the french revolution · the french revolution 1789-1799. ancien regime under the old order in...
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The French Revolution
1789-1799
Ancien RegimeUnder the old order in France everyone
belonged to one of three social classes
First Estate - The Clergy (Catholic Church
Officials)
Second Estate- The Nobles
Third Estate - Everyone else
(businessmen, professionals, peasant
farmers, urban poor)
The Three EstatesFirst Estate
Clergy (Church Officials)
Owned 10% of land
Collected 10% of
everyone’s income
Paid no direct taxes
Ran schools, hospitals, and
orphanages
Second Estate
Titled Nobility (used to be
knights)
Owned most of the land
Held the top jobs in the
government and army
Didn’t earn much actual
income
Resented the bourgeoisie
Third Estate
Included everyone else in
France
Most diverse class
Bourgeoisie wealthiest
Included bankers, doctors,
lawyers, peasant farmers,
urban poor
Paid high taxes
Resented the 1st and 2nd
estate
Deficit Spending- Paying for wars, paying for the court’s
extravagant lifestyle, and borrowing too much money led to
France becoming nearly bankrupt.
Although higher taxes were needed, the First and Second
Estates strongly resisted any change that would increase
their taxes
Bad harvests caused food shortages that caused peasants and
the urban poor to almost starve. The lack of food caused
these people to riot and attack the homes of nobles.
Louis XV (1715 - 1774)- pursued leisure before business, ran
up more debts, and fixed nothing
Louis XVI (1774 - 1792) - tried to make reforms, but was
weak and indecisive.
Jacques Necker- Financial expert who advised Louis XVI.
He was making progress until he advised taxing the First
and Second Estates. After trying to tax the clergy and
nobles, they forced the king to fire Necker
Economic Crisis in France
The Estates GeneralThe Estates General was the legislative body of the France, made up of representatives
from all three estates, each estate counted as one vote
Louis XVI knew reforms needed to be made, but the clergy and nobles demanded that he
call the Estates General before making changes
The members of the First and Second estates demanded this because they were afraid
Louis XVI would raise their taxes or take away privilege.
Although it hadn’t been done in over 175 years many people in France, from all classes,
thought calling the Estates General would give them a chance to get what they wanted
In preparation of the meeting, King Louis required each estate to prepare cahiers, or
notebooks listing their grievances
Although the Third estate was the largest group, they still only counted as one vote
Target audience
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The Tennis Court Oath● Only men who owned property were
allowed to vote in the Estates General
● As a result, many of the men who
represented the Third Estate were
educated men who read Voltaire,
Rousseau, and Montesquieu.
● These men wanted to end the old
one-vote-per-estate procedure and have
the entire group of delegates meet in one
large body and count the votes “by head”
The Tennis Court Oath● After weeks of the First and Second
Estates refusing to follow this new
procedure, the Third Estate claimed that
they represented the people of France
and declared themselves to be the
National Assembly
● After finding its meeting hall locked and
guarded, the National Assembly met in a
nearby tennis court and vowed to keep
meeting until the came up with a sound
constitution
● Reform minded nobles and clergy joined
the National Assembly and Louis XVI
accepted the the group as the main
legislative body
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25
35
22
Storming the Bastille
Deliverable 3
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The Bastille was a grim Medieval fortress used to
house prisoners
For the French, the Bastille was a powerful symbol of
the inequalities of the old order
On July 14, 1789, after hearing a rumor that royal
troops were going to occupy the city, more than 800
Parisians stormed the Bastille, eventually taking it over
Prisoners were released, the commanders of the
Bastille were beheaded
This event is regarded as the beginning of the French
Revolution. Today French citizens celebrate this date
as the birth of modern France
The Great FearTerrible famine also strikes during this
period of political turmoil
People with jobs had to spend as much as
80% of their salaries on bread
Rumors spread that attacks were
occurring on towns and villages. Rumor
also spread that government troops were
going to seize peasant crops
Nobles tried to reimpose medieval dues,
so peasants set fire to old manor records
and stole grain from store houses
Marquis de LaFayetteIn Paris many factions emerged and competed for political power
Early in the revolution Marquis de LaFayette (who fought alongside General Washington the the A.M.) emerged as
a leader
The moderate LaFayette led the middle class militia known as the National Guard. LaFayette’s national guard was
the first group to don the tricolor - red, white, and blue - badge that later became the French flag
A more radical club than LaFayette’s, known as the Paris Commune, replaced the royalist government in paris. Even
more radical clubs sprung up all over Paris
On August 4th 1789, the Nobles in the National Assembly
voted to end their own privileges (gave up manorial dues,
exclusive hunting rights, special legal status, and exemption
from taxes)
Declaration of the Rights of Man is issued in late August -
stated that all men were born free and enjoyed natural rights.
Also declared all men equal before the law, and that all men
could hold public office.
Voted to seize and sell church lands, and put the Catholic
Church under state control
Constitution of 1791 abolished the absolute monarchy and
established a Legislative Assembly that had the power to make
laws, collect taxes, and decide on issues of war.
Reforms of the National Assembly
Other Developments
Olympe de Gouges demanded equal rights for women in her “Declaration of the Rights of Woman”
Inspired by de Gouges, working women from Paris marched to Versailles and demanded that the King return to Paris
The King gave in. He and his family returned to Paris and basically lived as prisoners in Tuileries palace.
The people saw this move by the King as support for the revolution and cheered him.
After a short period the Louis and his family were caught trying to escape the country. They were captured and returned to an angry city
Opposition in Europe
The French Revolution was not very popular with the rest of Europe
European rulers were horrified by the “French Plague” that threatened absolute monarchies
French nobles who fled the country told horror stories of rioting, looting, and violence
Austria’s King (Marie Antoinette’s Bro) signed the Declaration of Pilnitz, vowing to protect the French Monarch
Monarchy Meets a Violent End
After the French Army lost a series of disastrous battles against foreign enemies, many Parisians accused the king of helping France’s enemies
On August 10, 1792 a crowd stormed the palace and massacred the king’s guards
A radical faction known as the Jacobins gained control of a new legislative body called the National Convention. The Jacobins attempted to erase all traces of the old order.
Eventually the Jacobins put Louis XVI on trial for treason. Louis was convicted and sentenced to death in January 1793
Marie Antoinette was later executed in october
Reign of Terror
By 1793 France was at war with Britain, the Netherlands, Spain, and Prussia. In the Vendee region of France, royalists and priests also organized a rebellion against the new government.
To deal with all these problems the Convention created the Committee of Public Safety
Eventually Maximilien Robespierre became the leader of the Committee of Public Safety and used his power to begin the Reign of Terror
During the Reign of Terror Robespierre instructed revolutionary courts to sentence anyone who was against the revolution to death.
Eventually the killings got out of hand, and fearing for their own lives, members of the convention turned against Robespierre and he himself was executed as an enemy of the Republic of France
Reaction and the Directory
After the Reign of Terror, more moderate citizens took over and formed another constitution.
The Constitution of 1795 set up a five man Directory and a two house legislature elected by male citizens of property
Overall the Directory was weak, but the directory did consolidate many reforms of the National Convention, set up a system of schools, and rebuilt the French economy.
Eventually, the directory was not strong enough to handle additional problems and Napoleon Bonaparte rose to power
Results of the Revolution
The old social order was gone, the monarchy was overthrown, and the Church was under state control
Nationalism spread throughout France
State schools were set up in place of religious schools, and the government replaced the church as the organization that helped the poor, old soldiers, and war widows
Slavery was abolished in France’s Caribbean colonies