N O T E B O O K #10
The French Revolution
AP European History
Mr. Konecke
Name_________________________
Period____
1
Project #10 – Capital Punishment: Then and Now
Introduction:
During the French Revolution and after, the guillotine was the preferred method of execution in
France. The argument was that the use of this device to carry out capital punishment was more humane
than other forms of execution. Your job will be to argue whether the guillotine or some other device is
more humane.
Directions:
1. First, you must conduct some
research into the use of the guillotine
as well as other forms of capital
punishment (firing squad, hanging,
drowning, burned at the stake, electric
chair, gas chamber, lethal injection,
etc.). In addition to the guillotine,
choose another form of capital
punishment to focus on – pick the one
you think is MOST humane.
2. Then you will create a poster with 3
sections:
A. Section 1 – Illustrate the pros and cons of using the guillotine
B. Section 2 – Illustrate the pros and cons of another form of capital punishment
C. Section 3 – Argue which form of capital punishment you believe is the most humane
a. Section 1 must contain a heading, 5 pros, 5 cons, and illustrations
b. Section 2 must contain a heading, 5 pros, 5 cons, and illustrations
c. Section 3 must contain a heading, and at least 10 points (sentences or bullets)
arguing why your chosen method is more humane and illustrations
Options:
1. You may select any method of capital punishment in addition to the guillotine that you want
2. You may organize your poster any way that you like – be creative – just make sure you follow the
directions above
3. Using any method you want to create your poster EXCEPT PowerPoint
Grade:
1. Section 1 – heading, 5 pros, 5 cons, illustrations = 50 points
2. Section 2 – heading, 5 pros, 5 cons, illustrations = 50 points
3. Section 3 – heading, 10 sentences/phrases arguing your case = 50 points
4. Persuasiveness of your argument and your overall presentation = 50 points
Due Date:
__________________________________________
2
NOTEBOOK #10: THE FRENCH REVOLUTION
1. The Crisis of the French Monarchy
The Monarchy Seeks New Taxes

After Seven Years’ War, French monarchy was defeated, deeply in debt, & unable to fix these financial
troubles
o
o
Before the revolution, interest & payments on royal debt made up ½ of the state budget

Other European countries were similarly in debt

But France’s royal government was not able to tap into the nation’s wealth (taxes)


For 25 years after Seven Years’ War, standoff occurred between monarchy & aristocracy
o
Royal ministers tried to come up with tax schemes to tap wealth of the nobles –
o
Louis XV & Louis XVI lacked the skills needed to solve the problem
Louis & Louis

o
Maupeou was determined to break parlements & increase taxes on nobility

He abolished parlements & exiled their members to different parts of country

o
Louis XVI, to regain popular support, fired Maupeou & restored all parlements
The Power of the Parlements

Although parlements represented aristocratic interests, they had popular support
o
Why:
3

They portrayed monarchy as despotic –
The Unpopular Monarchy

Monarchy could not get public opinion on its side because it lost its moral authority
o
Louis XV had a sexually scandalous lifestyle
o
Marie Antoinette –

Louis XVI’s faithfulness & good morals could not make up for monarchy’s reputation


Other monarchs in Europe (Frederick the Great, Joseph II, George III of
England) were all seen by people as patriotic servants of the state

