Part 1 The French Revolution 1789-1799. Causes of the French Revolution Population divided into...
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Part 1 The French Revolution 1789-1799
Part 1 The French Revolution 1789-1799. Causes of the French Revolution Population divided into three Estates, or groups Age of Enlightenment Weak monarchy
Causes of the French Revolution Population divided into three
Estates, or groups Age of Enlightenment Weak monarchy Financial
difficulties American Revolution
Slide 3
Three Estates First Estate: Roman Catholic clergy (paid no
taxes to the government) Second Estate: Nobles Third Estate:
Bourgeoisie bankers, merchants, and shop- keepers Sans-culottes
Urban lower classesbutchers, weavers, and servants. As a class,
these workers were called sans-culottes (those who are without knee
britches) Peasants the largest group within the Third Estate. The
poor people of Frances cities often went hungry.
Slide 4
Age of Enlightenment Individuals can look for knowledge and use
their own reason to understand the world rather than be told how to
think by the church or the state. The natural world is governed by
fixed laws that mans reason can discover. Science, not opinion or
faith, will help us find truth and solve problems. Humans are
progressing from immaturity, superstition, and slavery to maturity,
reason, and freedom. All humans have the ability to be enlightened.
By nature, all humans are equal. People are capable of ruling
themselves. The aristocracy is not the only class that deserves to
rule. The middle class should also play a part in politics.
Challenged the right to absolute rule. Government is an agreement
between the people and their rulers.
Slide 5
Weak Monarchy Louis XVI (1754-1793) was incapable of strong,
decisive action He preferred personal interests to court interests
He was strongly influenced by his spendthrift wife, Marie
Antoinette (daughter of Maria Theresa of Austria remember her?)
Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette lived at Versailles, away from Paris
and the peoples troubles
Slide 6
Financial Difficulties The French government had large debts
with heavy interest, because of: Extravagant spending Ambitious
wars (Britain, American Revolution) Need for tax reform The
peasants and the bourgeoisie (Third Estate) were unhappy because
they had to pay all the taxes The nobles and the clergy were
determined not to give up their tax concessions
Slide 7
American Revolution 1776 Like the French Revolution, the
American Revolution began as a dispute over taxes. France sent
troops and supplies to aid the American revolutionaries
Introduction to revolutionary ideas Take up arms against tyranny
Liberal freedoms for all men No taxation without representation A
republic is superior to a monarchy This revolution gave greater
reality to Enlightenment ideals of individual liberty,
representative government, and progressivism. France felt the
impact more than any other country, due to the expense as well as
the ideals their soldiers were inspired by.
Slide 8
Story of the French Revolution Why were all Three Estates
dissatisfied with the Old Regime? How did Louis XVI and Marie
Antoinette add to the crises that France faced?
Slide 9
Louis XVI & Marie Antoinette 1770-1793 Louiss govt was in
debt from war with Britain and financing the American Revolution
Marie Antoinette spent lavishly and lived a luxurious lifestyle
very offensive to poor Parisians
Slide 10
Estates General How did Louis XVI plan to get out debt? Louiss
ministers hoped to avoid bankruptcy by taxing the nobles The nobles
refused to pay taxes unless the king called a meeting of the
Estates General How did the voting system in the Estates General
work? Under the estates rules, each estate (group of people) was to
have one vote Thus, the First and Second Estate could always out
vote the Third Estate two to one How did the Third Estate wish to
change the system? They demanded that all three estates meet
togetherthe votes of all members would count equally Siding with
the nobles however, the king ordered the estates to follow the old
rules The king locked the Third Estate out of every meeting hall in
the city to keep them from meeting
Slide 11
Tennis Court Oath June 20, 1789 In defiance, the members of the
Third Estate gathered in a large indoor tennis court. There, they
swore the famous Tennis Court Oath, pledging never to disband until
they had written a new constitution for France.
Slide 12
What becomes of this meeting, and what are the goals of this
new government? The Third Estate changed its name to the National
Assembly. The assembly was called upon to pass laws and reforms in
the name of the French people. In effect, the assembly proclaimed
an end to absolute monarchy and the beginning of representative
government. This was the first revolutionary legislature and was
made up mostly of the Third Estate and a few nobles and clergy who
joined them. In session from 1789-1791.
