The French Revolution
Unfolds
Moderate Phase- 1789-1791: Turned France into a
constitutional monarchy
Radical Phase- 1792-1794: Escalating violence
led to the end of monarchy and the Reign of Terror
The Directory- 1795-1799: Period of reaction
against extremism
Age of Napoleon- 1799-1815: Consolidated
many revolutionary changes
Political Crisis Leads to
Revolt
The political crisis of 1789 coincided with a famine in France
Peasants roamed the countryside
Grain prices soared- (scarcity)
THE GREAT FEAR
BACKGROUND
 Throughout the 1780’s, crop production had been
down.
 The growing season of 1788 included a serious drought.
 The harvest of 1788 was the worst in over a century.
 Yet dues and taxes were still to be collected.
 The peasants were frustrated and angry.
 Peasants set fire to old manor records.-12
THE GREAT FEAR
The peasants
were angry with
what they saw as
an unjust regime.
THE GREAT FEAR
 A lack of action by the National Assembly and a fear of
reprisals by the king against the people led to violent
outbursts.
 RUMOR: after the storming of the Bastille, the king and
nobles were sending agents and bandits into the
countryside to kill peasants.
 ACTION: peasants armed themselves and attacked
nobles, clergy and government officials. Out of fear, the
people acted first.
Paris
Paris is the city at the center of the revolution.
However, there were many factions, or dissenting groups,
looking to gain power.
Many people were looking for a moderate solution
Marquis de Lafayette
“Hero of two worlds”
Fought alongside George
Washington during the American
Revolution.
Headed the National Guard in
France. This militia organized in
response to the arrival of royal troops
in Paris.
Tricolor
Red, white, and blue
badge that
symbolizes the
revolution and
eventually becomes
the colors of the
national flag of
France.
Paris Commune
Radical group
Replaced the royalist government
The most radical groups demanded an end to monarchy
Two reasons the National Assembly
Acted
1. The storming of the Bastille
2. Peasant uprisings
 August 4, 1789-an all night session, the whole of the Old
Regime was overturned.
 The National Assembly voted to end all privileges.
 Were all privileges really sacrificed? No- they were
already lost
THE DECLARATION OF THE RIGHTS OF MAN
 August 26, 1789-the National Assembly issued The
Declaration of the Rights of Man.
 This document was modeled in part on the American
Declaration of Independence.
THE DECLARATION OF THE RIGHTS OF
MAN August 26, 1789
 Proclaimed that governments
exist to protect the natural rights
of citizens.
 Proclaimed that all male citizens
were equal.
 Every Frenchmen had the right to
hold public office.
 Taxes would be levied according
to the ability to pay.
“Liberty, Equality,
Fraternity”
Women React to the
Declaration of Rights of Man
Women were disappointed
They were not granted equal citizenship rights
Olympe de Gougesjournalist
1791- demanded equal rights for women
Wrote Declaration of the Rights of Woman and the Female
Citizen
“Woman is born free and her rights are the same as those
of man.”
de Gouges is eventually executed as the revolution
became more extreme.
THE WOMEN’S MARCH ON VERSAILLES
 The national Assembly moved slowly.
 Nobles continued to live well.
 Commoners were starving.
 Anger again turned to action.
 October 5, 1789-about 6000 women marched 13 miles
to Versailles. They demanded to see the king.
THE WOMEN’S MARCH ON
VERSAILLES
THE WOMEN’S MARCH ON VERSAILLES
The people hated the queen- Marie Antoinette
Marie lived a life of extravagance.
She helped the poor, but it was overshadowed by her lifestyle.
She spent much time at Petit Trianon- a chateau on the palace
grounds.
Petit Trianon
THE WOMEN’S MARCH ON
VERSAILLES
 The women refused to leave Versailles until the king met
their most important demand: return to Paris
 The next morning, the king, queen and children
returned.
 The people made the king wear the tricolor. Why is this
symbolic?
