Why was the government unstable

Jacobins

• revolutionary group led by Robespierre

• Advocated for a centralised government and the end of monarchy

• Dominated the reign of terror; methods caused a widespread of fear

Girondins

• supported a republic but opposed extreme methods of jacobins

• Advocated for war with Austria and Prussia to promote ideas

• Opposition to jacobins caused internal conflicts

• Majority purged during the reign of terror

Royalists

• loyal to the monarchy and opposed revolutionary ideals

• Staged uprisings to bring back to monarchy

• Vendée uprising caused conflict and forced revolutionaries to suppress them

Sans culottes

• working class radicals in paris who wanted a democracy and economic reforms

• Involved in the reign of terror and had an influence over the jacobins

• Radical demands to support the terror intensified revolutionary divisions

Vendee uprising, march 1793

• royalist counter revolutionary revolt against policies of anti catholic regime

• Suppressed by revolutionaries but had a large impact

Reign of terror

• caused by internal and external threats by royalists and foreign wars

• Revolutionary government adapted extreme measures to preserve the revolution

• Robespierre and committee of public safety used mass execution

• 16,000 people executed

Causes and effects of the taxation reform and assignat

• revolution needed more money and government needed to pay of its debt

• Aimed to make tax more equal

• Quickly lost value; worsened the economic crisis and increased public discontent

Assignât

Paper currency backed by the church

Government reforms causing instability

• revolution aimed to decentralise power; creating departments that replaced the old provincial system

• Created uneven enforcements of laws and policies where revolutionary ideas weren’t popular

• Local governments were weak; were prone to local rebellions/uprisings

Reforms to the church causing instability

• civil constitution of the clergy placed the church under state control

• Alienated catholics

• Widespread resistance in areas where church was influential; religious divisions

Louis’s flight to Varennes, June 20th 1791 and execution marking the end of democracy

• louis attempted to flee paris in 1971 to join royalists supporters abroad

• Seen as an act of treason

• His capture broke the trust between monarchy and the population

• Further radicalised the revolution and led to the trial for treason where he was executed

• Foreign monarchs formed coalitions to restore the monarchy; creating more wars

Importance of champ de mars, 14th July 1790

• petition was made to declare the monarchy abolished at champ de mar

• National guard led by Lafayette shot the place

• Massacre caused rife between moderate revolutionaries and radical factions

• Contrived to the rise of jacobins

Foreign powers contributing to instability

• fearing the spread of revolutionary ideas, Austria and Prussia formed an alliance to restore the monarchy in France

• War of first coalition 1792-1797 was France fighting multiple powers

• War justified the reign of terror, allowing jacobins to use extreme measures to defend the revolution

• Foreign invasions worsened the economic conditions

Committee of public safety

established to prevent the revolution of dying out from threats

Economic issues contributing to instability

• attempts to stabilise the economy with the law of maximum failed; worsening hardship

• Economic downfall caused by mass support of the revolution

Law of maximum, September 1793

• an attempt by the national convention to ease the food crisis by fixing a maximum limit of prices

• Setting price limits and punishing price gouging to attempt to ensure the continued supply of food to the french capital

Law of suspects, 1793-1794

empowered revolutionary committees to arrest those who by their conduct, relations or language spoken have shown themselves partisans as federal enemies of liberty