The French Revolution (1789-1795)

• The French Revolution took place from 1789-1795
• The Enlightenment thinking impacted the arrangement of society and politics
• The old feudal system, known as Ancien Régime, was no longer sufficient
• Location of sovereignty was a major question, whether in an individual, a class, or the people
• The Revolution began with hope but devolved into chaos

France and Empire

• Global trade significantly increased France's economic activities and wealth
• The increased wealth disrupted the existing social order
• The French government accumulated substantial debt defending its empire
• Defeat in the Seven Years War led to debt, loss of colonies, and humiliation
• France took part in the slave trade, with Caribbean sugar (Saint-Domingue) accounting for half of their trade
• Slavery conflicted with Enlightenment ideas
• France was greatly impacted by the American Revolution

France and the American Revolution

• In the 1770s, Louis XVI aimed to maintain European stability and seek revenge against England
• The American Revolution provided an opportunity for France to pursue strategic goals
• France accumulated more debt, amounting to 1 billion livres
• The American Revolution influenced the idea of equality, liberty, and republicanism
• An absolutist government inadvertently contributed to creating a republic

The French Economic Crisis

• The French monarchy was in debt
• Half of the annual revenue was dedicated to paying the interest of the debt
• France experienced an economic slowdown between 1786 and 1788 because of bad harvest across France
• The King convened the Assembly of Notables to implement a universal land tax and a stamp tax
• The nobles and merchants opposed the land tax and stamp tax
• The King was unable to borrow money because of failure of tax reform, crippling France financially

The Calling of the Estates General

• The King convened for the Estate General
• It was the first time being called in 175 years
• The assembly occurred amidst Enlightenment ideas, public debate, publishing, and reading
• Royal censorship collapsed in 1788
• From 1788 to April 1789, 4,200 political pamphlets were published, including Emmanuel Sieyes' "What is the Third Estate?”
• Debates arose between corporate identity and individual identity
• The medieval concept of the three estates were reflected in France in 1789

Creation of the National Assembly

• The Estate General convened in Versailles on May 5, 1789
• The assembly disagreed on the structuring method of the Estate General, resulting in the formation of the National Assembly
• The National Assembly claimed to represent all of France, taking power from the King
• Louis resisted but ultimately yielded on June 27th

The Storming of the Bastille

• There was political uncertainty regarding the relationship between the King and the National Assembly
• Food prices rose because of poor harvests and grain hoarding, so the people demanded Jacques Necker's reinstatement
• The Bastille was an old fortress and state prison in Paris that symbolized the arbitrary power of the monarchy
• Hungry crowds appeared in Paris on July 12, due to rumors of the King's troops marching on Pairs
• Crowds stormed an armory and seized guns and cannons on July 14, but they did not take any gunpowder
• The crowds then moved on the Bastille, joined by some of the French Guard
• De Lannay, Commander of the Bastille surrendered and was killed by the mob
• Proved the power of the Parisian mob, Paris formed a new city government known was the Commune
• The actions alarmed aristocrats and inspired National Assembly to act

Ending The Old Regime

• The Great Fear (July 20-August 6) involved riots and anti-aristocratic protests across France
• Peasants feared famine, aristocrats hoarding grain, brigandage, and foreign invasion so they defended their communities
• "The Death of Feudalism" occurred on August 4, when the National Assembly declared the end of feudal privilege with the Decrees of August 4-11
• Decrees ended feudal fees, seigneurial courts, hunting privileges, tithes, and dismantled the royal bureaucracy

The Declaration of the Rights of Man

• There was debate in the National Assembly between Monarchiens and left-learning Patriots regarding a Constitutional Monarchy's structure
• The Marquis de Lafayette, head of the new National Guard, introduced the Declaration
• The Rights of Man was universal in application to individuals, not corporate identity
• It shifted the population dynamic from subjects of a king to citizens
• Citizens were now focused on "Liberty, property, security, and resistance to oppression" while at the Tennis Court Oath

The Kind Forced to Paris

• The March to Versailles happened on October 5, 1789
• The poissardes (fishwives) (6,000-8,000) protested high food prices
• The Kind agreed to supply grain under pressure
• The National Guard, commanded by Lafayette, marched to Versailles
• Lafayette convinced the King to relocate to Paris, so National Assembly followed

