Transcript The French Revolution - APEH

The French Revolution
Importance
Brought the People to the forefront of politics
Set the model for later revolutions
Changed the political map of Europe forever.
Chronology - Sketch of Events
1788-89 French State undergoes a massive
revolution in politics but also in society and the
way people think.
Calling of the Estates General in 1789 was the catalyst
for the Revolution.
1789-1792 - Liberal Revolution
1792-1794 - Radicalization
795-1799 - Ineffective Reaction
1799-1815 - Napoleon
Louis XV 1715-74
Succeeded at age 5.
Poorly educated and spent a life devoted to his mistresses.
Nobles began to regain some of the power they had lost to Louis XIV
under the regency of the Duc D'Orleans,
Nobles proved incapable of governing.
In the Parlements nobles continued to struggle with the monarchy until
the Revolution, a struggle that seriously weakened it.
Madame de Pompadour 1721-64 - for 20 years exercised her political
intelligence for Louis XV.
Madame du Barry - just as ambitious, less clever
Louis XVI 1774-1792
Virtuous - but uninterested in government. [In his Diary July
14, 1789, he wrote: "Nothing", he meant he caught nothing
hunting that day.]
Initially restored the parlements to gain popularity
Married to Marie Antoinette who was extremely unpopular
Lived at Versailles, isolating the royal family from the
population of Paris
The Crisis of the French Monarchy
From close of 7 Yrs War(1763) until French Rev., European
monarchies didn’t have enough revenue
Became agents of institutional and political change
Provoked aristocratic, sometimes popular,
resentment/resistance, led to chaos
George III of Britain fought w/Parliament, lost North American
colonies
Frederick II of Prussia needed aristocratic influence on
army/bureaucracy
Joseph II of Austria didn’t consult w/nobility, left them in turmoil
French monarchy emerged from 7 Yrs War defeated/in debt
Supported American revolt against Great Britain
Interest was ½ of royal budget
Had debt, but was unable to tap wealth of French nation
through taxes
Intellectual Causes
The Enlightenment: scientific and philosophical thought had
spread around Europe in the 18th Century - much larger
intellectual class with the political ideas.
Liberalism was popular.
Liberty - Human Rights/Natural Rights.
Sovereignty of the people.
Equality - meant equal rights for all under the Law.
Liberals also wanted freedom from a state-controlled economy.
Property was seen as sacred. These were middle class property
owners by and large.
Social Causes
Problem of the Estates System
First Estate: The Clergy
1% of pop, with 10% of land.
Had wealth, land, privileges and they levied a tax on the
peasantry, the tithe, which generally went to some remote
bishop or monastery rather than the local parish priest.
First Estate -100,000 strong
many poor clergymen
Second Estate: The Nobility
2-5% of pop, with 20% of the land.
Great wealth and taxed the peasantry:
"feudal" resurgence in 18th century. 400,000 people.
Great division among the Nobility was between the
Noblesse d'epee and the Noblesse de Robe: later nobles
whose titles came from their possession of public offices.
Third Estate- Everyone Else
95-97% of the pop.
Class Divisions
Bourgeoisie
8% of the pop, about 2.3 Million people, with 20% of
Land.
Often bought land and exploited the peasants on it.
Most important group politically was the
Bourgeoisie, and by 1788 it was very important .
Had been growing throughout the century, to some
extent encouraged by the monarchy.
Well read, educated and rich.
Had no say in running the country.
The Urban Poor of Paris
Artisans - factory workers, journeymen.
very poor were probably less involved in politics.
Different interests than the bourgeoisie.
– Most politicized group of poor people, possibly due
to high literacy.
The Peasants
40% of the land, formed the vast majority of population,
perhaps 3,000,000 people added over the century.
Paid the most tax: aristocrats did not pay.
Paid the tithe to the clergy.
Gave labor service to the State and gave services to
their Landlords: this is sometimes called `feudal'
service.
Paid dues to their feudal (seigniorial) lord when they
sold land that was in all other ways their own. Poverty
was intense, but varied by region.
Farmed the land, and regard it as their own,
Not legally theirs.
Wanted to own their own property.
Political Causes - The Run-Up to 1789
Successors to Louis XIV and The Weakening of Absolutism
Under Louis XIV flaws in theory of absolutism had been apparent:
Misuse of power, kings who couldn't rule.
