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ENLIGHTENMENT IDEAS IN ACTION!!!
To Revolt or not to Revolt, that is
the question!
 How would you define
an unjust government?
 What, if anything, would
lead you to take part in a
violent revolution?
Ch.23.1 Essential Questions
 What were the three Estates of the Old Regime ?
 What were the factors that led to the French
Revolution?
 What events led to the formation of the National
Assembly?
 What is the significance of the storming of the
Bastille?
 What is the significance of both the Great Fear and the
Women’s Bread March?
French Revolution Causes
 Political - no representation, King Louis XVI weak,
inefficient government
 Economic - Inequitable taxation, economic crisis
 Religious - Church power corrupt
 Social - Urban poor, feudalism, rising middle class,
but an inability to rise to the next social level
 Intellectual - Enlightenment ideas attacked power
of King, Church
Slide 4
Course of the
French
Revolution
Phase 1
(Moderate):
National Assembly
(1789-91)
•Meeting of the
Estates General
•Tennis Court
Oath
•Storming of the
Bastille
•Declaration of
Rights of Man
•Constitution of
1791
Slide 5
Phase 2 (Radical): National
Assembly
(1792-1794)
 War with Austria,
Prussia, and Britain
 Second Revolution
 Reign of Terror
Slide 6
Course of the French Revolution
 Phase 3: The Directory
(1795-99)
 Directory Established
 Military success
 Napoleon Takes Control
 Military genius, conquers
much of Europe
 Makes peace within France
 Finally defeated at
Waterloo
Slide 7
Let’s start at the beginning:
The Old Regime
 FRENCH SOCIETY WAS
BASED UPON A RIGID
CLASS SYSTEM > THE
OLD REGIME
 It was made up of three
classes, known as
Estates.
The First Estate
The First Estate > made up
the Church clergy: priests,
bishops, etc.
They were the:
 Smallest Class- about 1%
of the population, but they
owned 10% of the land
 They paid virtually no
taxes.
 They collected their own
tax known as a tithe (10%
church tax).
The Second Estate
Made up of the Nobility
They were the:
 Second smallest class- about
2% of the population; but
they owned 20% of the land
 Had special rights and
privileges- hunting on royal
lands; the only ones who
could become military
officers. Known by the
swords they wore.
 Paid virtually no taxes> the
most hated class in France
The Third Estate
 Made up of three groups- a well-
educated middle class (doctors,
lawyers, merchants, artisans,
factory owners) known as the
bourgeoisie- they believed
strongly in Enlightenment
ideals like liberty and equality;
poor city workers/dwellers; and
the peasants.
 They were the:
 Largest class- about 97% of the
population
 Paid almost all of the taxes
 Had no political rights
The Old Regime
HISTORICAL PRELUDE TO THE
FRENCH REVOLUTION
Prior to 1788, France goes
into heavy debt
• Louis XIV (the Sun King)
 Builds the Palace of
Versailles
 Fights numerous wars
• Louis XV -fights and loses
the French and Indian
War; incurs more debt due
to extravagant spending.
• “Apres moi, le deluge.”
• After me, the deluge.
More Debt!
 Louis XVI (grandson of
Louis XV, who ruled 59
years and outlived his
children!)
 Gives generous support
to the American
colonists in their bid for
independence
 Doubles the national
debt.
Marie Antoinette- The Teen Queen
 Daughter of Maria Theresa of
Austria
 Married to Louis @ age 14 (by
proxy; she didn’t actually meet
Louis until 5 yrs. later)
 “Madame Deficit”
 Extravagant spender
 Despised by the French people
as a foreigner
 A symbol of all that was wrong
with the Old Regime
NO MORE MONEY!
 1788- Louis 16th runs out of
money;
 £520 million in loans along
with crippling interest
 Banks refuse to lend to him;
he must find a way to pay off
the debt
 Finance Minister Jacques
Necker suggests taxing the
First and Second Estates.
 Louis gets laughed at; fires
Necker.
Calling of the Estates General
 Louis calls for the Estates
General (much like our
Congress)
 First time they have been
called to meet in 175 years!
 Representatives from all
three estates meet in Paris
 First obstacle to overcome:
how will they vote?
The First Obstacle: How do we
vote???
 First and Second Estates suggest 1 vote per class; they
can then outvote the Third Estate on any measure.
 Third Estate suggests one vote per representative; they
can then outvote the 1st and 2nd Estates combined.
 In anger, the 1st and 2nd Estates lock the 3rd Estate reps
out of the meeting.
The Tennis Court Oath
 The Third Estate refuses
to leave. Instead, they
meet on a Tennis Court
 Vow not to leave until a
Constitution is drawn up
(the Tennis Court Oath).
 They declare themselves
to be the National
Assembly.
Let the Revolution Begin!!!
 Louis gets nervous and calls in




troops to restore order
Angry Parisians storm the Bastille.
(a fortress prison in Paris).
It holds political prisoners,(well, 7 at
the time), muskets, and gunpowder.