All had reputations for being frugal & for regularly mixing with the people
they governed
Directions: Marie Antoinette, wife of Louis XVI, had a bad reputation in France among the people. Many believed she had
extramarital affairs and spend obscene amounts of money while the people of France were hungry. Both are untrue. Read the
short description below of why the people began to hate Marie Antoinette and answer the comprehension questions as you go.
Worth 14 points.
Soon after Louis XV’s death, Marie Antoinette began to change long-established customs at Versailles. She did not like
doing everything in public. She did not want a huge entourage to accompany her everywhere she went. But implementing the kind
of lifestyle she knew as a child - at the Austrian court - was problematic. Her actions caused resentment. As Madame Campan
notes:
All the changes made by Marie Antoinette were of the same description; a disposition gradually to substitute the simple
customs of Vienna for those of Versailles was more injurious to her than she could possibly have imagined.
1. Why do you think Marie Antoinette did not want to do things in public? What effect might this have on her reputation with the
people of France?
During the early years of their reign, Antoinette enjoyed parties, gambling, clothes and spending time at Petite Trianon, the
smaller Versailles palace. Although rumors were already circulating about her outrageous spending, Madame Campan observed
otherwise:
4
Henceforward she amused herself with improving the gardens, without allowing any addition to the building, or any change in the
furniture, which was very shabby, and remained, in 1789, in the same state as during the reign of Louis XV. Everything there,
without exception, was preserved; and the Queen slept in a faded bed ...The charge of extravagance, generally made against the
Queen, is the most unaccountable of all the popular errors respecting her character. She had exactly the contrary failing; and I
could prove that she often carried her economy to a degree of parsimony actually blamable, especially in a sovereign. She took a
great liking for Trianon, and used to go there alone, followed by a valet ...
2. During her early years as queen, what was Marie known for?
3. What does the quote above tell you about Marie’s actual spending habits?
Talk on the street grew increasingly negative against Antoinette. Envious courtiers, who were not part of her inner circle, began
to call Trianon “Little Vienna.” Members of the nobility resented the foreign-born queen since, among other reasons, so many
Frenchmen had died in wars with Austria.
4. Why did some members of the nobility not like the queen?
Chief among her problems was the failure to produce an heir. (Unknown to members of the public, the king and queen were
having physical difficulties conceiving a child.) As rumors turned into “facts,” an Antoinette-bashing industry developed.
Cartoons, pamphlets and other salacious materials helped to spread growing resentment of “the Austrian.”
After seven years of marriage, the queen became pregnant with her first child. She had a daughter, named Marie-TheresaCharlotte, referred to as Madame Royale.
5. What was another one of her main problems?
Three years later the queen had a son, named Louis-Joseph, and Louis XVI had an heir. Madame Campan:
The birth of the Dauphin appeared to give joy to all classes. Men stopped one another in the streets, spoke without being
acquainted, and those who were acquainted embraced each other. In the birth of a legitimate heir to the sovereign every man
beholds a pledge of prosperity and tranquility.
6. How did people react when the queen had her first male child?
As further evidence of how misunderstood the queen was, there is a myth that she was once told by someone that the people of
France have no bread to eat. The queen supposedly responded: “Then let them eat cake.”
7. While the queen never actually said this, the people believed she did. Why would this phrase be so offensive to the people and
why does it give Marie such a bad reputation?
5
Necker’s Report

France’s help of American colonies against Britain only worsened their financial problems
o
By 1781, its debt was larger & sources of revenue were unchanged
o

He argued that if you take away the money spent on the American war, the budget was in
surplus


Angry nobles then forced Necker out of office

But his report made it hard for royal officials to argue a need for new taxes
Calonne’s Reform Plan and the Assembly of Notables

o
Proposed internal trade, lowering of some taxes, & transformation of the corvee (peasants’ work on
public works) into money payments
o

Also wanted to set up new local assemblies made up of landowners

Voting power would be based on how much land you owned (not your social status)

o
Calonne needed public support for these proposals
o
1787, he met with an Assembly of Notables (upper aristocracy & church)

Assembly refused to support Calonne’s plan

o
Aristocrats & clergy had traditionally led Estates General
6
o
If they were called, aristocracy would have more direct power over governing
country (they didn’t really care about the taxes)
Deadlock and the Calling of the Estates General

Louis XVI replaced Calonne with Etienne Charles Lomenie de Brienne (the main opponent of Calonne at
the Assembly of Notables)
o
Brienne soon found out that the financial situation was as bad as Calonne had said
o
Brienne himself now wanted a land tax


As these negotiations were going on, local parlements and estates were making own demands
o

1788, bankers refused to extend short-term credit to the government
o

Brienne resigned & Necker was back in office
2. The Revolution of 1789
The Estates General Becomes the National Assembly

Estates General was called because of the political deadlock between monarchy, aristocracy, & church
o
Almost immediately after it was called, however, the three groups (estates) began fighting

First Estate –

Second Estate –

Third Estate –

Third Estate made it clear before meeting that they would not allow monarchy &
aristocracy to decide future of France
7

