The French Revolution
Liberty Leading The People by Delacroix
Why the French Revolution is important
Why it matters:
• The French Revolution became the
model for revolution in the modern world.
•Unlike the American Revolution which began a
new form of enlightenment gov’t – the French
revolution broke the centuries old class based
society of Europe
• 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.
What Happened When in the French
Revolution
The French Revolution of 1789
student outline
1.Rule of kings until 1789
2. Estates general called in 1789
3.Fall of Bastille July 1789
4.New Constitution 1789-1791
5.Republic 1792
6.Extremists in power 1793
7.Reign of Terror 1793-1794
8.The Directory 1795
9.Napoleon First Consul 1799
The Three Estates
The Estates General is the French body of lawmaking
2nd estate
Nobility
3rd Estate
Bourgeoisie
Commoners
Peasants
1st Estate
Clergy
Louis XIV calls the Estate General into legislation to ask
for money
Last time it was called into session was 1614!
The Number of Representatives
in the Estates General: Vote by Head!
300
Clergy
1st Estate
Aristocracy
2nd Estate
300
648
Commoners
3rd Estate
“The Third Estate Awakens”
Y The commoners finally upset they don’t get fair
representation
Y They proclaimed themselves the “National
Assembly” of France.
“The Tennis Court Oath”
by Jacques Louis David
June 20, 1789
Storming the Bastille, July 14, 1789
Y A rumor that the king was planning a military coup
against the National Assembly.
Y 18 died.
Y 73 wounded.
Y 7 guards
killed.
Y It held 7
prisoners
[5 ordinary
criminals & 2
madmen].
The Great Fear: Peasant
Revolt
(July 20, 1789)
Y Rumors that the feudal aristocracy [the aristos]
were sending hired brigands to attack peasants and
pillage their land.
National Constituent Assembly
1789 - 1791
Liberté!
Egalité!
Fraternité!
August Decrees
August 4-11, 1789
(A renunciation of aristocratic privileges!)
The Declaration of the Rights of Man
and of the Citizen
August 26,
1789
V Liberty!
V Property!
V Resistance to
oppression!
What the new French Republic did
Established the National Assembly to run the gov’t
Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen
1. Rights for all men (abolish of feudal ways)
2. Public office open to all who are qualified (granted not by birth
anymore)
3. No one is exempt from taxes
4. Freedom of press and speech
5. Every citizen has a right to participate in the making of laws
Olympe de Gouges said this includes women!
Citizens marched on palace of Versailles, forced concessions from
King Louis XVI, and the royal family become prisoners of palace
March of the Women,
October 5-6, 1789
A spontaneous demonstration of Parisian
women for bread.
We want the baker, the baker’s wife
and the baker’s boy!
Louis XVI “Accepts” the Constitution
& the National Assembly. 1791
How to Finance the New Govt.?
Confiscate and sell Church Lands (1790)
One of the most controversial decisions of the
entire revolutionary period.
New Relations Between
Church & State
V Government paid the salaries of the French
clergy and maintained the churches.
V The church was reorganized:

The pope had NO voice in the
appointment of
the French clergy.
V It transformed France’s
Roman Catholic Church
into a branch of the state!!
Pope Pius VI
[1775-1799]
Constitution of 1791
Montesquieu anyone?
1792
The rest of Europe gathers
to stop the French
Revolution. They call
themselves the The First
Coalition they sign
the Brunswick Manifesto
Everyone fears: “when France
sneezes all of Europe catches a cold”
The Creation of the Republic
and Wars
• The French revolutionary army changed the nature of
modern warfare and was an important step in creating
modern nationalism.
• Previously, small armies
fought wars between
governments and ruling
dynasties.
• 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.
This military crisis undermines the new
Legislative Assembly.
FRANCE
17921797
AUSTRIA
PRUSSIA
BRITAIN
SPAIN
PIEDMONT
Checking for Understanding
Define Match each definition in the left column with the
appropriate term in the right column.
C 1. the middle class, including
__
merchants, industrialists,
and professional people
A. estate
B 2. obligations of peasants to
__
noble landlords that survived
into the modern era
C. bourgeoisie
B. relics of
feudalism
D. sans-culottes
D 3. “without breeches,” members of the Paris Commune
__
who considered themselves ordinary patriots (in
other words, they wore long trousers instead of fine
knee-length breeches)
A 4. one of the three classes into which French society
__
was divided before the revolution: the clergy (first
estate), the nobles (second estate), and the
townspeople (third estate)
The French Revolution and the
Radical Phase
1793-1794
The Jacobins (a group from Paris,
France) rise to power in the new
French government
They will establish the Committee of Public
Safety which watches the actions of others.
Now it isn’t safe to trust anyone!
The Political Spectrum
TODAY:
1790s:
Montagnards
The Plain
(swing votes)
Girondists
(“The Mountain”)
Monarchíen
(Royalists)
Jacobins
The “Second” French Revolution
 People wonder if the King should be
allowed to live…
The Political Chaos
• The Girondins (rural) wanted to keep the king
alive.
