Download File - Ms O`Keeffe`s History Class

The French Revolution - Background and Causes
1. Absolute Monarchy - The Ancien Regime
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In the late 18th C France was ruled by an Absolute Monarch
- Louis XVI
He had power over everybody – there was no parliament and he could
make laws as he wished. – he has power of life or death over his
subjects- ‘the divine right of kings’
His wife Maire Antoinette was an Austrian – not liked
She displayed too much wealth in the Palace of Versailles
The French educated classes criticised the system of government and
wanted the king to share power.
2. The privileges of the Nobility and the Clergy
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The people of France were divided into three ‘estates’
The First estate: The Clergy – bishops / priests
The Second Estate: The Nobility
The Third Estate: The Rest of the French people
The French people – 90%
Some were well off – the
merchants / bankers /
lawyers
Received taxes from the Lived in the great Chateaux Others less well off –
poor
Castles or in Versailles
shopkeepers / farmers /
manufacturers
About 100,000 nobles in Others were peasants –
France
labourers – very badly off
All important jobs in the These paid taxes
army and government were
A) Taille – land tax
reserved for the nobles
B) Corvee – peasants
and labourers had to
repair the roads with
no pay
C) Tithe – 1/10 of
crops to clergy to
maintain the church
The Clergy
Special privileges
No Tax
The Nobility
Special Privileges
No Tax
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3. The French Philosophes
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France was the birth-place of the Enlightenment - During the 18th C many
French thinkers like Montiesque / Voltaire / Rousseau criticised the
system of government - said King had too much power- wanted him to
share power with a parliament – Philosophes - Their views influenced
many people
4. The influence of the American War of Independence
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French people admired what the Americans had done
Felt the ideas of the Philosophes could be put into practice
Some of the French soldiers who had fought in American became
involved in the Revolution in France
French help for America cost so much that France was almost bankrupt
(broke)
5. The Meeting of the Estates General
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Louis XVI wanted to raise taxes to pay off France’s debts but needed the
French Parliament to agree.
He called a meeting of the three estates for May 1789- The Estates General
(Parliament) (first meeting in almost a century)
There were serious disagreements over the system of voting which was
unfair.- each estate has one vote
The third estate wanted one vote for each member – (621 members)
It could then outvote the First Estate (308 members) and the Second Estate
(285 members)
In June 1798 the Third estate made a motion – ‘to declare boldly to the
privileged orders that if they will not join the commoners, the latter will
proceed tin the national business without them’.
They formed the National Assembly
When the members of the Third Estate was locked out of their meeting place
in Versailles – they met in the Royal tennis court and took and oath
The tennis court oath – ‘to stay together until a constitution was drawn up’
and Louis and the other two estates agreed to make the systems of government
and taxation fairer.
The King reluctantly agreed to discuss changes and reforms
The three estates of France became known as the Constituent Assembly – later
called the national assembly.
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The Revolution Begins
1. The Fall of the Bastille – 14 July 1789
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Louis didn’t like being told what to do and ordered soldiers to be brought
to Paris.
Excitement was growing in Pairs – people were angry because of bread
shortages and high prices
The city of Paris formed its own militia (part time voluntary soldiers) –
called the National Guard
On 14 July 1789, a large crowd attacked the Bastille – a large prison
fortress in the centre of the city – because they thought guns were stored
there
They captured the Bastille and killed the governor.
2. The Spread of the Revolution
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The fall of the Bastille encouraged the middle classes, the peasants and the
labourers in other parts of France to take action
Nobles houses were attacked and many fled the country
The National Assembly was forced to take action
A) The Assembly abolished the feudal system (privileges of the
nobles) and feudal dues
B) Tithes were abolished
C) The Assembly passed the Declaration of the Rights of Man
 Man is born free and equal
 People have rights to liberty, property and security
 The law must be the same for all
 People have freedom to speak, write print what they
wish
 The ideas of the revolution were summed up on he
slogan – ‘Liberty, Equality and Fraternity (all people
should be free, equal and all people were brothers)
3. The Women of Paris
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Bread shortages continued, and there were rumours that the king was
bringing in troops to stop the revolution
The market women and fish wives of Paris marched on Versailles – they
forced the king and his family to leave Versailles and live in Paris.
