The French Revolution, 1789-1794
Economic and social inequalities in the 1700s
helped cause a major event known as the French
Revolution.
Introduction:
• In the 1700s, France was considered the
most advanced country of Europe. It was
the center of the Enlightenment. It had a
large population and a prosperous
foreign trade. France’s culture was
widely praised and emulated by the rest
of the world. However, the appearance of
success was deceiving. There was great
unrest in France, caused by high prices,
high taxes, and disturbing questions
raised by the Enlightenment ideas of
Rousseau and Voltaire.
I. The Old Regime
I. The Old Regime
• The Old Regime was a system of feudalism left
over from the middle ages.
• The people of France were divided into three
large social classes, or estates.
I. The Old Regime
• 1st Estate – Roman Catholic Clergy
– Did not agree with enlightenment ideas.
• 2nd Estate – Rich Nobles
– Held all the power in government.
– Paid no taxes
• These two estates made up 2% of the
population but owned 30% of the land in
France.
I. The Old Regime
• 3rd Estate – Bourgeoisie (merchants), city workers
(cooks, servants, etc.), and peasant farmers.
– Had no government power
– Paid high taxes
– Embraced enlightenment ideas
• Many of the bourgeoisie were wealthy and
educated.
• The workers and peasants, which made up over
80% of the population, were paid low wages, were
frequently out of work, and often went hungry.
I. The Old Regime
• What does the
cartoon say
about the three
estates?
• Why might the
1st and 2nd
Estates be
opposed to
change?
II. Reasons for Change
II. Reasons for Change
Enlightenment Ideas
• Used words like: Equality, Liberty, and
Democracy
• People began questioning long-standing ideas
about government and society.
• Inspired by the success of the American
Revolution, and the ideas of Rousseau and
Voltaire.
II. Reasons for Change
Economic Woes
• 3rd Estate paid 50% of their income to taxes.
• Bad weather led to widespread crop
failures.
• The price of bread doubled in 1789 and
many people faced starvation.
II. Reasons for Change
A Weak Leader
• Louis XVI became king in 1774.
• Extravagant spending sank the government into
debt.
• Borrowed heavily to help the American
revolutionaries.
• He was indecisive and paid little attention to his
advisors.
• Instead, he spent his time hunting and tinkering
with locks.
II. Reasons for Change
A Weak Leader
• Louis’ wife Marie
Antoinette was
unpopular in France.
• She was a member of
the royal family of
Austria, France’s longtime enemy.
• As queen, she spent so
much money on gowns,
jewels, and gifts that
she became known as
“Madame Deficit.”
III. Revolution Dawns
III. Revolution Dawns
• To get approval for tax reform, Louis called a
meeting of the Estates-General, an assembly of
representatives from all three estates.
• The meeting was held at the palace in Versailles
on May 5, 1789 – the first in 175 years.
III. Revolution Dawns
• The 1st and 2nd Estates had dominated the EstatesGeneral throughout the Middle Ages and
expected to do so in the 1789 meeting.
• Under the rules, each estate’s delegates met in a
separate hall to vote, and each estate had one
vote.
• The two privileged estates could always outvote
the 3rd Estate.
III. Revolution Dawns
• On June 17th, in order to gain
power, the 3rd Estate
delegates voted to name
themselves the National
Assembly and pass reforms
in the name of the French
people.
• This proclaimed the end of
absolute monarchy and the
beginning of a democratic
government.
• This was the first act of
revolution.
III. Revolution Dawns
• Three days later, the 3rd Estate delegates found
themselves locked out of their meeting room,
so they broke down the door to an indoor tennis
court.
• Tennis Court Oath - They pledged to stay until
they finished a new constitution.
III. Revolution Dawns
• Louis tried to make peace by yielding to
the National Assembly’s demands.
• At the same time he stationed his
mercenary army of Swiss guards in Paris.
• Rumors flew that foreign troops were
coming to massacre the French citizens.
• People began to gather weapons in order
to defend Paris against the king’s foreign
troops.
III. Revolution Dawns
• On July 14, a mob stormed
the Bastille, a prison, to
get gunpowder.
• The Bastille fell to the
control of the citizens and
became a great symbolic
act of revolution to the
French people.
• Today, July 14 is a French
holiday, Bastille Day,
similar to the U.S. 4th of
July.
IV. A Great Fear Sweeps France
Before long, rebellion spread from Paris to the
countryside. From one village to the next, wild
rumors circulated that the nobles were hiring
outlaws to terrorize the peasants.
IV. The Great Fear
• A wave of senseless
panic called the Great
Fear rolled through
France.
• When the peasants met
no enemies, they
became outlaws
themselves.
• Waving pitchforks and
torches, they broke into
noble’s houses and tore
up legal papers and in
some cases burned the
house.
IV. The Great Fear
• October 1789, 6,000 Parisian
women rioted over the rising
price of bread.
• Seizing knives and axes, the
women and a great many
men broke marched on
Versailles.
• They broke into the palace
and demanded Louis and
Marie Antoinette come to
Paris.
IV. The Great Fear
• Their exit signaled the change of power and
radical reforms about to take over France.
