In the 1700s, France was considered the most advanced country of Europe.
Large population, prosperous foreign trade, and was the center of the Enlightenment; French culture was widely praised and imitated throughout the rest of the world
Success however can be deceiving; bad harvests, high prices, high taxes, and disturbing questions raised by the Enlightenment ideas of Locke, Rousseau, and Voltaire
I. The Old Order
In the 1770s, the social and political system in France, the Old Regime, remained in place
Under this system, the people of France were divided into three large social classes, or estates
The Privileged Estates
First and Second Estates were privileged (access to high offices, exempt from paying taxes, and hated Enlightenment ideas because they threatened their status); made up 3% of the population
First Estate, The Roman Catholic Church’s clergy, owned 10% of the land in France, provided education and relief services to poor, gave 2% of income to government
Second Estate, was made up of the rich nobles, 2% of population owned 20% of land and paid almost no taxes
Clergy and nobility scorned Enlightenment ideas as radical notions that threatened their status and power as privileged persons
The Third Estate
The Third Estate, was made up of 97% of the population, paid high taxes, made up of three groups
The first group, the Bourgeoisie, or middle class were bankers, factory owners, merchants, professionals, etc.
Believed in Enlightenment ideas of liberty and equality
Some were as wealthy as nobles and felt that wealth should bring a higher social status and more political power
The workers of France’s cities made up the 2nd poorest group in 3rd Estate, includes trades-people, apprentices, laborers and domestic servants; paid low wages and often out of work
Often went hungry; if cost of bread rose, mobs of workers might attack grain carts or bread shops to take what they needed
Peasants formed the largest group in 3rd Estate, paid about half of their income in dues to nobles, tithes and taxes.
Resented the clergy and the nobles for their privileges and special treatment
Discontented and eager for change
II. The Forces of Change
Other factors besides the resentment of the lower classes led to a revolutionary mood in France
New ideas of government
Serious economic problems
Weak and indecisive leadership
All generated a desire for change
Enlightenment Ideas
New views about power and authority in government were spreading among the Third Estate
Members were inspired by the success of the American Revolution
They began questioning long standing notions about the structure of society
Quoting Rousseau and Voltaire, they began to demand equality, liberty, and democracy
Economic Troubles
By the 1780s, France’s once prosperous economy was in decline
This caused alarm among merchants and factory owners of Third Estate
Cost of living was rising rapidly, and crop failures because of bad weather caused a grain shortage and people faced starvation because the price of bread doubled in 1789
France’s government sank into debt because of extravagant spending of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette
France had large debt already because of previous kings
Louis XVI borrowed a lot of money to help the American revolutionaries during the war against Great Britain; this doubled the government’s debt
A Weak Leader
Louis XVI, was indecisive and allowed matters to drift; he had paid little attention to his government advisers
The queen only added to problems; she often interfered in government and often gave poor advice
Louis’s solution was putting off dealing with the financial crisis until he had almost no money left, he then tried to tax the nobility
However, the Second Estate forced him to call a meeting of the Estates-General, an assembly of representatives from all three estates-to approve this new tax; it was held on May 5, 1789 at Versailles
III. Dawn of the Revolution
The clergy and the nobles had dominated the Estates-General throughout the Middle Ages and expected to do so in the 1789 meeting.
Under old rules, each estate’s delegates met in a separate hall to vote; each estate had one vote; the two privileged estates could always outvote the Third Estate
The National Assembly
The Third Estate delegates, made mostly of the bourgeoisie who views had been shaped by the Enlightenment, were eager to make changes in the government
Insisted that all three estates meet together and that each delegate have a vote
Even though the king sided with the nobles and the old medieval rule, Third Estate delegates became more determined to wield power
In a dramatic speech, Emmanuel-Joseph Sieyes suggested that the Third Estate delegates name themselves the National Assembly; to pass laws and reforms in the name of the French people
On June 17, 1789, following Sieyes’ ideas, the Third Estate voted to establish the National Assembly, in effect ending absolute monarchy and beginning of a representative government.
Vote was the first deliberate act of revolution
Three days later, the Third Estate delegates found themselves locked out of their meeting room
They broke down the door to an indoor tennis court, pledging to stay until they had drawn up a new constitution
This pledge became known as the Tennis Court Oath
Storming the Bastille
In Paris, some people suggested that Louis was intent on using military force to dismiss the National Assembly
Others charged that the foreign troops were coming to Paris to massacre French citizens
People began to gather weapons in order to defend the city against attack
On July 14, a mob searching for gunpowder and arms stormed the Bastille, a French prison
After overwhelming the guards and seizing control of the prison, the attackers hacked the prison commander and guards to death and paraded around the streets with their heads on pikes
The fall of the Bastille became a great symbolic act of revolution to the French people
Ever since, July 14 or Bastille Day has become a French National holiday similar to the 4th of July
IV. A Great Fear Sweeps France
Rebellion started to spread to the countryside before long
Rumors that the nobles were hiring outlaws to terrorize peasants created a wave of senseless panic known as the Great Fear
Peasants soon became outlaws themselves
Armed with pitchforks and other farm tools, they broke into noble’s manors to destroy old legal papers that bound them to pay feudal dues
Olympe de Gouges published a declaration of the rights of women, she was rejected and later executed as being an enemy of the revolution
A State Controlled Church
Many early reforms focused on the Church
The National Assembly took over Church lands and declared that Church officials and priests were to be elected and paid as state officials; Catholic Church lost its land and political independence
Move was largely economic; proceeds from the sale of Church land helped pay off France’s huge debt
This alarmed millions of French peasants, who were devout Catholics
The effort to make the Church part of the state offended them; believed that pope should rule over a church independent of the state.