It symbolizes the cruelty and
oppression of the Old Regime. The
citizens literally tear it down by
hand, stone by stone
July 14, 1789- Bastille Day!
(comparable to our Independence
Day)
Nothing…
 In his diary on that day, July
14th, 1789 the King only wrote
"Nothing". That was the result
of his day's hunting. When the
Duc de Liancourt informed the
king of what happened at the
Bastille, Louis asked his
advisor “Is this a revolt?" and
he was answered, "No Majesty,
this is a revolution".
Revolt becomes Revolution!
 The National Guard was quickly
formed, composed of more
than 40,000 people directed by
the Marquis de Lafayette.
 They adopted the tri-color
rosettes as the new symbol of
the Revolution. The White, the
color of the Monarchy is
encircled by the Blue and the
Red, the colors of Paris. Those
three colors are now the ones of
the French Flag.
The Great Fear…
 The Summer of 1789-
the Great Fear! Peasants
fear retribution from the
nobility and the nobility
fears a peasant uprising.
 A few nobles are killed;
some homes and tax
records are burned; but
basically, nothing
happens.
The National Assembly
 The National Assembly
attempts to reform the
Church. Reforms
include:
 the takeover of Church
lands
 the election of Church
officials and priests
 clergy are now to be
paid state officials
Ch.23.2 Essential Questions
 How did the National Assembly/National Convention
change France’s government?
 What were the positions of the three factions that
tried to govern France?
 How did war with foreign countries and the king’s
execution affect the Revolution?
 What were the events and aftermath of the Reign of
Terror?
The Declaration of the Rights of
Man and Citizen
 Mobs form in Paris and demand action.
 On August 26, 1789 the National Assembly forces King
Louis 16th to sign the Declaration of the Rights of Man and
Citizen.
 Its key principles include:
 liberty, property, security
 resistance to oppression.
 The slogan of the revolution becomes
“Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity!”
 Sound familiar? Thomas Jefferson helped the
Marquis de Lafayette write it!
The Women’s Bread March
“We have the baker, the baker’s wife, and the baker’s
son. We shall have bread.”
 Economic conditions continue to




worsen.
Hyperinflation causes the price of
bread (the staple food of the French
diet) to skyrocket.
October 5, 1789- 7,000 women
march to the Palace of Versailles to
demand bread; hence, the title- the
Women’s Bread March.
Marie Antoinette: “Let them eat
cake” Just a myth.
The women burst into the palace,
and force the royal family to
accompany them back to Paris.
Louis and his family will never see
Versailles again!
DIVISIONS DEVELOP…
 A new constitution was completed in September 1791,
with the creation of a limited constitutional monarchy.
Louis is forced to sign.
 King loses much of his authority
 The Legislative Assembly is formed and assumes much
of the power
The Great Escape!
 Unwilling to stay prisoner of his
own people in Paris, Louis XVI
tried to flee to his wife's native
country, Austria.
 On June 21st, 1791 Louis, Marie
Antoinette and their children
dressed as bakers and hit the road.
 Rumors of the King's escape spread
quickly across France
 The royal refugees were recognized
and captured few miles from the
German border, in Varennes.
DIVISIONS DEVELOP (continued)…
 New factions arise in the
Legislative Assembly:
Jacobins: Radicals (left)-
want sweeping changes; no
monarchy
Girondins: Moderates (middle) want some change;
in favor of retaining the
constitutional monarchy
Conservatives (right)- want
few changes and limited
monarchy
Other Influences…
 Emigres- nobles and others
who fled France. They tried to
work from outside the country
to undo the Revolution and
restore the Old Regime
 Sans-culottes- (those without
knee breeches)- Parisian
workers who used violence to
influence others.
 Jacobins Club- Radical
element of the Assembly
FRANCE AT WAR!
 Fearing a spread of
revolution to their countries,
neighboring Austria and
Prussia urge the Legislative
Assembly to restore Louis to
his rightful place on the
throne
 France’s response is to
declare war on Austria and
Prussia in April 1792.
The French Republic
1792-1795
 The National Convention succeeds the National
Assembly as the new governing body
 September 1792- Radicals (Jacobins) gain control of
the National Convention.
 The monarchy is abolished
 Adult male citizens are granted the right to vote and
hold office.
 Slavery in the French West Indies is abolished.
France officially becomes a republic!
Prominent figures of the National
Convention:
 Jean Paul Marat
 Editor of a radical
newspaper -The Friend of
the People
 Called for the death of those
opposed to the cause
 Was murdered in his
bathtub by Charlotte Corday,
a Girondin sympathizer
Prominent figures of the National
Convention (continued)…
 Georges Danton- a
prominent lawyer
 Devoted to the poor people
of Paris.
 Helped launch the campaign
to end the king’s power
 Would eventually be
executed during the Reign of
Terror for being too
moderate
Prominent figures of the National
Convention (continued)…
 Maximilian
Robespierre- most
radical statesman
 Wanted to build a
“Republic of Virtue”
by wiping out every
trace of France’s past
GULP…
 August 13, 1792Louis XVI was officially arrested
and sent to prison.
