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Absolutism in Crisis
The impact of the American Revolution
– No taxation without representation
– Success: government without kings and nobles is possible
Problems of the “Enlightened Despots”
– Critique of their militarism– Contempt for the people
(“the voice of the people is the voice of the cattle”)
Catherine II
The Crisis in France
Enlightened despotism was inconsistent and disappointing; Louis XVI
Half-hearted repression (lettres de cachet) - easy target for enlightenment critique
Very dynamic, assertive society
Rich country with a bankrupt government
The Financial Crisis of France
Reasons:– Wasteful court management– Foreign war– Antiquated trade structure– Narrow tax base (near
exemption for the clergy and nobility)
Hence: a “new deal” is unavoidable - but dangerous
Three Layers of Social Tensions
1. Monarchy versus aristocracy
2. Privileged wealth versus unprivileged wealth
3. The poor versus the rich
1. Monarchy against Aristocracy
Aristocracy wants to go back to pre-absolutist times but justifies its demand in enlightenment terms (balance of power; rational government; social contract - but according to Locke, not Rousseau)
Aristocrats demand a parliament, the Estates General (not convened since 1614). Votes by estate. Therefore: secure majority for clergy and aristocracy
2. Privileged Wealth versus Unprivileged Wealth The Three Estates The aristocracy enjoys
privileges (tax exemption; careers; legal advantages)
The wealthy members of the Third Estate resent these privileges (businessmen, merchants, artisans, bankers)
An example: the Noailles Affair
3. The Poor Versus the Rich
Commercial downturn and bad harvests: 1787-89 Enlightenment ideas (Rousseau) among the lower
classes: "we, the people, deserve better than being poor, unrepresented, and exploited”
New mindset: instead of “we want bread” - “we want the GOVERNMENT to provide bread!”
Peasants resent feudal contracts and aristocratic arbitrariness
Hence: as France is approaching a major crisis of government, many hungry, even starving people are waiting in the wings, particularly in the cities
The Start of the Revolution
Aristocratic rebellion, 1787-89. Demand for Estates General. Tax strike
Rebellion of the Third Estate: wants doublement du tiers and voting by head, not by estate
Abbé Siéyès: the third estate is the nation!
Louis XVI concedes the demands of the Third Estate
1. Phase: Toward a Constitutional Monarchy and Abolition of Privilege Third Estate with allies
declares itself the National Assembly. Promise to write a constitution
“Great Fear” Popular rebellion in Paris:
storm on the Bastille (July 1789); later abduction of the royal couple from Versailles to Paris
Constitution and Declaration of Rights of Man - 1791
Balance Sheet for the 1st Phase
Establishment of a constitutional monarchy and declaration of rights of men, but not of women
Merit trumps privilege in careers, but voting is still restricted by income; no democracy
Abolition of feudalism through the “Great Fear” Centralization, rationalization, standardization of weights
and measures Problems:
– Louis XVI remains unwilling to work within the new constitutional framework (“monsieur véto”; flight to Varennes)
– Civil Constitution of the Clergy and confiscation of church lands (financial measure) splits the countryside and leads to massive unrest
2nd Phase: Constitution of a Republic; Civil and Foreign War Legislative Assembly
declares war on Austria As the war turns to the
worse, the Assembly calls for a democratic constitution and universal manhood suffrage
Deposition of the king Random massacres of
aristocrats and priests Decision to execute the
king
Balance Sheet of the 2nd Phase
Commitment to democracy and a republic
Huge mobilization of revolutionary fanatics
Problems: – Radicalism of Paris crowds is
out of the step with much of the country at large. Declaration of the Republic is preceded by violence
– Economic crisis; inflation. Exacerbated by war
– Church policy ignites civil war in the countryside
3rd Phase: Reign of Terror and Mobilization of the Nation The assembly, renamed as
“Convention,” sets up two emergency committees
These committees establish a dictatorship (Robespierre)
Democratic constitution, to be implemented after the war
Levée en masse Cultural Revolution Civil War (Vendée)
Balance Sheet of the 3rd Phase:
Commitment to democracy, but at the same time terror in the name of the people
Cultural Revolution with absurdities of “political correctness”
Repression of counter-revolution and turn of the war in France’s favor
But the terror seems increasingly absurd and uncontrolled
4th Phase: Thermidorian Reaction and Directorate Attempt to stabilize the
revolution against both the left and the right
Republic of property owners, ruled by 5 directors
Bi-cameral parliament with lower house elected along property suffrage lines
Export of the Revolution through foreign war: Sister republics
Balance Sheet of the 4th Phase
Precarious stability, built on a thin political base
White terror against revolutionaries; continued uprisings from the poor
Growing dependency on foreign war and victories - hence on the army and its most prestigeous generals
General Napoléon Bonaparte is invited to perform a coup d’état (brumaire 1799)
Napoleon in France
His recipe: universal manhood suffrage but powerless parliament; plebiscites (Bonapartism)
Concordat (1801) First Consul for life (1802) Code Napoléon (1804) Emperor (1804) Dependent on military
glory. Increasing popular resentment at endless wars
Napoleon in Europe
Conqueror and military genius
Great victories in land battles (Austerlitz, 1805), but loss of sea power (Trafalgar, 1805)
Continental System From liberator to oppressor Downfall (Spanish
uprising, Russia) Short comeback in 1815