Transcript French Revolution

French Revolution
Preparing for the Estates-General
Winter of 1788-1789
Members of the estates elected representatives
Cahiers
Traditional lists of grievances written by the people
Nothing out of the ordinary
Asked for only moderate changes
Meeting of the Estates-General:
May 5, 1789
Voting was conducted by estate
Each estate had one vote
First and Second Estates could operate as a bloc to
stop the Third Estate from having its way
◊ First Estate + ◊ Second Estate - vs. - ◊ Third Estate
Representatives from the Third Estate demanded
that voting be by population
This would give the Third Estate a great advantage
Deadlock resulted
IF VOTING
WAS BY
POPULATION
First
Estate =
1 Vote or
130,000
Votes
The Tennis Court Oath
“The National Assembly, considering that it has been
summoned to establish the constitution of the kingdom, to
effect the regeneration of the public order, and to maintain
the true principles of monarchy; that nothing can prevent it
from continuing its deliberations in whatever place it may
be forced to establish itself; and, finally, that wheresoever its
members are assembled, there is the National Assembly;
“Decrees that all members of this Assembly shall immediately
take a solemn oath not to separate, and to reassemble
wherever circumstances require, until the constitution of
the kingdom is established and consolidated upon firm
foundations; and that, the said oath taken, all members and
each one of them individually shall ratify this steadfast
resolution by signature.”
Tennis Court Oath by Jacques Louis David
Tennis Court Oath
The Third Estate declared itself to be the National Assembly – June 17, 1789.
Louis XVI responded by locking the Third Estate out of the meeting – June 20, 1789.
The Third Estate relocated to a nearby tennis court where its members vowed to stay
together and create a written constitution for France.
On June 23, 1789, Louis XVI relented. He ordered the three estates to meet together as
the National Assembly and vote, by population, on a constitution for France.
The Storming of The Bastille
-
The Bastille was a large
fortress which doubled as a
prison; to the
revolutionaries it was a sign
of opression.
-
On July 14th, 1789 the
people and some soldiers
stormed the fortress looking
for prisoners (of which
there were only seven) and
weapons to fight back
against the King’s army.
-
This became the point
where reform turned into
the full fledged revolution.
Four Phases (Periods) of the
French Revolution
National Assembly (1789-1791)
Legislative Assembly (1791-1792)
Convention (1792-1795)
Directory (1795-1799)
National Assembly
(1789-1791)
Louis XVI did not
actually want a written
constitution
When news of his plan
to use military force
against the National
Assembly reached Paris
on July 14, 1789, people
stormed the Bastille
Uprising in Paris
People of Paris seized
weapons from the Bastille
Uprising spread throughout
France
•July 14, 1789
•Parisians organized their
own government which
they called the Commune
•Small groups – factions –
competed to control the
city of Paris
•Nobles were attacked
•Records of feudal dues and
owed taxes were destroyed
•Many nobles fled the
country – became known
as émigrés
•Louis XVI was forced to fly
the new tricolor flag of
France
Consolidating the Revolution
August 4, 1789
National Assembly swept away
much of the Old Regime
King no longer rules of divine
right
Constrained by powers spelled
out in a constitution
Adopted the Declaration of the
Rights of Man and the Citizen
Declaration of the Rights of Man
Freedom of
religion
Freedom of
speech
Freedom of
the press
Guaranteed
property rights
“Liberty,
equality,
fraternity!”
Right of the
people to
create laws
Right to a fair
trial
Declaration of the Rights of
Woman
Journalist Olympe de
Gouges argued in her
Declaration of the Rights
of Woman that women
are equal citizens and
should benefit from
governmental reforms
just as men did.
Women did gain some
rights during the French
Revolution, but these
were designed for
Madame Jeanne
Roland also served as a purposes other than
leader in the women’s liberating women.
rights movement, and • Women could inherit
property, but only because
was able to heavily
doing so weakened feudalism
influence her husband
and reduced wealth among
(a government official).
the upper classes.
• Divorce became easier, but
only to weaken the Church’s
control over marriage.
Goodbye, Versailles! Adieu,
Versailles!
