The French Revolution
The French Revolution and the beginning
of a new United States of America both
happened in 1789
The French Monarchy:
1775 - 1793
King Louis XVI
Queen Marie Antoinette
Europe on the Eve of Revolution
Key Terms
Nationalism- proud loyalty and devotion to a nation or
it can be excessive or fanatical devotion to a nation
and its interests, often associated with a belief that one
country is superior to all others
Liberal-favoring reform, especially political reforms
that extend democracy, distribute wealth more evenly,
and protect the personal freedom of the individual
Bourgeoisie- middle class
Meritocracy: leadership chosen on the basis of abilities
and achievements rather than birthright (such as the
2nd Estate, the nobility)
Class Division: Three Estates
France was divided into three classes, or estates
The First Estate: the clergy. The clergy were
exempt from the taille, France’s chief tax.
The Second Estate, the nobility. They held
many of the leading positions in the state.
They did not pay ANY taxes.
The Third Estate, included everyone else from
rich and educated bourgeois to poor illiterate
peasants. About 98 percent of the population.
Causes of the French Revolution
Cartoon Analysis
People Under the Old Regime
This image shows "the
people" as a chained and
blindfolded man being
crushed under the weight of
the rich, including both
clergy and nobility. Such a
perspective on the period
before 1789 purposely
exaggerates social divisions
and would have found few
proponents before the
Revolution, but the image
does reveal the social clash
felt so intensely by the
revolutionaries.
The Impact of the French Revolution
The French Revolution became the model for revolution
in the modern world.
The power of nationalism was first experienced during
the French Revolution and it is still powerful in
existing nations and emerging nations today.
The French Revolution spread the principles of liberty
and equality, which are held dear by many nations
and individuals today.
The Metric System -the official system of measurement
in all but three countries in the world (the US being on
of the three).
Causes of the Revolution
Ideas of the Enlightenment
The Salon
Causes of the Revolution
Financial support of the American Revolution led
to near collapse of the French government’s
finances.
Causes of the Revolution
The French monarchy continued to spend lavishly
on court luxuries.
The queen, Marie Antoinette, was especially known
for her extravagance.
Causes of the Revolution
BREAD!
The French ate an average of two pounds of bread a day.
Poor harvests lead to high grain prices.
The people were hurting economically from a rise in prices
higher than any increase in wages.
80
70
60
50
1787
1788
40
30
20
10
0
% of Income Spent on Bread
Causes of the Revolution
The Third Estate carried the tax burden.
Who owned the land? Who paid the taxes?
Estates General- June 1789
Louis XVI needed money and was finally forced to call a
meeting of the Estates-General, the French parliament,
had not met since 1614, 175 years!
Estates General
Each order of French society had representatives in
the Estates General
In order to fix France’s economic situation, most
members of the Third Estate wanted to set up a
constitutional government that would abolish
the tax exemptions of the clergy and nobility.
Voting in the Estates General
VOTE BY ESTATE
Under the old system
the single vote of the
First Estate and the
single vote of the
Second Estate together
could outvote the Third
Estate.
1 Vote
1 Vote
Clergy
1st Estate
1 Vote
Everyone Else
3rd Estate
Nobility
2nd Estate
Voting in the Estates General
VOTE BY HEAD
The Third Estate had
many more members
than the other two
estates.
The change to each
member having a vote
would give the Third
Estate much more say
in matters.
291 members
Clergy
1st Estate
270 members
Everyone Else
3rd Estate
578 members
Nobility
2nd Estate
Voting in the Estates General
The Third Estate favored a system of each member
voting, but the king upheld the traditional voting
method of one vote per estate.
The Third Estate reacted by calling itself a National
Assembly and deciding to draft a constitution.
King Louis XVI locked them out of their meeting hall.
The Third Estate was joined by ‘liberal’ members of
the other two Estates and moved to a nearby tennis
court.
Tennis Court Oath
The Third Estate took an oath (promised) they would
continue to meet until they had finished drafting a
constitution.
This oath is known as the Tennis Court Oath.
The Tennis Court Oath at Versailles
by Jacques–Louis David
This amazingly rich sketch by Jacques–
Louis David is one of the most famous
works from the French revolutionary era.
The thrust of the bodies together and
toward the center stand for unity. The
spectators, including children at the top
right, all join the spectators. Even the
clergy, so vilified later, join in the scene.
Only one person, possibly Marat, in the
upper left–hand corner, turns his back on
the celebration. David is commemorating
a great moment of the Revolution on 20
June 1789, in which the deputies, mainly
those of the Third Estate, now
proclaiming that they represent the
nation, stand together against a
threatened dispersal.
