Powerpoint on the French Revolution Part II

Recap: The Radical Enlightenment and the Revolution of the Mind

• Context: The Radical Enlightenment helped undermine old certainties and prepared the ground for revolutionary politics. It fostered critical questioning of inherited privilege and authority.
• The lecture’s aim: To examine the French Revolution’s long-term effects and ask, “What difference did it truly make?”

The French Revolution – The Big Idea

• Central question: The French Revolution – What Difference Did it Make?
• Framing: From crisis and reform to a radical reordering of politics, society, and culture in Europe and beyond.

France under Louis XVI

• Ascension to the throne: In $1774$, the young Louis XVI took the throne.
• Domestic challenges:
  • Debt and fiscal crisis (auxiliary war costs, deficits)
  • Maintaining Absolutism and Aristocratic Dominance
  • Public scandal and poor leadership (e.g., Marie Antoinette, $1755$-$1793$)
  • War and external pressures
• Visuals referenced: French ships at the Battle of the Chesapeake, 1781; Satire depicting Marie Antoinette as a beast; Diamond Necklace affair and its social impact

France in Crisis

• Crisis deepens in the $1780s$: mounting fiscal strain and a looming deficit.
• Fiscal crisis metric: national deficit of $20\%$ of GDP (approximate figure cited).
• Reform attempts begin but face entrenched resistance from the Nobility and the Estates General system.
• The question becomes: how to enact equality in taxation without toppling the old order?

The Solution? Equality of Taxation

• Key policy idea: EQUALITY OF TAXATION as a remedy to fiscal crisis.
• Proposed by Calonne: Charles Alexandre de Calonne ($1734$-$1802$).
• Proposed instrument: an ASSEMBLY OF NOTABLES in $1787$ to authorize fiscal reforms.
• Outcome: Nobility could not stomach Calonne’s proposals, and Louis XVI’s support waned; the plan flounders and his authority weakens.

The Aristocratic Revolution (1789)

• After Calonne’s Assembly fails, the nobility push reforms on their own terms by calling for the ESTATES GENERAL.
• This meeting is framed as a potential gateway to revolution by opening political access beyond the privileged estates.
• Note: The Estates General of 1504 is referenced in the slide as historical context (likely a misprint; the event is 1789).

The Road to the Estates General

• The Estates General is convened for three main reasons:
  • Address famine and economic distress
  • Election of deputies from each estate
  • Drafting measures to address grievances and governance reform
• The Third Estate’s political awakening is central to what follows.

What is the Third Estate? (Sieyès) – Emmanuel Joseph Sieyès ($1748$-$1836$)

The plan of this work is simple: three questions:

1. What is the Third Estate? - Everything.
2. What has it been so far in the political order? - Nothing.
3. What does it ask to be? - Something.

We shall see if these are the right answers. Meanwhile, it would be wrong to say that these truths have been exaggerated when you have not yet seen the supporting evidence.

• A nation is defined as a body of people who live under common laws and are represented by the same legislative assembly.
• Privileges of the Nobility: special rights, exemptions, private rights, and representation without a mandate from the people; a separate legal order.
• The Third Estate contains everything proper to the nation; others cannot be seen as part of the nation.
• Sieyès’ analysis frames the Third Estate as the true political nation and sets up the demand for political equality and representation.
• Core takeaway: The Third Estate is everything; the Nobility is effectively a separate nation within the nation.

The Bourgeois Revolution

• Jacques Necker’s attempted reform: Doubling the deputies of the Third Estate to broaden representation.
• Louis XVI's dilemma: Estates General could decide voting by ORDER (by estate) or by HEAD (per person). The choice would shape power dynamics.
• This moment paves the way for a broader movement from reform to revolution, centering the Third Estate.

The Birth of the National Assembly (and the Tennis Court Oath)

• The Third Estate’s action culminates in a bold move: declare itself the NATIONAL ASSEMBLY and authorize itself to consent to taxation.
• June 17, $1789$: The Third Estate proclaims itself a National Assembly.
• June 20, $1789$: Locked out of their meeting hall; they meet in a nearby tennis court and take the Tennis Court Oath, pledging not to disband until a constitution is established.

The Monarchy’s Response to the National Assembly

• Louis XVI shows partial openness to reforms that could limit the monarchy and enable a constitutional framework, but resists major changes.
• The monarch’s stance on key issues:
  • No equality of taxation
  • Maintain Estates General and voting by estate
  • No opening of office to non-nobility
• Result: The throne remains committed to traditional hierarchy; the Third Estate stands firm with the National Assembly.

The Critical Juncture

• By July, fears of royal retaliation grow as troops gather around Paris.
• Question intensifies: what would save the revolution?

