The French Revolution

(1789-1799)

La Marseillaise

Allons enfants de la PatrieLe jour de gloire est arrivé !Contre nous de la tyrannieL'étendard sanglant est levéEntendez-vous dans nos campagnesMugir ces féroces soldats?Ils viennent jusque dans vos bras.Égorger vos fils, vos compagnes!

• Aux armes citoyensFormez vos bataillonsMarchons, marchonsQu'un sang impurAbreuve nos sillons

Roget de L’isle

The Causes of the Revolution

The Three Estates

• Nobility – privileges, own land, tax free, right to office, own courts, collect dues

• Clergy – privileges, tax free, own courts, use of land, monopoly, collect fees

• Third Estate – bourgeoisie, peasantry, work, pay taxes, pay dues, pay fees

The debt and deficit

• 4.5 bln. Livre debt, more than 300 mln. per year in interest alone.

• 165 mln. Annual military budget.

• 100 mln. Annual deficit.

The American Revolution

• Cost France $2 bln. New debt.

• Did not result in any gains from UK

• Returning supporters of the American Revolution spread liberal ideas in France

• The terms “Patriots” and “Nation” become widely used.

Ideas of the Enlightenment

• Disprove the Divine right of Kings• Disprove the role of church and religion in society.• Disprove the permanency and morals of the existing

world order.• Draft practical plans to build new social order and new

forms of government.• Reflect the Creed of the Bourgeoisie – rationalist,

experimental, humanitarian and utilitarian. Display confidence in the ability of man to change things for the better.

• Rousseau, Montesquieu, Voltaire, Locke, Diderot.

Economic Decline

• Losing the 7 years war cost many colonies and their potential resources affecting the middle class.

• Draught caused famine among peasants and made them a natural ally of the middle class. Crops failed in 1788, causing hunger and prices of food to shoot up to a century high.

• Population increased by 3 mln., mostly rural to 25 mln. Not enough land to support them. Most worked also as tenant farmers or sharecroppers or odd jobs.

• Amount of money in circulation increased from 2 bln. To 3 bln. (50%), pushing prices up by 45%, while wages rose by only 22%.

• Decline of prices of grain and grapes starting in 1776 reflected the decreased consumption by the state, affecting the peasants. Landlords increased rents to make up for the declining prices.

• Winter of 1788-1789 was the coldest and longest in this century.

The Failure of Reform

• The King refuses to share power.• The parlementaires, special courts of nobles refuse to

give up privileges. Engage in power struggle with the King.

• Jacques Necker and Calonne fired after trying to change the tax structure.

• Assembly of Notables refuses to approve reforms.• Parlementaires provoke the election of Estates General

to break the stalemate.• Royal Council approves the quotas - 1st Estate – 291, 2nd

estate – 300, 3rd estate 610.

The General EstatesMay 5, 1789

Tennis Court Oath

• "The National Assembly, considering that it has

been summoned to establish the

constitution of the kingdom. . . decrees

that all members of this assembly shall

immediately take a solemn oath not to

separate. . . until the constitution of the

kingdom is established on firm foundations. . ." 

June 20, 1789

Fall of the BastilleJuly 14, 1789

The New Flag

The Marquis de Lafayette,

commander of the new National Guard, combined  the colors of the King (white) and the colors of

Paris (blue and red) for his guardsmen's uniforms and from

this came the Tricolor, the new

French flag.

Phases of the Revolution

• July 14, 1789 – August 10, 1792 – power of the liberal aristocracy and conservative bourgeoisie.

• August 10, 1792 – June 2, 1793 – power of the liberal bourgeoisie.

• June 2, 1793 – July 27, 1794 – power of the democratic left.

• July 27, 1794 – November 9, 1799 – power of the moderate bourgeoisie.

National Constituent Assembly(Aug. 4, 1789 – Sep. 20, 1791)

• Prepared the First Constitution of France• Consisted of most of the members of the General

Estates (L’Etat General).• Divided into 3 wings.• Feuillants – right – favor constitutional monarchy

with strong executive power in the hands of the king, incl. right to veto.

• Girondins – center – favor liberal monarchy of the English type or a republic.

• Montagnards – left – favor a democratic republic

The Night of August 4, 1789

Key dates

• July 14, 1789 – Fall of the Bastille. Creation of the National Guard led by La Fayette.

• August 4, 1789 – The National Constitutional Assembly abolishes feudal rights, incl. manorial justice.

• August 26, 1789 – Declaration of the Rights of the Man and the Citizen.• June 22, 1791 – King Louis attempted escape, arrested at Varennes.• August 27, 1791 – Pillnitz Declaration – Prussia and Austria declared

support for the King.• September 1791 – King Louis XVI signs the Constitution of 1791.• April 20, 1792 – Louis declared war on Austria.• September 2, 1792 – “September massacres”. • September 20, 1792 – French victory at Valmy. Beginning of the

National Convention and end of the Constitutional Assembly.

