French Revolution Notes
French Revolution Notes
French Revolution Notes
349-394)
INTRODUCTION:
1789 French Revolution begins
Replaced the old regime with modern society
very radical
Ideas of revolution spread throughout Europe
Influenced the development of political parties
Had 24 million people in a single government
France was the most advanced country of the day
Center of intellectual movement of the Enlightenment
Europeans took their ideas from France
41. BACKGROUND:
A. The Old Regime: The Three Estates
Structure:
The Old Regime was legally aristocratic and feudal society
Everyone belonged to an estate society
1st Estate Clergy
2nd Estate Nobility
Legal Rights and personal prestige
3rd Estate Everyone else
depended on Estate.
The Church:
Levied a tithe on all agricultural products.
Played a part in the government affairs
100 000 Clergy owned 5-10% of the land
Most of the income went to the aristocratic holders of high
Church offices
The Nobility: (400 000 people)
Monopolized all high offices (government, Church, army)
Largely tax exempt
Blocked royal plans for taxation
Blocked all reforms
Bourgeoisie(elite of the Third Estate):
Foreign trade had increased five-fold (1713-1789)
Resented privileges and arrogance of the nobility
B. The Agrarian System of the Old Regime
Survival of Feudal Privileges:
80% of the people were rural, (no serfdom was involved)
Peasants owed no labor to the lord, except a few a token services
Worked their own land, rented the land or were sharecroppers
(some were hired out to the lord or another peasant)
nobility was useless and could be abolished without loss and that the
Third Estate was the general and necessary will of the nation.
Class antagonisms built, making peaceful reform impossible.
Estates General met in May it was boycotted by the Third Estate
which insisted on one vote for very individual. After six weeks of
debate they were joined by the clergy, and the 3 rd Estate declared
itself the National Assembly. The 3rd Estate was shut out of their
meeting hall by troops; therefore, they met in a nearby indoor tennis
court and swore the Tennis Court Oath on June 20 declaring that
they would not disband until they had written a new national
constitution.
Failure of royal leadership
Louis XVI had failed: lost control over the Estates General, exerted
no leadership, offered no program until it was too late, and provided
no symbol behind which parties could rally. He failed to make use of
the profound loyalty to himself felt by the bourgeoisie and common
people.(page 358) Defied by the National Assembly (the 3 rd Estate),
he yielded to advisors and close family members and moved 18 000
troops to Versailles to dissolve the Estates General by force.
C. The Lower Classes in Action
The Storming of the Bastille
Harvest of 1988 was poor and 1789 was the year of depression:
falling wages and unemployment, food prices continued to rise.
The government unable to react to the crisis in order to relieve the
distress.
Workers rioted in Paris, peasants refused to pay taxes and
beggars increased.
- Townspeople feared social violence and began to arm.
On July 14 a mob, assaulted and captured the Bastille, murdering 6
soldiers, the governor of the Bastille and the mayor of Paris army
units near the Bastille did not react to this.
The King accepted a citizen committee as the government of Paris,
sent away the troops he had called to Versailles, and ordered all to
join the National Assembly.
A bourgeois national guard was created to keep order in Paris,
headed by Lafayette.
The Great Fear of 1789
In the countryside, a general panic called the Great Fear began
wanted to destroy the manorial regime by force by: burning manor
houses, attacked any records of fees and dues.
A wave of emigres, mainly nobles, fled France.
D. The Initial Reforms of the National Assembly
The Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen
On the night of August 4, the National Assembly ended all tithes
and tax exemptions.
On August 26, the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen was
formed.
Men are born, and remain, free and equal in rights. The
rights of man included liberty, property, and resistance to
oppression, freedom of thought and religion were guaranteed;
powers of government were to be separated in branches.
The Rights of Woman
Olympe de Gouges wrote the The Rights of Women(1792)
There were a few reforms that lead to the betterment of womens
rights redefined marriage, legalized divorce and inheritance.
