 1793 by Charlotte Corday.
Due to National Convention, Louis XVI was no longer king, but a prisoner. He went to guillotine in Jan. 1793 for treason & beheaded.
The War Against France Continues
Sept. 1792 – Battle of Valmy – French troops won victory over Prussians & Austrians.
Early 1793 – Great Britain, Holland, & Spain joined Prussia & Austria against France & France suffered a string of defeats.
Jacobin leaders in the Convention ordered a draft of 300,000 French men between 18 – 40. Even a few women served in the 800,000 – strong army.
The Reign of Terror (July 1793 – July 1794)
Early 1793 -Maximilien Robespierre (a Jacobin) wanted a “republic of virtue” by wiping out France’s past.
New calendar (12 months of 30 days each), no Sundays, & closed all churches.
Committee of Public Safety – to protect the republic from enemies – he was dictator.
The Reign of Terror Claims 40,000
“Enemies of the Revolution” often fellow radicals who challenged Robespierre or those who were “less radical” than he was.
Among those who perished at the guillotine were Georges Danton (Jacobin lawyer) & Marie Antoinette.
1000’s of unknowns also died, including an 18 yr-old who cut down a liberty tree.
Ironically, about 85% were peasants or urban poor for whom the revolution was supposed to help.
The End of the Terror
National Convention – July 1794 – turned on Robespierre & demanded his arrest & execution. July 28, 1794 he was beheaded.
People of all classes tired of the Terror & high prices for bread & salt & necessities.
1795 – the Convention drafts France’s 3rd government since 1789 –a Bourgeoisie - controlled two-house legislature led by 5 moderate men – called The Directory.
Exit Slip – War, Execution, and Terror!
1. T or F: The September Massacres of 1792 occurred due to the invasion of France by Austria and Germany.
2. T or F: The Jacobins were radicals that wanted to kill all of those who supported the king, including the king himself.
3. T or F: Jacobin leader Robespierre was most responsible for the Reign of Terror that claimed the lives of the queen and 40,000 others.
4. T or F: After the Terror and the death of Robespierre, the National Convention created yet another government headed by the Directory.