• The Jacobins (especially the Mountain left branch) wanted the King killed.
Things Go Wild
There is murder and mayhem and chaos
in the streets.
The Jacobins take over.
The Reign of Terror begins.
The Storming of the
Tuilieres:
August 9-10, 1792
This was triggered in part by the publication in
Paris of the August 3 Brunswick Manifesto,
which confirmed popular suspicions concerning
the king’s treason.
The National Convention
(September, 1792)
 Its first act was the formal
abolition of the monarchy on
September 22, 1792.
 The Year I of the French Republic.
 The Decree of Fraternity
 it offered French assistance to any
subject peoples who wished to
overthrow their governments.
When France sneezes,
all of Europe catches cold!
The Political Spectrum
TODAY:
1790s:
Montagnards
The Plain
(swing votes)
Girondists
(“The Mountain”)
Monarchíen
(Royalists)
Jacobins
Maximillian Robespierre
(1758 – 1794)
Who were the important Jacobins?
B. To respond, the National Convention formed the 12member Committee of Public Safety, led first by Danton and
then by Maximilian 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.
Committee for Public Safety
 Revolutionary Tribunals.
 300,000 arrested.
 16,000 – 50,000 executed.
The Levee en Masse:
An Entire Nation at Arms! – 500,000 Soldiers
An army based on merit, not birth!
The “Monster” Guillotine
The last guillotine execution in France was in 1939!
A French physician, JosephIgnace Guillotin, was
instrumental in having a law
passed requiring all
sentences of death to be
carried out humanely
by “means of a machine.”
Use of the guillotine, named
for Guillotin,continued in
France through the 1970s.
In 1981, France outlawed
capital punishment.
The Reign of Terror
Terror is nothing other than justice, prompt, severe,
inflexible. -- Robespierre
Let terror be the order
of the day!
c
c
The Revolutionary
Tribunal of Paris alone
executed 2,639 victims
in 15 months.
The total number of
victims nationwide was
over 20,000!
Louis XVI’s Head (January 21, 1793)
c
c
c
The trial of the king was
hastened by the
discovery in a secret
cupboard in the Tuilieres
of a cache of documents.
They proved conclusively
Louis’ knowledge and
encouragement of
foreign intervention.
The National Convention
voted 387 to 334 to
execute the monarchs.
Marie Antoinette Died in October,
1793
Different Social Classes
Executed
8%
7%
28%
25%
31%
War of Resistance to the
Revolution:
The Vendee Revolt, 1793
Why was there a Revolt
in the Vendee?
1. The need for 300,000 French troops
for the war effort.
2. Rural peasantry still highly taxed.
3. Resentment of the Civil Constitution
the Clergy.
4. Peasants had failed to benefit from
the sale of church lands.
TARGETS:
Local government officials
National Guardsmen
Jurying priests
The Reign of Terror (cont.)
• 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.
• Robespierre realized, however, that France
was too Catholic to be dechristianized.
The New Republican Calendar
New Name
Meaning
Time Period
Vendemaire
Vintage
September 22 – October 21
Brumaire
Fog
October 22 – November 20
Frimaire
Frost
November 21 – December 20
Nivose
Snow
December 21 – January 19
Pluviose
Rain
January 20 – February 18
Ventose
Wind
February 19 – March 20
Germinal
Budding
March 21 – April 19
Floreal
Flowers
April 20 – May 19
Prairial
Meadow
May 20 – June 18
Messidor
Harvest
June 19 – July 18
Thermidor
Heat
July 19 – August 17
Fructidor
Fruit
August 18 – September 21
The Radical’s
Arms:
No God!
No Religion!
No King!
No Constitution!
The Response to the Reign of Terror
The Thermidoran Reaction
1794
The “Thermidorean Reaction,” 1794
P the Convention arrests Robespierre.
P Robespierre is tried & guillotined!
The “Thermidorean Reaction,” 1794
The Arrest of Robespierre
The Revolution Consumes
Its Own Children!
Danton Awaits
Execution, 1793
Robespierre Lies Wounded
Before the Revolutionary
Tribunal that will order him
to be guillotined, 1794.
The Revolution Comes to an End
What was the impact anyway?
So the Thermidorean Reaction causes the
French Revolution to end.
Now the Directory (5 men) will lead
Meanwhile the wars with the rest of
Europe continue
The Directory
The Directory
New ruling gov’t of France 1795-1799
Elector choose legislators
They choose 5 men to direct the country –
They are called the Directory
The Directory
• The National Convention of 1795 created a
new constitution reflecting the desire for
stability.
The Directory
• The period of the Directory (1795 to 1799) was
one of government corruption.
• People reacted against the Reign of Terror’s
time of deprivation, some making great
fortunes from graft.
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.
Checking for Understanding
Define Match each definition in the left column with the
appropriate term in the right column.
__
B 1. an individual qualified
to vote in an election
A. faction
__
A 2. a dissenting group
C. coup d’état
__
C 3. a sudden overthrow
of the government
B. elector