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French
Revolution
Versailles Palace
This palace would house France’s royal
family from 1682-1789.
The palace was built by Louis XIV in order to
move the royal family away from Paris.
This was done to avoid corruption and
conspiracy (plot against) among the court.
Louis XIV: The Basics
Louis became His Most Christian Majesty at the age
of 5 in 1643.
He did not assume power until he was 23 in 1661.
He was supreme ruler of France until his death in
1715. He was 77.
He referred to himself as the Sun King because he
felt the court and France should revolve around him.
Louis XIV: Politics
• Louis didn't rule as a child. He ruled under an Italian,
Cardinal Mazarin, and his mother until the age of 23.
The Enlightenment paved the
way for the French Revolution
Examples of Enlightenment Ideas:
People should be equal and free, and take part in
public life.
People of all faiths should be accepted as equals.
People should be allowed to publicly criticize the
government or the press without fear of being
arrested or killed.
Against torture
Wanted education to be widely available.
The English Revolution
In the late 17th
century, King James II
tried to establish an
absolute monarchy
(king has total
control).
British law makers (Parliament) felt threatened by
this and decided to draft the Bill of Rights.
This document would limit the king’s powers.
James II was overthrown and fled to France.
Parliament offered the throne to Mary (king’s
daughter) if she agreed to the Bill of rights.
Importance of English Revolution:
• Monarchs no longer had absolute power.
• Parliament would make all of the important
decisions.
• They had to respect habeas corpus and the Bill
of Rights (set of laws).
HABEAS CORPUS:
People have the basic freedom
not to be imprisoned without a
trial.
Anyone who is arrested has the
right to know why they are being
arrested and what the charge is.
They can be released on bail
and must be brought before a
judge within 3 days.
The French Revolution
• Before the F.R., France operated under a
social system in which there were 3 classes of
people: the clergy, the nobility and the
commoners (lowest).
• Members of this lowest estate, called the Third
Estate, paid all the taxes.
France and the Ancien Régime
It refers to social classes, wealth, and power that
existed in France before the Revolution.
The king had absolute/total power.
Frenchmen believed it was the king’s divine right
(god given) to rule.
French society divided
First Estate
• The First Estate was the clergy, who were people,
including priests, who ran both the Catholic church
and some aspects of the country.
• In addition to keeping registers of births, deaths
and marriages, the clergy also had the power to
levy a 10% tax known as the tithe.
• They paid no taxes
Second Estate
• The Second Estate consisted of the nobility of
France, including members of the royal family,
except for the king.
• Members of the Second Estate did not have to pay
any taxes.
• They were also awarded special privileges, such as
the wearing of a sword and hunting.
• Like the clergy, they also collected taxes from the
Third Estate.
King Louis gave his nobles pointless titles.
Although his nobles had no real power, they were
happy and remained loyal to him.
To distract the nobility the king threw lavish
parties at the palace of Versailles.
With all this, Louis could make any decision he
wanted to.
Third Estate
• The Third Estate was made up of everyone else, from
peasants to the bourgeoisie – the wealthy business
class.
• While the Second Estate was only 1% of the total
population of France, the Third Estate was 96%, and
had none of the rights and privileges of the two other
estates.
• High unemployment
• They paid all the taxes!
Significance of this
cartoon
Direct causes of
the revolution
1. Inequalities between the
1st, 2nd and 3rd Estates.
2. France was bankrupt due
to too much (excessive)
spending
• The monarchy ran France
to the ground with its
reckless spending .
• That’s why Louis XVI
called the Estates-General
in hopes of ending the
debt crisis
3. Hunger and poverty
• Bad harvests meant that majority of people were broke
and hungry. This led to food riots!
4. Reform fails! Estates-General dead-locked and can
not agree on issue of voting.
Indirect causes of the French
Revolution
• Enlightenment ideas of John Locke:
• It is the elected government’s responsibility to
protect the people’s natural rights.
• The people have the right to overthrow that
government if it fails to do this.
• American Revolution ideas of liberty and equality.
• *(U.S. Constitution was signed 2 years before, in
1787)
The Enlightenment of the 3rd Estate
• Many members of the Third Estate
were inspired by Enlightenment
ideas.
• They wanted representation in
government
• They no longer believed monarchs
had “divine right” – ruler’s power
comes from God.
• They were also inspired by the
American Revolution
King Louis XVI
• This king was spoiled
and weak.
• He led France deeply
into debt (spent more
money than he had)
• He had to call on the
Estates-General to help
fix some problems, but
his reforms failed.