Parisian Commune feared that Louis XVI would
have foreign troops invade France to put down the
rebellion
Louis XVI’s wife, Marie Antoinette, was the sister of
the Austrian emperor
A group of women attacked Versailles on October
5, 1789
Forced royal family to relocate to Paris along with
National Assembly
Royal family spent next several years in the Tuileries
Palace as virtual prisoners
Tuileries Palace (Paris, France)
End of Special Privileges
Church lands were seized, divided, and sold to
peasants
Civil Constitution of the Clergy required that Church
officials be elected by the people, with salaries paid by
the government
2/3 of Church officials fled the country rather
than swear allegiance to this
All feudal dues and tithes were eradicated
All special privileges of the First and Second Estates
were abolished
Reforms in Local Government
The 30 provinces and their “petty tyrants”
(Intendants) were replaced with 83 new
departments
Ruled by elected governors
New courts, with judges elected by the people,
were established
*** Compare and Contrast the views of Burke
“Reflections on the Revolution” and Paine
“Rights of Man” on this stage of French Gov’t
-- text pages 80 &81
Constitution of 1791
Democratic features
France became a limited monarchy
King became merely the head of state
All laws were created by the Legislative Assembly
Feudalism was abolished
Undemocratic features
Voting was limited to taxpayers
Offices were reserved for property owners
This newly created government became known as the
Legislative Assembly (Phase 2 of Rev.)
Changes under the National
Assembly
Abolishment of
guilds and labor
unions
Abolition of
special privileges
Constitution of
1791
Declaration of the
Rights of Man
Equality before the
law (for men)
Many nobles left
France and became
known as émigrés
Reforms in local
government
Taxes levied based
on the ability to
pay
Legislative Assembly
1791-1792
Constitution of 1791
Sept. 1791: Constitution accepted by Louis – Paris
celebrated the ‘end of the Revolution’
Oct. 1791: Legislative Assembly held first session
Democratic features:
France had become a limited constitutional monarchy
(King was merely the head of state)
All laws were created by the Legislative Assembly
(name of new government)
Feudalism was abolished
Undemocratic features:
Voting was limited to male taxpayers
Offices were reserved for property owners
Legislative Assembly (1791-1792)
Royal family sought help from Austria
In June, 1791, they were caught trying to escape to Austria
Nobles who fled the revolution lived abroad as émigrés
They hoped that, with foreign help, the Old Regime could
be restored in France
Church officials wanted Church lands, rights, and
privileges restored
Some devout Catholic peasants also supported the Church
Political parties, representing different interests,
emerged
Girondists
Jacobins
The Radical Phase 1791 - 1795
Election of the new Legislative Assembly (Oct 1791)
745 deputies
Girondins
Feuillants
(majority)
Republican,
supported by
peasants
Equal rights
for all
Jacobins
Republican,
more radical,
highly
centralized
republic,
supported by
mob
Conservative
monarchists who
wanted to limit
further changes
Events and Opposition…
April 1792: Legislative Assembly declared war on Austria
Assembly was afraid members of Austrian Royal family (Marie Antoinette’s
family) would attack revolutionaries
Leftists hoped war would spread Revolution to Europe
Reactionaries hoped preoccupation with war would cool off Revolution;
defeat might restore old Regime
Following declaration of war, Austrian and Prussian troops invade France
In the uproar of war, the Commune took control of Paris – lead by Danton (a
Jacobin)
Voters began electing representatives for a new convention – would write a
republican constitution for France
Republic: a government in which people elect representatives who will
create laws and rule on their behalf
Sept. 1792: thousands of nobles were executed under suspicion that they were
conspirators in the foreign invasion, and 1200 prisoners in Paris were killed for
being counter-revolutionaries (event known as September massacre)
Convention
1792-1795
The Convention
Sept. 22, 1792: the Convention met for the first time
First act: Establish the first French Republic
Opposition from within: fighting between different parties
(moderate/majority Girondists and radical Jacobins allied
with sans-culottes)
Opposition from abroad: Austria, England, Holland,
Prussia, Sardinia, and Spain formed a Coalition invading
France
= France was fighting an internal civil war and an external
hostile war
Abolishment of the Monarchy
As long as the royal family lived,
the monarchy could be restored
King and Queen were put on trial
for treason (trying to leave France)
Jan. 21, 1793: Louis XVI guillotined
Oct. 16, 1793: Marie Antoinette
guillotined
Daughter allowed to go to Vienna in
1795 (could never become Queen)
Son beaten until he died in prison
(only 10 years old!)