Conflict with Parlements and Ruling Classes
Parlements were courts, not an assembly.
Power to register laws from King
13 Parlements in all throughout France, but the Parlement of
Paris was the most important.
They began to claim, a right of veto.
A King could always override Parlements with a lit de justice.
The Duc D'Orleans had actually given the Parlements a veto
during his regency.
Parlements had been abolished by Rene Maupeau (17141792) in the 1770s under Louis XV.
Louis XVI revived them 1774, in an attempt to be popular
Fatal mistake, - Parlements became centers of resistance to the
King.
Louis XVI's Government
Not an old fashioned ancient regime.
Some reforms, that lead people who dislike the French Revolution to
think that things may have turned out very differently.
Monarchy seeks New Taxes
Economic Weakness
Revocation of Edict of Nantes1685 had struck a blow at French
commerce.
The Economy tottered for the next hundred years.
Financially the origins of the Revolution go back to Louis XIV {but
not because of the cost of Versailles].
Taxation Problems
Richest were not taxed: i.e. the Nobles and Clergy.
Taxes were indirect on poorest part of population.
the taille on peasant produce
the Gabelle - on salt
various trade tariffs
Not enough income for the government to do its job.
These taxes increased. a 28% increase in some parts of country in
Louis XVI's reign alone- affected the poor the worst.
Dependence on loans
Banking system was not able to cope with the fiscal problems.
Need for King to raise taxes that led to the calling of the Estates
General.
New taxes cont. . .
Cost of Mid Century Wars
The Seven Years War 1756-63 cost a lot.
The American Revolution: France had more or less paid for the
American War.
The Cost of Versailles and the Royal household etc.
Was NOT a big factor by the end of century - it used about 5% of
revenue.
Bankruptcy of the State.
By 1780s the government was nearly bankrupt.
Half of government income was going on paying debts (annual
deficit 126 Million Livres.)(debt was almost 4 Billion Livres).
The problem was the government could not service the debt.
Several ministers did try to put it back on a sound basis.
France was not after all a poor country.
Necker’s Report
Jacques Necker 1732-1802
Louis XVI financial director
Hid the real problems, made the
economy sound better than reality
Large portion of $ went to aristocrats
made it difficult for later ministers to
explain why higher taxes were needed.
Events Leading to Calling
of Estates General
Began as an aristocratic attempt to get more power
from the king.
1783: Charles Alexander de Calonne 1732-1802,
Raised loans to pay debts.
By 1786 he did not think Parlements would
approve another loan.
Louis XVI and Calonne had an economic reform plan
to tax landed property.
Based on provincial assemblies and allowed no
evasion by nobles.
Opposition
Opposed by the noblesse de Robe in the
Parlements - they just did not want to be taxed.
Assembly of Notables 1787
An "Assembly of Notables" was called to outflank the
parlements.
Not the same as Estates General.
Notables criticized Calonne's plans and demanded a
greater role for the aristocracy in government.
Said the government had no right to demand new taxes, and
that an Estates General (last called 1614) must be called
again.
King was forced to dismiss Calonne
Parlements had felt threatened by the calling of the Assembly
of Notables
A way to get round the objections and blocks that the
Parlements had been raising.
Parlements had also demanded an Estates General.
New minister Etienne Charles Lomenie de Brienne (17271794)
Archbishop of Toulouse
Spent a year trying to get the Parlements to accept change
without an Estates General.
1788 Coup d'etat of Parlements
Deadlock
Parlement of Paris rejects Kings attempts to force
change, so King abolishes Parlements.
King said registration of laws now to be in a
plenary court for the whole of France.
Anarchy/revolts throughout France. This forced
the calling of an Estates General.
E.G. was called as a response to nobles'
rejection of a modernization plan.
The Calling of the Estates General
Representative body of the Three Estates was the
Estates-General.
Called in July 1788 (last met 1614), to meet in 1789. This
was the crucial step: the end of absolutism
Parlements were recalled and asked on how the
Estates General should be run
Said it should be done in the same way as in 1614.
This disgusted the Third estate, who would only have 1/3
of votes.
Royal Council - Dec 1788 - said Third Estate
would twice as many reps as the other two.
