Download Moderate Phase

The French Revolution
The Moderate Phase
(1789-1791)
Moderate Phase
• First phase of the French Revolution
• 1789-1791
• The goal was to create a limited monarchy
The Great Fear
• 1789: Famine led to riots aimed at nobles
• Marquis de Lafayette led the National
Guard (middle class army), into Paris
• Paris Commune, a radical group, replaced
the royalist government in Paris
Declaration of the Rights of Man
and the Citizen
• Nobles in the National Assembly vote to end
their privileges
• National Assembly publishes the Declaration of
the Rights of Man and the Citizen
• Includes enlightenments idea:
– All men are born and remain free with equal rights
– The government exists to protect the rights of the
citizens
– Equal rights to hold public office
– Freedom of religion
– Fairer taxes
Capturing the Royal Family
• Many French citizens were angered by the
excessive spending of the royal family
• A mob abducted Louis XVI, Marie
Antoinette and Louis XVII
• Held in the Tuileries palace for three years
Solving the Financial Crisis
• National Assembly votes to sell church
lands and put the Catholic Church under
state control
• France is denounced by the Pope and
other Catholic Nations
• Prussia and Austria threaten to invade if
the revolution gets worse
The Constitution of 1791
• Set up a limited monarchy
• Gave the Legislative Assembly the power
to make laws, collect taxes and declare
war
• Law makers elected by tax-paying male
citizens
• Protected private property and supported
free trade