Social 20: Chapter 3 - Development of Nationalism (The French Revolution)

Bourgeoisie (DEFINITION)

the middle class

Coup D’état

a sudden, forcible seizure of power from the government

Sovereignty

supreme power or authority.

• self-governing

• ex) King

Monarchy

a form of government in which a group, embodies the country's national identity and its head, the monarch, exercises the role of sovereignty.

Philosophes

French philosophers of the 18th century—such as Voltaire, Montesquieu, and Rousseau—who advocated the supremacy of human reason and dedicated themselves to the advancement of science and secular thought?

• what encouraged/contributed to Age of Enlightenment

French Revolution Overview

• During the French Revolution, a series of events and conditions prompted the French people to unite and revolt against the king and form a new nation based on early ideas of democracy.

• Prior to 1789, France was an absolute monarchy and a feudal society that favored the aristocracy and the Catholic clergy. A shift began when the middle class began to question their loyalty to the king, Louis XVI.

• French Revolution is a primary example of how the majority of a country transformed their world from a Feudal Society into a Constitutional Republic, where society would form the foundations of a democracy based on freedom and equality among its citizens giving birth to a new nation

Historical Factors that shaped France prior to the French Revolution

• Absolutism

• Enlightenment

• Ancien Regime

• Non-Secular Society

• Growing National Debt

Absolutism/Absolute Monarchy

a system where the absolute monarch is given the power to rule the land and the people by the divine right of kings.

• In his actions, the monarch is answerable only to God.

the practice of unlimited authority and absolute sovereignty of a monarch or dictator

• the essence of an absolutist system is that the power of the monarch is not subject to any challenge or check by any other person or group.

The Divine Right of Kings

all power comes from God and as such, Kings were Gods representatives on Earth.

• this “Divine Right” to govern prevented citizens from defying the King’s authority and to do so would be directly defying God

this divine right made for the King to rule absolutely as an absolute monarchy.

Enlightenment

a movement of politics, philosophy, science and communications in Europe

• reason over superstition

• science over blind faith

Ancien Regime

• in French meaning “Old Order”

Political and Social system of Feudal France before the French Revolution.

• Under the regime, everyone was a subject of the king of France as well as a member of an estate.

• All rights and status flowed from the social institutions, divided into three orders:

  • First Estate: Clergy

  • Second Estate: Nobility

  • Third Estate: Serfs/Peasants, Merchants (Bourgeoisie), Artisans/Workers

• There was no national citizenship.

Feudal France: Ancien Regime

KING

First Estate: Clergy (Church)

Second Estate: Nobility (Royalty)

Third Estate: Serfs/Peasants, Merchants (Bourgeoisie), Artisans/Workers (Everyone Else)

First Estate (Clergy)

• Made up of members of the church

• Owned commercial Property

• Able to acquire enormous wealth  

• Entitled to collect Tithe, 10% of income

• Exempt from paying taxes

Second Estate (Nobility)

• ½ True Nobles of the sword

• Exempt from duties and taxes

• Allowed to live/visit Versailles

• Could become officers in army

• Excused from civil crime

• Did not pay Taille or Corvee

Third Estate: (Everyone Else)

• Very diverse group

• Divided into 3 groups:

  • Bourgeoisie: wealthy shopkeepers, lawyers, artisans

  • Urban workers: guild workers, trades, craftsmen

  • Peasants: poor farmers, small landowners, renters, Labourers

• 70% of income paid for taxes

Bourgeoisie

quite wealthy businessmen, educated, literate and understood the disparity between estates.

• resented the 1st and 2nd estates due to the heavy tax load on the 3rd estate

• desired to become part of the Farmers General to be able to collect taxes for the crown and earn wealth to purchase their nobility

• opposed to being dictated to by the nobility and clergy

Urban Workers

• guild system controlled the workers

• skilled labour through apprenticeship to journeyman

• paid well compared to peasants

• unskilled workers suffered economic hardship and often starvation

Peasants

few wealthy farmers, small landowners, day laborers, renters mostly connected to agriculture industry

pay seventy percent of their income to tax:

• Taille

• Corvee

• Vingtiemes

Tailee

property tax

Corvee

road tax

Vingtiemes

income taxes and feudal dues

Secular

not pertaining to or connected to religion

Non-Secular

structures of society are highly connected and related to religion

Non-Secular Society → Secular Society

due to the Enlightenment, society began to shape itself on fact rather than superstition.

