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The French Revolution
Modern World History
Harris
Background of the Revolution
France’s population in 1789 was about 27 million. However,
power and wealth were unequally distributed.
 The estate system, was a system used in France to divide up
society and determine who had to pay taxes. Under this system,
the people of France were divided into three different estates.
The First Estate – The First Estate in France consisted of the clergy
members of the church. There were about 130,000 people in this
estate. This group owned 10% of all the land in France.
The Second Estate – The Second Estate was made up of the
nobility in France. This group had about 350,000 members and
owned about 30% of the land in France.
The Third Estate – The Third Estate was made up of the rest of the
population. This group had a total population of about
26,520,000 and owned about 60% of the land.
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Three Estates
Population
.5%
1.5%
First estate
Second estate
Third Estate
98%
Three Estates
Land Ownership
10%
First estate
30%
60%
Second estate
Third Estate
Background to the Revolution
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The Taille - The biggest problem with the estate system
was what it made people do. The first and second
estates were exempt from the taille, this was France’s
main tax. This meant that the people who had money
didn’t need to pay taxes and the poorest people did.
Relics of Feudalism – these aristocratic privileges were
obligations that survived from an earlier age. They
included the payment of fees for the use of village
facilities such as the flour mill, community oven, and
winepress, as well as contributions to the clergy. This
also included general up keep on the items and other
infrastructure. The First and Second estates were also
exempt from this.
Background to the Revolution
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The Third estate included the group known as
the bourgeoisie. This group made up the middle
class. It included about 2.3 million people. This
group also owned about 25% of the land.
The bourgeoisie were educated professionals
like lawyers, bankers, doctors, and writers.
The bourgeoisie were allowed to hold some
public offices. It was also possible for a member
of the bourgeoisie to obtain enough wealth that
they could move from the third estate into the
second.
Crisis Begins
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The estate system had upset a number of people for
years, yet there were not enough people angry at the
system to get anything changed. This however changed
in 1788. France had seen back to back years of crop
failures. This lead to an increase in food prices and
downturn in manufacturing. The manufacturing
slowdown left many people without a job.
With the number of unemployed people growing and
the price of food continuing to climb, the third estate
was no longer willing to tolerate the spending of the
king and queen.
People were also angry at the amount of money that
had been spent fighting the Seven Years War and
helping with the American Revolution. People were
especially upset at the fact that they gained nothing
from either of these wars.
Meeting of the Estates General
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The concerns of the French Government had grown to
the point that they felt something needed to be done.
The King, Louis XVI, decided that a meeting of the
Estates General should be called.
The Estates General was the French parliament.
However, it had very little power and had not even met
since 1614.
The reason the King called the meeting was to actually
raise taxes. This is because the government was on the
verge of collapse because of its spending habits.
The goal of the Third Estate was to set up a
constitution government that would limit the power of
the king and remove the tax exemptions enjoyed by the
First and Second Estates.
Meeting of the Estates General
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The meeting began on May 5, 1789 at Versailles.
The First and Second Estates each had about 300 representatives
at the meeting. While the Third Estate had about 600 people
there.
Despite the large number of people in attendance, the system
was set up to work for the First and Second Estate. Regardless
of the actual number of representatives present, each estate only
received one official vote. This was especially problematic when
you consider the fact that the majority of the First Estate came
from families in the Second Estate.
The representatives from the Third Estate knew that this was a
problem and attempted to change the system. Despite some
support from individuals in the First and Second Estate,
ultimately their push for change failed. This was in part do to the
fact that any change in the way voting was done would have to
be approved using the old system.
Meeting of the Estates General
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With the King working to prevent any real change to
the system, the Third Estate decided to act on its own.
On June 17, 1789, the Third Estate decided to call itself
the National Assembly. The group continued to meet
with the rest of the Estates General, but conducted
their own business. They called themselves the National
Assembly because they had shown up with petitions
and support from thousands of people asking for
change and felt that this meant they were the only ones
that truly represented the country. With the formation
of the National Assembly, the Third Estate began
writing a constitution.
Meeting of the Estates General
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On June 20, 1789, the National Assembly arrived at Versailles to
find the meeting room locked. They then moved to a tennis
court next door and pledged to meet were ever was necessary to
get the constitution written. This became known as the Tennis
Court Oath.
