Scarlet Pimpernel
THE FRENCH REVOLUTION
1789-1799
By the late 1700’s great discontent had swept through France. The peasants
resented the rights of the aristocrats to tax them, to use their lands for hunting, and to
abuse them with impunity or no fear of punishment. Taxation was unequal, being paid
mainly by the THIRD ESTATE, a class which included peasants, merchants, and
professional man. Most nobles and clergy were exempt from land tax
DIVINE RIGHT of kings was claimed by Louis XVI and his queen, Marie Antoinette.
Their rule by the belief that kings received their power to rule from God was responsible
for many inequities suffered by the people of France and added fuel to the
revolutionary fires of the masses.
In 1774, Louis XVI inherited the throne and all the woes of the nation. A timid,
honest blockhead, he wanted sincerely to do away with abuses, but he had no real
interest in politics. He had two interests; hunting and playing at his hobby of
locksmithing. At the age of sixteen he married Marie Antoinette, his much
misunderstood queen, who had a need for love, a passion for gaiety, and a gift for
making enemies. Influenced by her mother, the Empress of Austria, to advance the
interests of Austria at the French court, she made herself suspect, and her enemies used
every opportunity she gave them to discredit her and turn her good qualities to her
disadvantage. The king did appoint an able finance minister, but trouble arose when he
proposed reforms. Had the needed reforms of taxing the privileged classes been
accomplished, the Revolution might have been averted.
The king had granted people the freedom to complain. Had he supported the
Third Estate against the privileged classes, he could have saved France from revolution
and could have saved the monarchy. The French people had observed the American
Revolution of 1776 and what had been accomplished, but they had some obvious
differences that made the French Revolution quite different than the revolution of the
American colonists.
The American colonists, through town meeting and conventions, had prepared
for a government of and by the people, and they had conservative leaders, such as
George Washington, who had been able to keep the American Revolution under control.
In fact, in the long history of revolutions, the American Revolution is unique. The French
people, having no understanding of a constitutional government, wanted a republic
without knowing what a republic was. Therefore, once the French Revolution was
launched, it became a series of frenzied riots with intervals of calm.
During the meeting of the Estates General in June of 1789, over 500 members
who represented the Third Estate proclaimed themselves the National Assembly and
voted that taxation without the consent of the National Assembly was illegal. This act
took away the power of the King and ignited the Revolution. The King decided to
support the privileged classes instead of the common people and had his armies come
to Paris and Versailles to support him. Rumors had it that much of the powder and
ammunition for the armies had been transferred to the Bastille, a prison for political
prisoners.
On July 14, 1789, crowds of people lead by a wine merchant stormed the Bastille,
killed the governor and the guards, and rioted in the streets. This demonstration was
the first of the revolutionary demonstrations and left its imprint on the nation. July 14 is
now celebrated as a national holiday, Bastille Day, in France, much as the Fourth of July
is celebrated in America.
Although “Liberty, Equality, Fraternity” was the slogan for the French Revolution,
this was not always the case. The Revolution lasted for ten years. A particularly blood
period, The Reign of Terror, began in 1793 and lasted for fourteen months. During this
time, thousands of people were killed, including Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette. They
and many others were beheaded by the newly invented guillotine. Many aristocrats
and members of the Third Estate sought refuge in London. The Directory became the
new form of government until its overthrow by Napoleon in 1799.
Name:
Period:
French Revolution Questions
1. What swept through France in the late 1700’s?
2. Name the three things the peasants resented:
a.
b.
c.
3. Tell three things about taxation:
a.
b.
c.
4. Who claimed Divine Rights?
5. What is Divine Rights?
6. How did it affect France?
7. Describe King Louis XVI.
8. Describe Marie Antoinette.
9. What might have averted the French Revolution?
10. Explain two differences between the French and American Revolutions.
a.
b.
11. What single act ignited the French Revolution?
12. What action was the first revolutionary demonstration?
13. Our Independence Day is called the Fourth of July. What is France’s called?
14. What was the slogan for the French Revolution?
15. How long did the French Revolution last?
16. What began in 1793 and lasted more than fourteen months?