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Important Facts to Remember About the French Revolution
Causes:
1. Writings of the Enlightenment about the nature of humans and society and the new attitudes about authority.
2. The imbalance in the political, social and tax structure of France.
3. General dissatisfaction with the church for its political power and land ownership.
4. A growing urban working class who faced hardships due to raising cost of living.
5. Outmoded property system that was largely feudalistic
6. Near financial bankruptcy of government. 50% of the government revenue went to pay the interest on the public debt.
7. Failure of leadership - the ineptness of Louis XVI to act decisively
8. Transfer of allegiance - both Louis support of the noble and the support of some members of the First and Second
Estate of the Third Estate.
In the summer of 1788, facing near bankruptcy, rising prices due to a drought, and the refusal of the First and Second
Estate to pay taxes, Louis XVI called for a meeting of the Estates General in May 1789. The government ruled that the Third
Estate should get double the representation. During the elections cahiers des doleances or statements of grievances were
drafted throughout France. In general, the grievances called for a regular constitutional government that would abolish the
fiscal privileges of the church and the nobility as the major way to revive the country.
The first major question facing the Estates General was how voting would be handled. The Third Estate and its
supporters wanted each delegate to vote individually, thus giving an edge to the members of the Third Estate. Prior to the
meeting the Parlement of Paris, which was dominated by Nobles of the Robe upheld the old rules of conduct for the Estates
General.
Abbe Sieyes wrote the pamphlet entitled, What is the Third Estate?, supporting the demands of the Third Estate to
expand their political rights.
May 1789 - the Third Estate refused to meet under the old rules of conduct. With the support of some members of the
First and Second Estate, including the Abbe Sieyes, the Third Estates created the National Assembly, the first deliberate act
of the revolution. Louis XVI responded by locking the Third Estate out of their meeting room. The Third Estate, now acting
as the National Assembly, found an abandoned tennis court in which to meet.
Tennis Court Oath - members of the National Assembly vowed to remain together until a constitution is written.
Louis XVI ordered 18,000 troops to Versailles.
The san-culottes of Paris fearing that the troops have been called to destroy the National Assembly attack the Bastille.
The fall of the Bastille on July 14, 1789, marks the symbolic start of the revolution.
Great Fear, a wave of violence that swept the French countryside followed the fall of the Bastille and lasted until the passage
of the Declaration of the Rights of Man. Fearful that the nobles were recruiting criminals to terrorize them, the peasants
banded together to destroy manor homes and feudal contracts.
In the late hours of August 4 and the early hours of August 5, 1789, the National Assembly voted to abolish seigneurial
rights as well as the fiscal privileges of nobles, clergy, towns, and provinces. The more liberal members of the National
Assembly choose this time because many of the more conservative members were absent due to the late hour.
Bread March of the Women - the san-culottes women of Paris, disgusted with the price of bread, march on Versailles
where they killed three of the king's Swiss guards and broke into the private apartment of the king's family. Fearing for the
safety of his family, Louis XVI agreed to move to Paris.
During the Revolution, a series of different governments would rule France, the National Assembly, the Legislative
Assembly, the National Convention, and the Directory. The governments would become increasingly radical until a Reign of
Terror would sweep France resulting in the deaths of 1000's. Many of those killed would be common people for whom the
revolution was supposedly fought. After the Reign of Terror, the government would shift to the moderates who would lose
power to Napoleon.
Notes on the National Assembly
1. Adopted the Declaration of the Rights of Man, which granted equality to all men, freedom of speech, religion, and equal
justice. Also stated purpose of government is to protect natural rights of man - liberty, property, security, resistance to
oppression.
2. Reorganized France into 83 districts called departments, each governed by its own council of locally elected officials.
3.
4.
Adopted the Civil Constitution of the Clergy, which placed the church under the control of the government. Called for
the election of all church officials by the property owners of their diocese. The government also took control of all
church lands.
Adopted the Constitution of 1791, which called for a unicameral legislature. The king was given the power to delay the
passage of legislation, but could not permanently veto legislation.
Louis XVI's “flight to Varennes weakened the chance for the limited constitutional monarchy to succeed.
Notes on the Legislative Assembly
1. Dominated by the Girondins of the Jacobin political club.
2. Girondins saw themselves as international revolutionaries who duty it was to spread the revolution to all of Europe.
3. After the Austrian king issued the Declaration of Pillnitz, which sought the support of other European nations in
restoring absolute monarchy in France, the Girondins succeeded in getting the Legislative Assembly to declare war on
Austria whom they view as a threat since the king of Austria was Marie Antoinette's brother. The Girondins were
convinced that the common people of Austria would welcome the revolution and would turn on the Austrian king.
4. Legislative Assembly had trouble funding an army since they are still saddled with the debts of Louis XVI. Issued
assignats (paper money) using confiscated church lands as collateral.
5. Prussia allied itself with Austria and quickly advanced on Paris.
6. Prussian commander issued the Brunswick Manifesto in which he threatened to destroy Paris if the king and his family
are harmed.
