The French Revolution
The Ancient Régime was established in all old Europe. Its form of government was absolutism. It
consisted of an absolute monarch with unlimited power given by god. This king ruled his
kingdom at his own way without considering people's opinion.
The bad conditions of living, no food, hunger, poverty, economic crisis, luxuries of the nobles and
church, ineptitude of king and queen at government, multiple wars,... All these factors collided with
the enlightenment ideas of freedom, equality, knowledge, learning, education, reason, science: a
better world where live in.
As a result, the people stood up against the tyranny and fought for what they deserve.
Noel Suárez Barro
The French Revolution
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CAUSES
•
Unfairly Stratified Society
France's citizens were divided up into three different social classes according with the
“estates of the realm” model:
1. Clergy (0.5%): monks, nuns, bishop, abbot,...
2. Nobility (1.5%): counts, marquises, noblemen,...
3. Common People (98%): high and petite bourgeoisie, traders, craftsmen, peasants,...
•
Bad Economy
The Monarchy had thrown France into economic problems accruing a huge debt. Some
factor which lead to the bankrupt of France were:
◦ The king was spending a lot of money on wars, including fighting the
British during the French and Indian War (the 7 years war) and helping
the American Colonies' revolutionaries in their War of Independence.
◦ The monarchs were also spending a lot in their own personal luxuries and
the upkeep of Palace of Versailles.
◦ The King, Louis XVI, was terrible indecisive. He was an easy-going man
who preferred hunting to hard work. He was influenced greatly by corrupt nobles and by
his bossy wife. Louis was a week leader in a time of crisis.
◦ The queen, Marie Antoinette, was very unpopular. She was an Austrian, and
all French hated the Austrians. She led a very extravagant lifestyle (luxury
goods, parties, etc) even when France was bankrupt and when poor people
were struggling to survive. She was an authoritarian woman, so in Louis'
depressions she took the control. It was said she have no real concept of the
value of money.
◦ The poor harvest and steady economy decline led to food shortages. Citizens flocked to
Paris demanding bread.
◦ Louis raised taxes in order to end crisis. He attempted to tax the
1st and 2nd estate too, but the refuse to pay... what make the 3rd
estate even more upset.
Noel Suárez Barro
The French Revolution
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•
Enlightenment Ideas
The enlightenment ideas inspired the 3rd estate to question their situation:
liberty
progress
equality
reason
education
freedom
happiness
same rights
better world
REVOLUTION
Till that time, in France, there was a kind of “parliament”, its name was the ESTATES GENERAL.
It was a group of representatives from each social level which the monarch called when he need
opinion about some aspect.
There were 300 representatives from the clergy with right
to one vote, 300 representatives from the nobility with
right to one vote, and 600 representatives from the middle
class with right to one vote too. That was kind of unfair ,
because the 1st and 2nd estate (with similar interests) will
always defeat the third estate.
300
one vote
one vote
300
600
one vote
1st estate
2nd estate
3rd estate
So the 3rd estate, tired of the abuse, demanded to meet as
one body with each deputy having one vote (300 votes for
1st estate, 300 votes for 2nd estate and 600 votes for the 3rd
estate). In that way, maybe one good monk or an enlightened
noble could support the common interests of the third estate.
So the voting would be fairer: balance between estates.
When they purpose this model to the king, he realised he will
lose power. So he answer an absolute NOT on my watch.
So the 3rd estate get angry. On May 1789, middle class
representatives met on a indoor tennis court and pledged
that they would not leave until the king agrees to their
demands: “The Tennis Court Oath”.
Embarrassing situation for the king. Finally he gave in and
agrees the purpose. He ordered the members of the 1st and 2nd
estate to meet 3rd estate as equals. It was the establishment of
the NATIONAL ASSEMBLY.
So, the 3rd estate began the task of drawing up new fair laws
for France. The ordinary people of Paris was delighted.
However, the king change his mind. News soon spread that
Louis ordered the Army to disband the National Assembly.
When people heard of that, they said it was enough: French
people had no food, they taxes were very high, Louis starts
assembling troops at Versailles and the fear about he is
planning attack the new National Assembly and arrest
members. Paris citizens stood up and began the revolution.
Noel Suárez Barro
The French Revolution
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The citizens of Paris began riots. They would not permit the king to
destroy everything they had fought for. They have to options: be quiet
and die or rebel and die. So they decided to counter-attack. The
awakening of third estate.
They ran to Les Invalides to get firearms for being ready to combat.
But something was missing, the gunpowder. Where to find it?
The Bastille, the greatest and more fearsome fortress prison in
France. The place where the captured political prisoners, debtors and
criminal were retained and tortured for never get out again. The
symbol of the absolute monarchy and its invincibility. It was also a
warehouse of gunpowder.
