1. The French Revolution

2. The Old Regime (Ancien Regime)
Old Regime – social & political system which existed in most of Europe during the 18th century
Countries were ruled by absolutism
Divine Right
Societies were divided by class
The Divine Right of Kings: God put the world in motion & put some people in positions of power. No one can question God, therefore no one can question someone put in power by God. Questioning the monarchy was blasphemy because it meant questioning God
King Louis XVI – great grandson of Louis XIV, ruled France from 1774 until 1792
(his father, Louis Dauphin of France, was never king because his death preceded his father XV’s)

3. Society under the Old Regime
French people were divided into three social classes
First Estate
High-ranking clergy (Church)
Second Estate
Nobility
Third Estate
Everyone else – from peasants in the countryside to wealthy bourgeoisie merchants in the cities
Privileged Class
Unprivileged Class
First and Second Estates viewed the Enlightenment as radical notions that threatened their status and power. The Second Estate yearned for greater political power in the era of Absolutism. They believed that they deserved their privileges and tax exemptions based on their historical superior position over the Third Estate.

4. The Three Estates Estate Population Privileges Exemptions Burdens
First
Circa 130,000
High-ranking clergy
Collected the tithe
Censorship of the press
Control of education
Kept records of births, deaths, marriages, etc.
Catholic faith held honored position of being the state religion (practiced by monarch and nobility)
Owned 20% of the land
Paid no taxes
Subject to Church law rather than civil law
Moral obligation (rather than legal obligation) to assist the poor and needy
Support the monarchy and Old Regime
Second
Circa 110,000
Nobles
Collected taxes in the form of feudal dues
Monopolized military and state appointments
Third
Circa 25,000,000
Everyone else: artisans, bourgeoisie, city workers, merchants, peasants, etc., along with many parish priests
None
Paid all taxes
Tithe (Church tax)
Octrot (tax on goods brought into cities)
Corvée (forced road work)
Capitation (poll tax)
Vingtiéme (income tax)
Gabelle (salt tax)
Taille (land tax)
Feudal dues for use of local manor’s winepress, oven, etc.

6. "A faut esperer q'eu.s jeu la finira bentot" = You should hope that this game will be over soon

7. Economic Conditions under the Old Regime
France’s economy - primarily agriculture
Peasant farmers bore the burden of taxation
Poor harvests
Food shortages led to high prices
Had trouble paying regular taxes
Could not afford to have taxes raised
Bourgeoisie often managed to gather wealth
But were upset by the inequality
They paid taxes while nobles did not
Bread constituted the basis of the ordinary person’s diet during the 18th C. In 1789, a normal worker, a farmer or a laborer, earned anywhere from fifteen to thirty sous per day; skilled workers received thirty to forty. A family of four needed about two loaves of bread a day to survive. The price of a loaf of bread rose by 67 percent in 1789 alone, from nine sous to fifteen.

8. France Is Bankrupt
King Louis XVI & Queen Marie Antoinette were seen as a lavish & wasteful spenders
Marie Antoinette’s bedroom at Versailles
Louis was a weak king: he was indecisive and favored his personal interests over those of the country and the people. He was awkward and insecure, and appeared gruff to many. He also didn’t like being king. Once, upon hearing of the resignation of a minister, he said, “Why can't I resign too?”

9. MA was known for her extravagant hair styles, for which the third estate resented her, considering their growing frustration with increased taxes.

10. France Is Bankrupt Government funds depleted from wars
Loss of the Seven Years’ War
$ to the Amer Revolutionaries
Deficit spending – a government spending more money than it takes in from tax revenues
Privileged classes would not submit to being taxed
France aided the Revolutionaries with both money and troops against Britain mostly because it wanted to weaken GB and revenge its Seven Years War losses.
Cartoon The financial minister, Necker, looks on and says "the money was there last time I looked." The nobles and clergy are sneaking out the door carrying sacks of money, saying "We have it.“
XVI attempted to remove the 2nd Estate’s tax exemption, but was blocked by the parlements (courts controlled by the nobility)

11. Les États-Généraux: Estates General
Louis XVI called the E-G to assemble in May 1789
To override the parlements refusal to tax nobles
Had not met since 1614
Cahiers - grievances
Estates General = Legislative assembly of France, est in early attempt at creating a constitutional monarchy
Met at Versailles in May 1789
Cahiers – (“cay-yay”) – a list of grievances drawn up by each estate to be heard at the EG by the king. These were suggested reforms (not an attack on the Old Regime) for issues such as government waste, indirect taxes, church taxes and corruption, and the hunting rights of the aristocracy

12. First Estate = 1 Vote or 130,000 Votes
Second Estate = 1 Vote or 110,000 Votes
Third Estate = 1 Vote or 25,000,000 Votes
Deadlock!
Voting problem! Each Estate was granted only one vote, therefore the 1st & 2nd would always overrule the 3rd.
The Third Estate representatives demanded that each member of the Estates General have an individual vote, which would give them an advantage.

13. Tennis Court Oath 1789
The Third Estate declared itself to be the National Assembly.
Louis XVI responded by locking the Third Estate out of the meeting.
The Third Estate relocated, vowed to stay together and create a written constitution for France.
After a few frustrating weeks of debate (over voting), the Third Estate reps declared themselves France’s true representative body, known as “National Assembly”. They invited members of the other estates to join them, and some did.

14. Tennis Court Oath
"The Oath of the Tennis Court." Pen and ink drawing by Jacques-Louis David, designed to be a preliminary to a larger painting (never completed)
June 20 - refused to leave until a new constitution for the kingdom was established.
June 27 - the king ordered the rest of the Clergy and Nobility to join the National Assembly.

