West Civ T1 Q3

French Revolution Notes and Outline

BACKGROUND TO THE FRENCH REVOLUTION:                                                                       1. The French Revolution marks the beginnings of the modern history of Europe.                                       2. The French Revolution is the major turning point in European political and social history                   3. The French Revolution marks the beginning of a liberal movement to extend political rights and power to the bourgeoisie who possessed capital                                                                                   —Bourgeoisie = middle class                                                                                                               —Capital = money and resources used to create wealth

 THE SOCIAL STRUCTURE OF THE OLD REGIME:

 —French society was based on the inequality of rights = the idea of privilege

 —French society was divided into three legal categories known as the three orders or estates

1. The First Estate = the clergy

2. The Second Estate = the nobles

3. The Third Estate = the commoners

THE FIRST ESTATE

1. The clergy - priests and church officials

2. They numbered about 130,000 out of French population of about 27 million

3. The church owned 10% of the land

4. Great differences in wealth and status of clergy - from high nobles to poor commoners

THE SECOND ESTATE

1. The nobles - aristocrats/titled individuals through heredity

2. They numbered about 350,00

3. Held the top positions in the government, the military, the law courts, and high church offices

4. Two types of nobles - A. the nobility of the robe.   B. the nobility of the sword

5. The nobles wanted to expand their privileges/compete with the monarch for power

6. Nobles wanted to maintain their monopoly on high positions in the military, church, and govt.

7. The law gave them special treatment and privileges - tax exemption most importantly

THE THIRD ESTATE:

 1. The commoners - the vast majority of the pop.

2. This group included the poorest of the poor and the wealthiest of the wealthy - all w/out titles

3. Peasants were the largest segment of the third estate = 75-80% of the total pop.

4. Skilled artisans, shopkeepers, wage earners in the city = today would be called “the working class”

5. Unskilled workers = the urban poor

6. The working class and urban poor in Paris play a key role in the Revolution

7. The bourgeoisie = the middle class

Bourgeoisie -

1. Made up about 8% of the pop.

2. They numbered about 2.3 million

3. Merchants, industrialists, bankers, and professionals = what would today be called “white 

    collar workers”

4. Middle class resented being excluded from top jobs

5. Middle class resented the social and political privileges of the nobles

Similarities between the wealthier bourgeoisie and some nobles

1. Influenced by enlightenment thinking

2. Wanted social and political reforms

3. Ended up disagreeing on the scope and extent of social and political changes

PROBLEMS FACING THE FRENCH MONARCHY:                                                                                  1. Bad harvests in 1787-1788 = food shortages                                                                                                 2. Beginnings of a manufacturing depression                                                                                           3. Rising food prices                                                                                                                                        4. Unemployment in the cities                                                                                                                  5. Influence of the Enlightenment = interest and desire for reform and modernization                            6. The French Parliaments = regional law courts made up of noble judges - blocked new taxes

The immediate/short term cause of the French Revolution

1. The financial collapse of the French government

2. Overspending - costly wars and royal extravagance

3. Borrowing and increasing interest on the government debt - half the gov’t revenues went to 

    pay interest

4. Need to raise taxes

5. In 1785 Charles de Calonne attempted to reform the govt and finances

6. The nobles resisted Calonne’s efforts and he failed

7. Nobles said all the nation had to agree to tax increases/financial reforms

8. The only mechanism that represented all the people was the French parliamentary body

     called the Estates-General…but it had not met since 1614...

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION:

 The Estates-General was called to solve the financial crisis

 The monarchy did not want the Estates-General to make major reforms of the government

 Delegates to the Estates-General did not expect to make revolutionary changes

 The meeting of the Estates-General unexpectedly starts the revolution

THE ESTATES-GENERAL:

 1. Consisted of reps from each of the three orders - clergy, nobles, commoners

2. Elections were held to choose reps - third estate was given twice as many reps

3. Reps of the 3^rd estate = 2/3 lawyers and ¾ from towns

4. Reps of the nobility = 90% reform/enlightenment types

5. Cahiers de doleances = statements of local grievances drafted during the elections

6. Reform minded reps wanted a regular constitutional govt that would abolish tax privileges

The Estates-General opened at Versailles in May 1789

Voting by order or by head = should each rep have one vote or does each order have one vote???

1. Traditionally each order voted separately

2. If they kept the tradition of voting by social order then the 3^rd estate would always be outvoted 2 to 1 by the 1^st and 2^nd estates

The conflict/dispute over voting caused immediate problems - deadlock

THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY:

 What is the Third Estate? - this was a pamphlet written by Abbe Sieyes who said that the 3^rd Estate is everything, it represents the nation and cannot be politically ignored anymore

 The king/government fails to assume leadership/take control of the Estates-General when it opens and the 3^rd Estate pushes for voting by individual reps and refuses to cooperate

 June 17, 1789 = 3^rd Estate declares itself to a “National Assembly”

 June 20, 1789 = king locks out the 3^rd Estate /move to an indoor tennis court/ issue the Tennis Court Oath

 The Tennis Court Oath = the 3^rd Estate calling themselves the National Assembly declare that they will not disband until France has a constitution

 The king turns against the 3^rd estate and sides with the 1^st estate, threatens to dissolve the Estates-General calls out the army to surround Versailles, then does nothing.