The Great Fear and its Consequences

• The Great Fear (throughout 1789): politicization of the masses and widespread fear of internal and external enemies.
• Consequences:
  • The revolution gains force and legitimacy via popular participation.
  • Louis XVI appears impotent and the aristocratic plot seems real to many.
  • The Bastille’s storming (July 1789) becomes a symbolic moment.

The Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen (Aug 1789)

• Response to the Great Fear by the Constituent Assembly:
  • Abolish aristocratic privileges
  • Establish equality under the law
  • Establish taxation equality
• Later developments:
  • 1790: Civil Constitution of the Clergy
  • 1791: A constitution for France establishing a Constitutional Monarchy (no royal veto) and conditional suffrage (based on taxation)

Why Radicalize? Factions and Popular Forces

• Internal divisions among revolutionaries:
  • Girondin Faction
  • Montagnard Faction
• They must grapple with and potentially harness popular forces (sans-culottes).
• External challenge: Europe’s monarchies perturb by events in France.
• Key events of radicalization:
  • Insurrection of August 10th
  • The September Massacres
• The sans-culottes: the masses without knee-breeches who push for direct democracy, social equality, price controls on grain, and harsher measures against enemies of the revolution.

Flight to Varennes and the End of the Monarchy

• In June of $1791$, Louis XVI attempts to flee to Varennes in order to rally counterrevolutionary support.
• Result: Louis is captured and returned to Paris, perceived by many as a hostage rather than a king.
• Consequences:
  • The aristocratic plot seems real to the revolutionary leadership and the public.
  • Sets the stage for far-reaching institutional changes.

The Beginning of the Republic

• September $1792$: The National Convention abolishes the monarchy and proclaims a Republic.
• Key actions:
  • Louis XVI is tried and executed in 1793.
  • Introduction of male universal suffrage (as claimed in the slide; historically limited suffrage was in place—note the broader revolutionary trend toward expanded male suffrage and participation).

The Outbreak of War with Austria

• In $April$ 1792, the revolutionary government declares war on Austria.
• War as a catalyst for consolidation and further radicalization; the revolutionary government must mobilize for a broader conflict while maintaining internal control.

The War and Political Crisis

• The war exposes weaknesses in the revolutionary coalition; the Girondins resist militarized measures that would broaden the state’s authority.
• This tension creates pressure for a stronger centralized revolutionary leadership.

The Republican Dictatorship: The Committee of Public Safety

• The Montagnards rise to leadership as the Girondins falter; in $April$ 1793 a dictatorial body, the COMMITTEE OF PUBLIC SAFETY, is created.
• Key figure: Maximilien Robespierre ($1758$-$1794$).

What Did This Revolutionary Government Do?

• The centralizing drive becomes explicit in the effort to:
  • REPUBLICANIZE EVERYTHING: reforms across political, social, and cultural life to align with a republican state.
  • The ride toward a centralized, war-time state with powerful emergency powers.

Revolutionary Symbols and Culture

• Morale and propaganda deepen- Revolutionary slogans and imagery (e.g., the phrase LIVRE LA RÉPUBLIQUE, the Calander Républicain).
• The Calendar becomes a symbol of the new republican order; February through Fructidor etc. are renamed months and days to reflect civic virtue rather than Christian or royal calendars.

Dechristianization and the Cult of the Supreme Being

• The revolution attempts to reshape religion andAugust the role of the church in society.
• The Cult of the Supreme Being is promoted as a civic religion replacing traditional Christian practices.

Centralization and War-Time Measures

• Important instruments of centralization include:
  • Law of the General Maximum (Sept 1793): price controls to stabilize the grain and essential goods market
  • Levee en Masse (Aug 1793): mass conscription to defend the revolution
  • Free General Education (1794): efforts to build civic literacy and loyalty to the republic

Why the Terror? The Reign of Terror

• The Terror is framed as a response to existential threats from internal enemies and foreign war.
• Aims:
  • Root out enemies of the revolutionary state
  • Preserve national unity and discipline
  • Punish the nobility and clergy perceived as counter-revolutionaries
• Notable statistic cited: a large share of executions came from the Third Estate, illustrating the internal dynamics of radicalization (the slide notes 85% but such figures vary in historical record).

From the Radical Phase to the Rise of Napoleon

• The slide contrasts the radical phase with the emergence of Napoleon as a counterweight to the revolution’s excesses.
• Key changes after the height of terror include: legislative body gains less independence, political repression grows, and the regime reasserts traditional social orders in some respects.
• Reconciliation with the Catholic Church; reintroduction of noble titles; abandonment of the Revolutionary Calendar; and broader centralization under state power.

