The French Revolution

The French Revolution

• On July 14, 1789, Paris was in alarm due to the king's order to move troops into the city fueled by rumors of the army opening fire on citizens.
• Approximately 7,000 people formed a peoples' militia and raided government buildings for arms.
• A group of people stormed the Bastille, a fortress-prison, seeking ammunition.
• The commander of the Bastille was killed and the prisoners were freed, but there were only seven of them.
• The Bastille was hated because it symbolized the king's despotic power and was then demolished, with fragments sold as souvenirs.
• Rioting increased in both Paris and the countryside, mainly protesting the high bread prices.
• Historians view this period as the beginning of events leading to the execution of the King of France.

French Society During the Late Eighteenth Century

• In 1774, Louis XVI of the Bourbon family became the King of France at the age of 20, married to Marie Antoinette.
• Louis XVI found the treasury empty due to long wars and maintaining the Palace of Versailles.
• France, under Louis XVI, aided the thirteen American colonies in gaining independence from Britain, further increasing the french debt by over a billion livres, currency of France.
• Lenders charged 10% interest on loans, forcing the French government to allocate a growing portion of its budget to interest payments.
• To cover expenses for the army, court, and government, the state increased taxes, and French society was divided into three estates, with only the third estate paying taxes.
• French society was divided into three estates, and only the third estate paid taxes.
• The society of estates was part of the feudal system before 1789, known as the Old Regime.
• Peasants comprised roughly 90% of the population, but most didn't own the land they worked on.
• About 60% of the land was owned by nobles, the Church, and wealthier members of the third estate.
• The clergy and nobility had privileges by birth, including exemption from paying taxes.
• Nobles enjoyed feudal privileges, extracting feudal dues, and compelling peasants to provide services, like working on fields, army service or building roads.
• The Church collected tithes (one-tenth of agricultural produce) from the peasants.
• The third estate paid direct taxes (taille) and indirect taxes on everyday items like salt or tobacco.

The Struggle to Survive

• The population of France grew from 23 million in 1715 to 28 million in 1789, increasing the demand for foodgrains.
• Grain production couldn't keep up with demand, causing bread prices to increase.
• Most workers were labourers with fixed wages that did not keep up with rising prices, widening the gap between the poor and the rich.
• Drought or hail worsened conditions by reducing harvests.
• This led to a subsistence crisis, which frequently occurred in France during the Old Regime.

How a Subsistence Crisis Happens

• A bad harvest can cause a disease epidemic.
• The poorest can no longer buy bread through scarcity of grain.
• All of which cause food riots, rising food prices, increased number of deaths and weaker bodies.

A Growing Middle Class Envisages an End to Privileges

• Peasants and workers had revolted against high taxes and food scarcity but lacked the means for social and economic change.
• The middle class emerged in the 18th century, gaining wealth through overseas trade and manufacturing, such as woollen and silk textiles.
• The third estate also included lawyers and administrative officials.
• The middle class believed that social position should depend on merit, not birth privilege.
• Philosophers John Locke and Jean Jacques Rousseau advocated for a society based on freedom, equal laws, and opportunities.
• Locke, in Two Treatises of Government, refuted the divine and absolute right of the monarch.
• Montesquieu, in The Spirit of the Laws, proposed a division of power within the government, between the legislative, the executive and the judiciary.
• This model was implemented in the United States after the thirteen colonies declared independence from Britain.
• The American constitution and its guarantee of individual rights influenced political thinkers in France.
• The ideas of these philosophers were discussed in salons and coffee houses and spread through books and newspapers.
• News of Louis XVI planning to impose more taxes generated anger and protest against the system of privileges.