The Counter Counter-Revolution
(i.e. against those who were against the Revolution…)
The Convention feared counter revolts against the
weakening Girondists, therefore…
Strengthened laws against emigrés
Established Watch Committees (March 1793)
April 1793: Created the Committee for Public
Safety (CPS) – original purpose was to eliminate
counter-revolutionary movements, raise new
armies, and assure food supplies for both armies
and cities
First leader: Danton (Jacobin)
Reign of Terror
September 5, 1793-July 27, 1794
(still during the time of the Convention…)
Events
While the Convention remained the official government, it was
the CPS that had all the power – despite military success, the
Convention continued to face problems domestically
Jacobins (lead by Danton) came to dominate French politics
Two months after the creation of the CPS, it was ‘re-created’ with
12 new representative, all extremist revolutionaries
Lead first by Danton, later Robespierre
Anyone accused of treason was put on trial by the Committee’s
Revolutionary Tribunal …
Officially 16,000 people died on the guillotine (9 month period) historical records suggest closer to 50,000
* Members of the CPS saw the Terror and the war as a national
mission against evil inside and outside France (“enemies of
liberty”)
The Guillotine: the
“National Razor”
• During the 1700s, executions
in France were public events
– most common execution
was quartering – upper-class
criminals could buy their way
into less painful deaths
• Doctor Joseph Guillotin
wanted a capitol punishment
method equal for all classes –
invented guillotine (named
after him)
Growing coalition against the French
European countries (Coalition) were afraid revolutionary
ideals would spread (wanted to restore monarchy), while
France wanted to spread its ideas – called wars “revolutionary
wars”
The Convention drafted Frenchmen into the army – the people
supported military operations because they did not want the
country back under the Old Regime (very effective as citizens’
army fighting for ideals)
One group of guardsmen from the provinces came singing
“Marseillaise” (written by Rouget de Lisle) – song came to
inspire troops while lead into battle, became the French
national anthem
Two years of wars resulted in the Coalition being defeated
and France gaining territory
The CPS: A new culture
Replaced all formality of aristocracy and
monarchy – people were even executed for
using former ‘titles’, now had to refer to
everyone as ‘citizen’
Anti-Christianity: goal was to destroy the
church
Forced Priests to marry
Abolished Catholicism
Notre Dame became the “Temple of Reason”
Made a new calendar to replace the old
Christian calendar, began with 1792 as the
birth of the new Republic
Named months after seasons
So… how did the Reign
of Terror end?
• Girondists tried to end the Terror –
•
•
•
•
•
many were executed by the CPS for
treason
Danton eventually wanted to end
the executions, resulted in himself
being executed for treason
CPS taken over by Robespierre –
became even more violent
Convention came to blame
Robespierre for Terror
June 1794: military success in war –
French people becoming angry over
the violence of the Terror
Lead to “Thermidorean Reaction”
– July 27 Terror ended, Robespierre
guillotined July 28
The Directory
1795-1799
The Directory
1795 (year III of the Republic): with foreign invaders
defeated and the Reign of Terror over, the Convention
was finally able to inaugurate its new constitution:
created the Directory
The Government under the Directory:
The new constitution split the nation’s power between a
two-housed Assembly and a Directory of 5 men
Executive: 5 men appointed by the legislature
Legislature: Lower house (500 members) proposed laws,
Upper house (250 members) voted on these laws
• The Directory suffered from
corruption and poor
administration
• People of France grew poorer
and more frustrated with their
government
• Even with these struggles (or
perhaps because of them), the
French developed strong
nationalism, which was fueled
by military successes
• What came next…? Napoleon
Bonaparte, coming to power
through a coup d’etat (1799) to
end the ten year period of the
French Revolution!