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The French Revolution
Consider the Following

Questions to Consider:

What is a just and fair society?

How much violence is justified in achieving a just society?

Do people have the right to overthrow what they see as an unjust system?
To replace it with what people are convinced is a more just system.
On the Eve of Revolution

Under France’s ancien regime, there were three social classes, or estates. The First Estate was the
clergy, who enjoyed great wealth and privilege. The Second Estate was the titled nobility. They held
top jobs in government, the army, and the courts. The vast majority of the population, including the
bourgeoisie, formed the Third Estate. The bulk of the Third Estate consisted of rural peasants. The
poorest members of the Third Estate were urban workers. Members of the Third Estate resented the
privileges enjoyed by their social “betters.” The First and Second Estates were exempt from most
taxes, while peasants paid taxes on many things, including necessities. The Enlightenment ideas led
people to question the inequalities of the old social structure. The Third Estate demanded that the
privileged classes pay their share. Economic troubles added to the social unrest. Deficit spending
had left France deeply in debt. In the 1780’s, bad harvests sent food prices soaring. Louis XVI chose
Jacques Necker as an economic advisor. Later, the king was forced to dismiss Necker for proposing
to tax the First and Second Estates. The crisis deepened. Powerful nobles and clergy called for a
meeting of the Estates-General to try to control reform. Louis XVI finally set a meeting at
Versailles. Beforehand, the king asked all three estates to prepare cahiers listing their grievances.
Some lists demonstrated the high level of resentment among the classes. The Estates-General met in
May 1789. After weeks of stalemate, delegates of the Third Estate abandoned the Estates-General
and formed the National Assembly. Later, when they were locked out of their meeting place, the
members took the Tennis Court Oath which desired a constitution. On July 14th, 1789, 800
Parisians assembled outside the Bastille, demanding weaponry. When the commander refused, the
enraged mob stormed the Bastille, sparking the French Revolution.
3 Estates (Classes)

First Estate--Roman
Catholic Clergy – 1%
Do not pay taxes

Second Estate-Nobility – 2%
Do not pay taxes

Third Estate--The Rest
(bourgeoisie and the
poor) – 97%
Pay taxes
1.
in France
2.
3.
Causes

Financial
 Debt from American Revolution
 Seven years war
 Soaring food prices
 Deficit spending

Nobles refused to pay taxes

Banks refuse to loan France money
Phase 1
1789 – With the nobles still refusing to pay taxes, Louis calls an
Estates General meeting:
1) Each of the three estates attend and get one vote
2) The 3rd estate fears that the first two estates will “gang up”
on them and control the vote in their favor.
3) The 3rd estate decides to meet on their own = The National
Assembly, where they attempt to voice some of their
complaints
National Assembly is Created

Abolished feudal dues

Nobles agree to pay taxes

ALL male citizens would hold government, army, or
church positions
Reasons
1. Taxes
2. High food prices
3. Low wages
The 3rd Estate:
Response, Reasons,
Reaction
Reaction
1. Storm the Bastille—
symbol of royal
power
2. Looking for
weapons but find
nothing

July 14th 1789
 Storming of the Bastille (medieval fortress)

The storming and subsequent fall of the Bastille was a wake-up call to
Louis XVI.
 This event challenged the existence of Louis XVI regime.

Since 1880, the French have celebrated Bastille Day annually as their
National Independence Day.
Review Questions

How was society structured under France’s ancien
regime?

What economic troubles did France face in the
1780s?
The French Revolution Unfolds

In France, the political crisis of 1789 coincided with a terrible famine. Peasants were starving and
unemployed. In such desperate times, rumors ran wild. Inflamed by famine and fear, peasants
unleashed their fury on the nobles. Meanwhile, a variety of factions in Paris competed to gain
power. Moderates looked to the Marquis de Lafayette for leadership. However, a more radical
group, the Paris Commune, replaced the city’s royalist government. The Storming of the Bastille and
the peasant uprisings pushed the National Assembly into action. In late August, the Assembly
proclaimed all male citizens were equal before the law. Upset that women did not have equal rights,
journalist Olympe de Gouges wrote a declaration that provided for this. The Assembly did not adopt
it. Nor was King Louis XVI willing to accept reforms. Much anger was directed at the queen, Marie
Antoinette, who lived a life of great extravagance. The National Assembly produced the
Constitution of 1791. This document reflected Enlightenment goals, set up a limited monarchy,
ensured equality before the law for all male citizens, and ended Church interference in government.
Events in France stirred debate all over Europe. Some applauded the reforms of the National
Assembly. Rulers of other nations, however, denounced the French Revolution. Horror stories were
told by emigres who had fled France. Rulers of neighboring monarchies increased border patrols to
stop the spread of the “French Plague” of revolution. In 1791, the newly elected Legislative
Assembly took office, but falling currency values, rising prices, and food shortages renewed turmoil.
Working-class men and women, called sans-culottes, pushed the revolution in a more radical
direction, and demanded a republic. The sans-culottes found support among other radicals,
especially the Jacobins. The radicals soon held the upper hand in the Legislative Assembly. Eager to
spread the revolution, they declared war on Austria and other European monarchies.
New Political Field
The political field now consisted of:
1.
Those wanting a new French government
2.
Those supporting Louis XVI and his “God-given right to
rule” (Royalists)
3.
Nobles still refusing to give up rights
Declaration of the Rights of Man

