The French Revolution

Freedom! …..Equality!...Brotherhood!

The French Revolution

The Old Regime

Outbreak of Revolution

Radical Stage of the Revolution

Political Alliances1770 - The Palace of Versailles

Louis XVI marries Marie Antoinette establishing an alliance between France and Austria

Outside Versailles…The people of France are deprived and hungry…The people of France are deprived and hungry…

- Seven Year’s War (1756–1763)- France’s economy brutalized by loss to Great Britain in North America

- population continues to grow while economy suffers more and more

- France becomes a nation on the brink of chaos. Wealthy nation, but bankrupt government (50% of budget to pay debt)

The Three Estates

Three Estates

First Estate – clergymen- lived lives of luxury, owned land and paid little taxes

Second Estate – nobility- highly privileged, land-owners, government and military officials, paid little to no taxes due to close relationship with the King and traditional privileges

Three EstatesThird Estate – peasants, city-workers, middle class

Peasants - small farmers; most owned small farmsBourgeoisie (middle class) – doctors, bankers, lawyers, merchants, intellectuals, government bureaucrats; lacked the prestige of the nobility

- highly motivated by the Enlightenment

The Enlightenment

French Revolutionaries- inspired by Voltaire, Rousseau and the like, the Enlightenment provides an opportunity for the people to question their class structure, the government, etc- encourages the people not to trust what they know (church, government), but to think and to question what they do not…

Bread RiotsFinancial Reform

Louis XVI raises taxes for the poor; the nobility refuses to be taxed at all

Jacques Necker

- believes it is the government’s duty to assure there is enough bread and grain for all

- convinces Louis XVI to call The Estates General

The Estates General

The Estates GeneralMay 1789

The Estates General meets at Versailles- The Third Estate desires to change the method of voting in the interest of fairness and meet as one body- The Third Estate sets up The National Assembly

The Tennis Court Oath – the decision to write a new constitution for

France- Louis XVI gives in and the nobility and

clergy join the National Assembly

The National AssemblyLouis XVI responds to the National Assembly,

exercising his power as monarch, by sending 18,000 soldiers to Versailles

FEAR overcomes the people as it appears Louis XVI will crush the National Assembly

A MOB FORMS…

RevolutionWhat is a revolution?What is a revolution?

Revolution – 1. a sudden, complete or marked change in something; 2. an (often sudden) broad, fundamental, and lasting change in people's behavior, culture, and world view AND/OR in society's social, political, and cultural institutions

What causes revolution?What causes revolution?How does a revolution succeed?How does a revolution succeed?

Does a revolution need to be violent?Does a revolution need to be violent?

Storming the Bastille July 14, 1789 – Paris

Storming the Bastille

July 14, 1789 – Paris, France

- to save the National Assembly the people of Paris storm the Bastille for guns and gun powder

- the heads of the Commander of the Bastille and the Mayor of Paris placed on pikes and paraded through the streets of Paris

Victory at the Bastille

- Louis XVI calls back his troops and the people of Paris declare VICTORY!

- July 14th Bastille Day

Declaration of the Rights of Man

Declaration of the Rights of Man

August 27, 1789

- class distinctions are abolished

- all men are considered equal

- seize power from the monarch and create a Constitutional Monarchy

- equal rights, justice under reasonable laws,

-freedom of the press and religion restored

Women’s March on VersaillesOctober 5, 1789

- despite the (unsigned) Declaration of the Rights of Man, conditions seem to worsen, Parisian women protest the shortage of bread and increasing food prices

“To Versailles”- women march 12miles and force the royal family to return to Paris at knifepoint- Louis XVI signs the Declaration of the Rights of Man

“Let them eat cake”

Constitutional Monarch

May 1791

French Constitution

- limits power of the king

- sets up law-making body, the Legislative Assembly

- loss of church authority

French Revolution

Causes of the French RevolutionClass Conflict? (The Marxist Explanation)

Economic Misery? (Bad Harvests = Angry People)

Culture? (The Enlightenment, Public Sphere, Secularism)

Political Crisis (Angry Aristocrats & Excluded Bourgeoisie)

Causes for the French Revolution?

Explain…3 reasons and pick one!

Enlgmt.

Civ. War.

Human Rights

Violent