15. The Tennis Court Oath
“Decrees that all members of this Assembly shall immediately take a solemn oath not to separate, and to reassemble wherever circumstances require, until the constitution of the kingdom is established and consolidated upon firm foundations; and that, the said oath taken, all members and each one of them individually shall ratify this steadfast resolution by signature.”
However… Louis really wasn’t interested in having a Constitutional Monarchy, as evidenced by the increased military presence in Versailles and Paris.
Louis XVI relented … ordered all three estates to meet together as the National Assembly & vote, by population, on a constitution.

16. Storming of the Bastille
July 1789 – Paris exploded in rioting, chaos, and looting.
Bastille = “A monument of despotism” / symbol of abusive absolute power – Paris prison. Rioters stormed the prison to gain control of its armory.
Marquis de Launay, governor of Bastille, was arrested and his decapitated head on a pike paraded around Paris.

17. Le Grande Peur “The Great Fear” – famine caused panic of 1789
Chronic hunger, elevated bread prices, and rumors of a “famine plot”
Peasants took up arms in self defense
Some attacked manor houses
Led to the abolishment of the feudal system
July-August 1789
Famine plot – rumors spread that that aristocracy planned to starve out the peasants by withholding grain
Picture - burning chateaux as the peasants riot in the countryside. Rioters reportedly tried to destroy records of their feudal obligations

18. Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen
Passed by the National Assembly
Earlier that month the NA had abolished the Ancien Regime
Influenced by T. Jefferson & Enlightenment ideals
Established universal rights as the basis for a new constitution
Abolishing the AR meant ending unequal taxation, noble privileges, tithes to the church, feudal rights of lords
Everyone would have liberty, property, and security … though the FR did not deliver on this promise.

19. “The Awakening of the Third Estate
“The Awakening of the Third Estate.” On the ground, the figure representing the Third Estate awakens from the “nightmare of the Old Regime,” and reaches for arms, while the Nobility and the Clergy retreat in alarm. In the background, the destruction of the Bastille and heads paraded on pikes on 14 July 1789 reaffirms that message that a new order is emerging in which the people in arms will play a central role. After October 1789, there was a shift toward images portraying unity and federation.

20. Women’s March
Parisian women fed up with food scarcity and high bread prices
Joined by revolutionary protesters
Ransacked city armory
Marched to and besieged Palace of Versailles
King and family moved to Paris
Symbolized a shift of power to the people
October 5, 1789 – the women first converged on the Hotel de Ville (City Hall) demanding bread and arms.
Versailles is about 12.5 miles away from Paris. They marched about 6 hours in the driving rain.
Wanted to bring the king “back home” and perhaps to kill the queen. (Part of the hatred of the queen was due to her Austrian heritage, since Austria and France had historic enmity.)
After initial peace & an audience with the king, the crowd broke into the palace, attacked guards, and searched for the queen.
The king pinned the flag to his bodyguard and agreed to go to Paris
The queen came out onto a balcony where she was visible to the crowd, who initially wanted to kill her. She stood strong, with her arms crossed. This courage impressed the crowd, which softened toward her.
The royal family and their entourage traveled back to Paris with the marching crowd.

21. The King bowed to pressure of the Revolution, and flew the new tricolor flag in Paris.

22. Tuileries Palace (Paris, France)
Had been the royal residence since mid-1500s. Louis XIV moved out when he built Versailles.
Louis XVI, Marie Antoinette, and their children lived there as virtual prisoners for two years after leaving Versailles.

23. Constitution of 1791 New government known as Legislative Assembly
Democratic features
France became a limited monarchy
King merely the head of state
All laws were created by the Legislative Assembly
Feudalism was abolished
Undemocratic features
Voting was limited to taxpayers
Offices were reserved for property owners

24. Legislative Assembly (1791-1792)
June 1791, royal family tried to escape to Austria
Nobles fled the revolution lived abroad as émigrés
April 1792, declared war on Austria & Prussia, which invaded France
Jacobins arrested the King and Queen, who were both executed by guillotine for high treason
Emigres hoped that the Ancien Regime would be restored with help from foreign nations
Jacobins were radical members of the revolution, who wanted a republic, not a constitutional monarchy like the more moderate Girondins
Jacobin Georges Danton addressing the National Assembly

25. The three most memorable Jacobins were Georges Danton, Maximilien Robespierre, and Jean-Paul Marat.
Because of a debilitating illness, Marat was eventually forced to work from home. He was assassinated (in the tub while taking a medicinal bath) by Charlotte Corday, a Girondist sympathizer, in July, 1793.
The Death of Marat by Jacques-Louis David

26. Reign of Terror Era of radicalism led by the Jacobins
Suspected enemies of the Revolution were executed by the thousands
Robespierre’s “Committee of Public Safety”
Also changed the measurements of time to multiples of ten
Robespierre himself was executed by guillotine when people revolted against the Terror.
Robespierre was a Jacobin lawyer and one of the original members of the 1789 Estates General. He was a strong advocate for poor people’s rights and republicanism. However, he also believed in “purifying” the revolution by execution of suspected enemies.
Cartoon of Robespierre guillotining the executioner, after having executed everyone else in France.
Approx 15,000 were executed during this period
French Republican Calendar - remove Christian and royal influence in the calendar and clock. The Gregorian calendar is named for Pope Gregory XIII, who introduced it in the 1500s

27. Revolution’s End, Napoleon’s Rise
After a series of failed Constitutions and leaders, General Napoleon Bonaparte seized power
Coup d’etat = violent takeover
Bonaparte abolished the unpopular Girondin “Directory” government
Appointed himself France’s First Consul, later Emperor
Dictatorial ruler
NB was a shrewd military leader who rose through the ranks of power during the French Revoltuion.
Seized power in 1799, crowned himself emperor in 1804