Fighting Begins
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After the swearing of the Tennis Court Oath, many people from
the First and Second Estates joined the National Assembly.
Word slowly spread about what had happened at the meeting of
the Estates-General. People found out in Paris and then the
information spread through the countryside. As more and more
people learned of the efforts of the National Assembly, messages
of support and encouragement were sent to the members of the
Assembly.
At this point the King made two big mistakes. First, he began to
call for reinforcements of troops in and around Paris and
Versailles. Second, he fired his Finance Minister, Jacques Necker.
Necker was well liked by the Third Estate, because he attempted
to limit the King’s spending and he was the one responsible for
calling the Estates General with the double representation of the
Third Estate. He also worked with the Third Estate to try and
get the voting rules changed.
Fighting Begins
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To the members of the Third Estate in Paris, the firing
of Necker on July 11, 1789, was seen as the beginning
of the Kings attempt to stop the National Assembly. In
response, the public began to protest and quickly
turned to violence.
On July 14, the people of Paris attempted to form a
militia to protect themselves from the King’s army. As
people gathered, it was decided that gunpowder was
need to arm the group. The only place that had this
much gunpowder was an old fort/prison in the city
known as The Bastille.
As the repeated requests for gun powder were turned
down the crowd got angry. By the afternoon, the crowd
had turned into an angry mob and invaded the fort.
After gaining support from some of the Royal Army,
the fort was taken over.
The Revolution Moves Forward
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The storming of the Bastille is celebrated as the
beginning of the revolution.
With the rebellion of some of the Royal Army, the
King was told he could no longer trust his troops.
The Bastille was slowly taken down, brick by brick, and
became a symbol of the revolution.
Word of the storming of the Bastille spread throughout
France sparking violent uprisings throughout the
countryside.
On August 4, 1789, the National Assembly took away
the tax exemptions of the First and Second Estate.
On August 26, 1789, the National Assembly adopted
the Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizens.
The Revolution Moves Forward
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Olympe de Gouges was a woman who was interested in what the
revolution could do for women in France. She argued that the
Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen should give
political rights to women. The National Assembly decided the
Declaration would not do this.
Despite the exclusion of women from its most important
document up to that point, women did play a significant role in
the revolution. By October 5, 1789, the Revolution had gone on
for several months but little progress had been made. Food
problems were particularly troubling for many poor families in
France. On this date, a large group of women marched to
Versailles carrying pitchforks and torches, demanding the King
return to Paris to deal with problems. The king conceded and
returned with the women. At this point, he and his wife have
become a virtual prisoner in Paris.
The Revolution Moves Forward
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Church Reforms – The National Assembly targeted the
Church for reform early on in the revolution. They
seized and sold much of the Church’s land in an
attempt to build back up some of the countries bank
accounts. They also decided that church officials should
be elected not appointed. This allowed almost anyone
to become a church official. Many supporters of the
church became enemies of the revolution.
By 1791, the National Assembly had put together the
new constitution. This document created a government
where the king still ruled and a Legislative Assembly
was created. The Legislative Assembly consisted of 745
elected officials. Only males over 25 who paid a certain
amount in taxes could vote. Many people didn’t
support this new government. Even the King tried to
escape in June of that year, he was caught.
The Revolution Sputters
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War – As the revolution continued, Prussia and Austria began to make
threats of invading to fully restore the power of Louis XVI. To deal with
this problem, France went ahead and declared war on both countries.
This decision was directed by the king, as he saw both outcomes as a
win for himself. As could be predicted, this was a total disaster. Rumors
spread about betrayals of the king, generals, and other politicians.
Eventually, the French were able to win at the Battle of Valmy. This
defeat sent the Prussians home and saved the Revolution.
The Paris Commune
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Defeats in the war and the continued food crisis throughout the
country, led to increasing numbers of demonstrations against the
King and the Legislative Assembly.
Finally, by August of 1792, a radical group of revolutionaries
stormed the royal palace and Legislative Assembly in Paris. This
group becomes known as the Paris Commune.
The Paris Commune arrested the King and ordered the
Legislative Assembly to hold a National Convention. This
convention would create a new French government and would
be attended by people chosen through universal manhood
suffrage.
