•Absolute monarch =
• Absolute monarchs believed they ruled by divine right
• Remember Louis XIV – the ultimate absolute monarch???

King Louis XVI Queen Marie Antoinette

• Became King of France at age 20.
• Married to Marie
Antoinette (of Austria).
• Weak and indecisive ruler.
• Easily influenced by his wife.
• No leadership skills.

• Married Louis XVI at age
14.
• Daughter of Austrian
Emperor Francis I and
Maria Theresa.
• Marriage was an alliance between France and Austria.
• Big spender and spoiled brat.

• In France, people were divided into three estates
– First Estate
• High-ranking members of the Church
• Privileged class
– Second Estate
• Nobility
• Privileged class
– Third Estate
• Everyone else – from peasants in the countryside to wealthy bourgeoisie merchants in the cities
• Unprivileged class

Estate Population
First • Circa 130,000
• High-ranking clergy
Second • Circa 110,000
• Nobles
Third • Circa 25,000,000
• Everyone else: artisans, bourgeoisie, city workers, merchants, peasants, etc., along with many parish priests
Privileges
• Collected the tithe
• Censorship of the press
• Control of education
• Kept records of births, deaths, marriages, etc.
• Catholic faith held honored position of being the state religion
(practiced by monarch and nobility)
• Owned 20% of the land
• Collected taxes in the form of feudal dues
• Monopolized military and state appointments
• Owned 20% of the land
• None
Exemptions
• Paid no taxes
• Subject to Church law rather than civil law
• Paid no taxes
Burdens
• Moral obligation (rather than legal obligation) to assist the poor and needy
• Support the monarchy and Old
Regime
• None
• Support the monarchy and Old
Regime
• Paid all taxes
• Tithe (Church tax)
• Octrot (tax on goods brought into cities)
• Corv ée (forced road work)
• Capitation (poll tax)
• Vingtiéme (income tax)
• Gabelle (salt tax)
• Taille (land tax)
• Feudal dues for use of local manor’s winepress, oven, etc.

• The biggest problem: Debt!
• The French debt was due to:
– The French and Indian War
– The American Revolution
– The tax system
– Economic decline
– And poor harvests
• The results were high bread prices and high unemployment.

• The king (Louis XVI) lavished money on himself and residences like Versailles
• Queen Marie Antoinette was seen as a wasteful spender
• Government found its funds depleted as a result of wars
– Including the funding of the American Revolution
• Deficit spending – a government spending more money than it takes in from tax revenues
• Privileged classes would not submit to being taxed

• Enlightenment ideas that influenced the
American Revolution have spread to French newspapers
Peasants were starving, and they remember they had paid for the
American
Revolution…ideas were planted

• Winter of 1788-1789
• Estates –General – a general assembly of people representing the estates.
– Members of the estates elected representative

Meeting of the Estates-General:
May 5, 1789
• Voting was conducted by estate
– Each estate had one vote
– First and Second Estates could operate as a bloc to stop the Third Estate from having its way
◊ First Estate + ◊ Second Estate - vs. - ◊ Third Estate
• Representatives from the Third Estate demanded that voting be by population
– This would give the Third Estate a great advantage
• Deadlock resulted

The Third Estate declared itself to be the National Assembly.
Louis XVI responded by locking the Third Estate out of the meeting.
The Third Estate relocated to a nearby tennis court where its members vowed to stay together and create a written constitution for France.
On June 23, 1789, Louis XVI relented. He ordered the three estates to meet together as the National Assembly and vote, by population, on a constitution for France.

The National Assembly (May 5, 1789)
• National Assembly ~ formed to pass laws and reforms in the name of the French people.
– Ended the absolute monarchy
– Beginning of representative government
– FIRST ACT of the FRENCH REVOLUTION!!

