Lecture - 5 – The French Revolution
A.
Causes/Origins of the French Revolution
a.
b.
Absolute Monarchy
i.
Was not a progressive form of government.
ii.
Modernized slowly
Decline as a world power
i.
c.
d.
B.
Shook confidence in government after colonial losses
Population and urbanization
i.
3x that of England
ii.
Population – from 1715-1789 from 18 to 26 million. 44% increase.
The Enlightenment
i.
Montesquieu Spirit of the Laws 1748
ii.
Suggests that nobles were the traditional check on the monarchy
iii.
The example of the American Revolution
e.
Conflicts between Monarchy and aristocracy
f.
The Personalities
Economic Causes
a.
Debt from War (4.6 billion)
i.
b.
Polish Succession – 1733-1735
ii.
Austrian Succession – 1740-1748
iii.
Seven Years War – 1754-1763
iv.
The American Revolution
Fiscal Crises
i.
4.6 billion in debt
ii.
Yearly income 600 million
iii.
Half was spent on interest
iv.
1781 – Comptroller Jacques Necker publishes Crowns budget
v.
1.
He suggested taxing the aristocracy
2.
Dismiss but brought back
Charles Alexander de Calonne appointed 1783
1.
2.
C.
Proposed
a.
Land tax
b.
No income tax
c.
No tariffs
d.
State Bank
Had to flee to London
The Estates General
a.
Most clergy and nobles which was no threat
i.
The 1st and 2nd Estates could outvote the
ii.
Conservatives expected to maintain control
b.
May 1789
c.
Committee of Thirty
d.
i.
Nobles in support of 3rd Estate
ii.
Wanted it to have as many delegates as 1 & 2 Estates
Cahiers de Dole’ances
i.
King ask for a list of grievances.
1.
Rural People
a.
Higher pay for priest
b.
2.
e.
f.
E.
F.
a.
Demand constitution
b.
Individual rights
c.
No Tax without consent
d.
Permanent Estate General
Kings Response to the Estates
i.
He is indifferent
ii.
Cautions against radical actions
iii.
Provides no Exec leadership.
3rd Estate asks for individual representation and individual votes
i.
D.
A minority suggested lower taxes
Urban
Leads to a dead lock
Abbe Sieyes
a.
Leadership emerges from the 3rd Estate
b.
He supported popular sovereignty
c.
100 clergy join the 3rd estate and helped create the National Assembly
The National Assembly
a.
June 17, 1789
b.
Third Estate declares Est. Gen. dead announces the creation of National Assembly
c.
June 4 – Dauphin dies, King in mourning
d.
Tennis Court Oath – June 20th – Nat. Ass. Declares it will not stop until they have a constitution
King Response
a.
Does not recognize the Assembly
b.
Wants to maintain the Estates
c.
Gives many concessions but orders Nat. Assembly to disband
d.
Quote – Marquis De Dreux-Breze
i.
“Gentlemen, you have heard the King’s order.” Mirabeau. “Go tell your master that we are here by
the will of the people and that we shall not move except at the point of the bayonet.”
e.
G.
H.
I.
They called the Kings bluff
Violence in Paris
a.
King decided to reassert his authority calls troops to Paris
b.
Rumors begin to spread
c.
Palais Royal – Free Speech zone
d.
Crowd gathers
e.
Troops retreat to the other side of the river
The National Guard.
July
a.
Parisian electors formed a citizens militia
b.
48000 men.
14th
a.
1789
80,000 mob
b.
Begin looking for gunpowder
c.
Led them to the Bastille
d.
i.
Only had a few prisoners
ii.
Citizens believed that it was full of people arrested by the government
Storming the Bastille
i.
e.
J.
It represented the Old Regime
After King gives Royal approval to the militia
The Great Fear
i.
He addresses the crowd with a cockade
ii.
Lafayette chose to command
K.
a.
July-August 1789
b.
Revolutions spread to towns and province
c.
There were Bread Riots before the Bastille
d.
The Great Fear was hysteria caused by rumors of brigands and foreign troops
The Assembly moves forward
a.
National Ass. Abolishes dues and taxes
b.
The Declaration of the Rights of Man
i.
c.
L.
i.
August 27th – Assembly passed the Declaration
ii.
Preamble to constitution
iii.
Influenced by T. Jefferson and Dec. of Ind.
The Kings Veto
i.
Assembly threatens King veto
ii.
King calls troops
iii.
Encourage by Marie
The March of the Women
a.
Oct. 1789
i.
b.
M.
b.
6,000 - Women March to Versailles
iii.
National Guard – hours behind them
iv.
Women meet the King
Second Mob
i.
Demands the King move to Paris
ii.
National Assembly follows
iii.
