French Revolution

Reading Strategy

Analyzing Key Ideas and Details

  • Focus on identifying the long-range and immediate causes and effects of the French Revolution. Use a graphic organizer to record these.
    • Long-Range Causes
    • Immediate Causes
    • Immediate Effects
    • Long-Term Effects

Causes of the French Revolution

Guiding Question

What were the social and economic conditions in France before the French Revolution?

  • The French Revolution, seen as a major turning point in European history, led to the dismantling of the old regime that upheld extreme social and economic inequality.
  • A new order emerged influenced by Enlightenment ideas, emphasizing individual rights, representative institutions, and national allegiance.
  • These revolutionary ideals encouraged the success of the American Revolution, demonstrating that a revolt could be victorious.

The Three Estates

  • French society was traditionally divided into a system with three estates, leading to significant social inequality since the Middle Ages.

First Estate: Clergy

  • Comprised about 130,000 individuals out of 27 million total population.
  • Owned approximately 10% of land.
  • Divided into high clergy (from noble families with similar interests) and parish priests (often poor and from commoners).

Second Estate: Nobility

  • Numbered about 350,000, owning 25-30% of land.
  • Held significant power in 1700s, occupying leading roles in government, military, law, and the Catholic Church.
  • Neither clergy nor nobility paid the taille (TAH yuh), the chief tax in France.

Third Estate: Common People

  • Vastly diverse, containing peasants (75-80% of the Third Estate), urban craftspeople, shopkeepers, and the bourgeoisie.
  • Peasants owned 35-40% of land, with many (at least half) being landless.
  • Responsibilities included duties to nobles stemming from medieval serfdom, such as fees for grain milling and grape pressing.
  • Urban working-class and bourgeoisie faced decreased buying power due to escalating consumer goods prices that outpaced wage growth.
  • The bourgeoisie, constituting about 8% (2 million people), owned 20-25% of land, including merchants and professionals.

Class Resentment

  • The bourgeoisie was frustrated with inequality but did not want to eliminate nobility; they aimed to improve their status.
  • Many bourgeois individuals became nobles through appointments to public office, adding about 6,500 new noble titles during the 1700s.

Beginning of the French Revolution

Guiding Question

How did the storming of the Bastille signify the onset of the French Revolution?

  • On May 5, 1789, Louis XVI called the Estates-General at Versailles. Each estate had 300 deputies, while the Third Estate had nearly 600 deputies.
  • Most of the Third Estate aimed to establish a constitutional government requiring clergy and nobility to also pay the taille.

Formation of the National Assembly

  • Traditionally, each estate had one vote, allowing the First and Second Estates to outvote the Third Estate.
  • The Third Estate demanded that each deputy receive one vote, which would grant them a majority with allied support. However, the king opposed this.
  • On June 17, 1789, the Third Estate declared itself the National Assembly with intentions to draft a constitution.
  • Locked out of their meeting place on June 20, deputies swore the Tennis Court Oath, vowing to meet until a new constitution was created.

Storming of the Bastille

  • On July 14, 1789, approximately 900 Parisians stormed the Bastille, a fortress-prison.
  • After four hours, the warden surrendered; the rebels executed him and demolished the fortress, gaining control over Paris.
  • This event marked the collapse of king's authority in Paris, igniting widespread violence across France known as the Great Fear.
  • Rumors of foreign troops supporting the monarchy led peasants to retaliate against nobles, destroying records of their obligations.

Class and Ideological Alignment

  • Shared resentment existed among bourgeoisie and nobility against the monarchical system and outdated social structures, while revolutionary leaders embraced Enlightenment principles.
  • Economic crises catalyzed immediate revolutionary sentiments, especially after bad harvests in 1787 and 1788, creating food shortages and rising unemployment.
  • Louis XVI's administration remained extravagant despite mounting financial issues, further exacerbating public discontent.

End of the Old Regime

Guiding Question

How did the French Revolution transition after the storming of the Bastille?

  • Responding to unrest and foreign threats, the National Assembly abolished all noble and clerical privileges on August 4, 1789.

Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen

  • Adopted on August 26, inspired by Enlightenment thought; it addressed natural rights including liberty, security, property, and resistance to oppression.
  • Affirmed equality before the law, merit-based public office, and non-exemption from taxes. However, it also raised the exclusion of women in political life.
  • Olympe de Gouges wrote The Declaration of the Rights of Woman and the Female Citizen, asserting women are equal to men in rights.

The Response of Louis XVI

  • King Louis XVI rejected the National Assembly's decrees. In October 1789, a significant Women's March to Versailles forced the royal family back to Paris, marking a shift in royal power dynamics.

Church and State Relations

  • The revolutionaries confiscated Church lands to generate revenue and initiated the Civil Constitution of the Clergy, mandating election of clergymen by citizens rather than papal appointment, creating extensive resistance.

Limited Monarchy of 1791

  • A new constitution established a limited monarchy with a Legislative Assembly responsible for law-making. Restricted voting rights to affluent property owners caused dissatisfaction among more radical revolutionaries.
  • The royal family attempted to flee in June 1791 but was captured, further destabilizing the monarchy.

The National Convention

Guiding Question

What drove the radicalization of the French Revolution?

  • The Paris Commune arrested King Louis XVI, prompting the Legislative Assembly to suspend the monarchy and call for the National Convention, intending to implement universal male suffrage.

The Transition to a Republic

  • The National Convention, convened in September 1792, abolished the monarchy and established a republic.
  • Dominated by young, oft-experienced radicals and professionals, its initial move was to execute Louis XVI after being led by the Mountain group within the Convention, aligned with Jacobin principles.

Reign of Terror

Guiding Question

How did the National Convention respond to domestic and foreign challenges?

  • The National Convention assigned sweeping powers to the Committee of Public Safety, led by Maximilien Robespierre.
  • Between 1793-1794, the Reign of Terror emerged, resulting in approximately 40,000 executions (including Marie Antoinette); executed individuals often faced rapid trials before revolutionary courts.

Radical Changes to Society

  • Robespierre envisioned a Republic of Virtue, where citizenship took on new meanings, leading to societal shifts such as the de-Christianization and a new secular calendar.
  • Women, while actively engaged, remained excluded from political rights and faced opposition to their involvement.

Rise of the People’s Army

  • As external threats escalated, the Committee raised one of the largest armies in Europe, which effectively defended the nation and expanded French territory.
  • Economic pressures persisted, motivating extreme measures that ultimately fed back into the cycle of violence and desperation.

The Directory

Guiding Question

What factors contributed to the end of the Directory?

  • Following the Reign of Terror and Robespierre's death, moderate leaders regained control, leading to the reopening of churches and a new conservative constitution in 1795 that limited participation to property owners.

The Structure of Government Under the Directory

  • A bi-cameral legislature emerged with the Council of 500 drafting laws and the Council of Elders approving or rejecting them. Membership was limited to just 30,000 top property owners, stifling broader participation.

Internal and External Pressures

  • Economic instability and the reliance on military might illustrated growing tensions within the government, ultimately leading to Napoleon Bonaparte executing a coup d'état in 1799, which dismantled the Directory.