MINI STUDY GUIDE TO THE FRENCH REVOLUTION!!
~fonts always make studying better =))
Preconditions!! (as in, what had to happen to make it happen?)
A. Social
a. The social pyramid consisted of something like this:
^
First Estate: clergy - 100,000
/
\
Second Estate: nobility – 400,000
/
\
THIRD ESTATE
Bourgeoisie (middle class)
------------------------/ urban workers \
------------------------------/
peasants
\
Total 3rd Estate: 23,500,000
The overwhelming majority!
As you can see, there was much cause of distress for the Third Estaters. They were
the majority, yet had so little political power. First and Second Estate were also
exempt from taxes and the tielle, so most of the financial burden rested on the
Third Estate.
This social pyramid was called the Ancien Regime, the “Old Regime,” c. 1788.
- “hobereau” – means sparrowhawk, a small bird with sharp talons. Referred
to as some of the lesser nobles who had less power,
- Nobles had a court system – “Parlements Paris”
B. Political
a. All previous kings had been enemies of the nobility and friends of
the bourgeoisie, many of whom were richer than the nobility
b. Louis XIV kept the nobles under close watch in Versailles
c. Louis XVI was a wimp D=
i. The military was made up with nobles
d. Estates General was made up of 3 separate chambers, one each for
the Estates. Each estate had one vote (traditional way of voting) –
meaning 500,000 people have two-thirds the power, while
23,500,000 people had to counter that with 1 vote
C. A Clash??
a. Some say a revolution occurs when 2 rising classes clash. In this case,
it would be the nobility and bourgeoisie, with the bourgeoisie
growing at a much more rapid pace.
D. Economic
a. There was a drought, and crops failed  no bread, prices inflated,
wages stayed the same and couldn’t cover the vast inflation
b. Peasants couldn’t pay banalities – some lesser nobles (like landlords)
would let them go, but under great financial pressure, they put
“screws to the peasant!” Hence the name “hobereau.”
c. Huge debts came from building Versailles and waging war
E. Enlightenment? Philosophes?
a. This is certainly a precondition, but their writings were fashionable
mostly for the nobility, probably causing the nobility to be the ones
to actually start the revolution. However, when the nobles were put
under threat by those same ideas, the writings were no longer
fashionable, therefore this is not that big of a cause.
The French Revolution Starts!!
1788 – Surprisingly enough, the French Revolution starts with the nobility,
creating the Aristocratic Phase.
- Louis XVI needs money, and was desperate since the nobility (once again)
refused to pay taxes unless they had a bigger voice in the government (like
they already hadn’t =P)
- Louis decides to call Estates General, and the Parlements Paris rules for
traditional voting – that is, each Estate has one vote.
1789 – Most people think this is when the French Revolution actually starts,
disregarding the small Aristocratic Revolution. So starts the Bourgeoisie Phase.
- Abbe Sieyes publishes “What is the Third Estate?” This book is very much
like Rousseau’s idea of the “general will”!! He says, basically, that the third
estate is everything, that they are currently nothing in political power, and
would like to be something.
- Going back to Rousseau. R’s points that correlate to Sieyes’: In exchange
for some of your rights given up to the “general will,” you will get a little
bit of everyone else’s rights too. The general will will CONSTRAIN you if
you don’t want to agree with it, so you will be forced to be free.
- Parlements Paris calls Elections, decided by traditional voting (?)
- At the same time came a horrible move by the King: he invited all the
districts of France to express their personal “grievances.” This was a PR
move by the king, but it BACKFIRES, since people actually expect the king
to do something since he asked about their troubles. (xD)
- Also, to appease the Third Estate, Louis gives them 600 representatives
instead of the normal 300, which is symbolically more power, but it still
only has one vote. People are pleased by it, however.
- June 13 – A few priests (First Estaters!) sit with the Third Estate in their
chamber and sympathize with their troubles. Now there are 607 people in
the Third Estate chamber (+ First Estaters)
-
-
o The Third Estate is somewhat emboldened by this move. We are the
general will! They meet from now on to make a new constitution in
hatred of the 2nd (and a little of the 1st) Estate.
To stop this devious act (and somewhat urged on by Marie Antoinette and
his advisors, since he is a wimp), Louis locks them out of their chamber so
that they can’t meet. They find a way around this, however, and meet on
an indoor tennis court, creating The National Assembly and vowed that
they will not disband until the new constitution has been written – The
Tennis Court Oath.
On Junes 22, the King issues the Séance Royale – a proclamation to the
National Assembly – “Go back to the Ancien Regime way, and if you don’t,
we will stifle you!!” He is urged to stand firm of their revolutionary activity
(again by those same people).
o Two days later, though, Louis XVI mobilizes his troops, and orders
1st and 2nd Estates to sit with the Third Estate, as the National
Assembly.
The National Assembly (a subcategory of the Bourgeoisie Phase)
July 11 – Popular Finance Minister Necker is dismissed, because the nobles wanted
to tax everyone. This is dangerous, since the current Frances is in a weak financial
and economic system. If this hadn’t happened, the French Revolution might not
have happened, or at least gotten to the point of insanity.