Now prisoners of mobs of Paris
Jacobins
i.
Reaches height of its power during the Terror
ii.
Very Liberal
Cordeliers
i.
P.
More conservatives
Nationalizing Church Property
a.
Without taxes Revenue would come from the Redistribution of Land
b.
Talleyrand de Perigord (1754-1838)
c.
O.
Famine in Paris
ii.
Political Clubs
a.
N.
Louis refused to sign until mobs changed his mind
i.
Suggested the seizure of church property
ii.
Assembly approves in November
Issue Currency
i.
The idea was that people could by church property
ii.
Problems
1.
They were meant to buy property and then be destroyed they were allowed to circulate
2.
Printed to many
a.
400 million issued 1789
b.
39 billion by 1796
The Flight to Varennes
a.
June 20 1791
b.
King and his family try to escape
c.
He is caught and returned and forced to obey constitution
d.
Assembly maintained the Myth that he was kidnapped.
Champ de Mars
a.
July 1791
b.
Q.
Cordeliers – suggested disposing the King and creating a republic
50,000 working class Parisians met to sign petition
National Assembly tries to restore order
i.
Marital Law declared
ii.
Crowd throw stones at the troops
iii.
Guardsmen fire on the crowds
iv.
13 killed
The Constitution 0f 1791
a.
R.
i.
ii.
The Assembly strips Kings power
i.
Divides France into provinces
ii.
Replaces Royal courts
b.
June 1791 Constitution Finished
c.
King signs in and is ratified in September 1791
d.
Constitution
i.
Establishes a Constitutional Monarchy
ii.
Male suffrage (25 and over)
iii.
Active and passive citizens
iv.
Democratic for its time
The Legislative Assembly
a.
Self-denying ordinance
b.
Factions
i.
Feuillants – Constitutional Monarchist
ii.
Girondins – Want a Republic
1.
S.
a.
Austria and Prussia declared war August of 1791
b.
Girodians push Louis to declare war
c.
Louis –
i.
Benefits – If France was successful monarchy would be strengthen
ii.
If France lost they would restore absolute monarchy
d.
Émigrés
e.
Military Failure
i.
T.
October 1791 - Assembly issues orders that Nobles who don’t return will lose titles and property
i.
Troops have no discipline
ii.
Lose battles to the Prussians
The Tuileries
a.
Santerre - Mobs
i.
Lafayette fled to Belgium
b.
Mob invades Tuilieries and National Assembly
c.
National Guard called
i.
i.
d.
U.
They have support of the Jacobins and Cordiliers Clubs
War and Flight of Nobles
Make King drink a toast and wear a red hat
They side with Jocobins
Brunswick Manifesto
i.
Duke of Brunswick
ii.
Threatens Paris if King is harm
iii.
Parisians get angry and think the King is a traitor
Insurrection Commune
a.
August 9th
b.
They dismiss Marquis de Mandat (leader of the Paris
c.
Put san-coulat leader Santerre in charge.
d.
V.
He removes the guards from the Tuilieris
September Massacre (1791)
a.
George-Jaques Danton - Organized the events to Seize Louis
b.
Provisional Executive Council created to act as Executive.
c.
Prussians approach Paris
d.
Mob begins to kill prisoners
e.
i.
Thought it was a royalist plot
ii.
Most prisoners were just criminals
iii.
1,200 died in Paris and spread to the provinces.
Battle of Valmy – Prussians lose and retreat
W. The National Convention (September 1792)
X.
a.
Abolished Monarchy
b.
Nation in Panic
b.
Z.
What do you do with Louis
How do you win the War
iii.
How to keep the country fed.
iv.
Curb the power of the Paris Commune
v.
Suppress Domestic Opposition
Montagnards vs. Girondians
a.
Y.
i.
ii.
Mont.
i.
Led by Robespierre
ii.
Radical
iii.
Supported by the political clubs (Jacobins)
Giron –
i.
Conservative
ii.
Leniency for the King
The Trial and Execution
a.
Secret letters found don’t help Louis
b.
Convention almost unanimously voted guilty
c.
Vote to give him death penalty
The Fall of the Girondians
a.
b.
c.
After execution they lose favor
i.
Actions during the Trial
ii.
Motion for a plebiscite
iii.
Loss of battle
June 1793
i.
Mob with the National Guard
ii.
Surrounded the Convention and arrested the Girondians
iii.
Leaders executed
iv.
Even Thomas Paine is arrested.
Radicals (Jacobin Club) in control
i.
They unleash the Terror
AA. The Death of Marat
a.
Begins the Reign of Terror
BB. Committee of Public Safety
a.
April 1793
b.
Becomes Executive Organ of Government
c.