V. The Assembly Reforms France
Declaration of the Rights of Man
• On Aug. 27, 1789, the Old Regime was dead
and the National Assembly adopted a
statement of revolutionary ideas called the
Declaration of the Rights of Man.
• It stated, “men are born and remain free
and equal in rights” and that “the aim of all
political association is the preservation of
the natural rights of man. These rights are
liberty, property, security, and resistance
to oppression.”
Declaration of the Rights of Man
• The expression
“Liberty, Equality,
and Fraternity”
became the slogan
of the Revolution.
• However, the
Declaration of the
Rights of Man did
not apply to women.
Declaration of the Rights of Man
• The assembly took
over church lands and
declared that church
officials and priests
were to be elected by
property owners and
paid as state officials.
• The Catholic church
lost both its land and
its political
independence.
Declaration of the Rights of Man
• The assembly’s
action alarmed
millions of devout
French peasants,
who rallied to the
support of their
parish priests.
• From this time on,
the peasants often
opposed further
revolutionary
change.
Louis Tries to Escape
• In June 1791, Louis and his family tried to
escape from France to the Austrian
Netherlands.
• As they neared the French border, however,
a postmaster recognized the king from his
portrait on some paper money.
• The royal family was returned to Paris
under guard.
• By attempting to escape, Louis sealed his
doom.
VI. Division, War, and Extreme
Measures
A Limited Monarchy
• After two years of arguing over a new
constitution, the National Assembly made
significant changes in France’s government
and society.
• The National Assembly created a
constitutional monarchy - king enforced the
laws and the Assembly made the laws.
• September 1791, the constitution was
approved and the Legislative Assembly took
control.
Factions Split France
• Despite the new government, old problems,
such as food shortages and government
debt, remained.
• Angry cries for more liberty, more equality,
and more bread soon caused the
Revolution’s leaders to turn against one
another.
• The Legislative assembly split into three
groups.
War with Austria and Prussia
• Monarchs and nobles
in many European
countries feared the
changes that were
taking place in France.
• They worried that
peasant revolts
similar to the ones in
France could break
out in their own
countries.
War with Austria and Prussia
• French radicals hoped to spread their
revolution to all the peoples of Europe.
• Austria and Prussia proposed that France put
Louis back on the throne.
• The Legislative Assembly responded by
declaring war on Austria in April 1792.
• The war began badly for the French forces.
By summer enemy armies were advancing
toward Paris.
• The Prussian commander threatened to
destroy Paris if the royal family was harmed.
War with Austria and Prussia
• Infuriated, 20,000
Parisians stormed
the royal palace,
killed 900 Swiss
guards and
imprisoned Louis,
Marie Antoinette,
and their child in a
stone tower.
War with Austria and Prussia
• Also, there were
rumors that royalists
imprisoned in Paris
would try to seize
control of the city.
• Angry citizens raided
the prisons and
murdered over 1,000
royalists, nobles, and
clergymen in the
“September
Massacres”.
Radicals Execute the King
• On September 21, the
National Convention
declared France a
republic – representative
democracy.
• They tried Louis XVI for
treason and found him
guilty.
• On Jan. 21, 1783 he was
beheaded by the
guillotine.
VII. The Reign of Terror
Maximilien Robespierre
• Maximilien Robespierre
gained control of the
French government in July
1793 and tried to wipe out
every trace of France’s past
monarchy.
• Many families changed
their name.
• Even the kings, queens, and
jacks in decks of cards
were changed to
revolutionary figures.
Maximilien Robespierre
• His committee often
had people tried in the
morning and guillotined
the same afternoon.
• He governed France
almost as a dictator and
the period of his rule
became known as the
Reign of Terror.
Marie Antoinette Executed
• The most famous victim
of the Terror was Marie
Antoinette.
• Calm and dignified, she
rode in the death cart
past jeering crowds.
• On the scaffold, she
accidentally stepped on
the executioner’s foot.
• “Monsieur,” she
apologized, “I beg your
pardon. I did not do it on
purpose.”
Reign of Terror
• Thousands of unknown people were sent to
death.
• An 18-year-old youth was sentenced to die
for cutting down a tree planted as a symbol
of liberty.
• A tavern keeper was executed because he
sold sour wine “to the defenders of the
country.”
Reign of Terror
• During the Reign of Terror ,
approximately 3,000 people
were executed in Paris.
• Some historians believe
that as many as 40,000 were
killed all together.
• About 85 percent were
common people for whose
benefit the Revolution had
supposedly been carried
out.
VIII. End of the Terror
End of the Terror
• By July 1794, the members of the National
Convention turned on Robespierre to save
themselves.
• The Reign of Terror ended when
Robespierre lost his head.
End of the Terror
• In 1795, the National Convention drafted a
new kind of government.
• It called for a two-house legislature and an
executive body of five men, known as the
Directory.
• Despite their corruption, however, they
gave their troubled country a period of
order.
Napoleon Bonaparte
• The Directory also
found the right
general to command
France’s armies.
• This supremely
talented young man
was named
Napoleon Bonaparte.