Factors which influenced the French Revolution

Page 51 & 52

France vs. England Two different revolutions Two types of monarchy

• “Ancien Regime”.

• A French expression.

• The concept of “Estates” or “Orders”.

• 1st Estate: Clergy (church)

• 2nd Estate: Nobility.

• 3rd Estate: peasants, most of the people.

France

England

• The parliamentarian system.

• Sharing the power with a parliament.

• Bourgeoisie.

• More democratic.

Ideas for a change

• The ideas were basically taken from:

• The American Revolution.

• The Enlightment.

Who helped developing this ideas in France?

• A group of philosophers and writers.

• Three were the most outstanding; they belonged to the “Philosophes” or the “Encyclopaedist Movement”:

• Baron de Montesquieu.

• Jean Jacques Rousseau.

• Emmanuel Joseph Sieyés.

The base of the liberalism

• (Championing) progress.

• Rationalism.

• Individual rights.

Why did the Revolution start at the end of the

18th century?

Two main reasons for the change

• The high rate of poverty among the peasants.

• The sense of being “behind the times”.

• England has developed the Industrial Revolution.

Montesquieu (1689-1755)

“The Spirit of the Law”

• The doctrine of the separation of powers.

• Inspiration for the American Constitution:

• A protection of the Liberty (three power branches).

• Limitation of power of a dictator/autocrat (of the president in the USA); avoid a new absolutist power.

Rousseau (1712-1778)

“The Social Contract”

• Doctrine against the Divine Right of Kings.

• A government only can obtain authority over people, if the people consent to that authority.

• God does not decide who is in power.

• “Man is born free, and is everywhere in chains…”

The Social Contract&

The Right Politics(How to be a good leader)

Sieyés (1748-1836)

Polemical pamphlet

• “Useless” nobility for exploiting their position & resisting for a change.

• The starting point: obvious inequality.

• One vote: 350,000 nobles.

• One vote: 120,000 clergy.

• One vote: 24,500,000 commoners.

The Declaration of the Rights of Man

France: The roots of discontent

Page 53 & 54

France in 1750

• Life expectancy: 29 years.

• Population: 24,900,00 inhabitants.

• 0,5%, the clergy (1st Estate).

• 1,4%, the nobility (2nd Estate).

• 98,1%, the common people (3rd Estate).

• 1 vote = 1st Estate.

• 1 vote = 2nd Estate.

• 1 vote = 3rd Estate.

• The result always the same 2 - 1.

• The bourgeoisie inside the 3rd Estate & with no political influence (although they control part of the economy).

• The Estates General were called to discuss about changing the taxation system (we can imagine the voting result).

Political power

What was especial about this Estates General?

• It was convoked by the King after ...

175 years.

• The economy was bad because of the French participation in the American War of Independence (a war happened in the other part of the world and with almost no sentimental connection for the French population).

Two causes

Taxation obligations• Who paid the taxes?

• 1st & 2nd Estates: NO.

• They had the money & the lands, but no pay taxes.

• 3rd Estate: YES.

• The poorest, but paying all taxes:

• Church; landlords; governments; king.

Immediate causes of the revolution

Page 55

3 major reasons

Louis XVI

Reason number 0: The living conditions of

the King

The Palace of Versailles

Administration &

Taxation

• The King suffered the impossibility to obtain more taxes.

• He was for a Change in the tax legislation, but it did not work.

• He faced the opposition of privileged estates, they did not want to pay taxes.

• 1789: Estates General: conflict in the (unfair) voting system (one vote, one Estate).

American War of Independence

• It was a great Victory over Great Britain (an important European power controlling the navigation between Europe and America).

• But, it brought a huge financial crisis, because the war was extremely expensive.

• But, the good news was that the American Revolution meant one cause for the French Revolution.

Economic & domestic factors

• In 1788 &1789, France suffered severe winters & crop failures.

• The first victims as usual were the peasants and the urban poors.

• The riots started due to the rising of the cereal price.

• The high cost of living & the high price of bread (it doubled its price).

• The market recession, financial crisis, unemployment increasement.

The events of the revolution Page 56 & 57

Guideline/Timeline

• The beginning (1788-1789). • The National Constituent Assembly

(1789-1791). • The Constitutional Monarchy

(1791-1792). • The Girondin Convention (1792-1793). • The Jacobin Convention (1793-1795). • The Directory (1795-1799).

The beginning 1788-1789

• The meeting of the Estates General, May 5, 1789.

• The main demand of the 3rd Estate:

• One person, one vote.

• A more democratic system:

• 291 church representatives = 1 vote.

• 270 nobel representatives = 1 vote.

