1788-1799
Liberty, Equality,
Fraternity
INTRODUCTON
The French Revolution has often been seen as a
major turning point in European history. The
institutions of the Old Regime were destroyed. A new
order emerged. It was based on
1-rights of the individual
2- representative government
3- the idea of loyalty to the nation rather than to the
king or queen.
ESTATES
Estates – all French people
belonged to one of three.
First Estate – Clergy
(religious leaders)
No taxes
The clergy was extremely
divided. The higher clergy they
were usually from noble
families. In contrast, there were
clergymen who were often poor,
and they came from the class of
commoners.
ESTATES
Second Estate –
Nobles
land owners
2% of pop. Own 25% of
land, don’t pay taxes
especially
(taille ) France’s main
tax.
Special social and
political privileges (high
positions in government,
church, army)
ESTATES
Third Estate – Others
97% of all French
Bourgeoisie (middle class) –
merchants, bankers, artisans, The
bourgeoisie also included professional
people such as lawyers, government
workers, doctors, and writers.
no power, high taxes
Working class – low wages (had less
money to buy things as prices went up).
Peasants(farmers) 80% of population
Peasants owed certain duties to the nobles. For
example, peasants had to pay nobles fees to
grind their flour or press their grapes. This was
because the local noble controlled the flour mill
and wine press. Peasants also had to work a
certain number of days harvesting the noble’s
crops. Peasants strongly disliked these duties to
nobles.
FACTORS OF THE REVOLUTION
Financial problems
Taxes – peasants pay
most of taxes, nobility
and clergy exempt
Debt
Gov. gave $6 million to
American Colonists to
fight against England in
Revolutionary War
military expenditures
parties, clothing,
expensive lifestyle of the
king and queen
Crop failure – leads to
starvation
Growing inflation
FACTORS OF THE REVOLUTION
Enlightenment
John Locke’s ideas of
natural rights to life,
liberty, property
Locke’s ideas of the right to
overthrow government if
not protecting your rights
Roussos's idea of
social contract
between ruler and
the people
FACTORS OF THE REVOLUTION
Weak Leader
Louis XVI &
Marie
Antoinette
Very Young
(19/18yrs)
Make bad
decisions
ESTATES GENERAL
Meeting of 3 estates (estates General) to make laws at Versailles called by Louis XVI
In the Estates-General, the First Estate and the Second Estate each had about 300
representatives. The Third Estate had almost 600 representatives. Most members of the Third
Estate wanted to:
Establish a constitutional government to fix France’s financial problems.
Make the clergy and nobility pay taxes too.
Change the system of voting. In the past, each estate had one vote. This meant that the First
and Second Estates could outvote the Third Estate two to one. The Third Estate now
demanded that each deputy have one vote. Under this new system, with the help of a few
nobles and clerics, the Third Estate could control a majority of the votes.
Each estate gets one vote (third estates calls for individual vote)
The king, however, stated that he favored the current system.
1 & 2 band together to block 3rd Estate
3rd Estate leaves and forms the National Assembly
NATIONAL ASSEMBLY – POLITICAL ACTION
The deputies of the Third
Estate arrived at their
meeting place, but the
doors were locked, so they
moved to a nearby indoor
tennis court.
Tennis Court Oath - vow
to not leave until write a
constitution for France =
Tennis Court Oath
3rd Estate now has
majority vote
King gathers troops for
his protection – makes
people think he’s going to
break up the National
Assembly
FRENCH REVOLUTION
Storming of the Bastille
Bastille – jail for political prisoners & where
weapons held
Bastille symbolizes injustices of Monarchy
3rd Estates - storm jail and let prisoners
out
After four hours of fighting, the prison
warden surrendered the fortress to the
rebels. The rebels then cut off the warden’s
head, and they began to take down the
Bastille brick by brick. The rebels took
control of Paris.
Symbolic beginning of the French
Revolution
FRENCH REVOLUTION
Declaration of the Rights of Man & Citizens (Part of
French Constitution Today)
it took many ideas from American declaration of
independence and Enlightenment
All men had basic rights to liberty, property, security, and
the right to fight against oppression
All men were free and equal before the law.
The Declaration also said that people should obtain public
offices because of their talent, not because of their birth.
It ended unfair tax rules and said that every group had to
pay taxes.
It clearly supported freedom of speech and of the press
A writer named Olympe de Gouges refused to accept the
exclusion of women from politics. she boldly wrote a
declaration of the rights of women that included many of
the ideas of the Declaration of the Rights of Man. She
insisted that women should have the same rights as men.
Louis XVI rejects declaration
FRENCH REVOLUTION
March on Versailles – Social Protest
6000 angry women march on Versailles
Protesting against food shortages and price of bread
Want king to move to Paris and accept the Declaration
of the Rights of Man, and National Assembly
Louis XVI arrested and forced to leave Versailles for
Paris
FRENCH REVOLUTION
Constitution of 1791 – Political Action
Made France a Constitutional Monarchy
The king remained, but a Legislative Assembly would
make the laws.
The king hated the new order and his loss of absolute
power. The royal family tried to leave France in
disguise, and they almost succeeded. However, they
were recognized, captured, and brought back to Paris.
DECLINE OF MONARCHY
Austria and Prussia declare war on France – fearful of
revolution spreading to their countries.
The kings of Austria and Prussia threatened to use force
to restore Louis XVI to full power. As a result, the
Legislative Assembly decided to act first and declared war
on Austria. The early fighting went badly for the French.
The French suffered terrible losses. In panic, people
started looking for someone to blame. Everywhere people
were saying the king is betraying us or the generals are
betraying us and that no one could be trusted.
DECLINE OF MONARCHY
Angry citizens demonstrated to protest food shortages and defeats at war.
In August, Parisian radicals again decided the future of the revolution.
They declared themselves a commune—a city council run by the people.
They then organized an attack on the royal palace and Legislative Assembly.
They forced the Legislative Assembly to suspend the monarchy and call for a new National
Convention (meeting).
all adult males would have the right to vote
Many members of the Paris Commune proudly called themselves sans-culottes. This
term means “without breeches.” They wore long trousers like common people, not the
kneelength breeches of the nobles. This showed that they were ordinary people who did
not wear fancy clothes like aristocrats.
