History 10
The French
Revolution
Part II
Causes of the French
Revolution

Population divided into three estates

Clergy-The First Estate
Numbered around 100,000. The clergy was
made up of two groups: the higher clergy
and the lower clergy. The higher clergy had a
very luxurious life. The lower clergy came
from the middle and lower classes, and many
of them lived in poverty

Nobility-The Second Estate
They numbered 400,000. Most were of minor
rank

Commoners-The Third Estate
(majority of population) Included the
bourgeoisie, wage earners and the peasantry
Age of Enlightenment

Introduced new ideas to the highly
educated bourgeoisie. They became
critical of the class system and
believed that men should prosper
through opportunity and education,
not birth.

Liberal society can flourish with free
commerce

Challenged the absolute right to rule
Introduced ideas of equal rights and the
abolition of the class system.

Appealed to bourgeoisie grievances
France was an absolute
monarchy… with a weak
monarch

King Louis XVI took the throne after his
father died in 1774. He was only 20
years old.

He preferred personal interests to court
interests
He liked to spend his time at hobbies,
such as hunting and making locks,
rather than at his duties of state.

He was strongly influenced by his wife,
Marie Antoinette

He was incapable of strong decisive
action

Lacked strength of will to back his
ministers
Attempts at Reform

Louis’s first finance minister: Robert Turgot

Controlled government spending and reduced
expenses at Versailles

Reformed customs laws and limited power of
guilds

Had no success when he proposed taxing the
nobles


“All public financial burdens should be borne by the
lower classes.”
Turgot was fired in 1776. his parting words were:

“Remember sire, it was weakness which brought
the head of Charles I to the block.”
Growing Economic Crisis

1770’s – economic activity
slowed

Poor harvests hurt the economy

Regulations from the Middle
Ages hampered trade

Guilds still held monopolies
over production of certain
goods

Entrepreneurs could not set up
their own businesses
Financial Difficulties
 Government
had large debts with
heavy interest
 The
government eventually went
bankrupt and got deeper in debt each
year.
 Over

ambitious wars
Costly to the country because France lost
men and supplies and failed to gain any
territory. In fact, they often lost territory.
 Extravagant

spending on courts
The Palace of Versailles was amazing
 French
Government owed a huge debt to
bankers
Need for tax reform
 Nobles
were determined not to give up
their tax concessions.
 The
nobility had power over the King
regarding tax concessions.
 They
were exempt from taxes and Louis
did not implement reform because he
did not want to upset the aristocrats.
 The
peasants and bourgeoisie were
unhappy because they had to pay all
the taxes
French Involvement in the
American Revolution
 Introduction
to revolutionary ideas
The cost of support to the Americans was not just
associated with money.
 French troops came back from America having been
exposed to revolutionary thoughts. Many believed
that they too should start a revolution to achieve
equal rights.

Take up arms against tyranny

No taxation without representation

Liberal freedoms for all men

A republic is superior to a monarchy

All things they didn’t have at home

What are we fighting for?
French Revolution Timeline

1788

Debt and banks refuse to lend anymore

Poor Harvest and bread shortages

Discontent of Third Estate

Weak Leader

Louis XVI goes before Parliament of Paris to
register new tax law: “It is legal because I
wish it,” Louis XVI

Louis calls the ESTATES GENERAL and orders
the three estates to make Cahiers (lists’ of
complaints about the current state of France)

Cahiers show massive discontent among the 3
Estates
1789

Estates General meets in Versailles in May
of 1789
The Estates General

The Estates General was a form
of government used in France
in the 15 and the 1600’s

In it, the three estates would
each cast a vote on behalf of
their estate

This would mean that the
power stayed at the top
because the 1st and 2nd Estates
would always vote together
and defeat the wishes of the
third estate and therefore 98%
of the population
Estates General Reach
Impasse

Three weeks go by, and
the EG and the King
cannot agree upon a fair
and equal voting system

The Third Estate makes a
bold move: they reach
out to sympathetic
members of the First and
Second Estates, and they
leave the EG and declare
themselves the National
Assembly
The Tennis Court Oath

Louis responds by locking
the doors to their meeting
hall; this sets off a rumor
that Louis will send in
troops to disband the
National Assembly

The National Assembly moved
to a tennis court. The Tennis
Court Oath was a sworn
promise by the National
Assembly that they would not
be disbanded until they had
written a new, enlightened
constitution for the people of
France
Storming of the Bastille

July- Rumour spreads that
the Royal Troops will be
coming in to France to
break up the National
Assembly and arrest
citizens who support them

July 14, 1789

Parisians take immediate
action by storming one of
the great symbols of
France’s power and
inequality: the Bastille
Bastille Day

The Bastille was a Royal fortress
that was symbolic of the old
Monarchy which was corrupt

When it fell, the Revolution had
been set in motion

Believing the Royal Troops would
have weapons and ammo, the
people demanded to take them
away

Mob mentality ensued: 6 guards are
killed and prisoners are released,
but no weapons and ammo are
found
Bastille Day- the Reality

July 14th – BASTILLE DAY
(France)

Many point to this event as the
start of the revolution.

