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The French Revolution:
Ancien Regime & the Reign of Terror
1787 – 1799
‘Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité’
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‘Ancien Regime’
•
Known as the ‘Old Regime’ (order), it
existed throughout much of Europe during
18th Century.
•
In this society, division between three groups
(estates) was clear and unbalanced: the
largest group (peasants & bourgeoisie) paid
most of the taxes of France, yet had very
little power.
•
The ‘Estates-General’ (picture), was a
meeting between all three sections of French
society:
- 1st Estate (Clergy)
- 2nd Estate (Nobility)
- 3rd Estate (Bourgeoisie & Peasants)
•
Eventually, tensions rose when increased
taxes and food shortages caused French
peasants to revolt.
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Absolutism
‘Divine Right to Rule’
The belief that kings were chosen by God to
rule over their people and states.
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The Enlightenment was a movement away from tradition towards a
more critical understanding of man’s place in society. The ideas &
concepts of the Enlightenment included:
• Rationality: Reasoned thought will lead to the truth &
freedom.
• Universality: All humans are equal by nature.
• Secularism: Religion & spirituality should be private and
never inform public actions in politics, economics etc.
• Progress: Mankind is driven by making improvements to his
individual self and to society in general.
• Representative Government: People can and must be ruled by
themselves in fair systems that rely solely on the will of the
people.
The Enlightenment: Age of Reason
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The
Estates-General
•
The ‘Estates-General’ was a meeting
held between all three groups of society.
•
Each group only had one vote, regardless
of the difference in size of the groups.
•
Therefore, it was easy for the 1st & 2nd
Estates to out-vote the 3rd Estate
•
- 1st Estate (Clergy)
- 2nd Estate (Nobility)
- 3rd Estate (Bourgeoisie & Peasants)
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Royal Palace at Versailles
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King Louis XVI
- Married Marie Antoinette
- Indecisive
- Disinterested in state affairs
(preferred his own personal
interests)
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1st Estate:
(Catholic Clergy - 140,000)
3rd Estate:
- 1% of population
- owned up to 20% of land
- paid no taxes
- collected the tithe
- controlled education
- held privileged positions
(Farmers, peasants, labourers, doctors,
lawyers - 25,000,000)
- paid the Tithe (Church
tax)
- paid Taille (land tax)
- Did all the work
- No benefits
- Unprivileged
2nd Estate:
(Nobility - 400,000)
-2% of population
-Owned up to 25% of land
-paid no taxes
-Held privileged positions
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France aids Americans in their
War of Independence
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France joins war in 1777
Cost of War
Estates-General Meeting
•
•
•
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By 1789, France’s involvement in
the American War of
Independence had almost
bankrupted the state.
King Louis XVI decided to call a
meeting of the Estates-General to
raise taxes to pay this debt.
This meeting would provoke
serious divisions between the 3rd
Estate and the 1st & 2nd Estates.
1st Estate
(308 members - 1 vote)
2nd Estate
(285 members - 1 vote)
3rd Estate
(621 members - 1 vote)
The Third Estate wanted each
member of each Estate to get one
vote each, rather than one vote
only for each Estate.
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“not to separate, and to
reassemble wherever
circumstances require,
until the constitution of
the Kingdom is
established”
When the 3rd Estate was locked out of the EstatesGeneral meeting, they moved to the royal tennis court.
Here, they all swore an oath to remain united until a
democratic constitution was created for France.
*576 of 577 members present swore the oath.
Tennis Court Oath
20th June 1789
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The National
Constituent Assembly
13th June – 9th July 1789
•
King Louis XVI now saw that the selfproclaimed ‘National Assembly’ was a
serious threat to his rule, so he ordered
the 1st & 2nd Estates to join the 3rd
Estate in the National Assembly so
that he appeared to remain in control.
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Fall of the Bastille
14th July 1789
•
On 14th July 1789, a mob grew outside the
Bastille Prison in Paris. The Bastille was
infamous as a place where dissidents were
imprisoned, but it also usually held a large
store of weapons, ammunitions and food.
