HI 112
Raffael Scheck
Colby College
A Survey of Modern Europe
2
The Origins of the French
Revolution
Absolutism in Crisis

The impact of the
American Revolution
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–
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No taxation without
representation
Success: government
without kings and nobles is
possible
Problems of the
“Enlightened Despots”
–
–
Critique of their militarism
Contempt for the people
(“the voice of the people is
the voice of the cattle”)

Catherine II
The Crisis in France
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Enlightened despotism
was inconsistent and
disappointing; Louis XVI
Half-hearted repression
(lettres de cachet) - easy
target for enlightenment
critique
Very dynamic, assertive
society
Rich country with a
bankrupt government
The Financial Crisis of France

Reasons:
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–
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–

Wasteful court management
Foreign war
Antiquated trade structure
Narrow tax base (near
exemption for the clergy
and nobility)
Hence: a “new deal” is
unavoidable - but
dangerous
Three Layers of Social Tensions
1.
2.
3.
Monarchy versus aristocracy
Privileged wealth versus unprivileged
wealth
The poor versus the rich
1. Monarchy against Aristocracy


Aristocracy wants to go back to pre-absolutist
times but justifies its demand in enlightenment
terms (balance of power; rational government;
social contract - but according to Locke, not
Rousseau)
Aristocrats demand a parliament, the Estates
General (not convened since 1614). Votes by
estate. Therefore: secure majority for clergy and
aristocracy
2. Privileged Wealth versus
Unprivileged Wealth

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The Three Estates
The aristocracy enjoys
privileges (tax exemption;
careers; legal advantages)
The wealthy members of
the Third Estate resent
these privileges
(businessmen, merchants,
artisans, bankers)
An example: the Noailles
Affair
3. The Poor Versus the Rich

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Commercial downturn and bad harvests: 1787-89
Enlightenment ideas (Rousseau) among the lower
classes: "we, the people, deserve better than being
poor, unrepresented, and exploited”
New mindset: instead of “we want bread” - “we
want the GOVERNMENT to provide bread!”
Peasants resent feudal contracts and aristocratic
arbitrariness
Hence: as France is approaching a major crisis of
government, many hungry, even starving people
are waiting in the wings, particularly in the cities
The Start of the Revolution

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Aristocratic rebellion,
1787-89. Demand for
Estates General. Tax strike
Rebellion of the Third
Estate: wants doublement
du tiers and voting by
head, not by estate
Abbé Siéyès: the third
estate is the nation!
Louis XVI concedes the
demands of the Third
Estate
The French Revolution
1. Phase: Toward a Constitutional
Monarchy and Abolition of Privilege

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Third Estate with allies
declares itself the National
Assembly. Promise to
write a constitution
“Great Fear”
Popular rebellion in Paris:
storm on the Bastille (July
1789); later abduction of
the royal couple from
Versailles to Paris
Constitution and
Declaration of Rights of
Man - 1791
Balance Sheet for the 1st Phase

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Establishment of a constitutional monarchy and declaration
of rights of men, but not of women
Merit trumps privilege in careers, but voting is still
restricted by income; no democracy
Abolition of feudalism through the “Great Fear”
Centralization, rationalization, standardization of weights
and measures
Problems:
–
–
Louis XVI remains unwilling to work within the new
constitutional framework (“monsieur véto”; flight to Varennes)
Civil Constitution of the Clergy and confiscation of church lands
(financial measure) splits the countryside and leads to massive
unrest
2nd Phase: Constitution of a
Republic; Civil and Foreign War
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Legislative Assembly
declares war on Austria
As the war turns to the
worse, the Assembly calls
for a democratic
constitution and universal
manhood suffrage
Deposition of the king
Random massacres of
aristocrats and priests
Decision to execute the
king
Balance Sheet of the 2nd Phase
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Commitment to
democracy and a republic
Huge mobilization of
revolutionary fanatics
Problems:
–
–
–
Radicalism of Paris crowds
is out of the step with much
of the country at large.
Declaration of the Republic
is preceded by violence
Economic crisis; inflation.
Exacerbated by war
Church policy ignites civil
war in the countryside
3rd Phase: Reign of Terror and
Mobilization of the Nation
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The assembly, renamed as
“Convention,” sets up two
emergency committees
These committees
establish a dictatorship
(Robespierre)
Democratic constitution,
to be implemented after
the war
Levée en masse
Cultural Revolution
Civil War (Vendée)
Balance Sheet of the 3rd Phase:
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Commitment to
democracy, but at the
same time terror in the
name of the people
Cultural Revolution with
absurdities of “political
correctness”
Repression of counterrevolution and turn of the
war in France’s favor
But the terror seems
increasingly absurd and
uncontrolled
4th Phase: Thermidorian
Reaction and Directorate

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Attempt to stabilize the
revolution against both the
left and the right
Republic of property
owners, ruled by 5
directors
Bi-cameral parliament
with lower house elected
along property suffrage
lines
Export of the Revolution
through foreign war:
Sister republics
Balance Sheet of the 4th Phase
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Precarious stability, built
on a thin political base
White terror against
revolutionaries; continued
uprisings from the poor
Growing dependency on
foreign war and victories hence on the army and its
most prestigeous generals
General Napoléon
Bonaparte is invited to
perform a coup d’état
(brumaire 1799)
Napoleonic Europe
Napoleon in France
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His recipe: universal
manhood suffrage but
powerless parliament;
plebiscites (Bonapartism)
Concordat (1801)
First Consul for life
(1802)
Code Napoléon (1804)
Emperor (1804)
Dependent on military
glory. Increasing popular
resentment at endless wars
Napoleon in Europe
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Conqueror and military
genius
Great victories in land
battles (Austerlitz, 1805),
but loss of sea power
(Trafalgar, 1805)
Continental System
From liberator to
oppressor
Downfall (Spanish
uprising, Russia)
Short comeback in 1815
Balance Sheet: Napoleon
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Conserves revolutionary
ideas in France
But he also subverts the
revolution (new nobility;
nepotism; powerless
parliament; repression of
women and workers)
Brings ideas of the
Revolution to much of
Europe (weights and
measures; rights of man;
nationalism)
Romantic hero