Louis calls the EstatesGeneral meeting
• The last time it was called into session was in 1614!
Estates-general
• King told the Estates-General to
make a list of all their problems.
• Third Estate’s main problem is
representation
It was the largest group with
only one vote in the EstatesGeneral.
Third Estate wanted each
person’s vote to count.
The 1st or 2nd Estates did not want to hear what
the 3rd Estate had to say or compromise on
voting fairly.
• 3rd Estate also demanded a constitution. This
was a set of rules which would limit the king’s
power and give them a say in running France.
The Estates-General meeting
FAILS!
• The king would not accept their demands.
• On the morning of 20 June, the deputies were
shocked to discover that the chamber door was
locked and guarded by soldiers.
• In anger the 3rd Estate went off to a nearby Tennis
Court and formed a new government called the
National Assembly.
• It is in this court that the Assembly would stay
together until the king agreed to a constitution. It
became known as the Tennis Court Oath!
Storming of the Bastille,
July 14, 1789
• On July 14, 1789 the people (3rd Estate) stormed
the Bastille, a prison, in search of gunpowder &
weapons.
• They acted on a rumor that the king was going to
use military force to dismiss (send away) the
National Assembly AND that foreigners were
coming to attack Paris.
Storming of the Bastille,
July 14, 1789
The great fear: peasant revolt
(July 20, 1789)
• Rumors that
the king and
the nobles
were sending
their military
to attack
peasants,
pillage their
land and put
down the
revolt.
What about King Louis’ European allies?
The 3rd Estate worried that Louis’ allies
would send in an army to help him
restore his throne.
From this point on, any supporter of the
king, royals, nobles would be seen as a
treat.
One way to eliminate this treat is to kill
as many of them as possible.
Map of Europe at the time of the
French Revolution (1789)
Declaration of the
Rights of Man
•
After the storming of the Bastille the National
Assembly issued the Declaration of the Rights of
Man in August 1789.
The main features:
1. Class privileges were ended - (no more “estates”)
2. Frenchmen were free and equal
3. Bill of rights for Frenchmen (freedom of speech,
press, religion, etc.)
Shortcomings of the Declaration
It excludes women.
It does not outlaw slavery despite the fact that
document discusses the freedom and equality of all
men.
Legislative Assembly
By 1791, the Legislative
Assembly replaced the
National Assembly.
It wanted to keep the king
but limit his powers.
This is called a
constitutional monarchy
(king has no real power).
Louis secretly hated this
idea but had no choice to
accept it.
How did members of the Legislative Assembly
feel about having a constitutional monarchy?
1. Extreme radicals were
the sans-culotte.
• They push the revolution
into the radical phase
• They demanded a
republic – NO
MONARCHY!
2. Moderates wanted a
Constitutional Monarchy!
3. Extreme conservatives
were the émigrés.
(royals, clergy and
nobles)
• They wanted the king to
have absolute power
Radicals create the National
Convention
• The legislative Assembly eventually gave up the idea
of forming a constitutional monarchy and was forced
to turn control over to the radicals
• The radicals formed a new governing body & called
itself the National Convention (1791).
Goals:
1. Create a republic (vote for leaders)
2. Abolish the monarchy!
France declares
war on Prussia and
Austria in 1792!
• Why? Both empires had
been helping French nobles
(called émigrés) who had
fled from France.
• Les émigrés had convinced
Prussia to send in an army
and crush the revolution. By
doing so, Louis’ power would
be restored and the nobles
would have all of their
privileges back.
The king’s escape attempt
backfires! (1792)
Louis XVI had the title of King but no power.
In June 1791, the king and his family tried to escape
from Paris to join members of the army at Metz.
The plan failed and they were captured in
Varennes.
They were forced to return to Paris through
silent and angry crowds.
The people of France feel betrayed by the
king’s attempt to escape and see him as a
traitor.
France becomes a republic in 1792
• The National
Convention abolished
the monarchy after
Louis’ escape attempt
and declares France a
Republic.
• King Louis XVI and
Queen MarieAntoinette are put on
trial for treason, found
guilty and executed
shortly after.
Robespierre
Nicknamed “The Incorruptible”.
Belonged to the Jacobin Club,
who were strong supporters of
the revolution
He was merciless.
He became president of the
Committee of Public Safety.
Its role was to protect the newly
established republic against
foreign attacks and internal
rebellion (traitors).