“terror is the order of the day”
CC. The Reign of Terror
a.
Anti-Christian
b.
What would replace Religion?
i.
THE STATE
ii.
Calendar Changed
iii. Autumn:
1.
Vendémiaire in French (from Latin vindemia, "grape harvest"), starting
22, 23 or 24 September
2.
Brumaire (from French brume, "fog"), starting 22, 23 or 24 October
3.
Frimaire (From French frimas, "frost"), starting 21, 22 or 23 November
iv. Winter:
1.
Nivôse (from Latin nivosus, "snowy"), starting 21, 22 or 23 December
2.
Pluviôse (from Latin pluvius, "rainy"), starting 20, 21 or 22 January
3.
Ventôse (from Latin ventosus, "windy"), starting 19, 20 or 21 February
v. Spring:
1.
Germinal (from Latin germen, "germination"), starting 20 or 21 March
2.
Floréal (from Latin flos, "flower"), starting 20 or 21 April
3.
Prairial (from French prairie, "pasture"), starting 20 or 21 May
vi. Summer:
1.
Messidor (from Latin messis, "harvest"), starting 19 or 20 June
2.
Thermidor (or Fervidor) (from Greek thermon, "summer heat"), starting
19 or 20 July
3.
Fructidor (from Latin fructus, "fruit"), starting 18 or 19 August
DD. Organs of the Terror
a.
Committee of Public Safely
i. The one noble on it is the first executed
ii. Eventually kill Marie Antionette
iii.
b.
Committee of Security
i. Rounding up the suspects for the Terror
c.
Committee of Public Instruction
i. Reeducation
ii. Propaganda
iii. People even changed their names
EE. The Vendee
1.
Plebe Plebeien
2.
Legume Vertueux (Virtuous Vegetable)
a.
Western Rural Revolt
i. Loyal to the King
ii. More religious
iii. Led by Nobles, Priest and popular peasants
iv. Their food was take for the cities.
b.
Putting Down the Rebellion
i. Noyades – mass drowning.
c.
Provincial Revolts
i. Many major cities – Lyon, Marsialles
FF. Success of the Terror
a.
Military Victories
b.
Mobilization of Supplies though strict economic control
i. Law of Maximum
c.
1.
Set food prices
2.
Death penalty for hoarders
Created Public School System
GG. De-Christianizing
a.
Vandals encouraged to wreck churches
b.
The Cult of the Supreme Being
i. Does not take off as Robespierre hoped
ii. Makes Robespierre look like a dictator
HH. Thermidor
a.
Law of 22 Prairial – Law of Suspects
i. Revloutionary Tribunals
1.
b.
Death or Aquittal
The Terror early on was justified by Defense
i. By June 1794 no enemy threat
ii. Rebellions put down
c.
Executions intensify under the new Law
i. Seven weeks – 1400 people
ii. More than the previous year.
d.
Opposition against Robespirre
e.
July 26th He was taken prisoner
i. National Guard took him from prison
ii. Shot him in the jaw
iii. 18 of his lieutenants were executed
iv. The Terror was over
II.
Thermidorians
a.
Undid Comm. Public Safety Laws
i. Limited them to War and Foreign Policy
ii. Undoing Jacobin Clubs
b.
“Justice is the Order of the Day”
i. But really it was revenge on the Jacobins, and those who orchestrated the
Terror.
ii. Weatlhy young people began to attack the san-coullates or anyone with a red
hat.
c.
White Terror – in rural regions
i. It was the Attack on Jacobins
d.
Repealed Law of Maximum
i. Paper money because worthless
ii. Food shortages – drought and freeze but people blamed Thermadorains
iii. Winter hit 1794-1795
JJ. Constitution of 1793
a.
Produced by Thermidor
i. Quickly suspended
ii. A mob takes over the Convention
b.
Replaced Constitution
i. Constitution of Year III
1.
Designed to keep government from Radicals
2.
Abbe Sieyes “I survived” (the Terror)
3.
Power should be in the hands of “those with something to lose”
KK. The Directory
a.
Five man Directory – leadership on 3 month rotation
b.
Was checked by the Legislature
i. Flawed by the numbers of checks and balances
ii. Meant to prevent dictatorship
iii. Led to weak leadership
LL. Constitutional Monarchist
a.
Organized the sections of Paris to raid the Convention in the Tuileres
i. General Napoleon Bonaparte to command the defense.
1.
Given the job because he was ambitious and ruthless
ii. October 4, 1795
b.
Seizes artillery from National Guard (40 cannon)
i. Loaded with canister
c.
Crowd gathers October 5
i. 50,000 people including 10,000 national guard
ii. Napoleon fired into the crowd
iii. There are no more mobs after this.