khan academy - french revolution

french revolution!

^^french revolution - khan academy^^

• not only independence from a monarchy controlled empire
• also actual overthrowing of the monarchy
    * one that controls a major world power

france in 1789

• poor (government is poor)
    * in debt
      * from american revolution
        * supported revolution with military help and resources mainly because they were enemies with great britain
      * from seven years wars 1763
        * (which the french and indian war was a part of)
        * drained french wealth
• in a famine, starving
    * weren’t producing enough grain
• seeing royals living so lavishly was “insult to injury”,
    * not just royals but also nobles
    * “nobility living it up” - living similar to kings
• peasants were working on the fields and were the only ones paying taxes
    * nobles were like parasites ignoring that you (a peasant) are starving and paying all the taxes

enlightenment effects!

• where people (philosophers, poets) starting to realize that kings aren’t necessary
• don’t need priests to explain or point out whats good, bad, right, wrong
• thoughts that maybe people could rule themselves
• “for the people, by the people”
• example: american revolution

<<crisis!<<

had a financial crisis, fiscal crisis

• called a meeting called the convocation of the estates-general
    * meeting of the three estates
      * first estate - clergy (0.5%)
      * second estate - nobility (1.5%)
      * third estate - everyone else (98%)
        * the first two estates, even though combined they had less than the third estate, they still held the most power
    * this shows that the power structure is very skewed
    * the third estate was fighting wars, working, producing all of france’s wealth
• representatives from the estates met at versailles

the third estate

• the third estate became angry
    * they were tired of the other people not paying taxes
    * how they were all dependent on them
    * they made up 98% of the population, but had no voice
    * were being treated unfairly
• at the end of the day, the third estate lost which angered them even more
• they branched apart from them because they were being overlooked and declared that they are the national assembly of france
    * we represent the people
    * going to essentially become the parliamentary body of france

louis xvi was not amused, he was an absolute monarch and was able to do as he pleased. now, there was this new movement which was taking advantage of this emergency where he couldn't purchase as many silk robes as he previously did. he thought his power was going to be taken by this assembly so when they took a break he ended up looking the door saying repairs were going on so they couldn’t go in.

clearly, this would anger the third estate even more so they decide to go to an indoor tennis court and proclaim the tennis court oath. they proclaimed:

• not are we only the national assembly of france, but we will also pledge to not stop until we create a constitution of france
• went from a national assembly to a constituent assembly
• aimed to create a constitution
• had some sympathy from some clergy and nobility

eventually, louis xvi understands the people are angry, and when he messes with them they get angrier and take more extreme measures. he makes it seem like he’s going along with it and lets them assemble. while, this is happening troops are converging on paris (being sent by the king, even though they are french - they are under the authority of the king ||| actually foreign troops) these would be the ideal types of troops to put down any type of insurgency or any type of rebellion - even better to dissolve the national assembly, the people were getting more paranoid. on top of that, louis xvi’s main financial advisor, jacques necker was sympathetic to the third estate and suggested to the king that maybe it would be better to live a less lavish life, as the people are starving. louis fired him.

so right now we have

• troops converging into paris
• tennis court oath
• louis xvi fired his advisor
• people are going hungry

people’s mindset in france

king is trying to suppress us

might do it with troops

we should probably arm ourselves

bastille!

bastille day - 1789

• the third estate decided to storm the bastille, where political prisoners were kept - they had free them (there were only seven) and the real value of the bastille to the revolutionaries was the weaponry (a majors arms cache) by storming the bastille they could fend off any threat troops would have
• this marks the beginning of the real chaos in the french revolution!
• “barbaric”
    * revolutionaries stabbed the governor of bastille, beheaded him and put his head on a pike
    * was truly getting out of hand
    * storming the bastille became a landmark of the french revolution

timeline!

may - convocation of the estates general

june - tennis court oath

july- storming of the bastille

august - the idea that we’re in a revolution

national assembly started off at the tennis courts with the third estate and declared their equivalent of the declaration of independence, they declared the declaration of the rights of man and of the citizen

khan academy - french revolution! part two

recap: 1789, bastille was stormed to free political prisoners and to get weapons which was aimed to protect themselves from louis xvi

^^end of 1789^^

• chaos
• in process of creating a constitution - august of 1789 written their version of the declaration of independence
    * “the declaration of the rights of man and the citizen”
• october 1789
    * rumors of marie antoinette (louis’ wife) hoarding grain at ersaille were spreading
      * caused a lot of damage because all of these problem first started because there was a famine and people were going hungry
    * women’s match
      * peasant women, who were armed, marched in protest and demanded that they move to paris
      * louis and marie ended up moving to paris

important factors

• people are hungry
• rumors are spreading
• king was being disrespectful to symbols of new france (rumors)
• louis xiv - not a fan of a constitutional monarchy and the fact that he lost his power to the national assembly

1790-1791

1790 - unease

1791 - everyone trying to get away from the danger (louis and marie)

ended up dressing as servants to escape, but were found and took captive

jacobians

revolutionaries

thought - what's the use of a monarch? wanted a republic

republic : state with out monarch

they began to organize in paris

champs de mars massacre

• lots of chaos

^^holy roman empire^^

• neither holy, nor roman, nor an empire - voltaire
• actually a loose confederation of german kingdoms and states
• most influential power in the holy roman empire was austra; so the austrian leader was emperor of the holy roman emperor
• leopold ii
    * holy roman emperor / leader of austria / marie antoinette’s brother
    * not ruler of rome - ruler of germanic states
    * most influential area was the region under control of the hapsburgs of austria or leopold ii
    * leopold and frederick william ii of prussia issued the declaration of pillnitz
      * just hurt the french people even more
      * purpose was to bring french monarchy back
      * increased fear in the french people
      * convinced the jacobians that a republic was even more necessary

lots of chaos.

<<khan academy - french revolution! part three<<

people were fleeing the country, feeling paranoid, chaotic

1791

june: royals try to escape

july: jacobins petition to end monarchy and form a republic; champ de mars massacre

august: declaration of pillnitz; bringing back royals; look down on what's happening in france; constitution of 1791 (establishes france as a constitutional monarchy)

revolution mainly focused on what occurred in france and versaille

revolutionaries thinking further, people still hungry and france us still broke

they decide to declare war on austria in april 1792

duke of brunswick (prussia)

• brunswick manifesto
    * will overthrow “revolutionary government”
    * install the king back
    * making revolutionaries madder

august of 1792

commune of paris

• government of paris
    * taken over by revolutionaries
    * storm tulierres (where the royal family is)
      * ended up imprisoning louis and marie antoinette
    * during a national assembly rump session, they declare france a republic

france vs two major powers (austria and prussia)

september 1792

• stalemate at valmy
• national assembly created a new constitution

1793

january - first thing is the execution of louis xvi (used guillotine)

february - still hungry; declares war on great britain and the dutch empire

*they were able to keep up because of levee en masse which was basically the draft: young unmarried men had to enlist in the military

april

• national assembly created the committee of public safety become the default government or the de facto
    * very political and very paranoid
    * maximilien robespierre
      * went on a rampage of executing people

start of the reign of terror

around 40,000 people guillotined

thermidorian reaction

july 1973

• created a new calendar
• replaced july with thermador
• people got sick of robespierre - later gets guillotined

october 1973

• marie antoinette executed as well
• revolt against revolutionary government
    * helped stopped by napoleon bonaparte