7. Parisian mobs responded to this threat by attacking the residence of the king and taking Louis and his family prisoner.
This act marked the beginning of the second revolution or the radical phase of the revolution.
8. Legislative Assembly pressured by the radicals of Paris, especially the Paris Commune, abandoned the idea of a
constitutional monarchy and suspended the office of king.
9. They set aside the Constitution of 1791 and call for the election of delegates to a new constitutional convention. All adult
males are allowed to vote in this election.
During the summer of 1792, the radicals gained more power. The most radical elements of the political clubs called for the
establishment of a republic. Some of the most outspoken radicals were Jean Paul Marat, Georges Danton and Maximilien
Robespierre. The radical city council of Paris, the Paris Commune, became a dominant force in the revolution.
Notes on the National Convention
1. Dominated by the Montagnards, the most radical element of the Jacobins.
2. Abolished the monarchy and declared France a republic.
3. Tried and convicted Louis XVI of treason. The radicals won by one vote the call to have Louis executed.
4. Outlawed slavery in French colonies.
5. Made all adult males eligible to hold office and vote.
6. Abolished imprisonment for debt.
7. Abolished primogeniture - the practice of limiting the inheritance of property to the eldest son.
8. Stimulated nationalism by creating the first citizens' army in Europe.
National Convention Confronted Enemies, both Internal and External.
External Enemies:
The new republic had to face continued hostilities from Austria and Prussia. In the fall of 1792, Britain, Spain, and
Portugal joined Austria and Prussia in the First Coalition. France soon faced their combined enemies and met with
numerous defeats. In February 1793, the National Convention instituted a national draft (the levee en mass). Initially
300,000 between 1840 were drafted. By 1794 the number had grown to 800,000. A citizens' army was a new idea in Europe
where most armies were paid mercenaries. This French army made up of loyal patriots soon scored victory after victory. In
spite of the contributions of French women to the revolution, they were not given the vote, the right to hold office, or to serve
in the military.
Internal Enemies:
Many peasants and local parish priests rejected the revolution when it passed the Civil Constitution of the Clergy.
Many others were appalled by the execution of the king. Many of the bourgeoisie that had originally supported the revolution
now believed that the radicals had gone too far in their reforms. The Girondins who had dominated the Legislative Assembly
were now viewed as moderates not to be trusted and the fact they had were gaining support in the countryside frightened the
radicals in Paris. The National Convention could not control all of France. In the Vendee, the peasants revolted against the
new military draft. Soon a new leader emerged, one whose policies would result in the death of 1000's. This individual was
Maximilien Robespierre and his year of domination is known as the Reign of Terror. Robespierre was an honest politician in
the sense that he did not enrich himself at the public expense. He was a merciless fanatic whose goal was to rid the republic
of every trace of France's past monarchy and nobility.
Robespierre and his followers set out to create a Republic of Virtue. They wanted to rid France of all vestiges of the Old
Regime. They created a new calendar of 12 months with 30 days each. The names of the months were changed to more
reasonable day, for example, July became Thermidor (Hot) and October became Brumaire (Fog). All churches were closed
as they were viewed as old-fashioned and dangerous. Notre Dame cathedral became the Temple of Reason.
In July 1793, Robespierre formed the Committee of Public Safety whose function was to judge suspected enemies of the
republic. To be an enemy of the republic, you only had to criticize or question Robespierre. Among the victims of the Reign
of Terror were Marie Antoinette, Louis XVI's wife, Georges Danton, and thousands of peasants, san-culottes, and
bourgeoisie. Most of its victims were the very people for whom the revolution was supposedly fought. In reaction to the
Terror the rebellion in the Vendee quickly escalated into a full-scale rebellion. The major provincial cities of Lyon and
Marseilles began to break away from the central authority. The bulk of the executions took place in cities such as
Marseilles and Lyons and in the Vendee Region where the terror was the most destructive. Perhaps the most
notorious act of violence occurred in Nantes where victims were executed by sinking them in barges in the Loire River. (note
the use of Rousseau’s concept of the general will to justify the Terror)
In July 1794, one year after he assumed power, the members of the National Convention, fearing for their own safety, turned
on Robespierre. On July 28, 1794, Robespierre went to the guillotine. The revolt against Robespierre is known as the
Thermidorian Reaction and it marked the end of the radical phase of the revolution.
Directory
1. Created by the new constitution adopted by the National Convention in 1795.
2. Place power in the hands of the upper bourgeoisie.
3. Government was composed of a two-house legislature and an executive body of five men known as the Directory.
4. Directors were moderates; although some were corrupt, they did provide France a period of order.
5. Appointed Napoleon Bonaparte to command the French army in a war against Austria and the kingdom of Sardinia.
The Directory was a corrupt institution from the beginning. Officials of the government frequently used government
money to enrich themselves. The Directory stayed in power because it initially had the support of the military. One
military officer who helped defend the Directory was Napoleon Bonaparte. Eventually Napoleon would lead a successful
coup d’etat against the Directory. .