Father Abbe Sieyes captured the message of the Third Estate:
o
“
The Causes of the French Revolution
Directions: This cartoon was produced in the 1780s and is a comment on the social situation in France at that
time. It can be used to help explain the causes of the French Revolution of 1789. After you label it, use it to
help you understand the causes of the French Revolution and fill in the appropriate answers below. Worth 18
points.
1.
Label the three figures in the cartoon by writing in the spaces provided:
o
Peasant
o
Priest
o
Noble
There was a revolution in _ _ _ _ _ _ in 1789. The ruler of France before the Revolution was King _ _ _ _ _ XVI. His wife was
Queen _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _. King Louis XVI lived in his palace at _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ near Paris.
One of the reasons why there was a revolution in France in 1789 is that the king ran out of _ _ _ _ _. He spent lots of money on
two wars with _ _ _ _ _ _ _. One was in 1756 and another one was in 1778. In the second war the French were helping the _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ break away from British control.
Another cause of the French Revolution was the problems faced by the _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _. They were so poor that they did not
have enough money to feed their families. This was made worse when the crops failed to grow. The _ _ _ _ _ _ _ failed in 1787
and 1788.
8
Another cause of the French Revolution was that the two _ _ _ _ groups in France would not give the king more money. The _ _
_ _ _ and the _ _ _ _ _ _ had lots of land and money but would not pay more _ _ _ _ _. This left the king unable to find more
money.
A final reason why the French had a revolution in 1789 was ideas. A new set of ideas called the _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
attacked the power of the king and the church. These made lots of ordinary French people think that they should have some of
the power of the _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _.
I am a lord. I have
Lots of money
And do not want
To pay any extra
Taxes to the king!
I am a bishop. I
Have lots of
Money but I do
Not want to pay
The king any
Extra taxes
Either!
taxes
peasants
Americans
Louis
Marie Antoinette
government
Enlightenment
Britain
lords
France
rich
church
Versailles
harvest
money
I am King Louis XVI.
I have run out of
Money fighting the
British. Perhaps the
Lords and the church
Could give me some
More taxes?
Debate over Organization and Voting

Before Estates General met, public debate over its proper organization broke out
o
Aristocracy made 2 attempts to limit influence of the Third Estate

1.

2.

In other words, each estate would have one vote
9

This would ensure the aristocratically dominated First & Second Estates
could always outvote the Third


Third Estate immediately denounced these ideas
Doubling the Third

1788, it was decided that the Estates General would elect twice as many representatives as either
nobles or clergy –
o

When Estates General gathered at Versailles in May 1789, there had been no decision on voting yet
The Cahiers de Doleances

When representatives came to palace, they brought cahiers de doleances (lists of grievances) to be
presented to the king
o

Called for :

Period meetings of Estates General


More local control of administration

Unified weights & measures to help trade & commerce

Free press

o
Interestingly, the cahiers of the nobles were not that much different from Third Estate’s

10
The Third Estate Creates the National Assembly

Before reforms could be discussed, Estates General had to decide on organization & voting
o
o
Then the Third Estate invited the clergy & nobles to join them in organizing a new legislative
body
o

Then the Second Estate voted to join the Assembly
The Tennis Court Oath

o
He intended to call a “Royal Session” of the Estates General & closed room where National
Assembly had been gathering
o
Locked out of their usual meeting place, National Assembly moved to nearby indoor tennis
court
o


Louis told them to stop – they refused (and some clergy & nobles joined them)
King, realizing he had lost control, formally requested First & Second Estates to meet with the
National Assembly – voting would occur by head
o

From now on, the monarchy could govern only in cooperation with the National
Constituent Assembly (new name since they were going to write constitution)
Fall of the Bastille

Two new forces then entered the picture
o
1. Louis XVI again tried to reassert his authority by putting royal troops near Versailles & Paris

11

Louis then abruptly fired Necker

These two instances marked the beginning of a poorly executed attempt by Louis to
undermine the Assembly and stop the revolution

o
2. People of Paris (600,000) got nervous when troops were nearby


And many had already begun forming a militia & gathering arms

They saw firing of Necker as beginning of royal offensive against National Assembly & Paris

They intended to protect the Assembly and the revolution



This fortress had once held political prisoners (symbolic)
Panicked, the governor of the Bastille ordered troops to fire into the crowd – killed 98


July 15, the militia of Paris (now called the National Guard) gave command to the Marquis de Lafayette (hero
of American Revolution)
o
He gave guard new insignia –


It became the revolutionary cockade (badge) & eventually flag of France
Attack on the Bastille was first of many journees (days on which people of Paris redirected course of the
revolution)
o

