The French Revolution

How did France make money post wars?

King Louis XIV raised money through taxation and borrowing.

Ancien regime

A feudal social and political system from the 15th century until 1789. Under this system, the Catholic Church and the nobility controlled the economic, political, and social systems, including taxes and the courts, for their own benefit.

Locke

Natural rights: life, liberty & property; right to overthrow oppressive government

Voltaire

Urges France to emulate British political system; religious toleration; freedom of speech

Rousseau

Social Contract; republic; separate spheres; men are born good & corrupted by society

Montesquieu

3 branches of govt

The First Estate (Catholic Clergy)

1% of the population, owned 10% of the land

The Second Estate (Nobility)

2% of the population, 35% of the land

Third Estate

97% of the population, 55% of the land

Charles-Alexandre de Calonne

(Finance Minister 1783 - 1787) attempted to pass new taxes –a universal land tax– which would apply to all three estates

Assembly of Notables (1787)

Summoned to approve the reforms. They rejected the proposals, defending their tax exemptions. Parlements of Paris claims only the Estates General can approve new taxes.

Vacillating policy (weakness of Louis XVI)

Dismisses a number of finance ministers

Aristocratic resurgence (weakness of Louis XVI)

Louis is beholden to the interests of the nobles who had been subdued under Louis XIV

The Moderate Phase

(1789-1792)

Cahiers de Doléances

In preparation for the May 1789 meeting, the Clergy, Nobility, and Third Estate of France were asked to assemble and to compile a list of their grievances regarding the sociopolitical-economic practices of the ancien regime.

The Third Estate asked for this in their grievances

1. A fairer taxation system

2. A fairer voting system–by head, rather than estate

3. An end to the requirement (corvée) that peasants provide unpaid labor to landowners

4. The elimination of the old feudal fees levied by nobles on peasant land holdings

5. A halt to tithes, a 10% tax paid to the Church

Tennis Court Oath (June 20, 1789)

The National Assembly met at an indoor tennis court after being locked out of its traditional meeting hall, and the members swore an oath not to disperse before achieving a new constitution.

July 14, 1789

The Storming of the Bastille was a pivotal event where revolutionaries attacked the fortress prison in Paris, symbolizing the uprising against the monarchy and tyranny. This event marked the beginning of widespread rebellion and became a powerful symbol of the fight for liberty and justice, connecting deeply to the broader effects of the French Revolution.

August 4, 1789

The National assembly officially abolished feudalism by voting to end seignorial rights and fiscal privileges of the nobility, clergy, and towns. This marked the end of the Revolution for the vast majority of French peasants, who only wanted freedom from traditional ties to the outdated manorial system.

August 26, 1789

The National Assembly took matters a step further by issuing the Declaration of Rights of Man and of the Citizen. Much like the American Declaration of Independence, it affirmed the Enlightenment ideals of “natural rights of man” so important to Locke and Jefferson. It also incorporated the ideas of major French Enlightenment thinkers, such as Jean-Jacques Rousseau. His ideas of the social contract, that the state should represent the general will of its citizens, formed the basis for the French declaration. It called for equality, free speech, representative government, and popular sovereignty.

October 1789

The Women's March on Versailles occurred, where thousands of Parisian women, protesting bread shortages, marched to the Palace of Versailles. This led to King Louis XVI and the royal family being forced to return to Paris, and it brought the National Assembly to Paris as well, placing them under the influence of the city's revolutionary population.

Civil Constitution of the Clergy (1790)

The Catholic Church was placed completely under the authority of the state.

All of the clergy was told it owed its primary allegiance to France.

The 10% tithe paid by the peasants was eliminated.

Church dioceses were aligned with new administrative districts.

In the future, bishops and priests would be elected by assemblies.

Constitution of 1791

France’s first constitution established a constitutional monarchy that placed lawmaking power in the hands of the new legislative assembly. It also gave the king a limited veto and allowed him to appoint his own ministers. However, many French citizens did not trust that their monarch would abide by the terms of the constitution.

