French Revolution
A. Effects of American Revolution on France
American Revolution demonstrated that ordinary people could overthrow a
monarchy and set up a representative republic. If simple British farmers could
overthrow a superpower, would be easy for the civilized French to do so.
About 9000 French soldiers, sailors and aristocrats took part in the Am.
Revolution, so had direct contact with what they were fighting for.
Remember the American Revolution didn’t challenge the Church, the aristocracy
(the American aristocracy or British aristocracy) or the monarchy in Britain.
Americans weren’t out to remake society but to maintain the status quo. Will not
be that way in France.
B. French Society on the eve of the Revolution
France had an absolute monarchy. Didn’t mean that the king had ALL the power,
but there was no representative government, no way to redress grievances
against the government, no way for aristocracy or the Middle Class to have
access to political power (remember Louis XIV and the aristocracy of the robe).
French society was divided into three estates.
1st Estate was the Catholic Church, which was exempt from all taxation.
Numbered around 138k (population of France was about 28 million). Also, the
upper members of the clergy came from the aristocracy.
2nd Estate was the aristocracy, which was also exempt from taxation. Numbered
around 300k in population. They also owned much of the land in France.
Together the 1st and 2nd Estate owned about 50% of the resources and wealth in
France.
The 3rd Estate was everyone from the urban Middle Class to the poor peasants
and the homeless. The Middle Class owned about 30% of the wealth in France
but not exempt from taxation. Also composed of artisans, skilled workers, small
landowners, shopkeepers, etc.
There was a lot of frustration in France at this time. Taxes on the 3 rd Estate were
exceedingly high. Middle Class was frustrated because it felt it bore most of the
tax burden without having any political voice whatsoever. Also, familiar with
Enlightenment philosophy. Urban workers and dwellers were hard hit by rampant
inflation. Rural peasant farmers were upset about leftover feudal dues (corvee,
private taxes, pay for mill use, etc.). Everyone hurt because of poor harvests and
costly wars (which cost France its North American colonies).
Example of desperate economic times…25k registered prostitutes in Paris, 40k
children/year are abandoned, street riots, wandering vagabonds and beggars all
are a fixture of French life.
Then in 1774, Louis XIV comes to the throne. Warned not to help the Americans,
but takes out large loans to loan to the Americans…around 1 billion pounds in
loans and aid (like outfitting a navy for the Americans to use). Put France even
deeper in debt…government is on the verge of bankruptcy (whole budget goes to
interest payments on loans). Problem is not that France is poor, but government
cannot tax a large portion of its population.
Also part of the problem is that Louis is a weak king and people despise his
queen, Marie Antoinette and her extravagant spending. French hated her
because she was Austrian.
C. Louis XIV attempts reform
Country was for the most part prosperous, but inflation was rampant in France
and the government had no money. France had been practicing deficit spending
for years, taking out loans to cover previous loans. By Louis XVI however, could
no longer do so…no one would loan the money. In addition, the taxation system
was too ancient, inefficient and corrupt to fund the government. But the other
problem is that there was no effective avenue for change…the privileged classes
were not about to give up their ‘priveleges’. Had their power in the parlements
which was the only way to challenge the monarchy. Since the parlements
wouldn’t budge the king tried to go around them.
Louis XVI appointed ministers to reform the government finances…i.e. tax the
untaxable. Charles Alexandre de Calonne became Minister of Finance in 1786.
He tried to institute a program that would implement a new land tax…you would
pay no matter your social status and the amount you would pay would depend on
the amount of land, not social status. To lend legitimacy to this plan Louis called
an Assembly of Notables in 1787 to approve this new plan but backfired. Some
resented having their exempt status taken away, some thought that this would
give the monarchy too much power and some thought that it didn’t go far
enough…should set up a constitutional government just like the United States.
Irony here is that most supported reform, Louis made sure of that, but got
nowhere because couldn’t agree on type of reform.
Told Louis that only the Estates General could approve such sweeping reforms.
Under pressure from his ministers and the discontent of the population, Louis
sends out a summons to the Estates General in 1788.
The Estates General was a legislative body that was only called into session
when the king said so. Made up of the three estates, it last met in 1614. So no
one knew quite how to go about having one of these meetings. Decided that
since the Third Estate represented the majority, it would have 600
representatives as opposed to 300 each for the 1st and 2nd estates. These
representatives would be elected from the local provinces all over France. Again,
Louis miscalculated…thought his support would be in the provinces outside of
Paris, and would elect members sympathetic to his reforms. Not so. Also, he
didn’t let the individual members each have a vote, instead voting was done by
estate…and the first two would outnumber the third. He didn’t really want to give
all the power to the 3rd Estate, just wanted them to scare the 1st and 2nd Estates
into agreeing to his reforms.
Louis really really really miscalculates the mood of the population and the
stubbornness of the upper classes.
