French Revolution

Revolution dates: 1789-1799

Historical perspectives of revolution

  • Marxist: bourgeois revolution

  • Revisionist: focus on social class dynamics and cross-cultural factors, rather than strictly a class struggle

France Before the Revolution

  • Absolutism

  • Absolute monarch: King Louis XVI

  • Economic state: prosperous for the standards at the time

  • Social hierarchy:

    • First Estate: clergy, 25,000 people

    • Second Estate: nobility, 200,000-400,000

    • Third Estate: commoners, 98% of population.

  • Representation

    • Imbalance of power: Each estate had an equal say despite disproportionate representation

    • Estates General: represented the interests of all, last convened in 1614, but considered ineffectual and outdated

    • Taxation: First and Second Estates often exempt

  • Role of Marie Antoinette: focal point of much criticism, viewed as corrupt and disconnected from populace

  • Recent societal changes:

    • Late 18th c. was marked by a rise in literacy, enabling public to criticise elite through political pamphlets, libels, and satire targeting monarchy and clergy

    • Nobles began to align more with public opinion opposing the king

  • King’s efforts at financial redress

    • Attempted to rain taxes among First and Second Estates but sparked resistance

    • Finance Minster Calonne: proposed universal land tax, faced backlash from privileged classes

    • Estates General: May 5th, 1789, called to address financial crisis

      • Regarded as beginning of revolution

  • Key causes:

    • Taxation

    • Inequality between Estates

    • Absolute monarchy

    • Enlightenment

France During Revolution

  • National Assembly, June-July, 1789

    • Declared by Third Estate June 17th

    • Call for new constitution and representation for all French people

    • Tennis Court Oath

      • Following exclusion for King’s Assembly, National Assembly deputies vowed to remain united until a new constitution was established

  • Storming of the Bastille

    •    Date: July 14th, 1789

    • Bastille stormed by Parisian crowds

    • Significance: captured Bastille despite fewer than 10 prisoners, yet represented oppression of the people

    • Led to establishment of National Guard

  • The Great Fear

    • Date: Summer of 1789

    • Reaction in countryside to rising food prices following bad winter

    • Suspicions rurally of famine plots and brigands invading

    • Increased violence against landlords and property

    • Increased emigration of nobles

    • Unrest in countryside motivated responses in National Assembly

  • Abolition of feudalism

    • Date: August 4th, 1789

    • Proposal initiated by Vicomte de Noe

    • Legislation declaring egalitarian principles and eradication of First and Second Estate privileges

      • 15 decrees used to implement it

  • Role of religion

    • Tension between change and traditional Catholic values

    • Calls for new financial structure abolished tithes

    • Created Civil Constitution for the Clergy (July 1790) to regulate church governance under state control

  • Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen

    • Date: August 26th, 1789

    • Emphasised natural rights and equality

    • Promoted citizens participating in political processes based on virtue and talent

    • Excluded women and various groups from citizenship

  • Womens’ participation

    • Organised clubs and demonstrations

    • Olympe de Gouges: wrote the Declaration of the Rights of Women 1791

      • Argued for gender equality in political representation

    • Women like Pauline Leon advocated for rights to bear arms

    • Female activists faced backlash

      • Their roles were considered unnatural and inappropriate

  • Role of the King

    • Reluctant to support revolutionaries

    • June 1791, attempted to flee Paris with his family, leading to their capture

  • Perceptions of Revolution

    • National Assembly struggled to manage pressure from various factions

    • Growing radical sentiments influenced by san-culottes

    • Increasing polarised debates leading to calls for a republic and military action against foreign threats

  • War

    • France declared war on Austria

      • Date: April 1792

      • Declared by Girondins

      • Viewed as opportunity to spread revolutionary ideas

    • Early military setbacks

      • Stirred suspicion regarding officer loyalties

        • Exemplified by lynching of Dillon in 1792

    • Layayette

      • Once trusted military figure

      • His consideration of coups spurred unrest

    • Recruitment issues

      • New recruits were enthusiastic but poorly trained

      • Led to rise in radical demands among formerly passive citizens and regional resistance, particularly in the Northwest

Outcome

  • Guillotine

    • Inventor: Dr. Joseph Guillotine

    • Promoted as humane execution

    • Symbolised a new, radical approach to justice

  • The Terror

    • Date: 1792-1793

    • Led by: san culottes endorsed by Committee of Public Safety

    • People were radicalised due to increasing pressure for militancy from Parisian san culottes, hostility from provinces towards Paris’ progress, and threats from foreign military forces

    • Opponents faced severe repercussions contributing to conservative backlash

    • Start date: September Massacres 1792

      • Mass executions of perceived enemies of revolution

        • 1300 deaths

    • Internal conflict between Girondins and Montagards over crisis management

      • Montagards (including Robespierre) increased willingness to support san culottes

    • Historiographical perspectives

      • Diverse interpretations: varying views of radicalisation of violence with Marxist and conservative trends leading to different views

      • Furet’s argument: Francois Furet posits that the terror arose from misinterpretations of political necessity

    • Committee of Public Safety

      • Start date: 1793

      • Centralised authority unleashing systematic terror against perceived enemies

      • Law of Suspects: allowed for arbitrary arrests and established a climate of fear

    • 16,500 executions overall alongside mass violence and hundreds of thousands imprisoned

      • While guillotine was introduced, there were also executions via drowning and cannon fire

    • End

      • Overthrow of Robespierre and subsequent execution

        • Date: 1794

        • Coup on 9th Thermidor led to arrest and execution   

        • Symbolised further shift towards extremism 

      • Robespierre had a messianic vision for revolution

        • De-Christianisation efforts

          • Established Cult of the Supreme Being

            • Perceived as cult of personality

        • Threatened conspiracy, received backlash, particularly from Committee of General Security

    • Reflection

      • Increased divide between factions

  • San culottes

    • Working-class radicals (artisans, skilled workers, shopkeepers)

    • Organised protests, increasing pressure on existing power structures

  • Fate of King Louis XVI

    • August 10th, 1792

      • Attack on Tuileries Palace, leading to king’s suspension

      • Republic established 

  • Emergence of federalism

    • Date: 1793

    • Regions sought autonomy, opposing centralisation of power in Paris

      • Regions had grievances because of economic burdens, loss of local priests, and military conscription

        • Notable resistance in the Vendée region

  • Reforms

    • Established metric system

    • Adoption of revolutionary calendar

      • Met with public resistance

  • Competition for power

    • Emergence of new factions including Indulgence (Danton’s faction) and Enrages (more san sulottes)

  • Thermidorian Regime

    • Date: 1794-1795

    • Moderates regained control

    • Jacobin club disbanded

    • Inflation

    • Constitution of 1793 abandoned, restoring bourgeois principles

    • Royalist backlash, led to White Terror against revolutionaries in power

    • Repression of san culottes and reinstatement of capitalists

  • The Directory

    • Date: 1795-1799

    • New government established

    • Bicameral legislature and directory of five men

    • Attempted moderation for stability

    • Economic instability

      • Rising food and living costs

    • Frequent coups

After revolution

  • Napoleons rise to power

    • Coup of Brumaire

      • Date: 1799

      • Napoleon military intervention, led to downfall of Directory

      • Transition to Consulte with Napolean as dominant figure

    • Religion

      • Worked with Pope, aiming to reconcile church and state

    • Established civil code

      • Formed basis for future French law

  • Long-term consequences

    • End of divine right of kings and feudalism

    • Rise of national identity

    • Uniform system of laws

    • Spread of revolutionary ideals led to other country’s uprisings and national movements