HW 3: French Revolution

  • Background to Revolution: Eighteenth-century France, despite being rich and populous, suffered from systemic tax collection issues due to the Ancien Régime, where nobles and clergy were exempt from taxes. By 1789, France was deeply in debt from funding the American Revolution, with King Louis XVI spending half the national budget on debt servicing. This financial crisis, coupled with a ruined harvest, high food prices, and widespread hunger, fueled public anger. Enlightenment thinkers also began challenging the divine right of kings.

  • Estates General and National Assembly: In response to the crisis, Louis XVI convened the Estates General (France's traditional parliament) for the first time since 1614. It consisted of three estates: the First (nobles), Second (clergy), and Third (everyone else). The Third Estate, with double representation but facing deadlock, declared itself the National Assembly and swore the Tennis Court Oath, vowing not to disband until a new constitution was established. Public unrest culminated in the storming of the Bastille Prison on July 14, 1789, a symbolic act against royal authority.

  • Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen: The National Assembly abolished most of the Ancien Régime's feudal rights, tithes, and privileges on August 4. On August 26, they issued the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen (DoRoMaC), proclaiming universal rights to liberty, property, and security, intended to be integral to the new constitution.

  • Royal Family and Women's March: Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette remained at Versailles, but rumors of Marie Antoinette hoarding grain led to the Women's March in October 1789, where armed peasant women forced the royal family to move to Paris, highlighting that the revolution was largely driven by food scarcity and economic hardship for the poor.

  • Rise of the Jacobins and Radicalization: Initially, the National Assembly aimed for a constitutional monarchy. However, the more radical Jacobins pushed for a republic. Growing tensions led to troops firing on a Jacobin-led crowd, killing 50, signifying the revolution's increasing radicalization and internal conflict.

  • Foreign Intervention and the End of the Monarchy: Monarchical neighbors, particularly Austria (ruled by Marie Antoinette's brother, Leopold II) and Prussia, issued the Declaration of Pillnitz, threatening intervention to restore the French monarchy. France preemptively invaded Austria, leading to Prussia joining the conflict. Louis XVI's encouragement of the Prussians solidified his image as an enemy of the revolution. The Assembly suspended the monarchy, called for new elections with universal male suffrage, and formed a republican convention. Louis XVI was tried, found guilty, and executed by guillotine in 1793.

  • The Terror (1793-1794): The execution of the king ushered in The Terror, a period led by Maximilien Robespierre and the Committee of Public Safety, during which roughly 16,000