Chapter 19: French Revolution

Phases of the French Revolution

Phases of the French Revolution

National Assembly 1789 - 1791

Legislative Assembly 1791 - 1792

National Convention 1792 - 1795

French Directory 1795 - 1799

the First Estate

The clergy made up the first estate. They included archbishops, bishops, abbots, parish priests, monks, and nuns. There were 130,000 of them which made up 2% of the population

They owned 10 percent of land in France. It provided education and relief services to the poor and contributed about 2% of its income to the government

the Second Estate

Comprised ofthe nobility, and only made up 2% of population, they owned about 20-25% of the land. Members of this estate were exempt from most of the major taxes and managed to find ways around other charges, fees and taxes. Nobility were guaranteed position of rank within the military, government and often the church.

the Third Estate

Was 96% percent of Frances population. The third estate contained three parts to it. (1) a city-dwelling middle class called the bourgeoisie, (2) urban lower class, (3) peasants. The bourgeoisie was the fastest and richest growing part of the third estate. They staged the French Revolution.

the Estates-General

The legislative body of France with each of the 3 estates represented, called in 1789 to help Louis XVI solve the debt crisis. Unfair because although the third estate made up 98% of the population, each estate had an equal vote; resulting in the third estate being out voted by the first two estates. third estate formed its own assembly, the National Assembly, beginning the French Revolution.

Jacques Necker

financial expert of Louis XVI, he advised Louis to reduce court spending, reform his government, abolish tariffs on internal trade, but the First and Second Estates got him fired, which led to outrage by those in the Third Estate.

Assembly of Notables (1787)

king's advisors selected members from high nobility, the judiciary, and the clergy to seek support for a plan to tax the nobles and the Church

the assembly still wasn't willing to support Louis XIV's new reforms and taxes as many had loaned money to the crown already and didn't want to pay taxes, which violated their class privilege.

Voting by head

The voting system in which one delegate was equal to one vote; favored by the Third Estate and reforming members of the other two.

Voting by Order

The voting system in which one estate equaled one vote; favored by the conservative members of the First and Second Estate

marquis de Lafayette

French hero, who fought alongside Washington during the American Revolution, and was a strong advocate of the French Revolution. Helped write the Declaration of Rights of Man.

Abbey Sieyes

Wrote the pamphlet "What is the Third Estate?", which helped to motivate the third estate at the beginning of the French Revolution. Elected deputy of the Third Estate

bourgeoisie

A social class that derives social and economic power from employment, education, and wealth, as opposed to the inherited power of aristocratic family of titled land owners or feudal privileges. It's a term for the middle class common in the 19th century. It's characterized by their ownership of property and their related culture.

the National Assembly

Created by the 3rd estate at the estates general in 1789. The National Assembly would strive to create a constitution in the name of the French people. It was created due to the decision to vote by order, which ensured that the 3rd estate would be out voted.

cahiers de doleances

statements of local grievances drafted throughout France during the elections to the Estates-General, advocating a regular constitutional government abolishing fiscal privileges of the church and nobility

the Tennis Court Oath

A promise made by the members of the National Assembly to stay together until they had written a constitution for France. Named such because they met at a tennis court due to their being locked out of the estates general by the king.

Louis XVI

French king who inherited considerable debt from previous kings and borrowed heavily in order to help the American revolutionaries in their war against Great Britain. Called the Estates General in order to raise taxes, but rejected any reforms requested by the third estate until the Tennis Court Oath. He will be executed after trying to flee to Austria.

the Bastille

French prison which also contained weapons and gunpowder that became known as a symbol of the royal abuse of power; stormed and taken over by revolutionaries in 1789, July, and marks the start of the French Revolution.

the Great Fear

A time of rural unrest in France. It occurred during the worsening grain shortage of the spring, and was fueled by the rumors of an aristocrat "famine plot" to starve or burn out the population. Peasant and town people mobilized in many regions. They burned down manors and armed themselves.

the March on Versailles

This refers to the storming of Versailles on October 5, 1789 by a large group of laboring women who worked in the city (many worked gutting fish). The women went to the palace carrying spears, even dragging a cannon, to demand more bread from the King and Queen.

The Civil Constitution of the Clergy

written by the National Assembly; subjected church to state control; declared that the Catholic Church in France is a national church independent of the Pope, and that the Catholic clergy in France are paid government officials to be elected by the people; will be condemned by the Pope and most of the French clergy

Constitution of 1791 (France)

set up a limited monarchy - there was a king but legislative assembly would make laws - old order had been destroyed but new govnt didn't have universal support.