THE INTERVENTION OF THE COMMON PEOPLE - THE FALL OF THE BASTILLE:

The King’s calling out the army outrages and inflames people - in Paris the people begin to form mobs and organize themselves

 Leaders of the people in Paris begin to form a citizens army and go searching for arms and ammunition

July 14, 1789 - the storming/fall of the Bastille (Bastille = royal armory and prison)

The Storming of the Bastille marks the end of royal authority in Paris - royal troops in Paris are no longer reliable

The city of Paris forms a citizens army = the National Guard

The Marquis de Lafayette is appointed commander of the new citizens militia

The Tricolor - red, blue and white three bar flag is designed to be the new flag of the Nat Guard and then becomes the flag of revolutionary France

 The Great Fear - summer of 1789/anarchy and uprisings in the countryside

DESTRUCTION OF THE OLD REGIME:

National Assembly 1789-1791

1. The new revolutionary government                                                                                                       2. They are writing a new constitution for France - working to create a system of constitutional monarchy                                                                                                                                                                3. They voted on the night of August 4, 1789 to abolish feudalism and aristocratic privileges                   4. On August 26, 1789 they adopt the Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen

 THE DECLARATION OF THE RIGHTS OF MAN AND THE CITIZEN:

1. The charter of basic liberties of revolutionary France

2. The most important document of the revolution

3. Declared that “men are born and remain free and equal in rights”

4. Government must protect people’s natural rights

5. Political power comes from the people

6. Ended legal inequality

7. Ended tax exemptions

8. Gave all citizens the right to participate and serve in government

9. Outlawed arbitrary arrests

10. Established freedom of speech and press

Women’s Rights -National Assembly said women have equal civil rights but not equal political rights.

Olympe de Gouges - woman playwright who wrote that women should have all the same rights as men even equal  political rights

 THE WOMEN’S MARCH TO VERSAILLES:

October 5, 1789 - thousands of angry women demanding bread march to Versailles to confront the king and the National Assembly

The crowd demand and force the king and his family to return to Paris

The people want the king in Paris so they can keep an eye on him and pressure him if needed       The king is forced to accept the authority of the National Assembly

THE REVOLUTION AND THE CATHOLIC CHURCH:

The National Assembly confiscated church lands and declare it to be the property of the government

July 1790 - the National Assembly issues the Civil Constitution of the Clergy

1. Bishops and priests were to be elected by the people

2. Clergy were to be paid by the government = become employees of the state

3. All clergy required to swear an oath of allegiance to the Civil Constitution

4. Pope forbids clergy to take this oath - almost half the clergy obey the pope

5. Refractory Clergy - those who refuse to swear the oath seen as enemies of the rev.

6. The attacks on the church cause some people to become counter-revolutionaries

 A NEW CONSTITUTION: The Constitution of 1791                                                                             1. The National Assembly writes a new constitution then disbands                                                        2. France becomes a constitutional monarchy                                                                                              3. King has few powers under the new constitution                                                                                                   4. Legislative Assembly = the new national parliament of France                                                                  5. Active Citizens = those who could pay a tax and vote                                                                  —-Passive Citizens = those who couldn’t vote

The Jacobins =

1. members of a Paris political club which spread throughout France

2. they wanted more radical changes

June 1791 - The king tries to escape to Austria and is captured at Varennes near the border

 OPPOSITION FROM ABROAD:

Old Regime/Absolute monarchs in Europe opposed the French Revolution                                               1. Feared the rev would set a bad example                                                                                                   2. Feared that it might spread to their states                                                                                                 3. The Declaration of Pillnitz = Austria and Prussia call on all monarchs to join together to restore King Louis to absolute power                                                                                                             4. The Declaration of Pillnitz angers the National Assembly - France declares war on Austria in April 1792

THE SUMMER OF 1792:

1. France does badly at the start of the war against Austria

2. Economic shortages

3. Radicals in Paris begin to demonstrate and protest - blame the king for all problems

4. The Paris Commune = radical leaders in Paris form their own city govt to overthrow the   existing govt

5. August 1792 - Radical mobs attack the Tuileries (the king’s palace in Paris)

      The king's guards are slaughtered and the king and family flee to the National Assembly

       Radical mobs attack the National Assembly

       King is captured and imprisoned

       National Assembly is forced to suspend the monarchy and create a new government

6. The new government will be created by the “National Convention” whose members will be elected on the basis of universal male suffrage (all males have right to vote)

7. The National Convention will write a new constitution = create a republic/no more monarchy

THE RADICAL REVOLUTION:

August 1792 -

1. Marks the end of the monarchy

2. The end of the National Assembly

3. The end of the moderate phase of the revolution

4. The beginning of a new radical phase of the revolution

5. These events are sometimes called “the second revolution”

 San-culottes - ordinary people without fine clothes/they wore pants not knickers or breeches               1. These people are the dominant force in the Paris Commune