 Robespierre (who had originally been against
the death penalty: “The king must die so that
the revolution can live” (paraphrase)
 The King had a trial in front of the Convention
which decided to sentence him to death (Vote
395-321) January 1793.
 He was accused of High Treason and Crimes
against the State- an enemy of the Revolution!
End of the Old Regime!
 On January 21st, 1793
Louis XVI was executed by
a Guillotine in front of the
people of France who
saluted his death as the
beginning of what they
believed to be a better era.
Can the Revolution Survive?
WAR
 Great Britain, Holland and
Spain join Austria and Prussia
in their efforts to crush the
Revolution, lest it spread to
their countries.
 The National Convention
orders a draft of 300,000 (and
eventually 800,000) French
citizens to fight the foreign
enemies
CIVIL WAR
 Revolts bloom in the
country, where the peasants
denounced the authority of
the Convention and the idea
of the Revolution.
 They asked for the
reestablishment of the
Monarchy.
 From March to September
1793, more than 100,000
people died from this
opposition.
The Reign of Terror
September 1793-July 1794
 July 1793- the Committee
of Public Safety is created
by Maximilian Robespierre
to root out enemies of the
Revolution within France
itself.
 Robespierre assumes
dictatorial control. His
period of rule becomes
known as the Reign of
Terror.
The Reign of Terror
 Revolutionary committees conduct hasty trials and issue
thousands of death sentences to “traitors to the revolution.”
Maximilian Robespierre:
The Incorruptible
•
Robespierre was known as being very virtuous and incorruptible.
•
Among other things, he tried eliminating religion.
•
Notre Dame was renamed the Temple of Reason and Robespierre
attempts to make a “religion of reason”
•
It doesn’t go over well, so he creates the Cult of the Supreme Being.
•
All the months were renamed and given 30 days each
•
The year began on the autumnal equinox
•
The weeks were ten days long with every tenth day being a holiday.
•
The days were: First Day, Second Day, Third Day, Fourth
Day, etc.
Good News! They also gave us the metric system!!!
Neighbor Against Neighbor
 Reign of Terror claims as
many as 40,000 lives,
most of them (85%)
members of the Third
Estate.
 Anybody who wasn’t
radical enough was in
danger of getting
Jack n’ Jill Went Up a Hill…
 Marie Antoinette, wife of
Louis XVI was executed in
October 1793.
 She died because she
represented the King's
heritage and was the perfect
illustration of the fear that
reigned at this time.
Robespierre falls victim to the
National Razor
• Members of the Convention
eventually fear for their own
heads and they betray him.
• He’s arrested and
executed
• People didn’t like
Robespierre’s radical actions
and de-Christianization.
• Robespierre’s execution
signals the end of the Reign
of Terror
The Directory
1795-1799
 After the Reign of Terror the




French were fearful of a too
powerful government
The Directory was formed to
oversee the balance of
responsibilities and
appointments.
An executive branch of 5
directors (moderates, not
radicals)
Increased corruption was the
result.
Inflation continues to rise
Napoleon… Dynamite!
 Ineffectiveness of the Directory
paves the way for Napoleon
Bonaparte to seize power in
France
 Napoleon’s success on the
battlefield makes him popular in
France, a country longing for
stability
 France would soon come under
the control of a dictatorship for
the next 15 years!
Was the French Revolution a
Success???
 Think about what they wanted to achieve
 Were Enlightenment ideals instilled?
 What was the impact of replacing one tyrant (Louis)
with another (Napoleon)?
Time to Compare and Contrast
American Revolution
French Revolution
SIMILARITIES BETWEEN THE
AMERICAN AND FRENCH REVOLUTIONS
 Both based upon Enlightenment ideals, ex: Natural rights of man- liberty,
equality, etc.
 People have the right to abolish a govn’t which does not protect the people’s
rights
 Both happen (in part) as a result of a financial crisis (debt)
 Both had similar “declarations of independence”
 Both have citizenry swayed by radicals and by the press/literature
 Both fought against perceived tyrants
 Both could be perceived as civil wars
 Both occurred in the late 18th century (1700s), after the Enlightenment
 Both argued over not being represented in the government
DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE
AMERICAN AND FRENCH REVOLUTIONS
 AR- Was a colonial struggle for independence
 FR- Was a class struggle to overcome years of oppression
 AR- Social ladder prior to revolution was short and fluid; movement based upon
wealth/merit
 FR- Social ladder prior to revolution was long and rigid; no movement based on
wealth/merit
 AR-King George III had prior warning of rev.
 FR-Louis XVI did not have prior warning of rev.
 AR- Tax burden on colonists was imaginary
 FR- Tax burden on 3rd Estate was real
 AR- Had the support of foreign nations
 FR- Foreign nations tried to crush revolution
 AR- Lack of popular violence
 FR- Extreme popular violence
 AR- Post war era gave way to a stable republic
 FR- First republic failed; replaced by dictator