The ratification ended the National Assembly and started the Legislative Assembly.

Legislative Assembly

A French congress with the power to create laws and approve declarations of war, established by the constitution of 1791.

Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen

This was the preamble to the Constitution of 1791 written by the National Assembly which gave all citizens free expression of thoughts and opinions and guaranteed equality before the law.

Comparable to the Bill of Rights.

Jacobins

Started as a moderate political party during the Legislative Assembly but quickly became the most radical political faction (party) of the French Revolution during the Convention. Created the Committee for Public Safety, which enacted the Reign of Terror.

The dominant group In the National Convention in 1793 replaced the Girondists. It was headed up by Marat, Robespierre, and Danton.

They represented the peasants/working class, leading to their becoming increasingly radical.

Jean-Paul Marat

A journalist and scientist, as well as an associate Jacobin, who helped launch the Reign of Terror and complied death lists, being an advocate of violent measures. He was stabbed to death in his bath by Charlotte Corday, immortalized in the David painting The Death of Marat.

Charlotte Corday

French revolutionary heroine (a Girondist) who assassinated Marat (1768-1793) in the bath tub because she thought that killing him would stop the violence.

The Girondins

Initially, a radical anti-monarchy group of the National Assembly and Legislative Assembly, which became more moderate as other radical factions rose up during the early years of the National Convention. This faction was overtaken and dissolved by leaders of The Mountain (after the murder of Jean-Paul Marat) before the beginning of the Reign of Terror.

They will regain power following the fall of the Jacobins and at the start of the Directory.

sans-culottes

in the French Revolution, a radical group made up of Parisian wage-earners, and small shopkeepers who wanted a greater voice in government, lower prices, and an end of food shortages

the National Convention

Governed by the French Republic from 1792-95, members were elected through universal male suffrage and became divided along political lines. Declared the end of the monarchy. Brought Louis XVI to trial and executed him and his wife.

the Mountain

This was a political party within the National Convention named because the people that made up this party sat on the highest benches in the assembly hall. These people were the activists within the Convention. The Mountain worried that the Girondists would become conservative because of their already moderate beliefs. Although they were in competition with each other, the Mountain eventually won due to their alliance with the Sans-Culottes, resulting in a more radical group of people. The mountains believed in equal outcome.

the Committee of Public Safety

they ruled the government, started reign of terror, and eventually executed by their own death device; the guillotine

Maximilien Robespierre

Leader of the Committee of Public Safety who was a Jacobin radical, gathered an army of 650,000, ruled during a time of total war, and led the Reign of Terror to fix domestic problems by executing up to 16,000 by guillotine. He was also responsible for the massacre at Lyons and was executed on July 28, 1794

the Reign of Terror

1793-1794 when 40,000 were executed and 300,000 were imprisoned on suspicions. It was radical action by Robespierre and the Jacobins on the Committee of Public Safety in order to ensure the stability of the Republic.

de-Christianization

During the Terror, The Catholic Church was linked to real or potential counter-revolutions. Religion was linked with the Ancient Regime, and Superstition, and so the Committee of Public Safety enacted measures to reduce its influence. Which included: a new Calendar, aboloishment of Religious holidays, new names for months, 7-day weeks replaced with 10-day decades.

the Directory

Established after the Reign of Terror / National Convention; a five man group as the executive branch of the country; incompetent and corrupt, only lasted for 4 years until Napoleon over throws it with a coup de tat

Napoleon Bonaparte

Overthrew French Directory in 1799 and became emperor of the French in 1804. Failed to defeat Great Britain and abdicated in 1814. Returned to power briefly in 1815 but was defeated and died in exile.

Thermidorian Reaction

The violent backlash in France against the rule of Robspierre that began with his arrest and execution in July 1794. Most of the instruments of Terror were dismantled, Jacobins were purged from public office, and Jacobin supporters were harassed or even murdered.

Olympe de Gouges

A proponent of democracy, she demanded the same rights for French women that French men were demanding for themselves. In her Declaration of the Rights of Woman and the Female Citizen (1791), she challenged the practice of male authority and the notion of male-female inequality.

She lost her life to the guillotine due to her revolutionary ideas.

The Directory

Established after the Reign of Terror / National Convention; a five man group as the executive branch of the country; incompetent and corrupt, only lasted for 4 years.

Ancient Regime

Governing political and social system of France between the 15th and 18th centuries, marked by the role of aristocrats, ongoing expansion, and the institution of administrative services and agencies including formal tax collection, a regulated justice system, and the monarch's establishment of councils.