CH. 7.2FRENCH REFORM AND TERROR

Tennis Court Oath

ALL MEN ARE EQUAL! August 27, 1789- the National Assembly

adopted a statement of ideals which reflected the influences of the Declaration of Independence and Enlightenment ideas. “A Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen” declared that “men are born and remain free and equal in rights” and that “the aim of all political association is the preservation of the natural…rights of man. These rights are liberty, property, security, and resistance to oppression.” This document however, did not apply to women.

WHAT ABOUT WOMEN? Disappointed that the Declaration of the

Rights of Man did not grant equal citizenship to them, women called for equality. In 1791, Olympe de Gouges, a journalist, demanded equal rights in her Declaration of the Rights of Woman and the Female Citizen. She proclaimed that women should be equally eligible for all public offices, positions and jobs. Later in the revolution , women met resistance for expressing their views in public, and many, including Gouges, were imprisoned and executed.

FROM 1789 TO 1791… …the National Assembly argued over a

new constitution for France. June 1791, Louis XVI and the royal family attempt to escape France in disguise but are discovered. Soldiers escorted the royal family back to the Tuileries in Paris. This proved to many that Louis XVI was a traitor to the revolution. August 1791, the king of Prussia and the emperor of Austria issued the Declaration of Pilnitz which threatened to intervene to protect the French monarchy. September 1791, the National Assembly completes a new constitution which created a limited constitutional monarchy. This gave the power to make laws to the new governmental body, the Legislative Assembly. Executive powers of enforcing laws remained with the king and his ministers.

Joseph II 1764-1790

Leopold II 1790-1792

THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY WAS SOON SPLIT INTO 3 FACTIONS OVER CITIZENS’ CRIES FOR MORE LIBERTY, MORE EQUALITY AND MORE BREAD.

Radicals – sat on the left side of the hall (left-wing) and they opposed the monarchy and wanted changes in government which would give full power to the common people. The sans-culottes was a radical group who wanted a greater voice in government, lower food prices and an end to food shortages.

Moderates – sat in the center of the hall (centrists) and they wanted some changes in government but not as many as the radicals.

Conservatives – sat on the right side of the hall (right-wing) and believed in the idea of a limited monarchy and wanted few changes in government. The extreme right of this group were the émigrés. They were nobles and others who fled France during the peasant uprisings who wanted to restore the monarchy and the Old Regime.

WAR AND MOB RULE April 1792- the Legislative Assembly declares

war on Austria after Austria and Prussia proposed that France put Louis XVI back on the throne. Prussia soon joined Austria in the fight against the French. As Prussian and Austrian forces approached Paris, they warned the revolutionaries not harm any member of the royal family. August 10, 1792- 20,000 men invade the Tuileries and massacred the Swiss Guard and imprisoned Louis XVI, Marie Antoinette and their children in a stone tower. The fighting between France and other European nations will last on and off until 1815.

September of 1792 saw much bloodshed between Frenchmen. Fearing threats from angry mobs and Parisian radicals, the Legislative Assembly set aside the Constitution of 1791, deposed the king, dissolved the assembly and called for the election of a new governing body. The National Convention was elected in September of 1792 and quickly made sweeping changes. September 21, 1792 they abolished the monarchy and declared France a republic giving only adult male citizens the right to vote.

Since Louis XVI was now only a commoner and a prisoner, he was charged and tried for treason and was found guilty. January 21, 1793- Louis XVI is executed by guillotine.

British illustration of the execution of Louis XVI

1793-Great Britain, Holland and Spain join Austria and Prussia in their fight against the French thus forming an alliance known as the First Coalition. (there will be 7 Coalitions in all)

THE BATTLE OF VALMY WAS A DECISIVE VICTORY FOR THE FRENCH REVOLUTIONARY ARMY OVER PRUSSIAN FORCES.

The French radicals took extreme steps to meet the danger from this new alliance. February 1793- the National Convention order a draft of 300,000 citizens between the ages of 18 and 40.

THE REIGN OF TERROR This period of rule under

Maximilien Robespierre was from July 1793 to July 1794. His rule was an effort to contain and control the enemies of the radical Jacobins from within France: peasants who were horrified by the beheading of the king, priests who would not accept government control and rival leaders who were stirring up rebellion in the provinces.

Robespierre became the leader of the Committee of Public Safety which was responsible for deciding who was an enemy of the republic, trying and executing the guilty. As head of this committee, Robespierre took on the role of dictator of France and executed for treason some 40,000 people total. About 85% were peasants, the urban poor or middle class. Fellow revolutionaries who challenged Robespierre were also victims of his authority and suffered the same fate as the most famous victim of the Reign of Terror, Marie Antoinette.

British political cartoon depicting the Reign of Terror.

July 1794- The National Convention realize that they are not safe from Robespierre and turn on him. He is arrested on July 27, 1794 and executed by guillotine on July 28, 1794 thus ending the Reign of Terror. The National Convention then has the task of drafting a new plan for government. This new government gave power to the upper middle class and called for a two-house legislature and an executive body of five men known as the Directory. Under the leadership of the corrupt moderate Directory, a period of peace and order falls on France.

^Robespierre’s death mask.

Reconstructed model of Robespierre.