So You Say You Want a Revolution?

Part One

The French Revolution

Mr. BachAccelerated World History

Hudson High SchoolHudson, Ohio

Do We Live in an Enlightened Age?

Charles Dickens – A Tale of Two Cities

• It was the best of times,

• It was the worst of times,

• It was the age of wisdom,

• It was the age of foolishness,

• It was the epoch of belief,

• It was the epoch of incredulity

The Buried and the Unburied

The Political Spectrum

Crane Briton’s – Anatomy of a Revolution

• A revolution is like a fever or a disease– The “fever” begins with the appearance of

certain “symptoms”– It proceeds by advances and then retreats to a

crisis stage, “delirium”– The crisis ends when the “fever” breaks– A period of convalescence appears, followed by

a relapse or two, before the recovery is complete

Conditions Present Before Revolution

1. All social classes are discontented2. People are held down by unacceptable

restrictions in society, religion, economy, or government

3. People are hopeful about the future, but are being forced to accept less than what they had hoped

4. People are beginning to think of themselves as a social class, and there is growing bitterness between classes

5. The social classes closest to one another are most hostile

Conditions Present Before a Revolution Occurs

6. Scholars give up on the way their society operates

7. The government does not respond to the needs of society

8. The leaders begin to doubt themselves; some join with the opposition

9. The government is unable to get any real support to save itself

10. The government can no longer finance itself

The Enlightenment

• France was the center of Enlightenment thought in the 18th century

• Equality and Liberty– Voltaire, Jean Jacques

Rousseau, Baron de Montesquieu, Denis Diderot

The American Revolution

• Direct experience in forging a republic against monarchy

• Further tax burden brought on the Bourbons by supporting the Americans

• No Taxation Without Representation

Inequity of the Old Regime

• The First Estate – The Roman Catholic Church

• Paid only 2% of its income to the state

Inequity of the Old Regime

• The Second Estate – The Nobility

• Paid almost nothing in taxes

• Owned 20% of French land

Inequity of the Old Regime

• The Third Estate– The rest of society

– The Bourgeoisie

– The Proletariat• Urban Laborers

• Poor farmers and peasants

– Paid 50% of their income in taxes

The Poor Third Estate

Socio-Economic Data

Group Land Population

Clergy 6 – 10% 2%

Nobility 20 – 25% 1.5%

Bourgeoisie 30% 8.4%

Peasantry 40 – 45% 82 – 87%

Poor Leadership

• Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette– Not prepared to rule

– Antoinette = Hapsburg Family (traditional enemy of the French)

– Largely ignorant to the problems of the country (especially the Third Estate)

Economic Problems of Absolute France

• King Louis XVI must raise taxes yet again to pay off enormous debts– The lavish spending of absolute monarchy

(Versailles)– The cost of assisting in the American

Revolution– The effects of widespread famine and rampant

inflation

French Financial Problems, 1789Urban Commoner’s Budget

King’s Budget

Food 80% Interest 50%

Rent 25% Army 25%

Tithe 10% Versailles 25%

Taxes 35% Coronation 10%

Clothing 20% Loans 25%

Administration 25%

TOTAL 170% TOTAL 160%

The French Urban Poor

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

Percentage of Income Spent on Bread

17871788

The Great Necklace Scandal

• $100 million (in today’s currency) necklace

• Brought further discredit upon Marie Antoinette

The Estates - General

• Called by Louis XVI in order to approve new taxation

• Voting procedure causes the rebellion of the Third Estate

The Estates-General - 1789

First EstateSecond EstateThird Estate

Emmanuel-Joseph Sieyes

• What is the Third Estate?

• Where had the Third Estate been before this date in the political order?

• What does it demand?

The Third Estate AwakensThe commoners declare themselves “representatives of the nation” – no longer the Third Estate

The Formation of the National Assembly

• Extremely audacious– Declare an end to absolute monarchy and

vowed to establish a French republic

• Tennis Court Oath– Swore to create a new constitution for the new

French republic

The Tennis Court Oath

Bastille Day – July 14, 1789

• A mob storms the Bastille (a royal prison) in search of arms– Fearful that Louis XVI would send out the

royal army– This open act of revolution goes unpunished!

The Bastille

Lady Liberty