The War of 1792

A series of military conflicts that arose from the French Revolution, lasting from 1792 to 1802. These wars pitted the newly established French Republic against various European monarchies that opposed the revolutionary ideals, leading to widespread conflict across Europe and significant political changes.

June 1791

Flight to Varennes

Radical Revolution (1792-1794)

Following the summer violence of 1792, the National Assembly dissolved itself, calling for elections to form a new parliament called the National Convention. All adult men, but no women, would be permitted to vote. However, rumors had spread that prisoners planned to join up with the approaching Prussian army. Radical sans-culottes such as Jean-Paul Marat whipped the people into a frenzy of violence known as the September Massacres, in which crowds attacked the prisons and slaughtered more than 1,000 inmates. 

Jacobins seized control of the National Convention from the moderate Girondins and implemented the following changes in 1792-1793

The elimination of the French monarchy, The declaration of the Republic of France, The adoption of a new calendar, The de-Christianization of France. 

Jacobins

A radical political group during the French Revolution known for their influential role in advocating for the rights of the lower classes and pushing for the establishment of a republic. They were instrumental in the shift towards more extreme revolutionary measures and were characterized by their commitment to the principles of equality and fraternity. Their policies and actions had significant effects on the course of the French Revolution and influenced revolutionary movements across Europe.

Girondins

A moderate political faction during the French Revolution that conflicted with the more radical Jacobins. They favored a constitutional monarchy, a decentralized government, and a more moderate approach to reform compared to the Jacobins.

Reign of Terror

25,000 “enemies” were executed in 15 months by revolutionary tribunals (little due process)

De-Christianization

Replaced with Cult of Reason and later the Cult of the Supreme Being

Maximilien Robespierre

Dominated the Committee of Public Safety by the end of 1793. Advocated a “Republic of Virtue”

Thermidorian Reaction

1795

Thermidor

The name of the month in when Robespierre was overthrown on July 27, 1794, ending the Reign of Terror. 

Law of the Maximum

Had set price limits on bread and basic goods

The Directory

A new constitution created a five-man executive body designed to avoid dictatorship. It was intentionally weak and divided, with two legislative chambers for checks and balances. It relied heavily on the military to put down revolts.

Eventually overthrown by Napoleon in 1799.

Committee of Public Safety

12 member executive body created by the Convention. Enjoyed almost dictatorial power. Moderate under Danton; Radical under Robespierre. 

Jean-Paul Marat

Editor of the newspaper: “L’ami du peuple”. Radical ideas led to September Massacres. Elected to National Assembly 1792 & wanted to purge Girondins. Killed by Charlotte Corday in 1793.

Levée en masse

Universal male military conscription and converting to a wartime economy.

The First Coalition

Included Austria, Prussia, Britain, Spain, Sardinia, and Holland

Goals of the Sans-Culottes

Immediate relief from food shortages and rising prices. Strongly democratic, disliked even representative government (preferred direct democracy). Dominated the Paris Commune.

September 1792

The Convention declared France a Republic in Sept. 1792

Citizen Capet

The title given to the deposed King Louis XVI of France during the French Revolution. It was a deliberately revolutionary act by the National Convention to strip him of his royal title and hereditary surname, replacing it with the surname "Capet," which referred to the ancient dynasty from which his family descended.

Sans-Culottes

Most radical of the Jacobins. Had become victims of unregulated economic liberty. “Mountain” sat in highest seats at the Convention

Declaration of Pillnitz of 1791

Austria & Prussia pledged to intervene in France to preserve monarchy; Britain did not agree. 

Brunswick Manifesto of 1792

A proclamation issued by Charles William Ferdinand, Duke of Brunswick, commander of the Allied army. Threatened to destroy Paris if the royal family was harmed. It was said to have been a measure intended to intimidate Paris but rather helped further spur the increasingly radical French Revolution and finally led to the war between Revolutionary France and counter-revolutionary monarchies.

Émigrés

Nobles who fled France

Montagnards

Radicals, led by Robespierre, Danton, Marat

Storming the Tuileries Palace (August 10, 1792)

Armed revolutionaries attacked the palace, massacred the Swiss Guards, and took the royal family as prisoners, leading to the abolition of the French monarchy and the establishment of a republic.