• began to believe that their life could progress into more than their class or position in life.

people began to question the power and authority of the church and the divine right of monarchs.

• began to discover their own truths and not naively take the word of authority as fact and began to move away from church doctrine

Growing National Debt

• 7 Years War with Britain

• American Revolution

• Poor Harvests → Food Shortages

• Reluctance of Tax Reform

• Exuberant Spending of the Monarchy

Motivation for Revolution:

Age of Enlightenment combined with the successful revolution of America against the Monarch of Britain

• French people who advocated for change to their own society began to take steps and make efforts that would ultimately trigger the revolution in France and pave the way to the creation of an entirely new way of life.

• This new way of life would not come without sacrifice, blood and terror.

Liberty

freedom of the old regime and the privileges of the nobility

Equality

all members of society have the same rights and freedoms regardless of class distinction

Fraternity

all people of society bond together as members of a nation, brotherhood

The French Revolution Timeline (SIGNFICANT EVENTS)

May 1789: Meeting of Estates-General

June 1789: Creation of the National Assembly and the Tennis Court Oath

July 14, 1789: Storming of the Bastille

August 4, 1789: Abolition of the Feudal System (GREAT FEAR)

August 1789: Creation of the Declaration of the Rights of Man

1793-1794: Reign of Terror

Meeting of Estates-General (May 1789)

As a result of public pressure, Louis XVI called the representatives (Estates-General) to meet at Versailles.

• brought cahiers de doléances (lists of grievances) to share with the king in hopes of encouraging political change

• little was settled during these meetings due to disagreements between king and the three estates

National Assembly and Tennis Court Oath (June 1789)

After the failure of the meeting of the Estates-General, many of the representatives of all three estates proclaimed themselves to be the National Assembly

• the king locked them out of their regular meeting room and they assembled at a nearby tennis court.

• there, they swore not to disband until France had a constitution in what became known as the Tennis Court Oath.

Storming the Bastille (July 14, 1789)

The king refused to recognize the legitimacy of the National Assembly. He assembled royal troops near Paris.

• rumours of an attack by the king spurred crowds to storm the royal prison, the Bastille, to release prisoners and collect weapons to use for defence.

Abolition of the Feudal System / The Great Fear (August 4, 1789)

Due to rumours of a poor economy and the scarcity of food, fear and panic in the countryside led to attacks on the estates of the nobility.

• National Assembly abolished the Estates-General, ending the feudal system and gaining legislative power in France.

Creation of the Declaration of the Rights of Man (August 1789)

described the rights of individuals and guiding democratic principles.

• the declaration ushered in a new era ending the Ancien Regime and the privileges of the nobility.  the state emerged as the source of all power.

• passed by the National Assembly

Girondins

moderates who wanted to maintain the monarchy

Jacobins

radicals who wanted to establish France as a republic

End of the Royal Family

Jan 1793: Trial and Execution of Louis XVI

• tried and found guilty of treason by the new republic.

Oct 1793: Execution of Marie Antoinette

• arrested and tried for a number of charges, including treason

• found guilty and executed

• marking the official end to the royal line as her son died of neglect a few years later

Reign of Terror (1793-1794)

The Revolutionary Government - the National Convention faced civil unrest across the country

• arrested & executed up to 40,000 perceived enemies of the republic

• led by Robespierre

End of French Revolution Overview

After the end of the Reign of Terror and the execution of Robespierre, the national convention dismantled the machinery of the Reign oftterror and introduced a period of moderation in France. France was filled with civil unrest and the country was unsettled.

1795: constitution returned power to those with property and the lowest levels of society were refused the vote. a two-house legislation was implemented stressing freedom and equality in line with the declaration of the rights of man.  however, citizens were expected to obey the rule of law and respect property.

• France would not find peace from war, true freedom and equality and would not be solidified as a nation until the the rule by napoleon 20 years later.