Many of the members of the Paris Commune referred to
themselves as “sans-culottes.” This was in reference to the pants
they wore. The style among the upper class individuals of the
time was to wear pants that breeched at the knees. Poor people
wore pants that did not breech or sans-culottes.
Move to Radicalism
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Before the National Convention had an opportunity to meet and
establish a new form of government, the Paris Commune began
to run things. One of the first things they did was to name
Georges Danton, minister of justice.
Danton was a member of the sans-culottes and sought revenge
on those who added the king and resisted popular will.
Thousands of people were arrested.
New leaders of the revolution began to emerge. Jean Paul Marat
was a scientist and a writer. He published the paper, The Friend of
the People, and pushed the revolution in a more radical direction.
In September of 1792, the National Convention finally meet.
The convention quickly split into factions. The two main
factions were the Girondins and the Mountain. Both groups
were members of a French society known as the Jacobin Club.
The Mountain represented the radicals from within Paris, and
the Girodins represented the people from outside the cities.
Move to Radicalism
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The question at hand was
what to do with the
imprisoned king. The longer
he was left alive, the risk of
royal supporters mounting a
counter revolution existed.
On the other hand, killing the
king would risk a response
from other European
countries.
Ultimately, in January of
1793, the Mountains were
able to convince the National
Convention to execute the
King. On January 21, he was
beheaded on the guillotine.
The Reign Of Terror
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The execution of the king didn’t solve anything for the National
Convention. Disputes between the Girodins and the Mountains
were taking place on a daily basis which slowed down the
progress of the Convention.
The Paris Commune was in charge of governing the city of Paris
and continued to push the National Convention to adopt ever
more radical solutions.
Questions of who was running the country abounded. The
National Convention was technically in charge, however,
peasants in western France and citizens of most major cities
refused to recognize the National Convention was in control.
Concern over the response of Europe to the execution of the
King turned out to be accurate. The countries of Austria,
Prussia, Spain, Portugal, Britain, and the Dutch Republic took up
arms against France. The country was no match for such a large
coalition and soon found itself struggling to protect its land.
George Danton
Maximilien Robespierre
The Reign of Terror
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In response to internal and external threats, the National
Convention gave broad powers to special committee of 12. This
committee was given the title of the Committee of Public Safety.
This group was first controlled by Georges Danton but was later
by Maximilien Robespierre. Danton was seen by some as
enjoying luxuries too much, implying that he could be bought
off. Robespierre was known as the incorruptible.
To deal with the threats, the Committee of Public Safety began
to eliminate all threats foreign and domestic. Thousands of
people were arrested, tried in front of a Revolutionary Court, and
then executed. In all over 40,000 people were executed, including
16,000 by the guillotine.
One of the persons responsible for identifying enemies to arrest
was Marat. However, he was assassinated in his bathtub on July
13, 1793, by Charlotte Corday. Following this murder, the
Committee of Public Safety arrested and execute many of the
Girodins. Corday was a Girodin and the murder was a response
to Marat’s and Danton’s earlier efforts to eliminate them.
The Reign of Terror
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One of the first things done by the Committee of
Public Safety, was to establish and train a large standing
army. This group was then sent in to bring cities into
line.
In Lyon, 1,880 people were executed. Many were shot
when the guillotine proved to be too slow.
In Nantes, several hundred people were executed by
being tied up to boats and then the boats were sank in
the Loire River.
No one was spared the Committee’s wrath. In all, the
clergy and nobility made up 15% of the people
executed during the reign of terror.
The Republic of Virtue
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5.
The ultimate vision of France, as seen by Robespierre and the
Committee of Public Safety, was known as the Republic of
Virtue. This would be a democratic society composed of good
citizens.
Many things were changed in this society.
Citizen and Citizeness replaced Mr. and Mrs. as a title.
France was dechristianized. The word Saint was removed from
public names. Churches were pillaged and closed. Priests were
encouraged to marry.
Notre Dame became a temple of reason.
Years began at September 22, 1792, the date that France
became a republic. Each month consisted of three 10 day
weeks. Sundays were eliminated as days of worship.
Names of months were changed to reflect the time of year,
temperature, and state of vegetation. One example was the
month of Vendemiaire translated to seed time.