Similar riots broke out in other areas
12

Louis went to Paris wearing the revolutionary cockade & recognized the organized electors as the real
government of the city
o
Directions: After reading the background behind the French national anthem, we will listen to a signing of it and examine the
lyrics. Then answer the questions at the end. Worth 10 points.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GtoHs0Ua_Tg&feature=related
Below is the first stanza of the French national anthem. It was composed in one night during the French Revolution (April 24,
1792) by Claude-Joseph Rouget de Lisle, a captain of the engineers and amateur musician stationed in Strasbourg in 1792. It
was played at a patriotic banquet at Marseilles, and printed copies were given to the revolutionary forces then marching on Paris.
They entered Paris singing this song. The Convention accepted it as the French national anthem in a decree passed July 14,
1795. La Marseillaise was banned by Napoleon during the Empire, and by Louis XVIII on the Second Restoration (1815),
because of its revolutionary associations. Authorized after the July Revolution of 1830, it was again banned by Napoleon III
and not reinstated until 1879.
Allons enfants de la Patrie
Let us go, children of the fatherland
Le jour de gloire est arrivé.
Our day of Glory has arrived.
Contre nous, de la tyrannie,
Against us stands tyranny,
L'étandard sanglant est levé,
The bloody flag is raised,
l'étandard sanglant est levé,
The bloody flag is raised.
Entendez-vous, dans la compagnes.
Do you hear in the countryside
Mugir ces farouches soldats
The roar of these savage soldiers
Ils viennent jusque dans nos bras
They come right into our arms
Egorger vos fils,
To cut the throats of your sons,
vos compagnes.
your country.
Aux armes citoyens!
Formez vos bataillons,
Marchons, marchons!
To arms, citizens!
Form up your battalions
Let us march, Let us march!
Qu'un sang impur
Abreuve nos sillons.
That their impure blood
Should water our fields
1. Explain how the French national anthem came into being.
2. When you first heard it, what emotions did it inspire in you? Why do you think the French made it their national anthem?
13
3. In the line “Against us stands tyranny,” who is the song referring to?
4. What does the songwriter want the people to do?
5. The chorus ends with the line, “That their impure blood should water our fields.” Is that the kind of line you would want in your
country’s national anthem? Explain.
The “Great Fear” and the Night of August 4

o
Rumors of royal troops being sent into rural areas intensified peasant disturbances
o

They were determined to take food & land they believed was theirs from aristocrats & clergy

o
Several nobles & clergy renounced their feudal rights, dues, & tithes

Also gave up hunting & fishing rights, judicial authority, & legal exemptions

o
Sale of government offices also abolished – political & military careers & promotions up for grabs
(based on merit)

Assembly basically abolished major social institutions of Old Regime & created need for legal
& social reconstruction of the nation

o
Harvests for both years were bad = food prices highest in last century
o
Wages couldn’t keep up with prices
o
14

All these problems fanned the flames of revolution

o
When various groups of Assembly would later argue, they would appeal to shopkeeping & artisan
classes

They, in turn, would demand a price for their support
The Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen

August 1789, National Assembly decided that before they wrote a constitution, they’ll publish some broad
political principles –
o
Proclaimed all men were “born and remain free and equal in rights”


Governments existed to protect those rights

All people would be presumed innocent until proven guilty
o
o
o

Taxation would be according to pay
The general language of the Declaration made it applicable to all other European nations
o
Two most powerful ideas of the Declaration were civic equality & popular sovereignty
o
Men were suited for citizenship; women for domestic life
o
Many Frenchwomen hoped the Declaration would be applied to them


They were particularly concerned with property, inheritance, family, & divorce
15
The Parisian Women’s March on Versailles

Louis XVI stalled before ratifying the Declaration
o

To make matters worse, bread was still expensive
o

Intimidated, king agreed to sanction the demands of the Assembly

Next day, mob demanded Louis return to Paris with them


Assembly also moved to Paris
o
From then on, Paris & the rest of France was relatively quiet until 1792

3. The Reconstruction of France
Political Reorganization

o
Major political authority would be a unicameral Legislative Assembly (made all laws)
o
Monarch had a veto that could delay (not stop) these laws
o
Assembly also had power to make war & peace
Active and Passive Citizens

Citizens of France were divided into active & passive categories
o

They chose electors, who then voted for the legislature
16

More property qualifications were required to be an elector or on the legislature


Political power had been transferred from aristocratic wealth to propertied wealth
Olympe de Gouges’s Declaration of the Rights of Woman

1791, Olympe de Gouges (butcher’s daughter) created a Declaration of the Rights of Woman
o
o
She further insisted that women could own property, be equal in marriage, & receive a better
education