Storming of the Bastille-July 14, 1789
The Bastille-an armory and prison in Paris was a
symbol of the tyrannical Bourbon monarchy
The commoners stormed and dismantled the Bastille
looking for gunpowder and to free political prisoners
Only 7 prisoners were inside
This action became the flashpoint
of the Revolution
The king’s authority collapsed.
Demolition of the Bastille
This watercolor painting
illustrates the "demolition" of
what the text refers to as the
"horrible prison" of the
Bastille. As workmen tear
down the spires on the roof,
ordinary people rip stones off
the base. These stones soon
became collectors’ items,
souvenirs of the people’s role
in the outbreak of the
Revolution—and symbols of
the way in which many more
people wanted to
commemorate the event than
had participated in it.
Awakening of the Third Estate
With the Bastille being destroyed in the background,
member of the Third Estate breaks his shackles. Here,
the clergy and nobility recoil in fear, thereby
emphasizing the conflict between the estates.
Symbols of The Revolution
The Tricolor Flag
The WHITE of the Bourbons
The RED & BLUE of Paris.
Liberté,
égalité,
fraternité
Or
Death
Phrygian cap
with cockade
National Assembly
One of the National Assembly’s first acts was to
destroy aristocratic privileges
August 26, 1789 the assembly adopted the
Declaration of the Rights of Man and the
Citizen.
The declaration proclaimed freedom and equal
rights for all men, access to public office based
on talent (meritocracy), and an end to
exemptions from taxation.
Declaration of the Rights of
Man and the Citizen
26 August 1789
Modeled in part by the American
Declaration of Independence
Men are born free and remain free
and equal in rights.
Rights to liberty, property, security
and resistance to oppression.
The law is the expression of the
general will
Every man presumed innocent until
judged guilty
Declaration of the Rights of
Man and the Citizen
No one should be disturbed for his opinions, even in
religion
Every citizen may speak, write, and print freely
Taxes levied according to ability to pay
The question arose whether “all citizens” included
women.
At first Louis XVI refused to accept the laws of the
National Assembly but was later forced to sign
under duress.
Women’s March on Versailles
5 October 1789
Thousands of Parisian women armed with pitchforks,
swords, muskets, marched to Versailles.
Why did they march? BREAD
The target of their anger was the Queen
“We want the baker and the baker's wife!"
End of the Monarchy
Louis XVI accepted the Constitution and the National
Assembly this signified the end of the power of the
monarchy in France.
The French Revolution was about to enter a more radical
phase.
Jean-Paul Marat
One of the more important radical leaders was Jean-Paul
Marat, who published the radical journal Friend of the
People.
He argued that the poor had a
right to take from the rich
whatever they needed,
even by violence.
Marat, was stabbed to death in
his bathtub by Charlotte Corday
on July 13, 1793 at age 50.
The Death of Marat
This famous depiction of
Marat’s assassination (1793)
is by the unofficial (and
sometimes official) artist of
the French Revolution,
Jacques–Louis David, a
leading exponent of the
neoclassical style. Scholars
have seen this vision as a
revolutionary pietà because
of the repose of the corpse,
so different from a normal
body in a stage of rigor
mortis. David also planned
Marat’s funeral on behalf of
the government.
Fate of the King
King Louis XVI was put on trial as a traitor of France
and found guilty.
On January 21, 1793 he died by guillotine.
Marie Antoinette Executed
October 16, 1793
Marie Antoinette was tried, convicted of treason and
executed by guillotine nine months after her husband.
She was only 37
Marie Antoinette on the way to
the guillotine. Pen and ink by
Jacques-Louis David
Committee of Public Safety
From 1793 to 1794, the Committee of Public Safety
and the National Convention tried to defend France
from foreign and domestic threats.
The Committee took steps to control France and bring
order.
Enemies of the Revolution would be quickly tried and
guillotined.
A man, and his family, might go to the guillotine for
saying something critical of the revolutionary
government, even neighbors would turn each other in.
Maximilien Robespierre
Robespierre was a lawyer and activist, so known for
his honesty that he was called “The
Incorruptible.”
He followed Rousseau’s ideas in The Social
Contract, and he believed that anyone
who would not submit to the
general will as he interpreted
it should be executed.
Robespierre was obsessed with
ridding France of its domestic
enemies.
The Reign of Terror
Robespierre was one of the
chief architects of the Reign
of Terror.
Lasted from September 1793July 1794
Some estimates say that 40,000
or more people were killed
during The Terror.
The National Razor
Republic of Virtue
National Convention had a dechristianization policy
This order was built on reason.
The new order was called the Republic of Virtue-a
democratic republic of good citizens.
The titles “citizen” and “citizeness” replaced “mister”
and “madame.”