National Assembly remained divided. Finally, a crowd of market women
and revolutionary militants, followed by the Paris national guard,
besieged Versailles and moved Louis and his family and the National
Assembly to Paris in October.
The Jacobins
National Assembly became more liberal began to form into clubs, of
which the most important was the Society of the Friends of the
Constitution, known as Jacobins.
The Jacobins discussed policies and plan change.
E. Constitutional Changes
The Constitution of 1791
The National Assembly/Constituent Assembly governed France from
1789 to 1791. They wrote a new constitution destroying the old
regime: 83 departments with uniform municipal organization.
Officials were to be elected locally. Sovereign power was vested in a
unicameral assembly. The executive assembly was kept weak; the
king could only suspend or postpone laws. The new Legislative
Assembly was to be elected by active citizens (males over 25), who
paid direct tax. These men elected electors: ho then elected the
representatives.
In July 1791, the King tried to flee, but was caught.
F. Economic and Cultural Policies
Assignats
To help pay the debt and pay current expenses, the Constituent
Assembly in 1789 confiscated all Church property and issued
notes(assignats) against them. Assignats could be used to purchase
church property.
Banning labor organizations
The government abolished the old guilds and trade unions in favor of
free trade.
A Revolutionary Political Culture
France begins to develop a new national identity through the new
flag, clothing, festivals and public monuments. The new cultural and
political culture helped shape Frances national identity.
G. The Quarrel with the Church
First Estate: called for an end to bishops that were not nobles, were
willing to give up financial privileges of the Church and wanted Roman
Catholicism as the official religion of France.
Second Estate: willing to give up financial privileges, accepted the idea
of careers open to academic merit and said that the government was
out of date.
Third Estate: wanted a fair voting system in the Estates General and
resented the tax privileges of the other estates.
2. What role did the Enlightenment ideas and values play in provoking
the French Revolution?
The Enlightenment ideas and values played a role in provoking the French
Revolution by:
Making the people have a new perspective about life, thus becoming
very critical.
They began to see the truth of Opinion governs the world.
Campaigns to influence public opinion became a powerful political
force in French society.
Began to see a better life with rights and freedoms.
This is how the critical thought of the Enlightenment entered the political
conflicts which led to the revolution.
3. How did the struggle over taxation set the stage for revolution?
The struggle over taxation set the stage for revolution through:
The French nobility through the Parlement summoned the Estates
General because they also wanted freedoms and were willing to give
up special tax privileges.
The meeting of the Estates General, which resulted in a deadlock.
This later on, resulted in the formation of the National Assembly and
the Tennis Court Oath. This was a revolutionary step because the
National Assembly assumed sovereign power, but had no legal
authority.
4. Why did the Third Estate declare itself the National Assembly? How
did the king react?
The Third Estate declared itself the National Assembly because:
The Third Estate did not accept the division of the orders into to three
separate chambers.
The Third Estate initially had been granted double
representation due to the population of this estate, but they
were later informed that the voting would be according to the
7. What freedoms did the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen
guarantee? To whom did it guarantee those freedoms?
The Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen guaranteed freedoms of
thought (press), no taxation without representation and religion. These
freedoms were guaranteed for all men.
8. Who were the Jacobins? What social classes did they represent? How
did the actions of Jacobins shape the revolutionary governments in
the years after 1792?
The Jacobins were those who wanted the Revolution to continue. They
began to organize in club like the Society of Friends of the Constitution,
called the Jacobins for short. The Jacobins were from the Bourgeoisie
social class.
The actions of Jacobins shaped the revolutionary governments after
1792 by:
The addition of the Committee of Public Safety and the Reign
of Terror.
Leading France into war
9. What were the economic policies of the Constituent Assembly? Who
did those policies benefit?
The economic policies of the Constituent Assembly were:
They confiscated all the property of the Church
They issued notes called assignats that were used to buy former
Church lands.
Abolished the old guilds and trade unions.
All these economic changes by the Constituent Assembly benefited the Third
Estate and the Bourgeoisie.
10.
