Download King Louis XVI

The French Revolution
Great Unrest in France
Why?
High Prices and High Taxes
Enlightenment Ideas
Weak Leadership
Old Regime – 3 estates
France’s Social Pyramid- “Old Regime”
1st Estate: Church
Owned 10% of
land
Paid little taxes
Were less than
1% of the people
2nd Estate: Nobility
2% of population
Wealthy
Owned 20% of land
3rd Estate: Bourgeoisie
& Peasants
98% of population
3 Different Tiers
Paid more than 50% of taxes
Paid no taxes
4 Causes of the French
Revolution…EEEW!!
Enlightenment Ideas
• Spread by the educated of the Third
Estate…bourgeoisie will lead the French
Revolution
• Believed in equality and liberty (Locke,
Rousseau, Montesquieu)
• All men have natural rights (Locke)
• Inspired the American Revolution
• Believed in a democratic govt. and democratic
elections…DEMOCRACY for all!
• Power should be in the hands of the people!
Old Regime (Estate System)
• Ranking of the people into social classes
(is a hold over from the Middle Ages)
• Three Estates- 3rd estate HEAVILY
TAXED and had NO SAY in
government. Made up 97% of the French!
• Wanted democracy and rights for all
(3rd)
• First estate HATED the ideas of the
ENLIGHTENMENT
Economic Problems
$$$$
• France was in debt- King borrowed money to
help Americans during their revolution
• High taxes hurt business
• High cost of living
• Crop Failure led to food prices doubling and
starvation
• Louis and his wife Marie Antoinette spent a lot on
themselves (her nickname was “Madame Deficit”)
– The king and queen spent the money on themselves
A Weak Leader
• Louis paid little attention to advisers and
big issues…he avoided the problems and
did not focus on govt. duties
• Instead of fixing crisis he let it happen!
• Q: How to raise funds?
• A: Tax wealthy
• BUT – Aristocrats/Noblemen (2nd Estate)
resisted and called for general meeting of
all 3 estates = Estates-General
• GOAL - to deal with the problems France
faced
King Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette
Marie Antoinette’s Home
Chateau Versailles
Marie Antoinette’s Riches
Estates-General: Revolution Dawns (1789)
Third Estate
Gets Tough!
Demands
National
Assembly to
END
absolute
monarchy!
So, what happens?
Third Estate Gets Locked Out!
Moves to indoor tennis court and VOWS not to
leave until a new Constitution is written – they
take the “Tennis Court Oath”
Tennis Court Oath (1789)
Storming the Bastille - 1789
Louis XVI saw the Tennis Court Oath as
an act of Revolution
“I will end this sorry
revolution, indeed.”
So, Louis sent troops (Swiss
mercenaries) to guard Paris. But, rumors
spread that foreign troops would kill
French citizens.
King Louis XVI
On July 14, 1789, French citizens
raided a prison to get gunpowder and
overthrow king’s troops. The Bastille
fell to citizens.
“Let us in. Yeah, now.”
French Citizens Storm the Bastille
1789
1789
What happened?
I.
Declaration of Rights of Man
A. Similar to America’s Declaration of
Independence
B. Liberty, Equality, Fraternity
C. Women Excluded
II. Church and State -- Separation
A. Assembly took Church
property: Church lost political
influence
B. This angered conservative
peasants – divided peasants
and bourgeoisie. Why?
End Result of the National Assembly
Increased power for legislature…
National
Assembly
… reduced power for King
King Louis XVI
Great Fear Sweeps France
I.
Peasants fear violence from nobles
A. Did this happen? No
B. What did happen? Peasants
became outlaws. The king
prepares an army to take control…
II. Peasants marched to
Versailles and demanded
King and Queen come to
Paris…They did.
Also happening…
III. Women March to Versailles
Infuriated women walked 12
miles in the rain to Versailles,
angry with the Royal Court’s
extravagance.
The King and Queen Arrive in Paris
After two years of signing laws for the National Assembly, Louis wants to
get help from foreign lands so, Louis XVI tries to escape to the
Netherlands (or Austria)…
BUT is caught by
postmaster at near
French border…
… and the Royal Family is returned to Paris
The King and Queen Arrive in Paris
Louis’ Plot
• Once back in Paris, Louis
and family act like they
are supporting the
Revolution
• Marie has been sending
letters to Austria
• War breaks out between
France and Austria
• Louis and Marie are seen
as traitors!!
• Frenchmen go crazy and
attack…Louis is stripped
of power and family is put
in jail
1792 - Despite Gains, Fear Persists
Upon returning, French mobs attack King
because he was aligned with foreigners. With
war problems abroad, mobs feared he would
re-establish control.
What happens? Attack of Monarchy in
Prison & 1,000 people die.
Radicals Assert Control – Jacobin Club
removes the King and establishes a
republic
New Government = National Convention
Abolishes Monarchy
Tries King Louis XVI
Finds him…Guilty
King Louis XVI Executed - 1793
Off
with
his
head
Guillotine Heading chopping
machine created by a
doctor to be a more
humane way to kill
people…yes, a doctor!
The Guillotine
Supporters said it was:
 Efficient
 More humane
 No pain
Opponents said it:
 It was too quick to be
enjoyed by public
 Rather pull victims apart
by horses; broken on a
wheel
Louis XVI as a Pig
Actual
cartoon
of the
time!
c
c
To some, the king was a traitor.
Others felt that the Revolution had gone far
enough and didn’t want to execute the king
[maybe exile him].
Marie Antoinette as a Serpent
Actual
cartoon
of the
time!
The “Widow Capet”
Raising An Army…
Robespierre was
able to raise an army
of 800,000 citizen
soldiers - the biggest
army ever assembled
in Europe.
…and Executing the Queen
October 16, 1793
Marie Antoinette
on the Way to the Guillotine
Marie Antoinette Died in October,
1793
The Reign of Terror
Terror is nothing other than justice, prompt, severe,
inflexible. -- Robespierre
Let terror be the order
of the day!
c
c
The Revolutionary
Tribunal of Paris alone
executed 2,639 victims
in 15 months.
The total number of
victims nationwide was
over 20,000!
The Reign of Terror
The political group – the Jacobin Club
forms the “Committee of Public Safety”
is was lead by Maximilien Robespierre.
Their objective: wipe out France’s
monarchy in both present and past
How?
• Execute the “unpatriotic”: between
20,000 - 40,000 are killed
• Removed monarchy from playing
cards
• Removed Sundays from calendars
• Closed Church on Sunday
• Trial and execution on the same day
• 85% killed were common peasants
who supposedly benefited from the
Revolution
Maximilien Robespierre
Different Social Classes Executed
7%
8%
28%
25%
31%
End of the Terror
People had grown tired of the
Terror, were angry at rising food
prices, and Robespierre’s new
ideas/changes
also…
Fellow radicals –
fearing their own
lives and
positions – turn
on Robespierre
and kill him
so…
Moderate leaders of the National
Convention draft a new government
Robespierre is executed
– the 3rd in 6 years.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=otnADq4Y0-A
(Spoof recap 3:37)
The Arrest of Robespierre
The Revolution Consumes (or ate)
Its Own Children!
Robespierre lies wounded
before the Revolutionary
Tribunal that will order him
to be guillotined, 1794.
The “Monster” Guillotine
The last guillotine execution in France was in 1939!