The next day, 28 July 1794, Robespierre was
guillotined without trial in the Place de la
Révolution. When clearing Robespierre’s
neck the executioner tore off the bandage
that was holding his shattered jaw in place,
producing an agonised scream until the fall
of the blade silenced him. Together with
those executed with him, he was buried in a
common grave at the newly opened Errancis
cemetery (cimetière des Errancis) (March 1794
– April 1797) (now the Place de Goubeaux).
Between 1844 and 1859 (probably in 1848),
the remains of all those buried there were
moved to the Catacombs of Paris.
The night before
his execution, Robespierre tried to kill
himself with a pistol, but he was
unsuccessful. He merely shattered his
jaw.
The Terror
Under the direction of Robespierre, the Committee
of Public Safety guillotined nearly 18 000 people,
between 1793-1794.
The people that were executed were usually
charged with treason or they did not agree with the
drastic actions of the Committee of Public Safety.
Georges-Jacques Danton
Georges-Jacques Danton
(Oct.26, 1759 – Apr.5, 1794
• Georges Danton, French Revolutionary leader
and orator, often credited as the chief force in the
overthrow of the monarchy and the establishment
of the First French Republic (September 21, 1792).
He later became the first president of the
Committee of Public Safety, but his increasing
moderation and eventual opposition to the Reign of
Terror led to his own death at the guillotine.
The end of the Reign of Terror
• Many victims were fellow
radicals who had upset
Robespierre;
including
members of his own club
• Robespierre was eventually
arrested and executed for
treason.
End of the Revolution
The Committee of Public Safety
was removed in 1795.
It was replaced by the Directory in
the same year.
 The Directory consisted of 5
members that ruled France.
The Directory failed too.
In 1799, Napoleon Bonaparte, a
popular general, built an army
and seized control of France.
The directory
• Soon after Robespierre’s execution, a group of
moderate minded men seized power and ruled from
1795 to 1799 under a new government called the
Directory.
• The Directory had little success.
• In 1799, Napoleon Bonaparte staged a coup d’etat and
seized power.
A new general
• Though corrupt, the
Directory did
provide France with
a period of order.
• They also found the
right general to
command France’s
armies: Napoleon
Bonaparte
Napoleon (1769-1821)
• He was an officer under Louis XVI and had
become a general at 24.
• He led the French army into many successful
battles.
MORE POWER!
Napoleon (1769-1821)
• In 1799, he returned to France and
joined the Directory, but when Austria,
Russia, and Britain for a coalition to
attack France and end the Revolution,
Napoleon staged a coup (to overthrow
the government)
• He overthrew the Directory, imposed a
new constitution, and made himself
first consul.
• In 1802, he became consul for life and
in 1804 crowned himself emperor.
France under Napoleon
• He brought stability to France.
• Napoleonic code = He established the Civil Code
of laws which further stabilized France.
• He confirmed many of the moderate policies of the
National Assembly but removed many measures
passed by the more radical Convention.
• He affirmed the political and legal equality of all
adult men.
• He made peace with the Catholic Church.
Napoleon as Authoritarian
• He limited free speech and used censorship of
newspapers.
• He established a secret police force and detained
thousands of political opponents.
• He manipulated public opinion through systematic
propaganda.
• He surrounded himself with loyal military officers.
• He set his family above and apart from the
French people.
End of Napoleon’s empire
• In 1812, Napoleon decided to invade Russia, believing that
the Russians were siding with the British.
• Napoleon and his “Grand Army” of 600,000 soldiers
captured Moscow, but the Russians refused to surrender.
• Instead, Russians used the “Scorched-Earth Policy” =
burned their cities, leaving Napoleon without food, supplies
or shelter.
• Napoleon was forced to retreat.
• He was defeated by “General Winter)
• Only 30 000 soldiers made it back to France.
Waterloo
• 1815:
Napoleon
defeated at Waterloo.
was
• The Battle of Waterloo was
fought thirteen kilometres
south of Brussels between
the French, under the
command
of
Napoleon
Bonaparte, and the Allied
armies commanded by the
Duke of Wellington from
Britain and General Blücher
from Prussia.
End of Napoleon’s empire
• The coalition restored the French monarchy and exiled
Napoleon to the island of Elba, near Corsica.
• In March 1815, Napoleon escaped, returned to France,
and reconstituted his army.
• This time the British defeated him at Waterloo and
banished Napoleon to the remote island of St. Helena
in the south Atlantic.
• He died in 1812.
Effects of the French Revolution
• Both the King and Queen were
beheaded!
• The French Monarchy was no
more.
• In addition to the Royal
family, 17 000 people were
executed with the guillotine.