The word saint was removed from street names and
churches were closed.
The cathedral of Notre Dame was rededicated as a
“temple of reason.”
DeChristianization
A new calendar was adopted. Years were
numbered from September 22, 1792, the first
day of the French Republic, and not from
Christ’s birth.
The calendar contained 12 months with each
month having three weeks of 10 days, with the
tenth day a day of rest.
This practice eliminated Sundays.
No days of worship or religious holidays.
Temple of Reason
Churches were renamed
Temples of Reason.
The motto of the Revolution:
Liberté, égalité, fraternité
were inscribed on them.
Churches were stripped of
irreplaceable works of art.
The Festival of Supreme Being
A new secular, non-religious, holiday
Republican Calendar
This poster shows the
Republic’s new calendar
under an image of
Marianne, a symbol of the
Republic as well as the
ultimate expression of
revolutionary liberation
from the past. Shown
without her pike, calmly
reading a book with a cupid
around, she is more the
mother of this new system
than a warrior for liberty, as
in other prints.
Death of Robespierre
Many deputies of the National Convention feared
Robespierre, and believed that the Terror had gone
too far.
Robespierre was arrested and tried.
He was guillotined on
July 28, 1794 at age 36
After Robespierre’s death,
the Terror ended, and the
more radical members
lost power.
Execution of Robespierre
The Directory
The government of France
1795 to 1799
The Directory - 1795 to 1799
Five elected directors acted as the executive committee,
or Directory of France.
The period of the Directory was one of government
corruption.
The Directory faced political enemies from both
royalists and radicals
The Directory
It could not solve the country’s economic problems, and
it was fighting the wars begun by the Committee of
Public Safety.
The Directory relied more and more on military might to
stay in power.
In 1799 a coup d’état–a sudden overthrow of the
government–led by the popular general Napoleon
Bonaparte toppled the Directory.
Napoleon took power.
Bonus Material
And who doesn’t love bonus material??
Assassination of Jean-Paul Marat
This color image portrays Marat stabbed to death in his
bathtub by Corday. Marat’s housekeeper weeps over his
death while Corday is led off to face justice for her crime.
This is the bathtub
in which Jean Paul
Marat, the Swiss
born scientist and
French
revolutionary was
murdered by
Charlotte Corday on
July 13, 1793
Taking of the Bastille
This color print emphasizes
the populace’s participation in
the storming of the Bastille,
showing the urban population
fighting under a red banner
with muskets, swords, and
pikes against the royal
soldiers. Stunning images
such as these—as well as
dramatic press reports—
contributed to what has
become the widespread view
that the taking of the Bastille
was a spontaneous, brave, and
widely popular revolt against
royal authority.
Nationalism
The French revolutionary army changed the nature of
modern warfare and was an important step in creating
modern nationalism
The new French army was a people’s army fighting a
people’s war on behalf of a people’s government.
Warfare also became more destructive.
The Death of Robespierre
This engraving, based on a
color portrait by Beys, depicts
the death of Robespierre on the
guillotine. The executioners
wear not the traditional
hangman’s hood but red
bonnets representing liberty.
This judgment notes
Robespierre’s failure to the
Revolution itself.
Contemporaries emphasized
that Robespierre’s punishment
was just because it was the
same to which "he had
condemned so many thousands
of innocent victims."
Death mask of French
Revolutionary & member of
the Committee of Public
Safety, Maximilien
Robespierre (1758-1794)
who was sent to the
guillotine in 1794
Execution of Marie Antoinette on October 16, 1793
at the Place de la Révolution
This postcard in English and French does show the broader scene at the execution of the
Queen. Before the guillotine stands Marie Antoinette with Sanson, the same executioner
who had dispatched her husband ten months before. Surrounded by soldiers, and tens of
thousands of onlookers, she awaits the moment of death. Also on the platform is Marie
Antoinette’s confessor. The execution, like that of her husband, took place at the Place de
la Révolution, recently renamed from Place de Louis XV (currently Place de la
Concorde). Dominating the entire scene was a giant statue of Liberty sitting on a pedestal
that once held a statue of Louis XV. In Liberty’s right hand is a pike while she wears a
Phrygian cap. This reshaping of the monarchical square seems quite consistent with the
elimination of the Queen.
Liberty Leading the People
Eugene Delacroix
Although Delacroix
painted this work to
commemorate the
revolution of 1830, it
features many political
symbols from the
revolution of 1789.
Marianne, the symbol
of Liberty, is wearing
the Phrygian cap.
Outcomes of the French Revolution
In a nutshell:
The French Revolution left a powerful legacy
for world history: secular society, nationalism,
and democratic ideas.