Download 1793-1794: The Second Revolution, Total War and the Reign of Terror

French Revolution of 1789-1801
The Situation before the Revolution
There is massive debt caused by 7 Years War and The American Revolutionary War
Nobles live tax free, luxurious lives while commoners bear the taxes.
Terrible weather causes poor crops and famine.
Both urban workers and many common peasants are starving.
The Anciene Regime (old political order) is unable to act effectively in a changing world.
The Parlements of Paris block any attempts at royal taxation of nobles.
Louis XVI is not a powerful monarch like previous Louis
The Third Estate, which used to contain commoners, now contains the very wealthy and educated.
1787: Assembly of the Notables is summoned by Louis XVI
1788: Louis XVI tries to impose taxation on the nobles but is stopped by the Parlements of Paris
1789: The Estates General is called to Versailles by Louis XVI
The purpose of the meeting is to discuss economic disasters in France.
Each estate brings “Cahiers” or written recommendations.
Estates Generale
1st Estate: Clergy
2nd Estate: Nobility
3rd Estate: Everyone Else, Bourgeoisie, workers, farmers (97% of the population)
The First and Second Estate plan to outvote the Third Estate
The Third Estate representatives are locked out of the meeting by King Louis XVI
The Third Estate Bourgeoisie is joined by progressive members of the other estates in revolt across the street.
1st Estate Abby Sieyes: Writes the pamphlet: What is the Third Estate?
2nd Estate La Fayette
Tennis Court Oath
1789: National Assembly is created
Declaration of the Rights of Man
Based on John Locke, James Madison, Thomas Jefferson, Rousseau and the US Bill of Rights
“Every man is presumed innocent until proven guilty”
“Liberty, property, security and resistance to oppression”
“It is an expression of the General Will (Rousseau)”
Abolished the Nobility as a legal order
Abolished slavery in the colonies
Increased women’s rights to divorce, property and financial support from fathers
(Still keeping women out of politics in order to guard their feminine purity)
Reorganized the political districts in France
Reorganized the system of weights and measures
Granted religious freedom to Jews and Protestants
Abolished Catholic monasteries and seized Catholic Church land
Using church land income, they created the Assignats or paper currency
Forced Catholic clergy to take a loyalty to the revolutionary government
Anti-Catholic actions lost some support by the rural French farmers
Supported the gains of rural farmers who seized land in The Great Fear
Attack on the Bastille
Urban workers attack the Paris prison and seize weapons and the city of Paris
Second Estate member Lafayette, soon takes leadership of the urban rebels
Women march on Versailles
Urban women march to Versailles and drag the King and Queen back to Paris
The Great Fear
French peasants across France, attack rural nobles, and seize land
Early Reactions:
Olympe de Gouges: “Declaration of the Rights of Women”
Edmund Burke: Reflections on the Revolution in France: condemned the revolution
Mary Wollstonecraft: “A Vindication of the rights of Man” “A Vindication of the Rights of Women”
She strongly supported the revolution
1791: The National Assembly becomes the Legislative Assembly
Moderate National Assembly members step down and a completely new slate of members are elected in their place.
They rename themselves the Legislative Assembly and are dominated by young radicals of the Jacobin Club.
The Jacobins are divided into the Mountain and the Gironde and will later come to blows.
Leaders like Robespierre, Danton and Marat are some of the Jacobins. The Gironde are more moderate.
1791: Flight of the King and Queen
King and Queen attempt to flee to Austria and are captured at Varennes
Louis XVI is hoping to return with an Austrian army
1791: Declaration of Pillnitz
In response to the arrest of Louis XVI at Varennes, Austria and Prussia publish the Declaration of Pillnitz.
This document expressed their willingness to intervene in French affairs to stop further destruction of the monarchy
The result is an extraordinarily heightened sense of paranoia among the Parisian revolutionaries.