Directions: Below are excerpts from the Declaration of the Rights of Woman. Read each carefully and then explain whether or
not what De Gouges wanted for women applies in real life to women today in America. Worth 14 points.
"[Olympe] De Gouges was a butcher's daughter ... who wrote several plays and a number of pamphlets on the coming Estates
General. In this work [Les Droits de la Femme] de Gouges states that the Declaration of Rights of Man and Citizen is not
being applied to women. She implies the vote for women, demands a national assembly of women, stresses that men must yield
rights to women, and emphasizes women's education." De Gouges's devotion to the cause of women's rights led to her being
charged with treason under the rule of the National Convention. She was arrested, tried, and later, in November of 1793,
executed by the guillotine.
Article I
Woman is born free and lives equal to man in her rights. Social distinctions can be
based only on the common utility.
Is this true in real life today? Explain.
Article IV
Liberty and justice consist of restoring all that belongs to others; thus, the only limits on
the exercise of the natural rights of woman are perpetual male tyranny; these limits are to
be reformed by the laws of nature and reason.
Is this true in real life today? Explain.
17
Article VI
The law must be the expression of the general will; all female and male citizens must contribute either personally or through
their representatives to its formation; it must be the same for all: male and female citizens, being equal in the eyes of the law, must
be equally admitted to all honors, positions, and public employment according to their capacity and without other distinctions
besides those of their virtues and talents.
Is this true in real life today? Explain.
Article VII
No woman is an exception; she is accused, arrested, and detained in cases determined by law. Women, like men, obey this
rigorous law.
Is this true in real life today? Explain.
Article XI
The free communication of thoughts and opinions is one of the most precious rights of woman, since that liberty assures
recognition of children by their fathers. Any female citizen thus may say freely, I am the mother of a child which belongs to you,
without being forced by a barbarous prejudice to hide the truth; (an exception may be made) to respond to the abuse of this
liberty in cases determined by law.
Is this true in real life today? Explain.
Article XIII
For the support of the public force and the expenses of administration, the contributions of woman and man are equal; she
shares all the duties and all the painful tasks; therefore, she must have the same share in the distribution of positions, employment,
offices, honors, and jobs.
Is this true in real life today? Explain.
Article XVII
Property belongs to both sexes whether united or separate; for each it is an inviolable and sacred right' no one can be deprived
of it, since it is the true patrimony of natire, unless the legally determined public need obviously dictates it, and then only with a
just and prior indemnity.
Is this true in real life today? Explain.
Departments Replace Provinces

18
o
Departments then divided into districts, cantons, & communes


All ancient judicial courts abolished & replaced by uniform courts with elected judges & prosecutors
Economic Policy

In economics, National Assembly continued policies Louis XVI’s reformist ministers called for
Workers’ Organizations Forbidden

New policies of economic freedom & uniformity disappointed peasants & workers
o

Peasants & workers were to be at the mercy of the marketplace
Confiscation of Church Lands

Financial crisis that prompted the calling of the Estates General was still a problem
o
National Assembly had abolished many of the old taxes & put in new land taxes – not enough

o
Assembly decided to pay off debt by confiscating & selling land of the Catholic Church in
France

Results –
The Assignats

1789, Assembly authorized issuing of assignats –
o
At first, limit on quantity that could be issued
o
But public accepted them so much that they began to be circulated as currency (that
represented value of church property)

Assembly issued even more to liquidate the debt

19
The Civil Constitution of the Clergy

1790, National Assembly issued Civil Constitution of the Clergy –
o
Also eliminated number of bishops & dissolved religious orders not involved in caring for sick or
education

o
This was the major mistake of the National Assembly


To make matters worse, Assembly made all clergy take an oath to support the Civil
Constitution

Only 7 bishops & half lower clergy agreed


Removed priests defiantly celebrated Mass anyway
o
Pope condemned Civil Constitution & Declaration of the Rights of Man

Counterrevolutionary Activity

Revolution had other enemies besides pope and devoted Catholics
o
As old political & social system was being changed, 16,000 aristocrats left France –


One of them was king’s brother

Flight to Varennes

June 20, 1791, Louis XVI & his immediate family (disguised as servants) left Paris
20
o
Got as far as Varennes on way to Metz
o

June 24, soldiers escorted royal family back to Paris

Declaration of Pillnitz

Two months later, Emperor Leopold II of Austria (brother of Marie Antoinette) & King Frederick
William II of Prussia issued the Declaration of Pillnitz
o

o
But all other countries of Europe had to agree –
French people took it seriously, however, and now felt surrounded by enemies trying to
destroy everything they’d worked for since 1789
4. The End of the Monarchy: A Second Revolution
The Emergence of the Jacobins

Since original gathering of Estates General, deputies from Third Estate organized themselves into political
clubs
o

Established network of local clubs throughout the provinces

Most advanced political group in Assembly



They got their language from the most radical of the Enlightenment

Embraced Rousseau’s ideals of equality, popular sovereignty, and civic virtue
National Assembly closed September 1791 – Legislative Assembly took over
21
o
Factionalism plagued the Legislative Assembly from the start