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4. The Flight to Varennes – 1791
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Louis continued to resist the revolution – he planned to leave France and get
help from his brother-in-law the Emperor of Austria
He attempted to leave in a carriage but was recognised and stopped at the
village of Varennes
He and his family were brought back to Paris and some of his power was
taken from him.
5. France at War
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Tension rose between France and Austria – war was declared on Austria
in April 1792
The French army did badly – not enough soldiers and the officers had
gone abroad
France seemed in great danger as the Prussians joined the Austrians
A huge recruiting campaign was started – thousands of young men joined
the army.
6. The Storming of the Tuileries
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There was now grave danger that the Austrians and the Prussians would win
and give the king back his old power
The people of Paris were worried that the King and Marie Antoinette were
working with France’s enemies
One group was particularity angry – the sans culottes
These working class people were strong supporters of the Revolution
In August 1792 they stormed the Tuileries palace where the king lived – the
king had to seek protection from the National Assembly but they had him and
his family imprisoned.
7. The Execution of he King
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Eventually France gained the upper hand over Prussia and Austria on the
battle fields
France was declared a republic in September 1792
A hidden safe was discovered in the Tuileries palace – it held documents
proving that the king was plotting with other countries to overthrow the
revolution
Louis was put on trial by the Assembly and found guilty (387-334)
He was executed by guillotine on 21 Jan 1793
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Robespierre and the Terror
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The war was still in progress and spread as Britain, Holland and Spain joined
Austria and Prussia against France
The National Assmebly had been divided between Conservatives and Radicals –
in 1793 the radicals seized power – Jacobins
The country was in great danger so the Committee of Public Safety was set up to
organise the defence of France
It had 12 members and its President was Maximilien Robespierre – a trained
lawyer
He was elected to the Third Estate in 1789 and supported the ideas of the
revolution (liberty, equality and fraternity) – He voted for the execution of the
king
He was called the incorruptible because of his honesty in financial affairs
He was a leading members of the Jacobins – a political group in revolutionary
France
He believed that a strong government and a reign of terror was needed to save the
Revolution
Problems in France and the Reign of Terror
 Robespierre and the Committee of Public Safety were faced with a number of
problems- They decided that violence and terror were needed to save the
revolution
Problems
Reign of Terror
Opposition to the revolution from the The Law of Suspects – was passed to
nobles
punish anyone thought to be against the
revolution- subject t death penalty - The
guillotine became the symbol of the reign
of terror June 1793-July 1794 (death of
Robespierre)- in that time 2,500 were
executed in Paris and 16,000 in the rest of
France
Rebellions in the Vendee (the area around The rebellions in the Vendee and other
Nantes in the western and south-western parts of France were put down with great
France) and elsewhere
cruelty
There was mass enlistment – 1 million
soldiers in the French army saved
The War
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revolution from defeated by an outside
power
The Law of Maximum – set max prices
Rising food prices
The Death of Robespierre
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The revolution was no longer in danger and many expected the reign of terror to
end – it got worse
The Sans-culottes eventually turned against Robespierre and many people thought
he had too much power – he was feared and hated and there were attempted on his
life
He was arrested and tried by the Assembly – the sans culottes did not support him
He was guillotined on 27 July 1794 and 100 of his supporters in the days that
followed
His death brought an end to the reign of terror
Order was restored by a new government called the Directory by 1799 total
control was held by Napoleon Boneparte
In 1804 he was named the new Emperor of France
The Results of the French Revolution
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Liberty, Equality and Fraternity – the slogan of the revolution spread to other
countries where people demanded more freedom and greater equalities – they also
demanded independence if they were under the control of another country
(nationalism)
Rise of Napoleon – After the Reign of Terror, Napoleon rose to power as a very
successful army commander- he established the French legal system (Code
Napoleon) which influenced other counties on the Continent
Abolition of Slavery – It was abolished but later re-introduced in the French
Empire by Napoleon
Rise of the Middle Class – The power of the Nobility was reduced and the
middle class gained greater power
Metric System – The system of weights and measurements was introduced and
spread to other countries.
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