Unit 5: The French Revolution
& Napoleonic Era (1789-1815)
REVOLUTION BRINGS REFORM AND TERROR
The National Assembly Reforms France
 The Great Fear spread terror over France
during the summer of 1789.
 National Assembly – in response to uprisings
met Aug 4th & killed Old Regime by wiping
away privileges of 1st and 2nd Estates &
making commoners equal to nobles & clergy.
 They were probably motivated more by fear
of anarchy & chaos than by Enlightenment
idealism, but the American Revolution’s
result certainly impacted some.
The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen
 Aug 25, 1789 – like our own Dec. of Ind. but for the France,
it stated that:
1. men are born with equal rights (liberty, property,
security, and resistance to oppression)
2. government’s responsibility= to secure rights
3. it guaranteed free speech & religion
4. people are equal in eyes of the law
5. people are innocent until proven guilty
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
“Liberty, Equality, Fraternity” became the slogan
Writer Olympe de Gouges – Dec. Rts. Women was
rejected & she was executed in 1793.
The State Takes Control of the Church
 National Assembly declared
Notre-Dame de Paris
1163-1345 A.D
Church officials & priests were
to be elected & paid by state.
 Church lost land & political
independence. Land sold to pay
off national debt.
 Many peasants didn’t agree that
Church should be state-run &
that Pope should rule over
independent Church. It turned
some of them against future
Assembly reforms.
Louis XVI & Family Try to Escape
 His supporters felt monarchy
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in danger.
June 1791 – they try to escape
to Austrian Netherlands.
They were spotted and forced
to return to Paris under
guard.
“I am no longer a King of
France.”
The escape attempt only
emboldened their enemies.
Divisions and Rivalries Develop
 Sept 1791 – Louis agrees to the new
constitution drafted by the National
Assembly. It established a limited monarchy
& Legislative Assembly- to create & adopt
laws, & reject war declarations. The king was
limited, but he still had executive power.
 In spite of the new government, bread
shortages & debt were still problems. How to
best handle these problems will split the
assembly into 3 different groups.
Left, Right, and Center
Radicals
Moderates
Conservatives
Sat on left and wanted
to do away with
monarchy and make
many changes to the
government.
Sat in the middle of
the meeting hall;
wanted some changes,
but not as many as the
left.
Sat on the right and
backed the limited
monarchy and wanted
only a few changes.
Other factions outside the assembly also
tried to have influence: Émigrés - nobles
& others who fled who hoped to restore
the Old Regime & sans culottes (those
without knee breeches) – Parisian shop
keepers & laborers who were not upper
class wanted greater change in France.
They searched for ways to exert their
influence.
Exit Slip – The Assembly Reforms France
1. This landmark French document of August 1789
officially marked the end of the Old Regime?
a. The Constitution b. French Bill of Rights
c. The Declaration of the Rights of Man & Citizen
2. Which group posed most opposition to the state’s
takeover of the Catholic Church?
a. 3rd Estate
b. Peasants c. Sans-culottes
3. Louis XVI and family’s escape attempt
a. Succeeded b. Failed c. Never occurred
4. France’s new constitution established a
a. Limited Monarchy b. Republic c. Dictatorship
Bell Ringer – The Assembly Reforms France
1. This group sat in the middle of the
Legislative Assembly and favored only a few
changes to France’s government?
2. This group sat on the right and liked the
new constitution?
3. This group sat on the left and wanted
drastic changes including doing away with
the king?
4. Émigré’s or sans-culottes: Nobles who
wanted to restore the Old Regime?
France is Invaded
 Other countries feared that the changes in
France would spread to their lands.
 Austria & Prussia urged France to restore the
monarchy. The Legislative Assembly
declared war in April 1792.
 At first the war went badly for France as
Prussians neared Paris. They threatened to
destroy the city if royal family was harmed.
 Aug 10, 1792 – the Tuileries was stormed,
guards massacred, & royal family imprisoned
The September Massacres (1792)
 Rumors - supporters of the king
in Paris prisons planned to
escape & seize the city.
 An angry mob began attacking
prisons & murdered over 1000.
Nobles, priests also fell.
 Radicals in streets pressured
Leg. Assembly to set aside
Constitution of 1791 & elect a
new legislature – National
Convention (Sept. 21, 1791) –
abolished the monarchy &
declared France a republic.
The Jacobins Take Control
 Jacobin Club – a radical political
organization led by Jean-Paul
Marat.
 His newspaper, Friends of the
People, called for the death of those
who supported the king.
 He later was murdered in the
summer of 1793 by Charlotte
Corday.
 Due to National Convention, Louis
XVI was no longer king, but a
prisoner. He went to guillotine in
Jan. 1793 for treason & beheaded.
The War Against France Continues
 Sept. 1792 – Battle of Valmy –
French troops won victory over
Prussians & Austrians.
 Early 1793 – Great Britain,
Holland, & Spain joined Prussia &
Austria against France & France
suffered a string of defeats.
 Jacobin leaders in the Convention
ordered a draft of 300,000
French men between 18 – 40.
Even a few women served in the
800,000 – strong army.
The Reign of Terror (July 1793 – July 1794)
 Early 1793 -Maximilien
Robespierre (a Jacobin)
wanted a “republic of virtue”
by wiping out France’s past.
 New calendar (12 months of
30 days each), no Sundays, &
closed all churches.
 Committee of Public Safety –
to protect the republic from
enemies – he was dictator.
The Reign of Terror Claims 40,000
 “Enemies of the Revolution” often fellow
radicals who challenged Robespierre or those
who were “less radical” than he was.
 Among those who perished at the guillotine
were Georges Danton (Jacobin lawyer) &
Marie Antoinette.
 1000’s of unknowns also died, including an
18 yr-old who cut down a liberty tree.
 Ironically, about 85% were peasants or urban
poor for whom the revolution was supposed
to help.
The End of the Terror
 National Convention – July 1794
– turned on Robespierre &
demanded his arrest &
execution. July 28, 1794 he was
beheaded.
 People of all classes tired of the
Terror & high prices for bread &
salt & necessities.
 1795 – the Convention drafts
France’s 3rd government since
1789 –a Bourgeoisie - controlled
two-house legislature led by 5
moderate men – called The
Directory.
Exit Slip – War, Execution, and Terror!
1. T or F: The September Massacres of 1792 occurred
due to the invasion of France by Austria and
Germany.
2. T or F: The Jacobins were radicals that wanted to
kill all of those who supported the king, including
the king himself.
3. T or F: Jacobin leader Robespierre was most
responsible for the Reign of Terror that claimed
the lives of the queen and 40,000 others.
4. T or F: After the Terror and the death of
Robespierre, the National Convention created yet
another government headed by the Directory.