How did the revolutionary government deal with labor
unions?
The Revolutionary government dealt with the labor unions by:
They banned the labor organizations
Abolished the guilds
11.
How did the French Revolution create and promote national
identity among the French people?
The French Revolution created and promoted national identity among the
French people through:
15.
How did the Declaration of Pillintz enhance the power of the
Girondins?
The Declaration of Pillintz enhanced the power of the Girondins by enraging
the French against all the crowned heads of Europe. This gave political
advantage to the Girondins.
16.
18.
How did the French spread revolution throughout Europe?
Where did it spread most successfully? Where was it held in check
by opposing forces?
The France spread Revolution throughout Europe by:
Providing assistance to all peoples wishing to recover their liberty
in the areas that the French armies occupied. The assistance they
provided was through: dissolving old governments, confiscating
government/Church property, abolish tithes, hunting rights and
seigneurial dues. They also set up provisional governments.
22.
What were the goals of the Terror? Who were its victims?
The goals of the Terror were to repress the counter-revolution. The Terror
struck those who were against the Republic or were suspected of hostile
activities. Victims included the Queen, Girondins, Catholic peasants, nobles
and enrages.
23.
How did the Committee of Public Safety attempt to overcome
the problems caused by wartime?
The Committee of Public Safety attempted to overcome the problems
caused by wartime through centralizing administration and ordering the levee
en masse, which controlled the export of gold and confiscated foreign
currency. It also gave freer rein to private enterprise to encourage production.
24.
What happened in Haiti before and during the French
Revolution? What do you think the significance of these events was
for people in France?
Before the French Revolution, the black slaves had already liberated
themselves in a rebellion. During the Revolution, the Napoleon government
re-established slavery in the French colonies. Slavery was not effectively
abolished until 1848. The significance of these events for the people in
France was
25.
What was the Paris Commune? When and why was it
established? How and why was it destroyed?
The Paris Commune was a government that briefly ruled Paris. It was
established on August 10, 1792, in Paris. It was established because of the
dissatisfaction of the lower classes. It helped to stop civil unrest. The
Commune wished to prepare a new and more democratic constitution under
a Convention that was to govern France. It was destroyed because the people
were no longer willing to put up with the dictatorial rule.
26.
Who were the Thermidorians? What were their political
views?
The Thermidorians were those who were against the Reign of Terror. Their
political views were against those who supported Robespierre and the Reign
of Terror. They eliminated and sought revenge on those responsible for the
Reign of Terror: Jacobins. The Thermidorians brought a return to civil
freedoms and a free market.
27.
Why did the Directory have enemies on both the right and
the left?
The Directory had enemies on both the right and the left:
Right Side: Royalists who were in touch with the Count of Provence
and wanted the restoration of the monarchy.
Left Side: those who favoured the democratic ideas from earlier in
the Revolution.
The Directory had enemies on both the right and the left because the
society was still confused as to what is the right thing to govern France.
28.
How did Napoleon Bonaparte take advantage of the
opportunities for social mobility offered by the revolution?
Napoleon Bonaparte took advantage of the opportunities for social
mobility offered by the revolution by:
He was the conquering hero, so he was assigned to command the
army to invade England. Instead of attacking England directly, he
attacks them indirectly through threatening India in an invasion of
Egypt.
29.
Peace was established in 1797 through the coup detat of Fructidor. They
annulled the elections and made peace with Austria.
30.
Why did the Directory turn to Napoleon in 1799? What was
the result?
The Directory turned to Napoleon in 1799 because Emmanuel-Joseph
Sieyes wanted to protect the French government from future instability and
disturbances. The result was that Napoleon became the leader of a military
dictatorship.
31.
Why was Napoleon considered a genius? Do you agree with
this assessment?
Napoleon was considered a genius because he revolutionized warfare with
his great tactics. His ideas of good were blunt, but he was a man of
extraordinary intellectual capacity. He had excellent leadership qualities.
32.
How did Napoleon establish and maintain peace at home and
abroad?