The French saw it as a victory
when they freed the 7 prisoners
and tore down the Bastille.
 They
conveniently forgot the
fact that among them were:

4 forgers

2 lunatics

1 pedophile
The Great Fear

Famine gripped France
 Rumor gripped France. People
told tales that the Royal Army
was rolling through the
countryside attacking villages
as revenge for the Bastille
 Mob mentality and panic set in
again
 The people, throughout France,
take their anger out on nobles
and begin to steal from
government holding bins
Creating Change



The National Assembly moves
quickly and they take all special
privileges, including not paying
taxes, from the Nobility.
Declaration of the Rights of Man –
the National Assembly releases a
declaration that, “All men are born
and remain free and equal in
rights.”
Furthermore, all men had rights to,
“liberty, property, security, and
resistance to oppression.
 The Enlightenment had finally
created change in France.
Women Demand Bread

Thousands of women take the
road from Paris to Versailles.
Demanding bread, they seek a
meeting with Louis

The women refused to leave
Versailles until the King
returned to Paris

For three years, Louis and
Marie were basically prisoners
in their palace in Paris
1791
 The
National
Assembly produces
a constitution.

It’s a limited monarchy.

The new legislative branch
was elected and had the
power to make laws, collect
taxes, and decide upon
army movements.

They would be elected by
tax paying males
Louis XVI Grapples for Power

Louis and Marie try to flee France

Rumors persist that they were
trying to flee, so they could meet
with leaders of other countries’ to
try to convince them to attack
France and re-instate their
absolute monarchy

They are identified, taken back to
Paris, and vilified by the French
population

The French Army (with a young
Napoleon) prepares for wars
Political Infighting
The new government was failing
 Bread shortages were still a
problem and their internal
arguing;



Jacobins; wanted a powerful
republic
Girondists; after king was
disposed wanted the revolution to
stop
The Jacobins wanted a full
republic, with the monarchy
having no role
 The other argument was that the
Revolution had already achieved
its’ goal by putting the power in
to the hands of the people

1792

The dialogue between
the new French
government and foreign
countries led France to
declare war on Austria,
Prussia and Britain

Streets are renamed as
the radical Jacobins take
control of the new
government

They wanted to eliminate
all reminders of the
monarchy
French Army Splits

Initially, the Prussian army and
their allies score massive victories
over the French army

Many French Army members leave
the army to join with Royal Troops
in France

They believe its’ only a matter of
time until the other countries bring
France’s new government to its’
knees and the Monarchy will be in
charge again
1793 -
Reign of Terror

The Jacobins inflame
Parisians, with fears of the
King being re-instated

The Paris crowds rush the
King’s palace, killing guards,
and the King and Queen flee

The government puts Louis
on trial, and he was
sentenced to death

9 months later, Marie is
executed
Committee of Public Safety

Still at war, Robespierre and the
Jacobins force the government
to institute the 12-member
Committee of Public Safety to
deal with threats to France and
the revolution

The CPS tells the citizenry to
support the war effort at all
cost

New recruits flood to the
battlefields
Maximillian Robespierre

Robespierre comes to lead the
CPS. Robespierre states: “Liberty
cannot be secured unless criminals
lose their heads.”

So begins the Reign of Terror
throughout France. The CPS
sanctions mass executions of
anyone thought to be an
‘enemy of the Revolution.’

Lasting about 1 year, the Terror
goes unchecked, as the army is
at war and the Royal Troops no
longer exist

Panic and fear gripped France
The Directory

Finally, the government
takes action and turns on
the CPS, arresting
Robespierre and others

Robespierre is guillotined,
and the Terror is over

It takes an estimated
40,000 lives in one year
(July 93 – July 94)

Believing the government
has lost its credibility, the
new leaders create a new
government called the
Directory
Victory and Peace –
Napoleon Too.

The Directory has a 5 man leadership
working with 2 elected bodies of
government

Their power was weak, but they
negotiate peace with Prussia and Spain

Napoleon orchestrates a series of
battlefield victories over Austria

The politicians turn to him, and he
becomes a member of the Directory.

With the help of politicians,
Napoleon and Sieyes start a coup
that overthrows the Directory in
1799 and gives Napoleon the title of
Emperor in 1802.