opening of the estates-general

humiliation of third estate:

  • followed procedures n arrangements set out in 1614, humiliated 3rd estate

  • had to:

  • wear black suits

  • keep hats off whilst clergy, nobles n king wore theirs

  • be received by king in diff way n room from other Estates

  • enter Assembly by side door, after clergy n nobles had walked in from the front

  • 4 May 1789: procession of Estates-General, total of 1200 reps from all over France, dressed in accordance to regulations

    • colourful parade besides 3rd estate

first meeting (5 May 1789):

  • lots of confusion, long delays, king opened with speech - no agenda put forward for reform, no clear indication about procedures (eg voting), assertion of refusal of power loss

  • necker then gave a speech

    • >3 hours, finished by assistant

    • complex financial explanations

    • called for ban on unfair exemptions

  • opening day end

    • hardening in the 3rd estates’ ranks = more assertive of demands

    • 3rd estate felt disillusioned

    • realised only a union of the Estates would help them

    • became determined to get the reforms they wanted n were happy to adopt passive resistance tactics

national assembly formation

  • opening followed by weeks of delay

  • 1st task: verify credentials of those elected

    • 1st n 2nd estate happy to meet separately but 3rd estate refused

    • wanted voting by head confirmed first

  • Abbe Sieyes: stood as member of 3rd estate n influential leader, argued 3rd estate was the ‘nation’ n could act alone

  • 17th June: 3rd estate voted 491-90 to rename itself as ‘National Assembly’

    • invited other estates to join

    • clergy did join on 19th june n some liberal nobles too over following weeks

tennis court oath:

  • ‘The Dauphin’ (the king’s son). died age 7, june 4th 1789, king became distracted

  • king persuaded by necker that a clear reform package was required

  • presentation arranged for 23rd june

  • needed some alterations to the room b4 this could happen

    • 3rd estate arrived june 20th to find doors locked n guarded

  • 3rd estate feared the worst, hadn’t been informed of what was going on

  • decided to meet elsewhere, were going to march to paris but it was raining, so did not

  • led by jean-sylvain bailly (their elected president) to nearest indoor space - a tennis court

  • swore tennis court oath: promised never to disband until France had a new constitution

the royal session:

  • difficult

  • louis accepted principle of consent for new taxation n a fairer land tax

  • annoyed deputies>kept using estates-general instead of national assembly

  • demanded estates still have met separately

  • members refused to leave @end of session

  • next few days: constant meetings @Palais-Royal w/ people like Desmoulins talking

  • 26th June: king brought 4.8k extra troops to France

  • 27th June: louis rescinded orders of royal session, recognised the national assembly n allowed voting by head

  • few deputies trusted the king n steady flow of troops to capital led to rumours of plots to overthrow them, destroy Assembly n starve Paris into submission

  • by 4th july, 30k troops in n around paris

  • necker dismissed on july 11th, replaced by conservative Breteuil

  • seemed to confirm fears that king was trying to prevent reform

  • by july 14th, bread prices were also the highest they had been since 1715