The French Revolution :
Part One
Test 3 Questions
• Define estate, bourgeoisie, and the Tennis Court.
• Describe each Estate during the French Revolution.
• Why did the Third Estate object to each estate having one
vote?
• Explain why the Catholic Church was targeted for reform.
Background
Background
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The year 1789 witnessed two far-reaching events…
1. The birth of the United States.
2. The French Revolution.
Compared with the American Revolution, the French
Revolution was far more violent, more complex and much
more radical.
Background
• It became a major turning point for European history.
• One long-range cause of the revolution was the French
society.
• It was based upon inequality.
• It was divided into three groups or estates.
• The First Estate number about 130,000.
• They were the clergy.
Background
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These people owned about 10% of the land.
They were exempt from paying the taille (tax).
The higher clergy shared the values of the nobility.
The lower clergy shared the values of the poor.
Background
• The Second Estate, the nobility, included about 350,000
people.
• They owned about 25-30% of the land.
• They held almost all of the leading positions of government,
the military, the law courts, and the high church offices.
• They were exempt from paying taille.
• They wanted to expand their power at the expense of the
king.
Background
• The Third Estate were the commoners.
• 98% of the entire population of France (27 million) were
commoners.
• They were from every occupation, educational and economic
level.
• 75-80% were poor peasants.
• As a group, the Third Estate owned about 35% of the land.
Background
• About half of the peasants had no land.
• Although serfdom no longer existed in France, there were
still relics of feudalism.
• 8% were from the new economic status called bourgeoisie
(middle class).
• They were professional like doctors, merchants, bankers and
writers.
Background
• Many people from the bourgeoisie were unhappy about the
special status of nobility.
• A major short-term cause of the French Revolution was the
near collapse of government finances.
• Two bad harvests (1787-8) caused food shortages.
• Unemployment became wide spread.
Background
• Despite major financial problems, the government continued
to spend huge sums of money on costly wars and court
luxuries.
• The queen, Marie Antoinette, was well known for her
extravagance.
• SO…
• The king calls for new taxes. (bad move)
• He called for a meeting on May 5, 1789.
From Estates-General to National Assembly
• The Estates-General was like a congress with representatives from all
three groups of society.
• The First and Second Estates had 300 representatives each.
• And the Third Estate had 300.
• To solve the financial problems, the Third Estates delegates wanted to
set up a constitutional government.
From Estates-General to National Assembly
• The king’s requested meeting was on May 5, 1789.
• It was in trouble from the start.
• Each Estate had only one vote… that meant the clergy and nobility
could out-vote the Third Estate.
• The Third Estate asked for a change to “one vote per delegate” and
was denied by the king who controlled the First and Second Estates.
From Estates-General to National Assembly
• The Third Estate walks out and creates the National
Assembly… and writes a constitution for France.
• But the king locks the National Assembly building and
surrounds it with his guards.
• The National Assembly just moves to another place (a tennis
court) and convenes.
From Estates-General to National Assembly
• They continue meeting there all summer.
• Meanwhile….
• On July 17, an angry mob in Paris storms the king’s armory
(the Bastille) and destroys it brick by brick.
• Mobs led by the Third Estate take over all over France.
• This summer in France became known as the “Great Fear”.
From Estates-General to National Assembly
• Citizens fearing that foreign troops would invade because of the chaos
in France form local militias.
• Thousands try to flee the violence.
• The nobility and higher clergy who can flee, go into hiding.
• The Old Regime falls.
• The National Assembly votes to abolish all special rights to the
nobility and clergy.
From Estates-General to National Assembly
• On August 26th, the National Assembly adopts the
“Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen”.
• It proclaimed equal rights to all citizens, freedom of speech,
freed of the press and a equal tax burden for all.
• But women were excluded.
• Meanwhile….
From Estates-General to National Assembly
• Louis 16th (the king) remains in his summer palace at
Versailles.
• On Oct. 5, a large mob of women from Paris storm Versailles
and demands the king should go to the National Assembly to
show his support.
• They forced the king to accept all the National Assembly’s
decrees.
From Estates-General to National Assembly
• The king and his family travel to Paris.
• They are escorted and held captive by the mob.
• The National Assembly takes all the land owned by the Church and
sells it.
• All clergy are now appointed by the National Assembly.
• Many Catholics become enemies of the Revolution because the church
is now controlled by the people.
From Estates-General to National Assembly
• A new constitution is created in 1791.
( creating a new Legislative
Assembly)
• But the old nobility, clergy, the king, and many poor people hurt by
all the chaos dislike it.
• The king tries to flee the country but is caught and brought back to
Paris.
• In this unsettled situation, with a disloyal monarch, the Legislative
Assembly meets for the first time. (Oct. 1791)
From Estates-General to National Assembly
• Many European nations feared the French Revolution would
spread to their countries.
• Austria and Prussia threaten to invade to restore the French
king to power.
• In the spring of 1792, the Legislative Assembly votes to
declare war on Austria.
From Estates-General to National Assembly
• Defeats on the battlefronts are blamed on Louis 16th or the
clergy.
• A shortage of food in the cities causes more rioting against
the king and the Legislative Assembly.
• In August 1792, a mob (calling itself the Commune) takes
over Paris.
• Power was passed from the Assembly to the Paris Commune.
From Estates-General to National Assembly
• The French Revolution becomes more violent and radical.
• Short pants (a fashion of the nobility and the rich) becomes a crime.
• Real paintings and etchings from this era follows…
The End