July 14 – Storming of the Bastille!! (first incident of violence by 3rd Estate)This
incident had been a total accident and fluke, but it became (and still is) one of the
strongest symbols of the French Revolution. Third Estaters (mostly urban workers)
had heard a rumor that Louis had troops coming, so they went to the Bastille to
get cannons and gunpowder to protect themselves. The friendly governor said
that he needed permission from the King in order to let them do that, so he
invited some reps in to bargain, not really getting anywhere. One of the people in
the crowd accidentally let down the drawbridge (oops). People then went in and
went crazy, killing people, taking the governor prisoner and then killing him,
parading their victims heads around town. Some kind souls let the prisoners out –
which is why people are led to believe that the Bastille was such a great act, they
were letting out political prisoners! The King was bad! – but in reality only 7
prisoners were in there, most for the petty crime of fraud or something ridiculous.
- Luckily for the Third Estaters, this had the unintended effect of Louis getting
scared and withdrawing his troops. The NA got stronger.
Meanwhile, sometime also in July, a separate and rather unrelated incident
occurred in the countryside, known as Le Grande Peur – “The Great Fear.” This
was a spasm of frustration by the peasants, where they went around destroying
tax and money records. After this random outburst, the peasantry remains
relatively inactive for the rest of the revolution. (Dr. Q amusingly points out that
some historians think that this Great Fear was caused by a fungus called “ergot” in
their bread, known to cause hallucinations and various other fun druggie side
effects.)
August 14 – Nobles vote to end feudal privileges. Why? This could be two things:
a bit of a retreat, or the philosophes influenced them to move France into a more
modern age from feudalism. Also, most nobles have fled to Austria (home to
Louis’s bonnie wife) to impose their aristocratic arrogance there.
August 27 – The Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen. This is a product of
a new system set by 14 new ground rules – 14 being the Articles of Confederation
(an ATTEMPT at an American constitution) and each of the new 13 states’ own
constitutions. (the 15th ground rule is the actual US Constitution, which shocked
Europe and the philosophes with its amazing brevity and meaningfulness.) The
American and British Glorious Revolutions were at the “cutting edge” of
revolutionary progress, the Declaration of Independence was more like a list of
grievances, so, aware of the Americans’ amazing 15 documents, the Dec. of Rights
of Man attempted to TOP all that. xD This was much like a rules card to a board
game, as Dr. Q compares it.
September – National Assembly become Constituent Assembly, starts work on
Constitution. (All they did was change their name, really.)
October 5 – March on Versailles. Sans-culottes – the sign of the working class.
Culottes were knee-high breaches worn only by the aristocracy. The working class
going sans-culottes led the march – the 3rd instance of the lower class acting on its
own – in find of the Royal Couple.
- This is reminiscent of a similar revolt of aristocrats in 1648 – when
aristocrats barged into little Louis XIV’s bedroom and almost had him
assassinated! So Louis XIV had Versailles built in the burbs to avoid this kind
of trouble. Ironically, this kind of trouble still found them.
- Tuilleries (sp?) -- part of the royal complex
November – confiscation of church lands, assignats assigned. Assignats were little
$1000 bills, which probably most poor people would never see or benefit from,
except instead of being backed by gold, they were backed by land, church land.
They needed money, but it was a bad idea. This is not going well for the working
class or peasants, since the ones likely to buy the lands were bourgeoisie, who
would then sell them to the lower class.
- “Liberte, egualite, fraternite” was the motto, but fraternite was mostly only
what the lower class got D=
Finally we reach…..1790!
- All year, the Assembly works on a new constitution, but there is a wideing
division between the Conservatives and Patriots. It’s easy to storm and
-
bring down a common enemy, but after that they turn on each other with
the spirit of “Now what do we do?”
June – Civil Constitution of the Clergy. Possibly the WORST mistake ever
MADE!! (by the bourgeoisie trying to run the country) The arch-bishops
were abolished, and now there is more independence than the Gallican
church. There would be no more following of the pope! And new!French
priests would be elected, replaced the old ones.
o However, the poor peasants in the rural areas were confused about
which priest to follow, the new one or the old one. They tended to
stay with the old ones, since they like tradition.
o The government decided to be picky and say, “If you’re not with us,
you’re against us!” The want for change by the bourgeoisie clashed
with the conservative outlook of the peasants. This DIVIDED
everyone!
o The king, who was a Roman Catholic, was outraged. He thought
the revolution could be kept under control, but now, he has his
doubts.
1791 – Le Chapelier Laws vs. compagnonnages. Compagnonnages were like
working unions for the working class, and the Le Chapelier laws abolished them.
Again, we can see that this revolution has little benefit for the peasants and
working class.
Meanwhile, the king decided to make his “Flight to Varennes,” having enough
with the revolution. They were going to escape to Austria and live the good life
while the rest of the country fought it out. They were disguised and fled.
However, near Varennes, which was near the border too, they stopped, tired and
hungry and wanting a meal, at an inn. Some people apparently recognized them,
so the authorities grabbed them and put them under house arrest and later, jail. So
ended their “escape attempt.” -__August 27 – Declaration of Pillnitz. Leopold II of Prussia (?) didn’t want to get
involved, but he was pressured to, so he said, “Okay, I’ll get involved if everyone
else gets involved too.” He knew this wouldn’t happen, since he knew that
England didn’t want to get involved either. But the French thought this was a
REAL threat.