THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

Four Phases of the French Revolution

National Assembly (1789-1791)

Legislative Assembly (1791-1792)

Convention (1792-1795)

Directory (1795-1799)

LONG TERM CAUSES

Everything previously discussed

• Absolutism• Unjust socio-political

system (Ancien Regime)• Poor harvests which left

peasant farmers with little money for taxes

• Influence of Enlightenment philosophers

Also

• System of mercantilism which restricted trade

• Influence of other successful revolutions• English Revolution

(1688-1689)• American Revolution

(1775-1783)

SHORT TERM CAUSESBankruptcy

• Caused by deficit spending

• Proposed changes• But these were

rejected• Assembly voted

against taxation for the nobility in 1787

Great Fear

• Worst famine in memory

• Hungry, impoverished peasants feared that nobles at Estates-General were seeking greater privileges

• Attacks on nobles occurred throughout the country in 1789

Estates-General

• Louis XVI had to call for a meeting of the Estates-General to find a solution to the bankruptcy problem• All three estates had

not met since 1614• Deadlock resulted in

the abolition of the monarchy, the of the Bastille and a completely new socio-political system for France

National Assembly (1791-1792) – p 78

THIRD ESTATE WANTED TO CHANGE THE VOTING SYSTEM

First Estate = 1 Vote or 130,000 Votes

Tennis Court Oath

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 Third Estate went to a nearby tennis court where its members vowed to stay together until the King accepted a new written constitution for France.

Louis XVI responded by locking the Third Estate out of the meeting.

The Third Estate declared itself to be the National Assembly (the real government of the people).

National Assembly (1789-1791)

•Louis XVI did not actually want the written constitution he had agreed to and sent troops to close down the assembly.

Tennis Court Oath

•The people (mobs) stormed the Bastille prison in response

The Great FearPeople in the countryside thought the nobles would burn their crops and starve them into submission. The peasants attacked the nobles and burned many of their chateauxs or castles.

Main Achievements of the National Assembly

•The 1791 Constitution in which the king would no longer be an absolute monarch, but subject to parliament in a constitutional monarchy

•Political powers were divided (legislative, executive and judicial) and limited suffrage introduced.

•The declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen:

•Freedom of religion•Freedom of speech•“Liberty, equality, fraternity!”•Guaranteed property rights•Right to a fair trial

This new government became known as the Legislative Assembly

•Democratic features– France became a limited monarchy– All laws were created by the Legislative

Assembly– Feudalism was abolished

•Undemocratic features– Voting was limited to taxpayers– Offices were reserved for property owners

•Church lands were seized, divided, and sold to peasants•Church officials were 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 special privileges of the First and Second Estates were abolished

Legislative Assembly (1791-1792) -p 79

The new government, however, had many opponents both inside and outside of France.

•Royal family looked to Austria (Ruled by Emperor Leopold, Marie Antoinette’s brother) for help– 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

ChurchOther European monarchs were frightened the revolution would spread to their own countries. •France was invaded by Austria and Prussia.

Marie Antoinette

Two main political forces appeared: the Girondins and the Jacobins (also known as the Montagnard)

•The Girondins were moderates and wanted to spread the revolution to other European countries (represented the provincial middle class and intellectuals).•The Jacobins were radicals led by Marat, Danton, and Robespierre (represented the urban working classes and were supported by the sans-culottes of Paris). •People suspected the king of wanting to lose the war against Austria so he could restore Absolute power

Robespierre

•The Paris mobs attacked the Palace and demanded the king was removed and a Republic established. France was declared a republic and the new government was called the National Convention.

sans-culottes

The Convention (1792-1795) p 80

January 21, 1793 King Louis XVI was tried and condemned to death by one vote (361-360) for:•Using force against the National Assembly•Secretly plotting to overthrow the Revolution•Attempting to escape from France•Bankrupting the country

Other European countries were horrified and Austria, England, Holland, Prussia, Sardinia and Spain formed a Coalition to invade France

The war went badly for France and prices rose as a result. The sans-culottes rioted in Paris and in some regions peasants loyal to the king revolted against the moderate Girondin government, who were blamed for the problems.

