French Revolution PDF

FRENCH REVOLUTION BACKGROUND France is most powerful from 1453 to 1763 7 Years War ends their dominance Success was due to centralization Absolute monarchy And high production and exports Due to high population And mercantilism BACKGROUND Social Classes in Fran...

FRENCH REVOLUTION BACKGROUND France is most powerful from 1453 to 1763 7 Years War ends their dominance Success was due to centralization Absolute monarchy And high production and exports Due to high population And mercantilism BACKGROUND Social Classes in France The same ones from the Middle Ages “Those who pray, those who fight, those who work” L’ancien Régime First Estate – Clergy Second Estate – Nobility Third Estate – Everyone else BACKGROUND First Estate Anti-Enlightenment Did not pay taxes Second Estate Did not pay taxes, owned most land Third Estate Bourgeoisie, urban poor, and peasants Made up 97% of population Very pro-Enlightenment BACKGROUND King Louis XVI Much less capable than his predecessors Often had bad advice and counsel But was well-intentioned Marie Antoinette From the Austrian Habsburg family Lived an insanely lavish lifestyle Was unpopular with the French people BACKGROUND Economic crisis High taxation to fund wars Seven Years War American Revolution Crop failures caused food shortages Marie Antoinette spends exorbitantly Forces King Louis XVI to act Calls into session the Estates- General BACKGROUND Estates-General Assembly made up of the three estates 3rd Estate wants a representative gov. All Estates have same amount of votes National Assembly Created by the Third Estate’s delegates Claimed to act on behalf of “the People” Meaning all of France, not just the Third Estate FRENCH REVOLUTION The King and the other Estates lock out the National Assembly National Assembly meets in a nearby tennis court Tennis Court Oath National Assembly pledged to stay Until a new constitution was drafted King Louis orders troops to guard Versailles FRENCH REVOLUTION Many Parisians think Louis will use force to disband the Assembly They want guns and ammunition They storm a prison to get them The Bastille An angry mob takes over the prison Seen as a major event that starts the French Revolution in 1789 FRENCH REVOLUTION Paris revolts first, then the surrounding countryside Peasants already dealing with starvation Afraid nobles are trying to starve them Known as the Great Fear Results in peasant revolts all over France 1000s of women march on Versailles Demanding bread be made FRENCH REVOLUTION National Assembly devises a declaration Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen Liberte, Egalite, Fraternite Members of the clergy and nobility join the National Assembly Dissolve 1st and 2nd Estate’s privileges Making all Estates equal FRENCH REVOLUTION Church-State relations The Church’s lands were taken over Sold to pay off the many debts of France Priests now must answer to the state Is also because of Enlightenment beliefs Angers the French peasants Almost all of whom are Catholic Louis and Marie attempt to DIVISIONS EMERGE National Assembly creates a constitution Makes France a constitutional monarchy Legislative Assembly New lawmaking body, like a parliament Old problems persisted Debt and food shortages Different opinions on how to fix these problems in the Legislative Assembly DIVISIONS EMERGE Divisions amongst 3 major groups Those who sat at the left side of the hall Want radical reforms and no monarchy Those who sat at the right side Wanted limited monarchy and few changes Those who sat in the middle Wanted changes, but not as many as the Leftists DIVISIONS EMERGE Factions outside of the Assembly Sans-culottes Made up of the urban, working classes Supported the Leftists Emigres Made up of nobles who fled France Wanted to return France to return to the pre-Revolutionary state WAR AND VIOLENCE European powers are shocked Do not want revolution to spread Want to reinstate Louis’ power Prussia and Austria form an alliance Begin invading France September Massacres Parisians react by storming Louis’ palace Massacre many royalist supporters WAR AND VIOLENCE Legislative Assembly reacts to violence and the invasion Decides to abolish the monarchy And to elect a new government National Convention France officially becomes a Republic Dominated by a radical faction Jacobins WAR AND VIOLENCE National Convention Led by the Jacobins Calls for Louis XVI’s execution Louis XVI executed in 1793 By guillotine Officially outraged all of Europe Britain, Holland, Spain, join the war against France WAR AND VIOLENCE Internal opponents to the Republic Caused by the king’s death The fierce anti-religious laws The draft of 300k French citizens War in the Vendee Caused by draft and anti- Catholicism Republic wages total war in the Vendee Jacques Cathelineau Massacres 10,000s of peasants Including women, children, REIGN OF TERROR Maximillian Robespierre Leader of the Jacobin party Committee of Public Safety Led by Robespierre Had total authority to punish suspected traitors to the Republic 40,000 are executed during the Terror 85% were regular citizens Many of them Robespierre’s opponents REIGN OF TERROR Radicals wanted a secular society Want to remove all traces of old France De-Christianization Priests executed on-sight Calendar completely changed Christianity replaced with atheistic, civic ”cults” Cult of Reason Churches turned into cult temples