They were determined to oppose counterrevolution
o
Told émigrés to return or lose their property & fired clergy to accept the
Civil Constitution or lose their state pensions


Then in April 1792, Girondists led Legislative Assembly to declare war on Austria (led by Francis II & allied
with Prussia)
o

Louis XVI also favored the war – thought it would strengthen the monarchy’s power
o
King hoped foreign armies would destroy French forces & restore Old Regime

But the war radicalized French politics & led to the second revolution (overthrew monarchy &
set up republic)

o
Prussian forces threatened to destroy Paris if royal family was harmed – only increased distrust of king
o
July, government of Paris (now Paris Commune) became independent political force that would run the
city tightly for next three years
o

Royal guards & crowd fought resulted in hundreds of deaths

The Convention and the Role of the Sans-culottes
The September Massacres

22
o
Some were aristocrats or priests – most were common criminals
o
Crowd assumed they were all counterrevolutionaries

News of this spread across Europe – new hostility toward revolutionary government

o
Convention met September 1792
o
Goals of the Sans-culottes

o
Name means “without breeches” (long pants workers wore instead of knee breeches of
aristocrats)

o
They were shopkeepers, artisans, & factory workers
Food shortages, inflation, and lowering value of assignats made their hard lives harder

But government needed their labor & lives to win the war
o

Sans-culottes knew what they wanted –
o
And they were impatient in waiting for that relief – which is why they hated the Third Estate –
believed they took too long to achieve anything because all they wanted was to share power
with monarch

The Policies of the Jacobins

Goals of sans-culottes were not completely in tune with those of the Jacobins
o
Jacobins hated aristocrats, but not wealth in general – they favored an unregulated economy
23
o
From time of Louis XVI’s flight, more extreme Jacobins began to cooperate with leaders of
the Parisian sans-culottes to overthrow monarchy
o
Execution of Louis XVI

By spring 1793, Mountain & its sans-culottes allies were dominating the Convention & revolution
o
o
Found guilty by overwhelming majority of conspiring against the liberty of the people &
security of the state


Next month, Convention declared war on Great Britain & Holland (and later Spain)
o
Prussians soon then pushed French out of Belgium
o
o
Girondists could not win the war or push revolution forward

The Mountain would have to do so
24
1. Using the fact file, do you think Louis’s trial will be a fair one? Explain.
2. What is Louis accused of in Source 1?
3. What is Louis accused of in Source 2?
4. What is Louis accused of in Source 3?
5. What does Saint-Just think should happen to Louis?
6. What impression do these first 3 sources give you of Louis? Explain.
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7. In Sources 4 & 5, what defense does each source offer on behalf of Louis?
8. What opinion do you have of Louis after reading Sources 4 & 5? Explain.
9. What opinion of Louis do Sources 6, 7, & 8 give you? Explain.
10. Louis answers the charges against him in Sources 7 & 8. Do you believe him? Explain.
5. Europe at War with the Revolution
Edmund Burke Attacks the Revolution
26

o
Also predicted more problems as inexperienced leaders tried to rule France, the execution of the king
& queen, and that revolution would end in military despotism (Napoleon)


By 1792, monarchs throughout Europe agreed with Burke
o
They turned to repressive domestic policies in response to revolution in France
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mdwuBFNpHbY
Directions: Read the quote from Edmund Burke below and then watch the slip from the final scene of the film, Boondock
Saints. Then answer the discussion questions that follow. Worth 14 points.
“All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing”
1. Explain what Burke meant by the above quote.
2. Do you agree or disagree with Burke? Explain.
3. In the film, 2 brothers and their father have taken it upon themselves to kill criminals without trials or juries. Do you think it is a
good or bad thing to take the law into your hands? Explain.
4. If a loved one was killed by someone but they were found not guilty during trial (and you know they are guilty), would it change
your answer to the previous question? Explain.
5. If people take the law into their own hands by killing suspected criminals, are the vigilantes being hypocritical? Explain.
27
6. Provide an example from history in which good men did not act in time to stop evil.
7. How would society be different today if people were allowed to take the law into their own hands?
Suppression of Reform in Britain

o
Government suppressed the London Corresponding Society (working-class reform group)
o
Government drove Joseph Priestly – famous radical thinker – out of the country
o
o
Also attempted to limit freedom of the press
The Second and Third Partitions of Poland

Last two partitions of Poland happened as a result of fears by eastern Europe that principles of French
Revolution were spreading to Poland
o

Frederick William II of Prussia promised to defend Poland – a strong Poland would help
Prussia against growing power of Russia