Slide 13
Response to National Assembly In the crisis, Louis XVI tried to
make peace with the assembly by yielding with their demands
However, mobs were rioting in the streets believing Louis had hired
foreign troops to massacre French citizens The riots reached their
peak when mobs stormed the Bastille (the prison) in search of
gunpowder to defend against the kings troops
Slide 14
Storming of the Bastille July 14, 1789 Angry attackers hacked
the prison commander of the Bastille and several guards to death,
and then paraded around the streets with the dead mens heads on
spikes The fall of the Bastille became a great symbolic act of
revolution to the French people for several reasons
Slide 15
Bastille Day Forced Louis XVI to abandon his plans of bringing
in foreign troops to assert his power It reduced the kings power
and saved the National Assembly It became a symbol of the
revolutionBastille Day
Slide 16
The Great Fear Before long, rebellion spread from Paris to the
countryside Rumors were circulating that the nobles were hiring
outlaws to terrorize the peasants A new wave of panic called the
Great Fear rolled through France Peasants armed with guns and
pitchforks broke into manor houses and destroyed the old legal
papers that bound them to pay feudal dues Many peasants burned down
the manor houses
Slide 17
Bread Riots In October of 1789, thousands of Parisian women
began rioting over the high prices of bread. Carrying knives, axes,
and other weapons, they marched to Versailles demanding the king
and queen do something about it. They broke into the palace,
killing some guards. The women demanded that Louis and Marie return
to Paris. After some time, Louis agreed.
Slide 18
Revolution Brings Reform & Terror
Slide 19
Declaration of the Rights of Man The Old Regime is now dead.
The National Assembly then adopts a statement of revolutionary
ideas called the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the
Citizen: Liberty, property, security, and resistance to oppression
Equal justice, freedom of speech, and freedom of religion In
keeping with the ideas of revolution, the French people adopted the
slogan Liberty, Equality, Fraternity
Slide 20
The Church The National Assembly then focused on the Church
Church officials and priests were to be paid as state officials
Church land was sold and used to pay off Frances huge debt What
caused the peasants to oppose many of these reforms? The effort to
make the Church part of the state offended them They believed the
Pope should rule over the Church and it should remain
independent
Slide 21
Legislative Assembly, 1791 A new government formed at this time
called the Legislative Assembly The leaders were still prosperous
and well-educated, but were younger and less cautious than their
predecessors in the National Assembly. Many belonged to a political
club called the Jacobins (a radical republican group). Declaration
of Pillnitz: a declaration of the monarchs of Europe that they
would intervene if the French monarchy was threatened.
Slide 22
Threat of War As France faced revolution, they also faced a war
with Austria and Prussia who urged the French to restore Louis to
his position as absolute monarch. War between the two countries was
declared in 1792. The Prussian commander threatened to destroy
Paris if the revolutionaries harmed any member of the royal family.
In retaliation, mobs stormed the palace and massacred the kings
guards. Louis and Marie were deposed and imprisoned in a stone
tower.
Slide 23
September Massacre, 1792 Fearful citizens began raiding prisons
and murdering over 1,000 prisoners, mostly nobles, priests, and
royalist sympathizers. This event was known as the September
Massacre. What effects did the September massacre have on the
government? Under the threat of war, the Legislative Assembly gave
up the idea of a limited monarchy. A new governing body was created
called the National Convention. It abolished the monarchy and made
France a republic.
Slide 24
Jacobins New radical political organizations began to appear at
this time. The most prominent was a group called the Jacobins. One
of the most prominent of the Jacobins was a man named Jean-Paul
Marat. Marat edited a newspaper in which he would call for the
death of all those who continued to support the king. Georges
Danton was another member of the Jacobins. He used passionate,
fiery, speeches to call for the death of many against the
revolution.
Slide 25
Death of Louis XVI The National Convention votes to abolish the
monarchy. Under the new republic, Louis becomes a common citizen
and prisoner. The Jacobins tried Louis for treason and sentenced
him to death.
Slide 26
The Reign of Terror
Slide 27
Robespierre One Jacobin leader, Maximilien Robespierre, slowly
gained power. Robespierre set out to build a republic of virtue by
wiping out every trace of the monarchy. He was nicknamed the
Incorruptible. Robespierre became the leader of the Committee of
Public Safety. His rule became known as the Reign of Terror. He
justified his use of terror by enabling citizens to be true to the
ideas of the Revolution. The Committee began executing enemies of
the revolution.
Slide 28
Reign of Terror As many as 40,000 people were executed during
the terror. Even Georges Danton was tried and sentenced to death
for his opposition to the terror.
Slide 29
Reign of Terror Jean-Paul Marat was stabbed while bathing in
his medicinal tub by a woman who wanted the killing to stop. She
was quoted as saying I killed one man to save 100,000.
Slide 30
Death of Marie Antoinette Marie Antoinette, the widowed queen,
was also tried, found guilty, and sentenced to the guillotine.
Slide 31
Reign of Terror Fearing for their own safety, many members of
the National Convention turned on Robespierre. They demanded his
arrest and execution. He was shot in the jaw then later condemned
to death by the same method as thousands of others
Slide 32
Directory Moderate leaders drafted a new constitution. Five men
headed up the new executive body called the Directory. The
Directory also found a new leader to crush their enemiesNapoleon
Bonaparte.