The Estates General
 In 1787, the nobles pressured the king to convene
the Estates General.
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This body had been abolished in 1614 by Louis XIV
who established absolutism under him.
By the late 1700s no one really knew what the EG
should look like
 How to select members.
 It was initially found that each of the tree estates
would be evenly weighted.
 Local communities were left to determine who they
wanted to represent them.
 Most chosen were wealthy bourgeoisie or minor officials /
nobles.
Clash of wills
 By May 1789 the process of election / selection of
members for the EG was complete.
 The king made one concession to the demands of
the third estate: he allowed them to elect twice as
many representatives as the other two.
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When the delegates met though they were told that
despite the allowance of more members each estate
was to vote as separate groups.
 The Third Estate demanded that they represented the
people and as such were the “National Assembly”
 The invites the nobles and clergy to join them
 The nobles refused and the clergy barely voted it
down
 Church reps were low level clergy and ready for
reform
Tennis Court Oath
 On June 19, 1789 the Third Estate formally pronounced itself
the people’s government and asked got the support of the
nobles and clergy.
 Most of the clergy joined, the nobles refused with some
exceptions.
 June 20, 1789 the National Assembly tried to meet but was
locked out of its hall. They broke into a nearby tennis court and
took an oath that they would not disband.
 The king did not respond as he was still in mourning over the
death of his oldest son.
 On June 23, he met the Assembly and tried to re-exert his
supremacy over them and have them vote as three groups.
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They refused
 Louis started reinforcing Paris with 20,000 Swiss and German
mercenaries
Opening Shots
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Over the month of June both sides waited to see what would come.
Between July 12 and 14 the people of Paris (Sans Culottes) became fearful of
repression and began to demand weapons.
On July 14, 1789 an angry mob of 80,000 stormed a military store and armed
themselves.
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At the same time another group struck at a symbol of absolutist oppression: The
Bastille
The Bastille was a derelict castle that was a jail and insane asylum.
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In July 1789, it had 7 prisoners: 5 forgers and two insane people incarcerated at
the request of their families.
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To the people it represented a place that people would “disappear”
 The Man in the Iron mask
The mob besieged the Bastille until the governor could negotiate a surrender.
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In the end the mob seized the governor and killed him and displayed his head in
their procession around the city.
The king was reluctant to repress the mob and made no move.
He did authorise the mobilisation of the Paris militia who immediately renamed
itself the National Guard and offered to serve the National Assembly.
Lull in the Storm
 For the rest of July and September people waited to see what
would happen.
 Paris was in revolt but no one knew if the people in the
countryside would join them.
 On August 26, 1789, the National Assembly passed the
Declaration of the Rights of Man
 This effectively legitimised the NA and affirmed the
democratic rights of all citizens.
 On October 1, 1789, a regiment publicly vowed to support
the throne which caused the NA to scurry back to Paris to
plan their next move.
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By now the leaders of the NA had risen
 Mirabeau: ex-royal moderate
 Danton: republican moderate
 Marat: republican radical
 The NA started to divide among these three
The Women Mobilise
 On October 5, 1789 a mob of 6,000 women
marched from Paris to Versailles to petition
the king for price controls on food.
 Rumour spread of Marie Antoinette’s
response: “Let them eat cake.” Not true.
 Out of fear of violence the king reluctantly
agreed to return to Paris with the mob.
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He was now unofficially a prisoner of the NA.
What to do With Them?
 Between 1789 and 1791 the king was a prisoner in Paris and
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the NA tried to rule on its own.
They passed a constitution and wanted the king to sign it.
He stalled until he could make plans to flee.
On June 21, 1791 he and his family secretly fled Paris and
almost made it to the German border. He was recognised and
returned to Paris.
He signed the constitution and waited to see what would
happen.
To the NA the king’s flight gave ammunition to the more radical
elements of the NA who now argued for a permenant solution to
the monarchy.
In late 1792, the NA formally prosecuted the king: he was on
trial for his life