Keep in mind that the representatives of the 3rd Estate were not the urban poor
and rural peasants, but the bankers, merchants, lawyers, low ranking
government officials and intellectuals of the Middle Class. Also, some members
of the 1st and 2nd Estate (such as the Marquis de Lafayette and the Abbe Sieyes)
were sympathetic to the 3rd estate and reform.
D. The Third Estate becomes the National Assembly or 1st Phase
The Estates General was convened in May of 1789. Soon became clear that the
1st and 2nd Estate would block any attempt at reform. Also became clear that the
3rd Estate wanted broad political reform and a constitution…Louis had only
wanted approval for his economic policies. Therefore on June 17 the 3 rd Estate,
along with sympathetic members of the first and second, declared itself the
National Assembly, the representative legislative body in France. When they
found themselves locked out of the meeting hall three days later, they met at a
nearby tennis court and promised to continue meeting until a constitution was
written (the Tennis Court Oath). Realizing that the momentum was against them,
most of the first and second estate joined the National Assembly.
Louis was appalled at the events. On the one hand, he professed support for the
National Assembly…on the other he ordered troops to march to Paris. Mistake as
the people of Paris, who had accepted the National Assembly, saw this as a
threat. With the mood ugly, Paris finally erupted on 14 July. A mob of armed
citizens stormed the Bastille, the fortified prison in Paris and a symbol of royal
authority. Although the Bastille only had a handful of prisoners, it was stormed
and taken over.
Within a few days, peasants in the countryside also formed mobs and attacked
aristocratic estates, wanting an end to feudal privileges. When the nobility agrees
to do so, the peasants settled down. Stereotype that peasants were a large part
of the Revolution…most resisted the changes that the Revolution brought.
These events shocked the National Assembly, who wanted peaceful reform and
a constitutional govt. not mob rule. Motivation to write a constitution and on
August 27 they issue the Declaration of the Rights of Man. Based partly on the
US Constitution, it affirmed the “natural rights of man are liberty, property,
security and freedom from oppression”.
-single chamber legislature, king only has the right to suspend legislature
for two sittings (three years)
-all govt positions will be elected, not bought or appointed
-only men who own property allowed to vote, 50% could vote for electors,
who would elect the legislature. The property requirements for electors was
higher than for general elections.
-replaces the 35 provinces with 83 departements…try to eliminate power
base of aristocracy and historical affiliations, local officials would be elected
-promised to reform the taxation system
On the other hand, did not really address the issues that had prompted the
Estates General in the first place…government debts and lack of food for the
common populace.
To try and remedy the lack of money, in July of 1790 the National Assembly
issued the Civil Constitution of the Clergy.
- all Catholic Church officials were to be salaried employees of the state
- had to take oath of loyalty to the government
- confiscation of majority of church land, made into national property
Many reform minded clergy resisted these efforts, especially the oath of loyalty.
Also upsets the people in the countryside, because the church was still a vital
part of the community and integral to charity and society in these villages. Also
doesn’t bring in much revenue because can’t sell the land fast enough.
Louis also becomes alarmed, especially at the clergy reform (he is a devout
Catholic). In June of 1791 he tries to flee with his family to Austria, but he is
stopped at the border and returned to Paris where he is kept under house arrest
in the Tuileries Palace. Now the National Assembly has a huge problem…it has
written a constitution with a monarchy and the monarch refuses to cooperate.
Under duress, Louis promises to support the constitution on Sept. 14.
The constitution written was designed to give power to a wealthy landowning elite
and to exclude the ‘mob’ from power…for example, freedom of the press and
assembly were not guaranteed. Failed to realize that the mob, especially the
Parisian mob, were a vital force in the Revolution. The National Assembly then
made a huge mistake. Disqualified its members from membership in the new
legislature to be elected under the new constitution. This meant that the new
government, the Legislative Assembly, did not have the experience of the
National Assembly, did not have the cohesiveness of the latter, and did not
represent the broad range of opinions of the latter. With the implementation of
this new constitution, the first phase of the Revolution ends.
E. The Second phase of the Revolution, October 1791-August 1792
The Legislative Assembly elected was much more republican than the National
Assembly. They distrusted the king and really wanted to abolish the monarchy. It
couldn’t cope with the fiscal crisis and the growing bread shortage (it was a bad
harvest year). Under pressure, it forced the king to declare war on Austria (was
hoping for a defeat, would give them an excuse to get rid of the monarchy).
The French army was disorganized, it had lost many competent officers
(because they had been drawn from the aristocracy) and put more financial
pressures on France. French suffered a series of defeats. But may have been
more than the Assembly bargained for because the common people of Paris
(artisans, laborers, craftsmen, shopkeepers) began to meet in their own
“republican” clubs. They called for the overthrow of the monarchy AND the
overthrow of the inept Legislative Assembly. The common name for these people
are sans-culottes. On August 10, 1792 the san-culottes stormed the Tuileries and
killed hundreds of royal guards and militia. They took control of the royal family
and had them imprisoned. Most of the Legislative Assembly fled Paris. The
remaining members declared general elections based on universal manhood
sufferage (had no choice really) to rewrite the constitution. With the election of a
new legislature the second phase of the revolution ended.