The end of the Terror
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On August 23, 1793, the Committee of Public Safety
mobilized the entire country. This created the largest
army Europe had ever seen. With such a large army,
Frances enemies were defeated.
With their external enemies defeated and domestic
threats under control, the national convention felt it
was time to act. The group was scared of Robespierre,
but they were able to gather enough votes to condemn
him. On July 28, 1794, Robespierre was guillotined.
After his death, the Jacobins lost control and moderates
took over.
The Directory
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With the end of the Reign of Terror, the National Convention
reduced the amount of power the Committee of Public Safety
had. They also allowed churches to reopen for worship.
In August of 1795, the National Convention finished its work
and created a new constitution. Under this constitution, the
government consisted of a legislature with two branches. The
lower house was known as the Council of 500 and the upper
house was known as the Council of Elders. The Council of
Elders consisted of 250 people.
Under this design, the Council of 500 would originate legislation
and the Council of Elders would either accept or decline the
legislation after debate.
These two groups were chosen through an election. However, to
be eligible to vote you needed to own a certain amount of land.
The amount of land needed changed so that only 30,000 could
vote.
The Directory
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From a list made by the Council of 500, the Council of
Elders elected 5 people to form what was known as the
Directory. This group would act as an executive
committee.
From 1795-1799, the Directory was known for
corruption and greed. Both Royalists, who wanted a
return of the monarchy, and revolutionaries plotted
against the government.
In 1799, a coup d’etat overthrew the government and
placed Napoleon Bonaparte in charge.
Napoleon Bonaparte
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Napoleon Bonaparte was born on
the island of Corsica in 1769. The
island is off the coast of Italy and
had in fact only been recently
acquired by France. His parents
were from lower nobility, which
allowed him to enter some of the
top French military schools of the
times. In 1785 he was done with
school and formally entered the
army as a lieutenant, he was 16.
For the next several years,
Napoleon continued to study
military history and tactics. This
helped him rise quickly through the
ranks.
The Rise of Napoleon
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When the Revolution began, Napoleon was serving as a French
Army Officer on the island of Corsica. Their he supported the
Jacobins until he was forced to flee to France in 1793.
Once back in France, he was made artillery commander and was
responsible for coming up with a successful battle plan in
Toulon. Toulon was a French port that was under British
control. This was the first French victory over the British in
many years. This victory made him a very popular figure in
France.
In 1795, he successfully defended The Directory from rioting
royalists and counter-revolutionaries. He dispersed the crowds
with a “whiff of grapeshot.”
The victory earned him a great deal of respect from The
Directory. In 1796, he was appointed head of the French Army
in Italy.
The Rise of Napoleon
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While in Italy, Napoleon was very successful. This is where
he earns his title of military genius. Here he defeats most
of the Italian States and Austria. The treaties that he signs
as a representative of France give the country a significant
amount of land in central Europe.
After a successful Italian campaign, Napoleon won the
approval of the Directory to turn his attentions towards
Egypt. With ties to Britain and the Ottoman Empire,
Napoleon saw the possibility of victory here as major
move for France.
Despite success on the battle field, Napoleon’s troops were
significantly weakened by illness and a lack of supplies. The
British had been successful in blocking the French supply
ships. Eventually, Napoleon collected a few Egyptian
artifacts, declared victory and returned to France.
The Rise of Napoleon
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Upon his return to France in 1799, Napoleon was
greeted by the people as a hero. Despite the public’s
support for Napoleon, there was growing discontent
for the Directory.
Napoleon along with a few close friends and allies
decided that they should overthrow the government.
With the support of his troops, the Directory stepped
down without a fight.
Napoleon was named First Consul and had absolute
power.
Napoleon as Emperor
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Napoleon twice won a voter referendum as Consul. The
first vote was in 1800, and reaffirmed his status as First
Consul. This vote took place because of some infighting
between the people who helped stage the coup that
brought Napoleon to power. The second referendum
gave Napoleon the job of First Consul for life. The
validity of both of these votes is somewhat in question, in
both Napoleon received over 99% approval.