Catherine the Great realized this as well

o
In response, Frederick William II moved his troops from west (against French) to east


New Polish government remained under influence of Russia
28

1794, Polish officers mutinied after effort to unite their forces with Russian army
o
Prussia, Austria, & Russia sent troops into Poland
o
o
Next year, three eastern powers partitioned Poland a third time

6. The Reign of Terror
War with Europe

French invasion of Austrian Netherlands (Belgium) & reorganization of that area in 1792 pushed rest of
Europe to active hostility
o
1793, Convention officially declared war on Britain
o

They were trying to protect their social structures, political systems, & economies from
influence of revolution

Major issue for French people was defending the new social & political order
o
To protect the achievements they had made, government took extraordinary actions


Need to protect revolution from enemies (inside & out) was more important than rights
to property or life

The Republic Defended

To get ready for war, revolutionary government organized powerful committees

These committees tried to mobilize France for war
29
The Committee of Public Safety

o
They would carry out executive duties of government

Committee of Public Safety eventually had almost dictatorial power

The Levee en Masse

o
June 1793, the Mountain took total control of the Convention & they approved a fully
democratic constitution

o
But it would not be implemented until war was over (it was never actually implemented)
August 23, Lazare Carnot (Committee of Public Safety member in charge of military) issued
a levee en masse –


Drafted men into army & directed economic production to military purposes
Soon, armies of the revolution had stopped all counterrevolutionary activity
o
The “Republic of Virtue” and Robespierre’s Justification of Terror

o
Civic virtue – sacrificing yourself & your interests for the good of the whole (Rousseau) – would
replace selfish corruption

The republic of virtue manifested itself in many ways:

Renaming of streets from vocabulary of the revolution

30

General attack on crimes, especially prostitution (seen as characteristic of
aristocratic society)
o
But the core value of the republic of virtue was upholding the public good over the private good


The embodiment of the republic of virtue defended by terror was Maximilien de Robespierre –
o
Robespierre was a selfless revolutionary
o
He had favored a republic from the beginning
o
o
H e completely supported republican government, renounced self-interested politics, & attack of
foreign & domestic enemies of the revolution

Repression of the Society of Revolutionary Republican Women

1793, women founded the Society of Revolutionary Republican Women –
o
Initially, Jacobins welcomed them
o
But it became increasingly radical over time
o

Used Rousseau’s language of separate spheres for men & women to justify their exclusion of
women

Olympe de Gouges also opposed the Terror & accused Jacobins of corruption
o

Same year, women were formally excluded from serving in army & from the Convention
o
31
De-Christianization

o
November 1793, Convention proclaimed a new calendar starting from first day of French Republic

12 months of 30 days each – names after seasons & climate

Every 10th day was a holiday
o

Legislature then sent members into provinces to close churches, persecute clergy & believers, & simply killing
priests & nuns
o
Churches were desecrated, torn down, or used as barns

o
Robespierre personally opposed de-Christianization –
Revolutionary Tribunals

Reign of Terror manifested itself in revolutionary tribunals established by Convention
o
o
But who were “enemies”?

o
Those who tribunals condemned in Paris were beheaded in the guillotine –

Firing squads & drowning were used in provinces

o
Girondist politicians from Legislative Assembly were next
32

Early 1794, Terror moved to provinces
o
1000s of people were summarily executed (mostly peasants) – allegedly supported opposition to
revolution

