The French Revolution Unfolds
Chapter 3
Section 2
Video
Go to www.khanacademy.org
In the box “search for a video or topic” at the
top of the page, type “French Revolution”
A series of videos will appear
Click on “French Revolution (Part 2)”
Watch the video
Read the remainder of this powerpoint
Answer the Powerpoint questions for
homework
What were the four phases of the
French Revolution called?
Moderate Phase—National Assembly turned France
into a constitutional monarchy (1789-1791)
Radical Phase—Escalating violence, end of monarchy,
and Reign of Terror (1792-1794)
Age of the Directory (1796-1799)
Age of Napoleon (1799-1815)
What were economic
conditions like in 1789?
Starving peasants
1000s of unemployed persons in search of work
Rising grain prices (80% of income spent on bread alone)
“Great Fear”
Great Fear
Rumors caused a “Great Fear”, or panic, to sweep
across France
Rumors spread of government attacks on peasants
and villagers and seizures of peasant crops.
In retaliation, peasants attacked nobles and their
homes, burned records, and seized grain
Paris Commune
Paris, capital of France, was center of revolutionary activity
Different groups, or factions, competed for political power
Moderates looked to Marquis de Lafayette for leadership
(Lafayette assisted Washington in American Revolution)
Lafayette organized the National Guard in response to king’s
royal troops
A radical political group known as Paris Commune replaced
the Paris government
More political clubs developed and demanded 1) end to the
monarchy and they 2) spread wild rumors about royal family
France
Marquis de Lafayette
He was a French leader
who assisted George
Washington during the
American Revolution.
What changes occurred in the National
Assembly (formerly the Third Estate)?
A meeting was held on August 4, 1789
Nobles surrendered their right to collect dues from
peasants, exclusive hunting rights, special legal
status, and exemption from paying taxes
The National Assembly made the above reforms into
law and achieved a key Enlightenment goal:
“THE EQUALITY OF ALL MALE CITIZENS
BEFORE THE LAW” (sorry – females still not
included at that time)
National Assembly
What was the Declaration of the Rights of
Man and the Citizen?
The National Assembly published this
document
It was modeled after the U.S.
Declaration of Independence
All French men “born and remain free
and equal in rights”
Declaration of the Rights of Man and
the Citizen
•Natural rights include “liberty,
property, security, and resistance
to oppression”
•Governments must exist to
protect the natural rights of
citizens (hey, remember John
Locke??)
•All male citizens equal before the
law, freedom of religion, and taxes
according to one’s ability to pay
Slogan of the French Revolution
“LIBERTY, EQUALITY,
FRATERNITY”
(sorry, but not for women)
Olympe de Gouges
She was a female
journalist who
demanded rights
for women
She authored a
similar document -
Declaration of the
Rights of Women
and the Female
Citizen
Women’s March on Versailles
(October 5, 1789)
6,000 angry women marched 13
miles in rain from Paris to king’s
palace at Versailles
The Women demanded 1) bread
and 2) to personally see King
Louis XVI
They had no food to feed their
families!!
The monarchs and their family left
for Paris followed by the angry
women
Royal family was imprisoned in the
Tuileries Palace in Paris
Women’s March on Versailles
These angry women
are marching with
pitchforks and a
cannon!!
Why did women HATE Queen Marie
Antoinette??
Common women
hated Queen Marie
Antoniette, who
spent huge sums of
money on herself
(clothing, jewelry,
perfumes) while
ignoring the poor,
starving citizens of
France
Versailles Palace
How did the National Assembly Pay Off France’s
Huge Debts?
1) Assembly voted to take over and sell church lands to raise
money
2) National Assembly put French Catholic Church under state
control (church was not happy about this)
3) Bishops and priests were elected and salaried – not
appointed anymore
4) Constitution ended papal (pope’s) authority over French
Church (the pope was furious!!)
5) Convents and monasteries were dissolved
Reaction to National Assembly’s Authority
Over Church
Bishops and priests
refused to accept new
Civil Constitution
Pope condemned the
new constitution
Many religious French
peasants rejected the
changes
Government punished
clergy who refused to
support the Civil
Constitution
Constitution of 1791
The absolute monarchy was replaced by a limited monarchy
New Legislative Assembly had power to make laws, collect
taxes, and decide issues of war and peace
Lawmakers would be elected by tax-paying male citizens over
age 25
Old provinces replaced with 83 departments (counties) of equal
size
French Departments (counties)
King Louis Attempts to Escape
King and family attempted
escape in June, 1791
The escape attempt failed as
the monarchs tried to cross the
border
At the border, a guard
recognized the king’s face from
paper currency
The royal family was escorted
back to Paris
This escape attempt made
Louis XVI appear to be a traitor
to the Revolution
King Louis XVI of France
He did not care at all about
the problems of the French
people. He lacked
leadership. He lacked the
political and economic skills
to govern France
effectively.
How did European rulers react to the French
Revolution?
European rulers did not want French Revolution to
spill across the border and spark similar revolutions in
their countries
Emigres (nobles, clergy, and others who fled the
Revolution to other countries) reported attacks on
their privileges, property, their religion, and their
lives
European rulers did not want “revolutionary ideas” to
“infect” their populations
Map of Europe
Eve of French Revolution
Declaration of Pilnitz
The king of Prussia and Emperor of Austria jointly issued the
Declaration of Pilnitz
Under this declaration, these monarchs threatened to intervene
to protect the French monarchy
(protecting and restoring the French monarchy would prevent
the French Revolution from spreading to other European
countries)
Other European monarchs did not want the French Revolution
to incite violence in their countries!!
The French revolutionaries viewed this declaration as a threat
against the revolution itself
Why did the Legislative Assembly
fail?
Lasted one year amidst new economic problems:
Assignats (currency) dropped in value
Prices rose rapidly
People selfishly hoarded food and supplies
Significant food shortages
Sans-Culottes (“without breeches”)
Another radical revolutionary group
They wore long trousers
The Sans-Culottes demanded a
republic (government ruled by
elected representatives) instead of
a monarchy (government ruled by
king and queen)
Hostile Political Factions
Sans-culottes found support in Legislative Assembly
among the Jacobins, a revolutionary political club
Mostly middle-class lawyers or intellectuals
Jacobins used power of newspapers to spread
revolutionary ideas
War on Tyranny
A war of words between French revolutionaries and
European monarchs erupted into battlefield war
The French Legislative Assembly declared war on
Austria, Prussia, and Britain - to spread the
revolution!!
The great European powers expected an easy victory
against France
But the fighting began in 1792 and lasted until 1815
Powerpoint Questions
1. What was the document the French
Revolutionaries issued that was similar to the U.S.
Declaration of Independence?
2. Why did angry peasant women march on the
Palace of Versailles? What were they demanding?
3. Who were the emigres?
4. Dressed as servants, what did King Louis XVI and
Queen Marie Antoinette attempt to do? What was the
result? Were they successful?
5. Who were the most radical elements of the
revolution? What was their name?
Powerpoint Questions
6. What was the slogan of the French Revolution?
7. What did other European rulers fear about the
French Revolution?
8. What was the Declaration of Pilnitz? Who issued
this declaration?
9. Who were the sans-culottes? What did the sansculottes demand?
10. Why did common women HATE Queen Marie
Antoninette?
NEXT EPISODE
Stay tuned for the next episode of the
French Revolution….”Radical Days of
the Revolution”
The End