•
Food shortages and high prices were
common at this time. The self-styled
militia of Paris the ‘National Guard’ –
attacked the prison and killed the governor.
•
This was in direct response to the King
stationing huge numbers of soldiers in
Paris. The mob went looking for weapons
& gunpowder to defend the National
Assembly from the King’s soldiers. King
Louis relented and called off his soldiers.
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“So, is there a rebellion?”
- King Louis XVI
“No, Sire, a revolution!”
- Duke de La Rochefoucauld
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Declaration of the Rights of
Man & of the Citizen
26th August 1789
National Assembly cancelled the
tithe tax and abolished the privileges
of the nobility. The Declaration of
the Rights of Man & of the Citizen
declared:
•All
men are born free and equal
(‘universality’)
•People
have rights to liberty, property
& security
•Every
citizen is equal before the law
•Freedom
of Speech was guaranteed for
all citizens.
•Slavery
was abolished
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Under this new law, all church land came under state control to be sold
and all members of the clergy had to swear an oath to the Republic. The
tithe was abolished also. Clergy would have to be elected = Privileges of
the 1st Estate now evaporated
Pope Pius VI condemned this act and the Declaration of Rights of
Man
Civil Constitution of the Clergy
12th July 1790
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King Louis, Marie Antoinette and the Princess Royal all
attempted to escape as tensions rose in France.
They were attempting to reach Montédy near the Belgian
border (part of the Austrian Empire at this time)
Flight to Montédy
20th June, 1791
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Dressed as servants, the King and his family
were recognised at Varennes
Capture at Varennes
21st June 1791
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Historic marker of the place where
King Louis & his family were captured
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Republicanism Erupts
Benevolent King
Flight to Varennes
Traitor to the Revolution!
King Louis XVI and his family brought back
to Paris under guard and imprisoned in the
Palace of Tuileries.
Now considered a traitor, many felt the need
to establish a complete republic, without a
monarchy.
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France declares war on Prussia & Austria on 20th April 1792.
Prussia & Austria now attack France, threatening to destroy Paris
if the King was harmed in any way.
The French eventually drove the Prussians and Austrians back.
Revolutionary France under attack
1792
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10th August 1792: Storming the Palace of Tuileries
As France fought off the Prussian & Austrian armies, many people in France saw their
attack as proof of King Louis’ treason to his own people.
The ‘National Guard’ revolutionaries attacked the Palace of Tuileries and arrested the
King.
The King was now tried for treason to the French Republic
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The National Assembly:
– The Convention –
declares France a Republic
&
abolishes the Monarchy
21st September 1792
King Louis XVI was beheaded by
guillotine on 21st January 1793.
Marie Antoinette was also later
guillotined.
The execution of the King rallied other
European countries against France:
Britain, Spain, Holland, Austria & Prussia
all declared war on the First French
Republic.
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“Terror is only justice:
prompt, severe and inflexible”
- Maximilien Robespierre
The Reign of Terror
1793 - 1794
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The Reign of Terror:
Committee of Public Safety
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Committee of Public Safety formed in early 1793.
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Made up of twelve men, lead by Maximilien
Robespierre, known as ‘The Incorruptible’.
•
Under Robespierre’s leadership, a large army was
created and successfully defended France from other
European nations.
•
Everyone came under suspicion, with the Committee
trying tens of thousands and executing 40,000 people as
enemies of the revolution.
•
Ultimately, Robespierre wanted to continue with the
trials & executions (even after the danger to France had
subsided) and so was arrested himself and executed by
guillotine.
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Napoleon Bonaparte:
Emperor of France
1769 - 1821
•
A French army general, Napoleon
Bonaparte, made himself ruler of
France.
•
In 1804, he was crowned as the
Emperor of France.
•
As Emperor, Napoleon had many
of the powers of the old Kings of
France.
•
The French Revolution had finally
ended after war, social upheaval,
widespread societal suspicion and
mass executions.
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France dominates Europe
Napoleonic Europe
1804 - 1815
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