 They would reside in the Tuileries Palace for the next 3
The National Assembly
and the Catholic Church
The Assembly voted to take over and sell church lands in
order to pay off debt.
Catholic Church placed under state control.
1790- Civil Constitution of the Clergy- outlined the new
plan for the church. Greatly reduced the church’s power.
Reaction was swift and angry. The church and religious
peasants condemned it and rejected the changes.
1791
From the time of the Great Fear (July 20 –
August 6, 1789), the National Assembly had
worked at creating the documents necessary
to form a new, democratic constitutional
monarchy for France.
The Constitution of 1791 was presented to the
king in mid June, 1791.
CONSTITUTION 0F 1791
 Created a limited monarchy for France.
 Louis XVI would still be the king of France.
 Louis XVI’s power would be greatly reduced.
 Louis XVI would be subject to the laws of the Constitution
 Louis XVI would be subject to a system of checks and
balances.
 Legislative Assembly now has the power to make laws,
collect taxes, decide issues of war and peace.
 Lawmakers would be elected by tax-paying male
citizens over the age of 25.
CONSTITUTION OF 1791
To moderates, the revolution seemed complete.
Male citizens had achieved equality before the
law and Church interference in government
ended.
What happens next will change people’s minds…
THE FLIGHT TO VARENNES
 June 20, 1791-Louis XVI and the royal family attempted
an escape from Paris heading for the border.
 The king and queen were dressed as servants.
 On the way, the king was recognized by a Frenchman
loyal to the revolution.
 June 21, 1791-At Varennes, the carriage and escorts
were stopped and the king and queen were arrested
 June 22, 1791-the king and family were led back to Paris.
Where were they headed?
Possibly to Pennsylvania.
There were settlers who were loyal to the royal family and
offered asylum to the queen and her son.
They were located near Wysox, on the Susquehanna River.
Azilum
Azilum
Azilum
THE FLIGHT TO VARENNES
THE FLIGHT TO VARENNES
AFTER THE KING’S ESCAPE ATTEMPT
THE RESULTS
 The king and his family are returned to Paris where they
are held under house arrest in the Tuileries Palace.
 September 3, 1791-the Constitution of 1791 went into
effect.
 October 1, 1791-the Legislative Assembly convenes (it
replaces the National Assembly).
THE RESULTS
 Louis XVI had left a letter at the palace before he and
his family fled.
 The letter said that he had never supported the
revolution and anything that he had said or done in
support of the revolution, he had been forced to do.
 The king had given examples of being a traitor in word
and deed.
 The king could not be trusted.
Émigrés
Nobles and clergy who left France when the revolution
began.
They reported attacks on their privileges, their property,
their religion, and their lives.
Other countries turned against France. They did not want
the “French Plague” to spread to their country.
Declaration of Pilnitz
August 1791- Prussian King and Austrian Emperor (also
Marie Antoinette’s brother) issued the Declaration of Pilnitz
Prussia and Austria threaten to intervene to Protect the
French monarchy.
This may have been a bluff, but the French revolutionaries
took this threat very seriously. They prepared for war. The
revolution was about to enter a more radical phase.
Legislative Assembly
October 1791- Legislative Assembly takes office.
Only survives one year.
Economic problems lead to its downfall.
Radical Revolutionaries
Sans-culottes: working class men and women who pushed
the revolution into more radical action.
Sans-culottes means ‘without breeches’. The working class
wore long trousers rather than the knee breeches worn by
upper-class men.
The sans-culottes demanded France become a republic,
or government ruled by elected representatives instead of
a monarch.
Radical Revolutionaries
The sans-culottes found support among radicals in the
Legislative Assembly, especially the Jacobins.
The Jacobins were a revolutionary political club comprised
of middle-class lawyers and intellectuals.
They used pamphlets and newspapers to further their
cause.
April1792
Radicals controlled the Legislative Assembly.
April 1792- Legislative Assembly declares war on Austria,
Prussia, Britain, and others
Powerful countries expected to easily defeat France, but
fighting continued on and off until 1815.