Download Estates-General

The French Revolution
Objective: Describe the French
Revolution.
France
What were the main social classes
before the revolution? pg. 213
 First Estate (clergy) - .5% of people
What were the main social classes
before the revolution? pg. 213
 Second Estate (nobles – government
officials) – 1.5 % of people
What were the main social classes
before the revolution? pg. 213
 Third Estate (everyone else) – 98 % of
people
France’s Estates (Social Classes)
What was the Estates-General?
 France had suffered an economic crisis
after a food shortage and slowdown in
manufacturing from 1787-1788.
What was the Estates-General?
 France had suffered an economic crisis after
a food shortage and slowdown in
manufacturing from 1787-1788.
 King Louis XVI called the Estates-General to
solve the economic crisis.
What happened at the EstatesGeneral?
 All three estates met in Versailles, France
What happened at the EstatesGeneral?
 All three estates met in Versailles, France
 Each estate received one vote, even
though the Third Estate had the most people
What happened at the EstatesGeneral?
 All three estates met in Versailles, France
 Each estate received one vote, even though
the Third Estate had the most people
 King Louis XVI kept the same system after
the objections of the Third Estate
How did French citizens react to the
King’s actions at the Estate-General?
 The Third Estate met to write a new
Constitution and declared itself the new
National Assembly – Tennis Court Oath
How did French citizens react to the
King’s actions at the Estate-General?
 The Third Estate met to write a new
Constitution and declared itself the new
National Assembly – Tennis Court Oath
 In Paris, workers stormed the Bastille (royal
armory and prison)
Storming of the Bastille
How did French citizens react to the
King’s actions at the Estate-General?
 The Third Estate met to write a new
Constitution and declared itself the new
National Assembly – Tennis Court Oath
 In Paris, workers stormed the Bastille (royal
armory and prison)
 Riots took place in villages all over France
What did the new National Assembly
do?
 August 26, 1789 –
Declaration of the
Rights of Man and
Citizen “all men are
born with their right to
life and liberty”
“equality under the
law”
What did the new National Assembly
do?
 A new French Constitution was written that
allowed the King to keep power (at first)
How did the Paris Commune turn the
revolution violent?
 Paris Commune = angry citizens protesting
food shortages and France’s loss of war to
Austria and Prussia
How did the Paris Commune turn the
revolution violent?
 Members of the Commune gain power in
the National Assembly
 1792 – Assembly removes King from power
and sentences him and his wife, Marie
Antoinette, to death
Guillotine
King Louis XVI & Marie Antoinette
How did the Paris Commune turn the
revolution violent?
 Reign of Terror = Maximilien Robespierre
and 11 other members of the Assembly kill
40,000 people
How did the Paris Commune turn the
revolution violent?
 After 2 years of terror, the Assembly
removes Robespierre of power and is
executed
How did France react after the Reign
of Terror?
 There were 3 groups of people
How did France react after the Reign
of Terror?
 There were 3 groups of people

some wanted the monarchy back
How did France react after the Reign
of Terror?
 There were 3 groups of people


some wanted the monarchy back
some were supporters of Robespierre and
wanted to continue the executions
How did France react after the Reign
of Terror?
 There were 3 groups of people



some wanted the monarchy back
some were supporters of Robespierre and
wanted to continue the executions
some were supporters of the French military
How did France react after the Reign
of Terror?
 General Napoleon
Bonaparte takes all
control of the
government in 1799