2. These people demand that the revolution go farther and make more radical changes

 The September Massacres - massive numbers of  suspected “enemies of the revolution”, counter-revolutionaries, supporters of the king and the national assembly are arrested…then the crowds seize the prisons and murder the prisoners

 September 1792 - The National Convention begins meeting/they vote to abolish the monarchy & establish a republic

The Girondins and the Mountain  

 The Girondins -

1. They represented provinces in Western France

2. Opposed the radical Paris crowds

3. Wanted the king kept alive for insurance

The Mountain - became the Jacobins

1. They represented the people of Paris

2. More radical

3. Wanted the king executed and the old regime destroyed

January 1793 - the king is put on trial then executed by the guillotine

June 1793 - radical mobs backed by the Paris Commune invade the National Convention and force the arrest execution of the Girondins

FOREIGN CRISES:

The First Coalition = after Louis XVI is executed the old regime states of Austria, Prussia, Spain, Portugal, Britain, and the Dutch form an alliance against revolutionary France

The war goes badly for France in the beginning  in the Spring of 1793

The 1^st Coalition prepares to invade France

 The National Convention forms an executive committee to run the government

The Committee of Public Safety

1. Made up of twelve members of the National Conv.

2. Led by Maximilien Robespierre

3. Given total authority/power to deal with the crises facing France

4. Save the revolution from domestic counter-revolution

5. Save the revolution from foreign enemies

THE COMMITTEE OF PUBLIC SAFETY & THE REIGN OF TERROR:

The Reign of Terror -

1. Organized by the National Convention and the Committee of Public Safety

2. To deal with the domestic/internal enemies

3. Victims included royalists, revolutionaries, and regular people/peasants

4. Anyone who opposed the radicalism of the sans-culottes could be a victim

5. It lasted 9 months - almost 50,000 were killed

DECHRISTIANIZATION AND A NEW CALENDAR:

Dechristianization                                                                                                                                          1. The word “saint” removed from street names                                                                                           2. Churches trashed and closed                                                                                                                      3. Priests encouraged marry                                                                                                                                 4. Notre Dame cathedral converted to “the Temple of Reason”                                                                                       5. Attempted to create the worship of reason/rationality to replace Christianity

The policy of dechristianization backfired 

1. Most people did not want to give up their religion

2. Most people in France were Catholics

3. It made many people become opposed to the rev

Creation of a new republican/revolutionary calendar -

1. 1792 becomes the new year zero

2. New names for the months - Brumaire, Ventose, Floreal, Thermidor, Fructidor, etc

3. Three 10 day weeks in a month = decades

4. Eliminated Sundays

5. Revolutionary celebrations replaced religious holidays

6. Most people hated the new calendar and refused to adopt it

The Revolution attempted to create a new organization of society, new values, and ultimately attempted to reform human nature and create a new type of human being

 EQUALITY AND SLAVERY:

 In 1794 the National Convention abolishes slavery in all French colonies

 In 1791 slaves in Saint Domingue on the island of Hispaniola revolted - this slave revolt was led by Toussaint L’Ouverture

 In 1804 Saint Domingue declares independence from France and becomes Haiti - the first independent country in Latin America

 THE DECLINE OF THE COMMITTEE OF PUBLIC SAFETY:

1. In 1794 the Committee of Public Safety tries to control the excesses of the Reign of Terror

2. The leaders of the radical city government of Paris (the Paris Commune) are executed 

3. Military victories against foreign enemies made the Terror less necessary

4. Robespierre wants to continue the Terror = purify the “Republic of Virtue”

5. National Convention grows afraid of Robespierre

6. An anti-Robespierre group forms in the National Convention

7. In July (the month of Thermidor) Robespierre is arrested, put on trial, and executed -1795

8. This marks the “Thermidorian Reaction” against the radicalism

9. The overthrow of Robespierre and the COPS marks the end of the radical phase of the rev

 REACTION AND THE DIRECTORY:

 The Thermidorian Reaction -

1. End of the Terror

2. End of the Committee of Public Safety

3. Jacobin club shut down

4. Churches reopened - the end of dechristianization

5. Economic control/regulation of the economy ended

5. A new more stable and conservative constitution written

The Constitution of 1795 -

1. Two chamber/part legislature - the Council of 500 and the Council of Elders

2. Executive branch = the 5 Directors ran the govt - they were chosen by the Council of Elders

3. In October 1795 radical people in Paris try to overthrow the Directory - the government uses

the army (Napoleon) to crush them

4. The government of the Directory relies on the military to stay in power

The period of the Directory -

1. Stagnation, corruption, and government greed

2. A time of materialism and flaunting of wealth

3. The Directory was hated by political enemies on the left and right

4. On the right - royalists hated and wanted a return of the monarchy

5. On the left - radical/Jacobins hated it and wanted a return to the time of Robespierre and the Committee