On July 14th 1789 Parisians stormed the Bastille. They break in,
collected gunpowder and weapons to defend the National Assembly
and freed seven political prisoners on their attack. They cut off the
soldiers' head and pull down the building stone by stone. It showed there was still hope and The
Storm of the Bastille became a symbol for the revolution. It is still a important day for France.
One fact about Louis XVI and his unconcern about France's problems was what he wrote on his
Diary 14th July 1789, day of the Storming of the Bastille and current National French Day:
“nothing remarkable” (referring to his hunting).
After the Storming of the Bastille, things proceeded quickly:
– On August 4th, the National Assembly abolished feudalism.
– On August 27th, the National Assembly adopted the Declaration of Rights of Man.
The declaration of human rights was a bit like the USA Declaration of Independence or the Bill of
Rights serve as inspiration. Some articles are:
➢
➢
➢
➢
➢
All men are born equal in rights.
Government must protect the natural rights of men.
These rights are liberty, property, safety and resistance for a oppression.
Sovereignty remains in the nation.
Liberty consist on do whatever you want, without harm anyone.
The Slogan of the French Revolution was:
LIBERTÉ (freedom) EGALITÉ (equality) FRATERNITÉ (brotherhood)
OU LA MORT (or death)
Noel Suárez Barro
The French Revolution
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Today's French National flag was also the “Revolutionary Flag”. The blue and
red were the typical colours of Paris. The white, traditional colour of Bourbon
Monarchy, was placed between them to show that the people is in charge of
France, not the king.
More revolts were coming. In 6th October 1789, thousand of Parisians
women marched to Versailles armed with weapons such as pitchforks
and axes. They broke into the palace and forced the royal family to
return Paris to look at all the people starving to death, with no food
to eat. King and Queen were made to live in the Tuilleiries Palace near
the citizens and under control of people.
In 1790, the Assembly confiscated all the lands of the Roman
Catholic Church in France. The 1st and 2nd estate have been stripped
of all its special rights and privileges. It eliminated all classes and
titles. Nobles and Clergy must pay taxes too. All men are equal. This
was a revenge against the other estates because the power they had
before and how they abuse of it.
In 1791 the National Assembly competed their Constitution and
created the LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY under a Constitutional
Monarchy and Louis XVI accepted it (reluctantly, but he didn't have
many options).
In June 1791, Louis XVI attempted to flee the country with his wife
Marie Antoinette. They trade cloths with their servants and left the
Tuilleiries Palace and try to leave Paris and France. It seems that
Louis was recognised and arrested in the little town of Varannes
few kilometres away from the border of the country because a
guardian recognised the king's signature on this passport. They were
brought back to Paris in disgrace.
France put the king on trial for treason. He was found guilty and
executed on 21st January 1793. Nine months later, Marie
Antoinette was also executed by guillotine.
This event marked the Fall of the Ancient Régime, people dared to
kill their own monarchs who possessed divine rights.
But revolution started getting out of hands... nobles live in fear,
peasants attack them and kill them in their own houses.
Radical revolutionaries, (Jacobines), said how the government
should be run. French got out of control: anarchy.
The radicals were often referred as the sans-culottes because they
wore trousers instead of knee britches. Another part of their
uniform was the phrygian cap which derives from the Roman
Empire and was worn by slave who had been emancipated and
became free citizens.
The French “mascot” Marianne represent the French Republic
and the motto: Liberty, Equality and Fraternity. She is a
representation of the Mother Country: strong, warlike, peace
loving and protective.
Noel Suárez Barro
The French Revolution
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Nobles, clergy and others flee France and tell horror stories about the events which were
happening, they warn enlightened despots about a revolt of masses, leading them to condemn the
revolution and begin to mass armies against a possible French threat.
Between years 1792-1793 other nations of Europe worried that revolution will be contagious
and will spread to their countries (how it actually would be).
As cure for the epidemic, many nations tried in vain to invade France. Austria, Prussia
(Germany), Spain and Britain wage war on France. French fight them off and radicals gain even
more power.
A summary of how European Nations tension began: Prussia and Austria vowed to destroy Paris
if the royal family was harmed (remember Marie Antoinette was sister of the Emperor in Austria).
In 1792 France declare war on Austria. Louis was delighted because he throught that the Austrian
would win, overthrow the Revolution and restore him to the throne. But at the end French Army
pushed back the Austrians and the Prussians. Revolutionary troops from Marseille arrived in Paris
to fight invading armies. The monarchy officially suspends the office of the king on August 10th
1792. France declare a Republic and put the king on trial for treason (intent of flee France). He
was found, as we know, guilty and executed. Nine months later Marie too. The execution of the
monarchs horrified and angered other European despots. So Britain, Spain, Holland,... all
joined Austria and Prussia in their war. France was under the control of the radicals.