Directions: Read the article from the London Times about one of the executions during the Reign of Terror and then fill in the
Primary Document Analysis Worksheet that goes along with it. Worth 20 points.
London Times
August 10, 1793
Mad. Marie Ann Char. Corday. [page 2]
[ . . . ] This unhappy Lady had two Counsellors, one of whom was Mr. STONE, an Englishman, who during the last two hours
of her trial incessantly felt her pulse, to distinguish if there was any symptoms of burning fever or timidity. He declared they were
the same as those of a person contented in their mind. She did not manifest the least irresolution but in one interval, when Mr.
Stone was so struck with her firmness and answers, that he was quite dismayed, and at that instant her undaunted courage fell,
and tears of sweet sensibility declared her gratitude for his pleading for her. She was condemned at three o'clock in the
afternoon, after a trial of six hours, to be beheaded at eight o'clock the same evening on the Place de la Revolution.
She requested this Gentleman, as a last favour, which, said she, will make me die contented, to defray all the little debts she had
contracted in the prison of the Concergerie, as the property she had brought with her to Paris was confiscated. —Mr. Stone
promised and executed her request.
The scene which her execution presented was magnificently awful. The place was thronged with multitudes; and the most feeling
minds were excited to behold the Amazonian courage of this unhappy lady in her last moments.
It was with much difficult she arrived at the scaffold. The fish women and others, belonging to the markets, were near tearing her
to pieces, with oaths and imprecations the most horrid. The Gens d'Armes and horse of the Republic prevented this horrid act,
by galloping up with lifted sabres.
Mad. Corday ascended the scaffold with intrepidity. She appeared serene and reconciled to death. She pulled off her bonnet
and handkerchief herself, but recoiled when the executioner went to bind her legs, and said, "Are you so bad as to expose me
here?" He answered, "No, it is to bind you." "Do it then," she replied with firmness.
The inhuman monster when shewing her head to the people after her execution, slapped her twice on the cheek!! This was
considered as such an atrocious act, that the very Tribunal who had condemned her to death, sentenced her executioner to
twelve years imprisonment in irons.
33
The corpse of Mad. Corday was buried in the church-yard of St. Magdalaine, near the grave of LOUIS XVI, she having
been executed in the same section with that unfortunate Monarch.
1. What type of document is this?
2. What is the date of the document?
3. Who wrote or created this document?
4. Who did the author intend to read this document?
5. List three things the author said that you think are important:
1._________________________________________________________________________________________
2._________________________________________________________________________________________
3._________________________________________________________________________________________
6. Why do you think this document was written?
7. What evidence in the document helps you know why it was written? Quote from the document.
8. List two things the document tells you about life at the time it was written:
9. Write a question to the author that is left unanswered by the document:
10. Do you think that the author had a particular bias? What evidence in the document indicates his bias?
34
The End of the Terror
Revolutionaries Turn Against Themselves

1794, Robespierre began to organize the Terror against republican political figures
o
o
He then turned against other republicans in Convention

Accused of not being militant enough on the war, profiting ($) from the revolution, and
rejecting the link between politics & moral virtue
o
Robespierre had executed leaders who might have threatened his power


Number of executions was growing & growing
Fall of Robespierre

o
Deistic cult that reflected Rousseau’s vision of civic religion to improve morality


July 26, Robespierre made speech in Convention, claiming other members were conspiring against him
o
He had made similar claims before his other attacks

July 27 – Ninth of Thermidor (on the new calendar) – members of Convention
shouted him down as he tried to make another speech


Robespierre had destroyed rivals without creating supporters
35

He had also been trying to persuade the people that the Convention was
harboring enemies of the revolution
o
7. The Thermidorian Reaction

o
Convention used the event to take greater control over Committee of Public Safety
o


Not needed anymore – war going well and counterrevolutionary activity ended
This tempering of the revolution –
o
It resulted from fear that revolution had become too radical & sans-culottes had become too powerful

Convention allowed Girondists in hiding or prison to return to their seats


Committee of Public Safety lost much of its power

Law of 22 Prairial was repealed


Paris Commune was disbanded & leaders killed

Paris Jacobin Club closed

o
All over country, anyone involved in Reign of Terror was attacked or murdered
o
In some cases, gangs of youths with aristocratic connections or who had avoided serving in army roamed
streets, beating known Jacobins
36


Thermidorian Reaction also saw repeal of law passed 1792 making divorce more equitable for women
o
Thermidorians had enough of change – wanted to return family life to way it was before revolution

Establishment of the Directory

Thermidorian Reaction led to another constitution – Constitution of the Year III – reflected Thermidorian
determination to reject constitutional monarchy & democracy
o
It set up legislature made up of two houses – Council of Elders (upper) & Council of Five Hundred
(lower)


What triumphed in the Constitution of the Year III was the revolution of the holders of property
o

Largest property owners after revolution were peasants (thanks to end of aristocratic
privileges)

Peasants now owned their own land
Removal of the Sans-culottes from Political Life

With war going well, Convention severed its ties with the sans-culottes
o
Opposed to regulated economy, Thermidorians repealed price ceilings


Convention suppressed resulting food riots (to prove era of sans-culottes was over)

37
o
Sections of Paris rose up, led by royalists, against the Convention

Government fired artillery at the rebels


1795, Convention made peace with Prussia & Spain –
o
But Convention feared return of radical democrats & royalists in upcoming elections for Council of
Five Hundred

So Convention ruled that 2/3 of new legislature must have served in Convention


Two-Thirds Law quickly undermined public faith in new constitution
Directory faced immediate social unrest
o

He and his followers wanted more radical democracy & more equality of property

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
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9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
39