In 1804 an assassination plot was discovered against
Napoleon. It was discovered that Louis XVI’s family, the
Bourbons, were responsible for this. Upon this
discovery, Napoleon pushed to restore the monarchy and
make him Emperor. The thought was that the Bourbons
was have no claim to the throne if the Bonaparte line was
officially worked into the constitution.
This is a painting of Napoleon’s coronation by David. During the
coronation, it was traditional for the pope place the crown on the head of
the ruler. However to show that he was not controlled by the church,
Napoleon was handed the crown and placed on is own head.
Napoleon as Emperor
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Peace with the church – Napoleon understood that to be as
successful leader, he would need to have the help of as many
groups as he could. This meant trying to win back the support of
the Catholic Church. In 1801 he signed an agreement with the
Church which recognized the church as the religion of most
people in France. In return, the Church would not ask for land
that had been take by the government to be returned.
The Napoleon Code – Before the revolution there was not a
single set of laws in France, but 300 different legal systems.
Napoleon attempted to fix this by coming up with a single set of
laws for the entire country. The Napoleonic Code as it was
known, preserved most of the gains of the revolution by
recognizing the equality of men before the law, the right of an
individual to choose their own profession, religious toleration,
and the abolition of serfdom. Employers were protected with the
outlawing of trade unions and strikes. The Code was a step back
for women, who now officially seen as “less equal than men,” in
the eyes of the law.
Napoleon as Emperor
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New Bureaucracy – To make the government function
more efficiently, Napoleon created a new bureaucratic
system. Bureaucrats are the ones in charge of the
everyday workings of the government. In Napoleon’s
system, these people won their job through ability only.
This merit based system made the government function
very effectively.
Napoleon also created an new aristocracy based merit
and service to the country. This encouraged people to
work hard and take jobs in government. Over, 3,250
nobles were created during his reign as emperor. Of
these, only 22% came from the old nobility. While 60%
came from the middle class.
Napoleon as Emperor
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When Napoleon became First Consul in 1799, France
was at war with most European countries. Despite
being leader of the country, Napoleon still found time
to battle plan for his Grand Army. With Napoleon and
his military genius still behind the army, their success in
Europe continued. By 1807, much of Europe either
belonged to France or were allied with them.
Between 1807-1812, The Grand Empire of France
consisted of three major parts: The French Empire,
dependent states, and allied states.
Napoleon as Emperor
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As the French empire spread, Napoleon hoped that the ideas of
the revolution would spread with it. The ideas of legal equality,
religious toleration, and economic freedom, all seemed to follow
the expansion of the French empire.
One issue that Napoleon seemed to focus on was the elimination
of the old order. This meant that in the countries now under
French control, the clergy and nobility lost their privilege. This
angered the nobility and the existing monarchy throughout
Europe.
The most important thing that the French spread throughout the
world was known as “nationalism.” Nationalism is the unique
cultural identity of a people based one common language,
religion, and national symbols. This was a critical element in the
success of the French in their revolution. However, this idea
would work against any invading force and weakened the French
control over the new territories.
Napoleon’s Final Defeat
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Napoleon’s brief reign as Emperor of France began to end in
1812. During this year, Napoleon decided that it was time for
France to attack one of the few remaining enemies they had in
Europe; Russia. Napoleon then proceeded to lead over 600,000
troops into Russia. Once there the Russians seemed to put up
little resistance, they constantly retreated as the French advanced.
As they retreated however, the Russians burned fields and cities
along the way. The French pursued the Russians until the got to
Moscow. The city was abandon and was soon set on fire.
Napoleon’s troops were low on supplies and exhausted from the
trip and fighting. At this point he ordered his troops to retreat.
As his troops began the long march home, the Russians began to
attack the from the rear. The “Great Retreat” as it became
known was a disaster for France. The troops were out of
supplies because the had used what they brought with them and
the Russians had burned the rest. All the while they were
continuously being attacked by the Russians
Napoleon’s Final Defeat
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The Great Retreat was made even worse by the onset of the
Russian winter. These things all worked to make the Russian
campaign the most disastrous of Napoleon’s career. Of the
original 600,000, only 40,000 made it back.
Napoleon was responsible for bring some of his men’s anger on
to himself. The entire miserable trip home, Napoleon rode in
covered carriage and eat three meals a day. The man who was
once loved by his troops as one of their own, was now despised
by them.