Religion and the Revolution

• Roman Catholic Church power was declining in France, so power of the Church had eroded since the Enlightenment
• Church land was nationalized in 1789 by the National Assembly to pay off national debt
• With Civil Constitution of the Clergy, the government would pay clergy and elect clergy
• The Oath of Loyalty came into play "to the nation, the law, and the King"
• Constitutional clergy/jurors took the new Oath of Loyalty and non-jurors did not

The King's Failed Escape

• Louis was publicly supported the Revolution, but privately weakened it
• On June 20, the King and his family attempted to try to escape dressed as citizens
• Marie-Antoinette (the Queen) did not even try to hide her dismay for the Revolution
• The movement caused the National Guard to stop the carriage so the King returned to Paris
• The National Assembly declared the kind had be kidnapped, but it was untrue
• The King left a declaration against the Revolution

Reaction to the Revolution

• Argument arose between evolution versus revolution
• Edmund Burke believed revolutions are bad citing the "organic nature of society"
• Burke founded modern conservative political thought
• Thomas Paine believed revolutions are good, so he cited "Revolution as progress"
• Paine laid the groundwork for liberal politics
• There was a mass exodus from France- 160,000 people fled France during the Revolution
• The departed became the source of anxiety for people

The Revolution Goes to War

• The newly elected National Legislature came into power in October 1791
• All were 'new men' had not served in prior N.A., with a call for a Revolutionary War
• The King and Queen secretly lobbied for foreign intervention
• Austria and Prussia formed an alliance in Feb. 1792 because the French feared the "Austrian Committee"
• Austria feared Leopold II would be replaced by his pro-war son Francis
• France declared war on Austria in April

The End of the Monarchy

• France was now the Revolution was now at war
• The Sans-Culottes, a group of radical people not of noble blood, became active in Paris
• They believed in radical equality and democratic principals
• The Sans-Culottes and National Guardsmen stormed the Tuileries (the royal residence in Paris) on August 9, 1792
• 800 defenders broke out and 400 attackers died
• The National Legislature lost control of the Revolution
• In January 1793, the King was placed on trial as an ordinary citizen, found guilty, and guillotined because of it

The Counter-Revolution and the Vendee

• People opposed the Revolution from the beginning especially in the West because of Catholicism
• This opposition led to Civil War (1793) and the radicalization of the Revolution as a whole
• The Vendee Uprising happened in March 1793, when National Guardsmen fought crowd anger over conscription
• The Whites (Westerners) fought the Blue (Supporters of the Revolution)
• Used the area to their advantage
• Thousands were killed

Trouble on Saint-Domingue

• Egalitarian ideas from the slave lead Slave uprising Saint Domingue
• Led insurgents seized the interior and white French the coastal towns
• This halted sugar and coffee production, led to small farming plots
• National Convention abolished slavery in February 1794
• French plantations resisted this order

The Revolution in Trouble

• There was Economic criss (inflation) in the Winter of 1792-93
• The Enrages believed the scarcity caused by plotting
• There was Factional fighting in the National Convention, also there were the Mountain (hard core Jacobins) fought the Girondins
• The group suffered Military defeats and sans-culottes stormed, surrounded the National Convention

Towards the Reign of Terror

• The New Constitution was drafted by the Jacobins, but set aside
• The Committee of Public Safety was put in place
• There were Federalist Revolts not to be confused with counter revolutions because different version of the revolution for it less centralized power (control from Paris)
• Cities rose up Lyon Marseilles, Bordeaux, Toulon, Caen
• There ws death, The Assassination of Jean-Paul Marat happened (July 13, 1793), killed with a knife by Charlotte Corday (bathtub)

The Reign of Terror

• Crisis was suspending democratic politics, in turn, power was given to C.O.P.S Robespirre
• Rvolutionares used laws to push endemies forward.
• Some 300th people were arrested, 16,594 were executed only 8% noble.
• Marie Ant was imprisoned and not liked.
• There was purge f groups

The Reign of Terror Continues

• Robespierre centralized the Terror
• Under attack
• It ws a brutal powerstrugle
• Mutually destroyed themselves

The End of the Terror

• End of terror - military went down
• NC terror got to be to much because of defendants law, so defendants needed to come back
• 6 weeks or terror meant many dead.
• Thermidor N.C turned against the terror. - All these others were captured
• Robespirre was scape goat or the worst terror face

The Revolution Ends

• The Jacobin lost influence and power (The White Terror) known as Thermidorian Reaction
• Prairial Uprising happened as the people raged
• Sans culotte broke the assembly. The people acted. The revilution Moderate constitution directory with 5 council member and continued revolutionary wars