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MR. MOUNCE
WORLD HISTORY
LECTURE NOTES
CHAPTER 7 SECTION 2, 3
I.
End of the Old Order
A. On August 4, 1789, the nobles in the National Assembly voted to end their privileges; the
nobles agreed that all male citizens could hold government, army, or church office.
B. The National Assembly composed the Declaration of the Rights of man and of the Citizen in
late August 1789, ensuring the equality of all citizens before the law. The Declaration of
Rights guaranteed freedom of speech, press, and religion, and protected against the arbitrary
arrest and punishment; it did not grant equal rights to women.
C. The king refused to accept the new reforms and the Declaration of Rights. In October 1789, as
an angry mob surrounded his palace in Versailles, the king declared that he would go to Paris and
his wife and children. A few days later, the National Assembly also moved to Paris.
II.
A New France
A.
In 1791 the National Assembly presented a new constitution to the people, keeping the
monarchy but limiting royal powers: it set up a unicameral legislature whose members were
to be chosen by males who paid a minimum tax.
B.
The Constitution of 1791 achieved the moderates’ goals, guaranteeing basic rights and
creating a limited monarchy freed from the power of the church and nobles.
III.
Decline of the Monarchy
A.
B.
C.
D.
IV.
In June 1791 Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette decided to disguise themselves and flee to
Austria to escape the growing unrest: the king was recognized, arrested and returned to
Paris, where he reluctantly accepted the limited monarchy.
French emigres tried to convince leaders of foreign governments that their own rule would
be threatened unless they halted the revolution in France.
French revolutionary leaders, fearing that Austria would try to reinstate Louis, declared war
on Austria in 1792. Prussia and Sardina soon entered the fray on the side of Austria.
War threw France into total upheaval, in which the radicals attacked the king’s place, took
over the Assembly, called for a new constitution, and extended the vote to all males.
The French Republic
A. In September 1792 the National Convention met in Paris and made France a republic, ending
the monarchy.
B. The National Convention, which met from 1792 to 1795, passed into law a number of
democratic reforms.
C. The democratic reforms expressed the French people’s hope that the republic would be the
dawn of a new era of freedom.
V.
Death of a King
A. In January 1793, having been convicted of conspiring “against the liberty of the nation,”
Louis was beheaded on the guillotine. In the days that followed, republican enthusiasm swept
the country.
B. Debate over the revolution’s future erupted in the Convention. The radical Jacobins formed
the Mountain, countered by a group of moderates called the Girondists. Seated between these
two rivals on the main floor was an undecided group called the Plain, which became
increasingly radical as the Jacobins gained power. As a result, the revolution itself became
more open to extreme and violent change.
V.
Spreading the Revolution
A. In 1793 the monarchs of Great Britain, the Netherlands, Spain, and Sardinia joined those of
Austria and Prussia in an alliance against the increasingly revolutionary government of
France.
B. France’s leaders were determined to overthrow royalty everywhere; one of the French leaders,
Georges-Jacques Danton, called upon French forces to expand France’s territories to their
natural frontiers.
C. An army of poorly trained volunteers won a string of battles for the French by catching the
enemy off guard; the enemy’s professional soldiers, however, soon forced the French
commander in chief to surrender.
D. The French Committee on Public Safety, which directed the war effort, adopted conscription
and called upon the skills and resources of all civilians.
E. Problems at home, including a civil war in western France and food shortages, plagued the
revolutionaries. Meanwhile, the Girondists and the Jacobins traded accusations. When the
Jacobins won control of the Convention, they arrested Girondists delegates.
VI.
The Reign of Terror
A. The Jacobins set out to crush all opposition within France. Known as the Reign of Terror, this
effort lasted from July 1793 to July 1794.
B. During the Reign of Terror, the Committee of Public Safety ruled France, and Robespierre
ruled the Committee.
C. The Committee went about setting up a “Republic of Virtue,” by which it meant a democratic
republic made up of good citizens.
D. After Robespierre accused Danton and his supporters of treason and had them executed, other
leaders of the revolution had Robespierre executed.
E. After Robespierre’s death, the Jacobins lost power and the Terror came to an end. By mid1794, many people even favored a restoration of the monarchy.
VII.
The Directory
A. In 1795, the Convention wrote a new constitution that created a government controlled by the
wealthy middle class. The Directory, a new executive council, ruled with a two-house
legislature.
B. During its rule from 1795 to 1799, the Directory used the army to put down uprisings by both
royalists and radicals.
C. As the Directory appeared inept in their handling of finances, French people of all classes
looked to the army to save France from ruin.
VIII.
Napoleon Takes Over
A. One of the many French military leaders who attracted public attention was a young general
name Napoleon Bonaparte. Napoleon won command of the French army fighting the
Austrians in Italy. He defeated the Austrians and forced them to sign a peace accord that gave
France control over most of northern Italy.
B. After the British navy destroyed his French fleet near Egypt, Napoleon abandoned his army
and returned to France. Entering Paris in October 1799 to cheering crowds, Napoleon quickly
joined leaders in a coup d’etat against the Directory.