The Napoleonic Era and the End of the Revolution (and Restoration)

• The Defeat of Napoleon in 1815 marks a turning point.
• The Bourbons are restored to the throne (Louis XVIII, $1755$-$1824$).
• Key shifts associated with Napoleon’s rule include:
  • The Napoleonic Code: establishes legal equality, religious toleration, and many civil liberties on paper; defines equal protection under the law and a uniform system of law.
  • Church relations: Church subordinate to the state; church lands not returned; a new nobility emerges without original legal privileges.
  • Centralization: highly centralized state apparatus (gendarmerie, prefects, conscription).
  • Abolition of the old order’s privileges and the reconfiguration of noble titles and land ownership.

What Changed in a Wider Historical Context?

• Intellectual and political legacy: The Revolution introduced a program of humanistic aspiration for humanity and a universal ideal of liberty, equality, and fraternity—despite its own contradictions and missteps.
• Quotes from commentators:
  • Norman Hampson on the Revolution’s lasting global impact: it created an aspirational program for humanity that influenced subsequent European history (despite its own internal flaws).
  • Frederic Jameson on the historical breakthrough of “the beginning of history” through the possibility of intentional social transformation initiated by the Revolution.
  • Edmund Burke’s critique: warned against radical reform and emphasized the virtues of tradition, gradual reform, and “check and balance” through the legitimate mix of orders and liberty under a constitutional monarchy.

Wrapping Up: The Global Political Wedges Created by the Revolution

• The French Revolution is credited with shaping modern political wedges across the world:
  • Conservatism
  • Liberalism
  • Radicalism (often associated with early socialism)
• A later, more nuanced evaluation emphasizes the Revolution’s role in provoking ongoing debates about state power, rights, and the relationship between church and state.
• Zhou Enlai is quoted (1980s) as saying: “It’s too soon to tell” about the full global impact of the French Revolution, highlighting how long its effects took to unfold.

Moving Forward – The Age of Revolution and The Rise of Socialist Politics

• The 19th century sees liberal and radical movements form ad hoc alliances against the old order, as they adapt to changing state structures and political realities.
• The Commune de Paris (1880s, not a direct product of the initial revolution but symbolically linked to radical republican politics) signals the enduring influence of radical ideas in urban politics.
• The period marks a transition to broader debates about social justice, economic organization, and political rights that would feed into socialist politics and other modern movements.

Connections to Foundational Principles and Real-World Relevance

• The Revolution’s core ideas—equality before the law, taxation equality, and popular sovereignty—recur throughout modern constitutions and political debates.
• The tension between centralized state power and popular participation remains a central concern in modern governance and political philosophy.
• The revolution’s cultural and symbolic innovations (calendar reform, republican virtue, de-Christianization) illustrate how political change often extends into culture and everyday life.

Formulas, Numbers, and Key Dates (for quick reference)

• Birth and death years:
  • Louis XVI: $1754$-$1793$
  • Marie Antoinette: $1755$-$1793$
  • Calonne: $1734$-$1802$
  • Jacques Necker: (lifetime not specified here) active in late 18th century
  • Maximilien Robespierre: $1758$-$1794$
• Key fiscal and legal milestones:
  • National deficit: $20\%$ of GDP
  • Assembly of Notables: $1787$
  • Tennis Court Oath: $1789$-June-20
  • Decree: Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen: Aug-1789
  • Civil Constitution of the Clergy: $1790$
  • Constitution for France (Constitution of 1791): $1791$
  • Flight to Varennes: $1791$
  • War on Austria: $1792$
  • Abolition of Monarchy and Establishment of Republic: Sept-1792
  • Louis XVI execution: $1793$
  • Reign of Terror: approx. $1793$-$1794$
  • Law of the General Maximum: Sept-$1793$
  • Levee en Masse: Aug-$1793$
  • Free General Education: $1794$
  • Napoleon’s rise and the Napoleonic Code: early 19th century; defeat and restoration by 1815
• Calendar reforms: Republican Calendar (various months renamed, e.g., Fructidor)

Summary Takeaways

• The Revolution began as a fiscal crisis reform project and evolved into a radical reimagining of political authority, society, and culture.
• The Third Estate’s assertion of political power catalyzed transformative political institutions (National Assembly, Declaration of the Rights of Man, Republic, etc.).
• The Revolution’s radical phase produced an unprecedented centralization of power, the Terror, and a new political vocabulary; it also set the stage for Napoleon and later debates about rights, law, and governance that continue to shape political thought.
• The Revolution’s global impact is contested but undeniable: it introduced universalist ideals about human rights and modern citizenship while provoking ongoing debates about the means and ends of political change.