With the French army in such a weakened condition, other
European countries took this opportunity to rise up overthrow
the French.
Armies soon invaded France, by March of 1814 Paris had been
captured. Napoleon signed a treaty which forced him to leave.
He was sent to the island of Elba in the Mediterranean.
The Bourbon Monarchy was restored to the throne of France.
Louis XVI brother Louis XVIII was named king.
Napoleon’s Final Defeat
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Napoleon’s exile on Elba was very short. He took several troops
to the island with him, but shortly became board. Word reached
the island that the people of France hated the new king and
would support his return.
In March of 1815, he returned to France and marched towards
Paris. The King sent troops to arrest Napoleon, however he was
able to get all the troops to join up with him instead. The every
growing group arrived in Paris on March 20, 1815.
The forces that had defeated Napoleon all agreed that he was too
dangerous to be left alone.
Napoleon also felt that he couldn’t leave the situation alone, so
he raised another grand army and went to attack the nearest
enemy.
On June 18, 1815, Napoleon’s forces fought with British and
Prussian forces at the Battle of Waterloo. At this battle,
Napoleon was dealt another defeat.
Napoleon was sent to another Island, St. Helena, were he died in
obscurity a few years later.
Party Time
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With Napoleon now gone, it was time for Europe to relax and
get back to normal, or a least normal for the monarchs and
nobility.
In September of 1814, Austrian foreign minister, Klemens von
Metternich, put together what was known as the Congress of
Vienna. This Congress was a meeting of all the major powers in
Europe. The ultimate goal of the Congress was to fix the
boarders of Europe and to reaffirm the idea of monarchy, after
Napoleon and the French Revolution had changed things so
much.
The Congress was really a time for the Royals to party. The
meeting lasted nine months. Every night there was a party and a
banquet. Forty tables were set each night and following the food
their would be dancing, plays, music, fireworks, and other forms
of entertainment. Beethoven even wrote a piece of music
specifically for the congress.
Congress of Vienna
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One of the main ideas of the Congress was that of conservatism.
This is the idea that all decisions will be based on the idea of
maintaining tradition and social stability. Under this idea,
monarchies were to be maintained in every European country.
To maintain conservatism, Great Britain, Russia, Prussia, and
Austria agreed to annual meetings which allow them to maintain
peace in Europe. This was known as the Concert of Europe.
This group also developed what was known as the principle of
intervention. This is a practice in which countries agree that if a
monarch is threatened by a revolution, then other countries will
step in to protect the monarchy.
The Congress also cleared up the boarders of Europe. It
officially recognized the boarders of German states and Italian
states. It also returned France to their prewar boarders and
reestablished the Bourbon monarchy.
Working Against Conservatism
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While the monarchs in attendance at the Congress of
Vienna wanted to believe the could go back to things
being the way they were before the revolution.
However, they didn’t know the political forces were
already working to prevent this from happening.
Liberalism – This is the political idea that is largely
based on the enlightenment. The basic concept is that
people should be as free as possible from government
intrusion. To ensure this happened, people need to
have their civil liberties protected. To do this, countries
should have documents to protect their rights. This is
modeled off of the United States, who has the Bill of
Rights. They also encouraged governments to write
constitutions.
Working Against Conservatism
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Nationalism – Nationalism was spread by the
French Revolution. It encouraged people to
unite under a common heritage. This was
trouble for monarchs who often from other
countries. This also threatened the remaining
empires in Europe. Nationalism would also
work to unit regions that had been formally
separated for a number of years.
More French Revolutions
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1830 – The Bourbon monarchy had been restored to the French
throne by 1814, however the French people were not satisfied
with this. In 1830, they overthrow Charles X and replaced him
with his cousin Louis-Philippe. Along with this change they also
established the government as a constitutional monarchy.
Revolution in France sparked revolution in Belgium, Poland, and
Italy. Russia used force to put most of these revolutions down.
1848 – Severe economic problems in France lead to another
revolution. Louis-Philippe was overthrown and replaced in an
election by Charles Louis Napoleon Bonaparte, Napoleon’s
nephew.
This revolution inspired revolutions Italy and Austria. These
revolutions were not successful. Germany was also inspired to
attempt to unify however this failed too.