The Constitution of 1791

• France becomes a Constitutional Monarchy.• Feudalism is abolished. Church land was confiscated. Clergy was placed on a

state payroll, services continue.• Slavery is abolished, except in the colonies.• All became equal before the law. Justice was made free.• All citizens pay the same 3 taxes – land tax, industrial tax and commercial tax.

Indirect taxes were abolished.• Ended monopolies and privileges. Abolished the guilds.• Citizens are divided into “active” and “passive”. Protestants and Jews were

excluded from the political life.• Elections run through 2 stages. Only people who pay more than 52 livras in

annual taxes could be a candidate for the Assembly.• Printed “assignats” for 2,000,000,000 livras.• Offered peasants to buy properties.• Banned Workingmen Unions, collective bargaining and strikes.

The Leaders of the French Revolution

Count Honore-Gabriel de Mirabeau

• 1749-1791• Elected from the third

estate in the General States in 1789.

• Favors Constitutional Monarchy

• Leader of the Liberal Aristocracy

Marquis de La Fayette

• La Fayette went to America to offer his help and his services in 1777. He became a general in the Continental Army and a friend of George Washington. In 1780 he took part in the Virginia campaign. And in 1781, he also took part in the victory of Yorktown. In 1789, he became a congressman.

• In 1792, he led an army against Austria. He got arrested by the Austrians and from 1792 to 1795, he was in prison. And from 1795 to 1797, he was exiled in Germany and in Holland.

• In 1799, he came back to France. He became a member of deputies Chamber. His trip to the States in 1824 was resounding. In 1830, he helped Louis-Philippe to become king.

Abbe Sieyes

• “What is the Third estate”

• “Declaration of the rights of the Man and Citizen”

• Voted for the Execution of the King in 1793.

• Member of all legislative bodies until 1804.

• Expelled from France after the restoration in 1815.

• Returned to France in 1830.

Georges-Jacques Danton

• 1759 – 1794• One of the leaders of the

Jacobins.• Minister of Justice under

the Girondins• Led the Committee for

Public safety in ‘93• Executed during the Reign

of Terror• "Boldness and

again boldness, and always boldness"

Jean-Paul Marat

• Doctor, philosopher

• “Friend of the People”

• Leader of the Parisian Commune

• Member of the Jacobin club

• Votes against the monarchy

• Assassinated on July 13, 1793 by a royalist woman

Maximilian Robespierre

• Lawyer

• Leader of the Jacobins

• Constitution of 1793

• Executed on June 27, 1794.

• "Terror is nothing other than justice, prompt, severe, inflexible"

The National Convention1792-1795

• 3 stages – Revolutionary Government of the Girondins; Jacobin dictatorship and Thermidorian reaction.

• Political Spectrum – Girondins to the right, Plains in the centre, Montagnards or Jacobins to the left. Far left – Heberists, or ``crazy``, Monarchists, or ``blacks`` to the far right.

• Culmination of the revolution

Execution of Louis XVI

Key dates

• Sep. 21, 1792 Abolition of the monarchy.• Sep. 22, 1792 – Day 1 of Year 1.• Jan. 21, 1793 – Louis XVI is guillotined.• June 2, 1793 – Parisian Commune led by the Committee of Public Safety

(Danton).• July 10, 1793 - Danton removed from the Committee. Jacobins take control. • Sep. 1793 – Constitution of 1793. Suspended temporary by Robespierre until

the end of the revolution.`Reign of Terror`. • Oct. – Nov. - Political Trials. 40,000 executed. • July 27, 1794 – Robespierre overthrown and executed. Thermidorian Reacton

begins.• April 1795 – Treaty of Basel. End of the first coalition.• Sep. 1795 – Constitution of 1795 and New Declaration of Rights• Oct. 5, 1795 – Constitutional Referendum, insurgency, Napoleon• Oct. 26, 1795 – Last session of the National Convention

The Constitution of 1793

• Full abolition of manorial rights without compensation.

• Liquidation of class divisions and titles.• Democratic republic with strong executive

powers in the hands of the Committee.• Broad voting rights.• Wage and price controls.• Religious controls.

The constitution of Year III (1795)

• Tax qualifications for voters over 21 years old• Property requirements for Electors• Indirect elections• Bicameral assembly – Council of the Ancients

and Council of 500.• Executive powers in the Directory of 5, elected

by the deputies.• New declaration of Rights and Responsibilities.

The Constitutional Republic (Directory) 1795-1799

• Most members of the Councils are former Girondists and moderate Montagnards.

• Some royalists elected, left wing is crushed• Election of 1797 – right wing republicans and royalists win almost

all seats.• Duke of Provence pretends for the throne under the name Louis

XVIII• Italian Campaign of Napoleon.• Peace treaty of Campo Formio (Oct. 17, 1797)• 1798 – Egyptian campaign of Napoleon• Oct. 1799 – Napoleon returned to France• Nov. 9-10, 1799 – Coup d’etat. Napoleon expelled the deputies,

suspended the constitution and transferred autority to 3 Consuls.• Dec. 15, 1799 – Napolen proclaimed the revolution is over.