F. Third Phase…the Republic, September 1792 – August 1795
On September 20, 1792 the new National Convention declares an end to the
monarchy and pronounces that France will now be a Republic. On the same day,
the French win their first victory over Austrian forces. Huge psychological victory
for the revolutionaries. Gave them the impetus to put the king on trial and in
January of 1793 had him executed. But, while the king was found guilty of
treason by an overwhelming majority (683 to 39), the vote to execute him split
the Convention (387 to 384).
In addition to being split over the execution of the king, the Convention had to
contend with being at war with virtually all of Europe (the other countries declare
war with the execution of Louis), AND counter-revolutionary movements all over
France. Remember that the common people of the rural areas are very
conservative…disliked mucking about with the Church and then the execution of
“their” king. To combat what the Legislative Assembly saw as threats to the
republics security, it created the Committee of Public Safety to ferret out
suspected traitors. Soon however, this Committee would gain control of the
Convention.
In June 1793, the Committee purged the Convention of many moderate
members, and now power rested in the more radical hands of the Committee.
The Reign of Terror is now underway. Led by Robespierre, the Terror would
execute around 14000 political opponents, counter-revolutionaries, aristocrats
(including the queen) and even sans-culottes. Another 11000 would die in jail.
Tribunals were set up to condemn people and issue judgment, often without
suspicion or a proper trial. Robespierre said that “without virtue, terror is fatal;
without terror, virtue is impotent”. Robespierre thought that terror would be used
to create a republic of virtue. Committee was determined to save the Revolution
by suppressing ALL dissent. Also wanted to wrest political control out of the
hands of the sans-culottes that put them in power in the first place.
The Committee did do some good. It instituted the Levee en Masse (draft) which
provided France with an effective army to fight the rest of Europe. It imposed
restrictions on the price of grain so people could afford bread, and later extended
these price controls on other staple goods. They tried to institute a free and
universal education system (which was difficult because the traditional schools
run by the church were gone), declared slavery illegal in French colonies, and
passed a law in which could obtain a divorce easily.
But there was huge protests against the arbitrary violence of the tribunals and
also against the social reforms that had been implemented. When the
Convention came to power in Sept of 1792, it redid the calendar…uniform 30 day
months of ten day weeks with one day off for rest. All the days of the week and
months of the year were renamed…all saint’s days and religious holidays were
elminated. Churches became “temples of reason” and the government tried to
promote a cult of the “supreme being” with new festivals to replace the old ones.
Resulted in huge uprisings in the countryside, which of course, had to be
suppressed by the Committee.
Robespierre executed everyone who disagreed with him, even in minor matters,
so that by July 1794, he had too few supporters left. With French armies
victorious over the Austrians, the Convention used this victory to declare the
‘emergency’ over and had Robespierre, the leader of the revolutionary tribunal in
Paris and their closest supporters arrested. With their execution in July 28, the
Terror comes to an end.
The Thermidorian Reaction starts with the death of Robespierre and lasts until
August 1795. Convention regains power, dismantles the Terror, forces the
tribunals to follow the process of law. But cannot enforce price controls enacted
during the Terror, and a harsh winter produces a famine in the Spring of 1795.
The churches are reopened in February but protests still continue. Another
constitution (the third), was written in August ushering in the fourth phase of the
revolution.
G. Fourth phase…the Directory
New constitution instituted a 2 house legislature, and limited sufferage ( and
could only vote for electors, not actual representatives). Convention also decreed
that 2/3 of its members had to sit in this new legislature, regardless of the
outcome of elections. Also had an executive body of five men called the Directory
chosen by the upper house of the legislature. Still had to contend with
challenges to its power however, and when elections in 1797 put a large number
of royalists into the legislature, the Directory had them arrested or refused to
admit them their seats. France is no longer a republic but a dictatorship under the
Directory.
The war is going well however. By 1795 French armies have conquered the
Netherlands and in 1796-97 a brilliant young general by the name of Napoleon
Bonaparte conquered northern Italy. In 1798, add Switzerland, Rome and
Naples. On the home front, the Directory cannot cope with the growing economic
problems…the currency is devalued, the govt is on the verge of bankruptcy, the
war is costly, the cost of even basic goods is high and there were still royalists
factions and radical factions that wanted to overthrow the government. The
Directory recalled General Bonaparte, now a national hero, home to save them.
Instead, he overthrew the Directory in a coup in November of 1799. The
Revolution was over…or was it?
Napoleonic France
A.