The French Revolution

Western Civilization II

L’Ancien Regime

First Estate = Clergy 100,000 – 130,000 Owned 10 – 20% of the land

Second Estate = Nobility Less than 400,000 Owned 20% of the land

Third Estate = Everybody Else Bourgeoisie – owned 20% of the land Urban Proletariat (sans-culottes) Peasants – 16 – 21 million, owned 30 – 40% of the land

King Louis XVI

Causes of the Crisis

Recession after a century of overall economic growth & expansion

Grain shortages caused bread shortages, leading to urban unrest

Government bankrupt Lost overseas empire in 7 Years War Owed millions for wars (esp. American Revolution) By 1788, ½ of budget went to pay interest on the debt.

Assembly of Notables (1787) refused Louis XVI’s request for tax increase

The Estates-General

Cahiers de Doleances listed grievances3rd Estate opposed voting by estateTennis Court Oath (June 20, 1789) Declared themselves to be

National Assembly Swore not to disband until

constitution written

Standoff ensued as Louis XVI vacillates

The Tennis Court Oathby Jacques-Louis David

The Storming of the BastilleJuly 14, 1789

The Work of the National Assembly

Great Fear prompts nobles to renounce their feudal rights, Aug. 4-5, 1789

Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen issued Aug. 26, 1789

Women of Paris drag Louis XVI & family back to Paris, Oct. 5, 1789

The Constitutional Monarchy1789 - 1792

Civil Constitution of the Clergy (1790) Made clergy government officials Confiscated land sold & assignats issued based

on value

Constitution of 1791 embodied ideals of Enlightenment King made executive & given 6-month veto Provinces reorganized into smaller departements Only property-owning men could vote, & higher

property requirement to be elected

The Fall of Louis XVI

Louis XVI flees to Varennes in June 1791, but captured & placed under house arrestAustria & Prussia issue Declaration of Pillnitz on Aug. 27, 1791, threatening war if king harmedFrance declared a republic in Sept. 1792King Louis XVI executed in Jan. 1793

The Radical Republic1792 - 1794

National Convention dominated by radical Jacobins

Maximilien Robespierre’s Committee of Public Safety institutes Reign of Terror, April 1793 – July 1794

Cult of Reason

Revolutionary Calendar

Metric systemMaximilien Robespierre

Robespierre’s Purifying Pot

The Directory1794 - 1799

Robespierre killed in Thermidorian Reaction, July 1794

1795 Constitution established 5-man Directory & new bicameral legislature

Barras & Siéyès staged coup d’etat on Nov. 9, 1799, with help of Napoleon Bonaparte

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The Coronation of Napoleon onChristmas Day, 1804