The Jacobins seized power through a parliamentary coup. The Committee of Public Safety was set up and came under the control of Maximilien Robespierre. The Jacobins Reign of Terror began (1793 - 1794).

The Reign of TerrorDecree by Convention, April

1793on the Committee of Public

Safety.“The Committee shall talk in

secret; it shall beresponsible for watching over

the work of thegovernment…under the critical circumstances it

is authorised to take measures to defend the

revolution against internal and external enemies.”

Committee of Public Safety.

Extract from a law introduced by theCommittee for Public Safety, 17th

September1793, to deal with suspects brought totribunals.“ Suspects shall be locked up…. The proofnecessary to convict enemies…can be any

kind ofevidence….If proof already exists there

need beno further witnesses….The penalty for alloffences under the law of revolutionary

tribunal isdeath.”

Between 3,000 and 15,000 people died on the guillotine during the Reign of Terror. 90% were members of the Third Estate, 7% the Second Estate and 3% the First Estate.

Execution Records, 1793.

1. Jean-Baptiste Henry,aged 18, journeymanTailor, convicted of having cutdown a tree of liberty,executed 6th September,1793.

3. HenrietteFrancoise Marboeuf,aged 55, convictedof having hoped forthe arrival of theAustrians andPrussians and ofkeeping food forthem, condemned todeath and executedthe same day.

2. Marie Plaisant,seamstress, convicted ofhaving exclaimed that shewas an aritocrat and thatshe did nots care a fig forthe nation, condemned todeath and executed thesame day.

4. FrancoisBertrand, aged37, publican,convicted ofhaving providedthe defendersof the countrywith sour wine,condemned andexecuted thesame day.

The Committee allowed revolutionary tribunals to convict people without hearing evidence. This was called the Law of Prairial. In September 1793, the Convention passed a law called the Law of Suspects. People could now be put in prison without trial.

On July 27, 1794, Partly because of military successes in the wars with European states, the French people revolted against the excesses of the Reign of Terror in what became known as the Thermidorian Reaction. The moderate Girondin members were able to gain control of the convention and Robespierre was arrested and sentenced to death. He was guillotined on July 28, 1794.

The Convention approved a new "Constitution of the Year III" on 17 August 1795; a plebiscite ratified it in September; and it took effect on September 26, 1795.

The new constitution included a new structure of government Known as the Directory

Government under the Directory

•5 directors appointed by the LegislatureExecutive•Lower house (500 members) proposed laws•Upper house (250 members) voted on these laws•2/3 of the Legislature would initially be filled by members of

the Convention

Legislature

•Girondists (middle-class party) had defeated the Jacobins (working- and peasant-class party)

•Girondists’ constitution stated that suffrage (the right to vote), as well as the right to hold office, were limited to property owners

Qualifications

• The new régime met with opposition from remaining Jacobins and royalists.

• The rule of the Directory was marked by corruption, financial difficulties, political purges, and a dependence on the army to maintain control.

• The people of France grew poorer and more frustrated with their government.

• Because of military successes, and maybe because of their frustration with the new government, the French had a focal point and a strong feeling of National Pride emerged.

Directory (1795-1799) – p80

Victories in Italy and the defeat of the British in Egypt made Napoleon Bonaparte the most famous general in France. He He would come to power through a coup d’état, ending the ten-year period (1789-1799) known as the French Revolution.

1. What Paris building was stormed on July

14, 1789?

2. What human rights were established in

France by the Declaration of the

Rights of Man?

3. What were émigrés, and why did French revolutionaries view them as a threat?

4. Name and describe the two political

parties that competed for power in

revolutionary France.

5. What was the Committee of Public

Safety?

6. Describe the Reign of Terror and explain

how it eventually came to an end.

7. Looking back at the first half of 1789, could the French Revolution have been avoided? If

so, how?