The current national anthem of France is called “La Marseillaise”. It was
composed by the people of Marseille who came to defend France from
Austrians' troops. Its lyrics are kind of warlike and rebellious (Nationalism):
to arms citizens, form your battalions, march march, let impure blood, water
our furrows,...
TERROR
In 1793 it is set up a Committee of Public and Safety to deal with the threats
to the Revolution. This Committee as under the leadership of Maximilien
Robespierre who decided that only a harsh government could save the
Revolution, so he carried out what became known as: “The Reign of Terror”.
It had some important successes: appointed brilliant young generals that would
drive the Austrians and other invader out of France, the committee kept price of
food down what was important for poor people. But this vantages came at a
terrible price: blood.
More than 40000 head were cut off: nobles, bourgeois, peasants, workers,
anyone Robespierre saw as a threat to the Revolution.
Under the leadership of Robespierre the Jacobines took control of the
government and imposed a dictatorship (“The Terror”). They tried to
coordinate the European War, while also dealing with the activities of the
counter-revolutionaries.
Maximilien Robespierre as president of the republic, established a
dictatorial and repressive government whose objective was to defend the
revolution.
Noel Suárez Barro
The French Revolution
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Lots of heads were cut of, lots of people were killed. Over 40000
victims in this period referred as the Reign of Terror. Everyone who
Robespierre had a little suspicion about he/she could have counterrevolutionary ideas was guillotined. Rumour was mortal at that
period.
The decline of Robespierre began on March 30th 1794 when he sent
his fellow citizens and friends Danton and Desmoulins to the
guillotine.
Daton was a staunch patriot, but also had qualities Robespierre
detested. It was rumoured that he had accepted bribes from aristocracy
and the king. Desmoulins eloquently sided with Danton in his journal
“The Old Cordelier”. A journal which Robespierre labelled as
“counter-revolutionary” (although it was not).
Robespierre's Republic of Virtue had no place for characters like
them. So he use its power as member of the Committee of Public Safety to have the two unfairly
tried and guillotined.
After this event, the NATIONAL CONVENTION and the Committee of Public Safety eyed
Robespierre with suspicion. He had ordered the death of two of his closest
friends despite the fact that they had been popular among the people of Paris.
Robespierre was the person who decided between wrong and right. The
Convention saw Robespierre as a tyrant and his Republic of Virtue as
authoritarian. A faction of the Convention banded together to destroy
Robespierre before he destroyed the remaining members of the French
government.
On July 28th 1794 Robespierre and his followers were guillotined (what an irony) and the period
known as Terror ended.
In 1795, France's moderate middle class had gained control of the country: the Girondines. In
order to stop violence and executions, they established the DIRECTORY. The Directory was
more conservative government composed by 5 members.
In 1799, France was still in war with other European countries and, at home, radical
revolutionaries wanted to regain control.
In response, general Napoleon Bonaparte, who had recently came from his military campaigns,
organised a military coup and established a new form of government called the CONSULATE (as
the old Roman Republic).
The Consulate consisted of three leaders (consuls), which included Napoleon as head of state and
fist consul. In 1802 he proclaimed himself Consul for Live (Julio Cesar's title).
His insatiable ambition lead him to proclaimed himself Emperor of
France in 1804 and start conquering new territories.
The revolution started and ended with a authoritarian monarch
(as a king or as an emperor) but it actually provoked a lot of good
changes in history. It gives and end to the Early Modern Age and
a begging for the Modern Age in 1789.
Noel Suárez Barro
The French Revolution
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CHANGES
Although the revolution started and ended with a authoritarian leader it have a huge impact in the
history of humanity.
It obtain finally equality under the law, liberty and fraternity among people.
It overthrow the monarchy in France, blow away the old feudal customs and privileges and
abolished the slavery.
It also inspired other civilizations to do the same.
France became a more democratic country based on a republic with the principles of liberty,
equality and fraternity.
This date, 1789, marks the end of the Early Modern Age and the beginning of the current Modern
Age.
With the objective of separate from the Church, because it have made suffer a lot to the third estate
in ancient times, the revolutionaries made a new calendar without any religious reference on it.
Eliminated all the saints and Christian holidays and renamed the months referring to nature's
events. “Vendémaire” (grape harvest), “Brumaire” (mist), “Frimaire” (frost), “Nivôse” (snowy),
“Pluviôse” (rainy), “Ventôse” (windy), “Germinal” (germination), “Floréal” (flower), “Prairial”
(meadow), “Messidor” (harvest), “Thermidor” (summer heat), “Fructidor” (fruit).
Noel Suárez Barro
The French Revolution
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