1792: September Massacres and the Creation of the National Convention
Afraid that invading Prussian and Austrian armies will ally themselves with imprisoned nobles and restore monarchy,
angry Parisian sans-culottes swarm the prisons and begin butchering political prisoners by the thousands.
The King and Queen flee for their lives to the Legislative Assembly and abdicate the monarchy.
The Legislative Assembly declares itself the French Republic and call for election of the new National Convention.
The election is based on universal manhood suffrage.
1793-1794: The Second Revolution, Total War and the Reign of Terror
The National Convention begins its rule over the French Republic
After much heated debated, Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette executed
Robespierre and the Mountain use urban worker Sans-Culottes to dominate rival Jacobins in the Gironde
The Committee of Public Safety is created as a virtual dictatorship.
The Reign of Terror is implemented by Robespierre to purify France of any anti-revolutionaries
Total War is implemented against the alliance of Austria, Prussia and other nations.
Robespierre mobilized the highly patriotic French people in a war against Austria, Prussia, Russia and England
Robespierre organizes and enormous 800,000 man army.
France victorious against all nations by 1794
Upwardly mobile officer corps to encourage aggressive valor
Used a command economy to maximize production for war effort
Price controls on essential goods
Told producers what to produce
Ideology and propaganda
The government created new pro-Revolutionary ideologies, slogans terms and conventions such as:
Liberty, Equality and Brotherhood (Liberte, Egalite, Fraternite)
Citizen (Citroyen)
Tu instead of the formal Vous
Equality Bread (Pain d’Egalite)
Cult of motherhood
Marseillaise song
Revolutionary motherhood
New calender based on secular names
Sans-culottes
L’Ami du Peuple and Marat
Revolutionary clothing such as the red Liberty Caps
Revolutionary rallies
Stressed Enlightenment ideals and classical Liberalism
Jacques Louis David painted powerful revolutionary art
Changed the names of the months to replaced references to classical religion (July became Thermidor)
Women were encouraged to take up leadership roles in the revolution
Women received no vote, but women gained public power and status
Control:
Temporarily removed the Rights of Man and the Constitution
Declared ALL criticism of the government as unpatriotic and treasonous
Severely limited free speech and shut down printing presses critical of the revolution
Used spies to watch his enemies
Used the Guillotine to terrify and punish (National Razor)
Religion:
Completely outlawed the Catholic Church (compare to Communism/Marxism of the 20th Century)
Created a new religion: Cult of the Supreme Being
Combination of Enlightenment idealism
Robespierre Meets His End
After success in war, he continues radical controls at home
He now begins to attack his own supporters
Arrests and executes Danton
Thermidorean Reaction:
Moderates in National Convention strike back and execute Robespierre
Committee of Public Safety is disbanded
The Directory is created
1795-1799 The Directory’s Regime
Moderate Bourgeois Revolutionaries
5 man team
Removes economic controls
Widespread excessive lifestyle in the cities. Parties, orgies, decadence, etc.
Sans-Culottes are suppressed
Continued war to deal with economic problems and unemployment
In 1797 the Directory disbanded the National Convention and ruled dictatorially
1799 Napoleon stages a Coup d’Etat and seizes government
When all is said and done, here are some important innovations of the French Revolution era
Religion
The early government first legislated freedom of religion for Jews and Protestants and then took over the Catholic Church,
making priests elected. During the second phase of the revolution, the Catholic Church was outlawed. This is foreshadowing of
Marxism and its ban on all religion. Ultimately Robespierre attempted to fill the void left by the removal Catholicism and
created the “Festival of the Supreme Being” as well as the beginnings of a Deist religion.
Economics
The government abolished all feudal privileges, feudal duties and special guilds. The government created a temporary
command economy and regulated prices as well as controlled production. Certain foods like bread were kept at a low price.
Politics and Society
Ending of feudal duties
Rural revolution and land redistribution
Execution of the king
Creation of a Republic
End of slavery
Extends universal manhood suffrage
Creates a merit based citizen army
total war
Women’s rights: to seek divorce, to own property, to receive child support