August 1789 – Inspired by:
 The American Revolution
 The Declaration of Independence
 The English Bill of Rights
1.
All people are equal before the law
2.
Guaranteed freedom of speech, press, religion, and arbitrary arrest and
punishment.
3.
These principles did not include women
Women March on
Versailles

Marie Antoinette flaunts her
lavish lifestyle in front of the
French people

The French people are
starving

French women stormed the
palace demanding to see the
King

Women refused to leave
Versailles until the King
agreed to return to Paris

Massacre of Guards

60,000 Return King to Paris
New Constitution
1791 – the National Assembly presented a new
constitution to the people.
1.
2.
Kept the monarchy, but limited its role
Set up a unicameral legislature (one house assembly
3.
members chosen by voters (men paying taxes)
Radical Days of the French Revolution

Monarchy is abolished

King Louis VXI is executed by the guillotine

Robespierre—Committee of Public Safety
Robespierre

Lawyer & politician

Promoted religious tolerance

Wanted to abolish slavery

Hated the old regime

Used terror and fear to achieve the goals of
the Revolution
Reign of Terror

Used the guillotine to execute anyone
who went against the ideas of the
revolution

Quick trials

Death to traitors

Who determines?
Outcomes of the French Revolution

Nationalism spreads throughout Europe

2 House Legislature created

Monarchy is abolished

Old social order is gone

State controlled the church
The Age of Napoleon
Rise to Power

Ambitious Captain in the French Army

Victories in the French port of Toulon

Captured most of northern Italy against Austrians

Egyptian expedition: Success? Napoleon controls
the message back to France.

Used popularity to go from Military General to
political leader
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Overthrows Directory to set up a Consulate

Named himself first consul for life.
Napoleon

Popularity: Napoleons rise to power came by successes culminating
in the title Emperor of the French.

Plebiscite: popular vote by ballot.

Democratic Despotism…voting gave people a say in government,
but Napoleon had absolute power. Napoleon valued Order and
Authority over Individual Rights.

Reforms: NAPOLEONIC CODE

Enlightenment principles…equality of all citizens, religious tolerance,
abolition of feudalism.

Women lost rights of citizenship.
Napoleons Empire

Napoleon ANNEXED much of Europe


Napoleon vs Great Britain


Netherlands, Belgium, parts of Italy and Germany, Holy Roman Empire,
Prussia.
Continental System: closed European ports to English trade. Britain
responded with its own blockade. This would eventually lead to conflict
involving the United States and triggered the War of 1812.
From Rome to Madrid to the Netherlands, NATIONALISM
unleashed revolts against the France.
Russian Disaster

Napoleons Grand Army is outwitted

Scorched-earth policy: tactic to avoid battles…Russians retreated
eastward, burning crops and villages. This left the French hungry and
cold as winter came.
Napoleons Fall From
Power

Napoleon abdicated (stepped down) power and
Louis XVIII was recognized as king of France.

Napoleon returns to challenge and again abdicates
after a brief 100 day reign after the Battle of
Waterloo.

Legacy: Spread the ideas of the revolution and
sparked nationalist feelings across Europe.

Sold Louisiana Territory to US bringing in the age of
American Expansion. (1803)
Congress of Vienna

1814 Europe's leaders met to settle differences, re-establish alliances,
and work towards a peaceful Europe.


Emperor Frances I of Austria, Prince Clemens von Metternich of Austria,
Tsar Alexander I of Russia, and Lord Robert Castlereagh of Britain,
Prince Charles Maurice de Talleyrand.
Principal of legitimacy…restoring hereditary monarchies that the
French Revolution or Napoleon had unseated. This occurred in France,
Portugal, Spain, and Italian states.