• 578 3rd Estate representatives = 1 vote.

• The demand of the 3rd Estate was not taken into consideration (they voted and the result was 2 - 1).

• As a protest the 3rd Estate left the Estates General and they were supported by some noble and church men, too.

• The ones who left the “official” meeting met again under a new name “Assemblée Nationale”.

• It represented people of France as a collective.

The National Assembly

Tennis Court Oath

• The King disagreed with the National Assembly and sent them away from Versailles.

• June 20th, 1789, the disidents signed the “Tennis Court Oath”. – They would not separate till they finished

writing a new constitution.

Tennis Court Oath

A revolution started

• July 14th, 1789: The prison of Bastille, the symbol of royal authority, was stormed.

The National Constituent Assembly

1789-1791

• First step: writing a new constitution.

• Meantime: August 26th, “The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen” was approved.

• Consequences:

• The end of the Ancien Regime.

• The disappearance of the “Estates”.

Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the

Citizen

• Popular sovereignity.

• Social equality among all the citizens.

• "All the citizens, being equal in the eyes of the law, are equally admissible to all public dignities, places, and employments, according to their capacity and without distinction other than that of their virtues and of their talents," eliminating the special rights of the nobility and clergy.

First Constitution of France

• In October, Louis XVI and the Royal Family were taken to Paris to approve officially the First Constitution of France.

King’s authority?

• The King and his Royal Family tried to escape to another county dressed up like an aristocratic Russian family in June 1791.

• After this happening, the King´s authority was…

The Constitutional Monarchy 1791-1792

• The change caused many problems:

• Counter-revolutionary movement.

• Difficulties between factions of revolutionaries.

• The Girondins (moderate republicans).

• The Jacobins (radical republicans).

• International opposition.

• Consequence: war against Austria in 1792.

Girondins versus Jacobins Another consequence

The Girondin Convention 1792-1793

• Legislative Assembly replaced by National Convention (more radical).

• Proclaimed the Republic, September, 1792.

• King’s trial: opposing the revolution.

• King’s execution: January 21st, 1793.

• Consequence:

– The Committee of “Public Safety”.

– Revolutionary Tribunal.

French Revolutionary Wars (1792-1802)

• After King’s execution, war was declared against Great Britain.

• Other wars with other European countries.

“The Marseillaise”

• "Chant de guerre pour l'Armée du Rhin" (“War Song for the Army of the Rhine”). • The national anthem and slogan of the

Revolution.

Rouget de Lisle, composer

• ¡Marchemos, hijos de la patria,

• El día de gloria ha llegado!

• Contra nosotros la tiranía,

• El estandarte sangriento se ha alzado,

• ¿Escuchais vosotros en las campiñas,

• rugir a esos feroces soldados?

• ellos vienen hasta vuestros brazos,

• A degollar a nuestros hijos y compañeras!

¡A las armas, ciudadanos!¡Formad vuestros batallones!

Marchad, marchad,¡Que una sangre impuraempape nuestro camino!¡A las armas, ciudadanos!

¡Formad vuestros batallones!Marchad, marchad,

¡Que una sangre impuraempape nuestro camino!

The Jacobin Convention 1792-1795

• Took control of the National Convention.

• “The Reign of Terror” started.

• Constitution was never on, because the convention was replaced by a dictatorship.

• Control of Robespierre:

• All enemies exterminated (September 1793-July 1794.

• June/July 1794: 1400 guillotined (Red Terror).

Robespierre

End of Robespierre

• July 27th, 1794: Robespierre was executed.

• The Revolution went back to a more moderate fashion.

The Directory 1795-1799

• National Convention replaced (coup d´état) in October 1795 with a Directory (a moderate republican government).

• New constitution:

• More moderate.

• Brought peace to France.

• Victory over the Allied States (General Napoleon Bonaparte).

Napoleon 1799

• Coup d´état by Napoleon.

• The Directory was abolished.

• End of the Era of the French Revolution.

• Beginning of the Era of Napoleon.

Timeline: 1789

• The summoning of the Estates General: May 5th, 1789.

• The Tennis Court Oath: June 20th, 1789. • The Storming of the Bastille: July 14th,

1789. • The National Constituent Assembly: August

26th, 1789. • The Declaration of the rights of Man:

August 26th, 1789.

1791-1794

• The First Constitution of France: September 3rd, 1791.

• Proclamation of the First Republic: September 21st, 1792.

• The Period of the “Reign of Terror”: September 1793 – July 1794.

1795-1804

• The Directory: October 1795. • The Consulate: 1799. • Napoleon declares himself Emperor:

May 1804.