The French Revolution
!!Vivre la Re’volution!!
??What you should know??
• 1.) What
• 3.) What document
contributed to the
came out of the
start of the French
revolution? It
Revolution?
resembles what
document from
• 2.) Which group of
another revolution?
people made up
the majority of the
French population?
Facts About France 1789
•Feudalism at its worst.
•Last of the great
absolute monarchies
**Louis 16th
Issues with Louis XIV
•
Expanded the decadence of the monarchy.
• !!Lived it up!!….
– While the peasants suffered.
• Palace of Versailles….Re-DONK-U-lous
• Sets a bad precedent….
King LOUIS XVI
• Absolute Monarch.
– Lived a life of
decadence.
– Married to Marie.
• What help does he
give to the French
people….?
Marie Antoinette
• Father was Holy
Roman Emperor.
– Ruler of Austria
– Betrothed to
Louis in 1770.
• Had very
crooked teeth.
• Outshine others
at Versailles.
– Think Paris Hilton
FEUDALISM
Knights
~King relied on his
Knights and Nobles to
help keep control of his
Kingdom.
~Serfs were what we
could consider as peasants
or treated as slaves tied to
the land they worked.
Estate System
(OLD REGIME)
1st Estate
2nd Estate
3rd Estate
Clergy of Roman
Catholic Church (2%)
Nobility (1%)
Rest of
Population (97%)
Estate Voting
•Each Estate
would equal one
vote.
•Two “upper
class” estates
would out-vote
lower class.
King
1st Estate
2nd Estate
3rd Estate
Voting by “Orders”
• Each Estate’s
vote is weighed
equally.
5 May , 1789
NEW CLASS TAKES CHARGE
• Rising new class called the
Bourgeoisie “Boo-z-wa-zee”
–Doctors, Lawyers, Bankers.
–Artisans
•Steel smiths
•Blacksmiths
3 rd
•Gunsmiths
ESTATE
“The Third Estate Awakens”
The French Absolute Monarchy:
1775 - 1793
Marie Antoinette & Louis XVI
The Palace of Versailles
A sign of decadence, while the
French people starved.
Growing Problems
•Financial Issues–rising rent/prices/taxes/
–NO BREAD
•Bourgeoisie wanted political
power.
•Third Estate wanted
“natural rights”.
The Tennis Court Oath
“We will never separate, until we have
established a Constitution.”
THE NATIONAL
ASSEMBLY IS BORN
Revolution Begins
•The people
of France
rd
(3 Estate)
raided the
Bastille
Prison14, July 1789
The Bastille
Louis has no clue…?
• As King Louis XVI
returns from a
hunting trip.
• “Is it a revolt?”
• A squire comes to
– Louis XVI
give the news of
popular violence to • “No Sire, it is a
the King.
REVOLUTION
.”
Beginning of Reforms
• “Declaration of Rights of Man”
•Guaranteed many rights and political
powers
•Freedom of speech, press, religion
*(Taxes based on ability to pay)
•Right to take part in government.
– “Liberty, Equality, Fraternity”
“Justice under reasonable laws.”
Constitution - 1791
•Waves of women helped
take issues to the king
•Separation of PowersKing reluctantly agreed to
Constitution
Olympe de Gouges -“Woman is Born Free.”
•King secretly plotted to
overthrow new government
End of the Monarchy
•French
govt. would
completely
remove the
king….
Louis tries to flee France
• Marie and the King seek to abdicate
to Montemedy (northeastern France).
– Dress as servants and are taken by
carriage.
– Spotted by a keeper at a small Inn near
Varennes.
• Returned to Paris and incarcerated.
Execution of Louis XVI
• Louis XVI was accused of plotting
against the security of the nation
and sentenced to death.
– “Conspiracy against the public
liberty and the general safety.”
• Vote of 361 to 288 for an
Immediate sentence.
21, January 1793
The
Guillotine
The National Razor
Extreme Makeover ----
Guillotine edition
•
•
Louis Before….
Louis After….
21, January 1793
The National Convention
•The new government was
elected under universal
manhood suffrage.
–Every adult male could vote
Attitudes of the Revolution
•Radicals-wanted drastic
changes (republic).
•Conservatives-wanted little
changes (constitutional
monarchy).
•Moderates- depended on issue
Maximilien
Robespierre
Committee of Public Safety
Maximilien Robespierre
• Brilliant Lawyer and
Jacobin.
– Middle-Class Lawyers
or intellectuals
• Demanded Equality.
• Represented the 3rd
Estate.
• Sought to end the
MONARCHY.
• Led the
Committee of
Public Safety
1793
Reign of Terror 1794
•Time period in the revolution
where many people were
executed.
40,000 + killed
•Most “enemies” (conservatives
and moderates) of the
Revolution were killed.
The Directory
• 2 – House
• Church is now
legislature elected
controlled by….the
by men who owned STATE!!
property.
– Universal Manhood
Suffrage.
– All adult men can
vote!
• Very weak, but
ruled like
Dictatorship.
1789-1799 Ten years later
• Many of those loyal • Who will this
to the Monarchy
upset????
and Church are
elected and win
• The politicians turn
seats in Legislature
to NAPOLEON to
• They want to relead France out of
install a monarchy
this period.
for France
??What you should know??
• 1.) What
• 3.) What document
contributed to the
came out of the
start of the French
revolution? It
Revolution?
resembles A
Declaration from
• 2.) Which group of
another revolution?
people made up
the majority of the
French population? • Hand this in at the
end of class.