From this time on, peasants opposed the assembly’s reforms
Louis Tries to Escape
As the relationship between Church and state was restructured, Louis XVI pondered his fate as a monarch
Many advisers warned him that he and his family were in danger
The royal family, seeing France as unsafe, tried to flee the country to the Austrian Netherlands in June 1791
As they neared the border, they were apprehended and returned to Paris
His attempted escape increased the influence of his radical enemies in the government and sealed his fate
VI. Divisions Develop
For two years, the National Assembly argued over a new constitution for France
By 1791, the delegates had made significant changes in France’s government and society
This constitution created a constitutional monarchy stripping the king of much of his authority
It created a new legislative body, the Legislative Assembly
This body had the power to create laws, and to approve or reject declarations of war; executive power to carry out laws still lied with the king
Factions Split France
Despite the new government, old problems still remained such as food shortages and government debt
The question of how to handle these problems caused the Legislative Assembly to split into three groups, each of which sat in a different section of the meeting hall
Radicals, who sat on the left side of the hall, opposed the idea of a monarchy and wanted sweeping changes on the how the government was run
The Moderates, sat in the center of the hall, wanted changes but not as many as the Radicals
The Conservatives, sat on the right side of the hall, upheld the idea of a limited monarchy and wanted few changes to government
Factions outside of the Legislative Assembly wanted to influence the direction of government as well
Emigres, nobles and others who had fled France, hoped to undo the revolution and restore the Old Regime
In contrast, some Parisian workers wanted the Revolution to bring even greater changes to France; they were called sans-culottes or “those without knee-breeches
These people wore regular trousers, unlike the upper class
VII. War and Execution
Monarchs and nobles from other countries watched the changes taking place in France with alarm
Feared that similar revolts might break out in their own countries
Some radicals wanted to spread these revolutionary ideas throughout Europe
Austria and Prussia, for example, urged the French to restore Louis to his position as absolute monarch
Legislative Assembly responded by declaring war in April 1792
France at War
By summer of 1792, Prussian forces were advancing on Paris
The Prussian commander threatened to destroy Paris if the revolutionaries harmed any member of the royal family
Enraged by this, 20,000 Parisians on August 10, invaded the Tuileries (palace).
The mob massacred the royal guard and imprisoned Louis, Marie Antoinette, and their children
French troops that were defending Paris were sent to reinforce the French army in the field
Due to rumors spreading that imprisoned citizens were planning to break out and support the king, people began to take the law into their own hands
For several days in September, prisons were raided and 1,000 prisoners were murdered; royalist sympathizers were victims during these September Massacres
Under pressure from the Radicals, the Legislative Assembly set aside the Constitution of 1791
It declared the king deposed, dissolved the assembly, and called for the election of a new legislature
The National Convention took office on September 21
It quickly abolished the monarchy and declared France a republic; adult, male citizens were given the right to vote
Jacobins Take Control
Most governmental changes that took place in September 1792 came from members of a radical political organization, the Jacobin Club
One prominent Jacobin, Jean-Paul Marat, edited a newspaper called L’Ami du Peuple (Friend of the People)
In many editorials, Marat called for the death of all those who continued to support the king
Georges Danton, a lawyer, was also known for his devotion to the rights of Paris’s poor people
The National Convention has reduced Louis XVI from that of king to that of a common citizen and prisoner
Found guilty, the Convention sentenced him to death
On January 21, 1793, the former king was beheaded by the guillotine
The War Continues
When the Convention took office, the French army won a stunning victory against the Austrians and the Prussians at the Battle of Valmy
When Great Britain, Holland, and Spain joined forces with Austria and Prussia, a draft was ordered by the National Convention; 300,000 French between the age of 18-40 were ordered to fight
In 1794, the army had grown to 800,000 and included women
VIII. The Terror Grips France
Besides foreign enemies, the Jacobins had thousands of enemies within France itself
These included peasants who were horrified by the king’s execution, priests who would not accept government control, and rival leaders who were stirring up rebellion in the provinces
How to contain these problems became a central issue
Robespierre Assumes Control
In early 1793, one Jacobin leader, Maximilien Robespierre, slowly gained power.
Robespierre and his supporters set out to build a “republic of virtue” by wiping out traces of France’s past
They changed the calendar, dividing the year into 12 months of 30 days and renaming each month; calendar had no Sundays—considered religion old fashioned and dangerous
Closed all churches in Paris; cities and towns in France eventually did the same
July 1793, Robespierre became leader of the Committee of Public Safety
Governed France virtually as a dictator
His period of rule was known as the Reign of Terror
The main task of the Committee was to protect the Revolution from its enemies