Storming of the Bastille (July 14, 1789)
• King Louis stationed his army around Versailles rumors began to spread…
– Troops were coming to massacre French citizens.
• People began to gather weapons to defend the city against attack.
• Storming of the Bastille (July 14, 1789) ~ a mob searching for gunpowder and arms stormed the
Bastille (a Paris Prison).
– Took control of the Prison
– Killed the Prison commander and guards – put their heads on pikes and marched around city.
• Celebrate Bastille Day (like 4 th of July)

• Before long, rebellion spread from Paris into the countryside.
• Great Fear ~ time of senseless panic.
– Peasants armed with pitchforks broke into and burned nobles’ manor houses

Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen

Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen
(August 26, 1789)
• Afraid of the violence in France, Nobles and members of the clergy in the National Assembly responded to the uprisings.
– Declared their love for liberty and equality.
• Wrote the Declaration of the Rights of Man and the
Citizen
– Modeled after American Declaration of Independence
• Guaranteed:
– Freedom of religion
– Equality for all male citizens before the law
– Freedom of speech
– Right of liberty, property, security & resistance to oppression

Bellringer!French Revolution Review
• What were the four causes of the French
Revolution? (Explain each)
• Why did the Tennis Court Oath happened?
• Why did angry mobs storm the Bastille?
• What was the declaration of rights of Man and
Citizen?

• In October 1789, thousands of Parisian women rioted over the rising price of bread.
– Peasants consumed about 3-4 loaves of bread a day!
– Took about ½ of their income
– People faced starvation
• Women marched to Versailles carrying knives, axes, and any other weapon they could find.

• As the National Assembly reformed the French government, Louis XVI began to panic.
– Warned that he and his family were in danger
• In June 1791, the royal family tried to escape from France to the Netherlands.
– Caught at the border!
– Returned to Paris and imprisoned…

Constitution of 1791 (October 1, 1791)
• Reforms Made by the National Assembly:
– Abolished Feudalism finally!!
– Nobles agreed to end their special privileges
(including giving up exemption from taxes)
– Church placed under state control
• Constitution of 1791 (established a new government)
• Limited Monarchy created in place of an absolute monarchy

• Monarchs and nobles all over Europe watched frightened as changes were made in France.
– Feared similar revolts in their countries
– Austria and Prussia wanted Louis XVI back as monarch.
• Legislative Assembly declared war on Austria and
Prussia in April 1792.
• August 10, 1792 ~ 20,000 people invaded the palace where the royal family was staying.
– Mob massacred the royal guards
– Imprisoned Louis, Marie Antoinette, and kids.

• As chaos broke out in Paris again, a radical group called the Jacobins took charge.
– Led by Jean-Paul Marat
– Marat is killed…
• Created a new governing body called the National
Convention (September 21, 1792).
– Abolished the monarchy
– Made France a Republic
– All male citizens given right to vote.
• Now Louis XVI was a common citizen and a prisoner.
– Jacobins tried Louis for Treason

Louis XVI Beheaded (January 21, 1792)
• The National Convention found Louis guilty!
– Sentenced to death
– January 21, 1792 the former King was beheaded by the Guillotine.

• The Jacobins had many enemies through France and they needed a way to contain and control these enemies.
• Beginning in 1793, Maximilien Robespierre gained power and control of the Committee of Public Safety.
– Committee of Public Safety – responsible for protecting the
Revolution from its enemies.
– Governed as a dictator
• The Rule of Robespierre became known as the Reign of
Terror.
– Committee had “enemies” tried and the morning and guillotined in the afternoon.
• 18 year old was sentenced to death for cutting down a tree that had been planted as a symbol of liberty.
– 40,000 people were executed (including Marie Antoinette)
• 85% were peasants

• In July 1794, members of the National Convention turned on Robespierre and had him arrested and executed.
– Reign of Terror ended on July 28, 1794 when Robespierre was executed.
• The Directory (1795) ~ new plan of government that put power in the hands of the middle class.
– 3 rd government since 1789
– 2 house legislature
– Executive Body of 5 men (called the Directory)
• But soon, Napoleon Bonaparte, a commander the
French armies would seize power…

• In the army(1795) what side was Napoleon fighting on?
• What is a coup d’ etat?
• When Napoleon came to power, what were some things he did to build on the revolutions ideas?
• What was the Napoleonic Code?
• How was Napoleon a conqueror?
• Describe the downfall of Napoleon.