Catalyst for a lot of political excitement.
Political Developments in Fall 1788- Spring 1789
Rapid discussion of ideas, more radical than anything in the
Enlightenment.
The weeks after 25th Sept 1788 saw most radical change of
all.
The most famous pamphlet was by the Abbé Sieyes 17481835- "What is the Third Estate?"
-Everything
-What has it been until Now? – Nothing
-What does it ask? - to become something
Nobles faced a real and new revolution which would sweep it
away.
Cahiers des Doleances
A national survey of people' opinions was compiled between
the calling of the Estates General and its assembly.
Objections to current system from Parish of St.Vaast, March
1789
Lettres de Cachet (i.e. wanted due process)
Nation should agree to its own taxes
E.G. every 4 years (i.e. objected to no consultation)
Taxes equally on all classes, inc. Nobles and clergy
Third estates to have justices in the Parlements
NO call for a republic in any Cahier But some reports of
peasants already believing that they were free of manorial
dues.
The Estates General Meets May 5th 1789
Third Estate probably ready to strengthen hand of King vs.
nobles and clergy
Background of rising bread prices from 1788-89 - people in
Paris being radicalized by this at just the right moment
The Liberal Revolution
The Estates General May 1789 - July 1789
King still in Charge
Estates General met May 5 1789 at Versailles
Third Estate had twice as many Reps (agreed in Dec)
Its reps were largely lawyers and Govt officials
Still disputes over voting - e.g. should all estates meet together
or separately.
Third Estate kept being slighted - it refused to sit alone
Other Estates invited to join with it on June 1st.
Events
Third Estate Declares itself National Assembly June 17th
Tennis Court Oath June 20th 1789
King opposed it but majority of the clergy some nobles joined it.
June 27th the King capitulated.
National assembly takes name NATIONAL CONSTITUENT
ASSEMBLY
National Constituent Assembly July 1789 - 1791
Nominal Absolute Monarchy
State Church with Priests paid by State
CREATES A LIBERAL REVOLUTION
King's Fatal Decision
Louis tried to re-assert his authority - with an army near Versailles - 18,000
troops-Marie Antoinette advised him to attack it.
King acts stupidly - tries to undermine NAT. Assembly but not effectively
creates anxiety amongst its supporters Abandoned the bourgeoisie and supported the nobility
To revolt against the nobility the 3rd Estate also had to revolt against the King.
Two Mass Uprisings of the Masses saved the Nat. Assembly
Revolt of the Poor of Paris
Rising bread prices 1788-89 - riots already in the spring of 1789
Paris politicized by the elections to the E.G. - had continued to meet after
elections.
Paris mob storms the Bastille - JULY 14 1789
Basically a prison, but not used very much by 1789
Raided to find weapons for revolutionary militias growing up in Paris
troops fired into crowd, killing 98 - crowd storms fortress - kills troops
Symbolic importance: First re-direction of the Revolution by pop of
Paris
– Caused similar disturbances in other cities
Militias take name NATIONAL GUARD - led by Lafayette
Take Tricolor as flag (Blue and red for Paris, white for the bourbon king)
Revolt of the Peasants - revolts from
Spring 1789
In July - Massive revolts throughout France
The Great Fear
fear of royal troops
Destruction of many medieval documents
Forced the National Assembly to abolish "feudal" dues
August 4th 1789
Peasantry had a very quite and almost conservative role - it had
what it wanted - LAND.
Economic conditions had made the Revolution take on such
vast proportions.
Ideological Actions of the National Constituent
Assembly
August 4th Laws
All French now subject to the same laws.
Abolished the "feudal regime" + Tithes + hunting rights + venal
offices
Peasants supposed to pay compensation
Declaration of the Rights of Man August 27th 1789
Printed in 1000s of leaflets and distributed around France.
IMPORTANCE OF PROPAGANDA
Ideals
equality before the law
due process (art 7)
natural rights - liberty, property, security and resistance to oppression
(art 2)
sovereignty resides in the Nation (art 3)
law is an expression of the General Will (art.6)
freedom of religion (art 10) [Jews as well, for 1st time)
free speech (art 11)
separation of powers (art 16)
Enlightenment ideas + American declarations of rights (e.g. Virginia in
1776)
King and Government Move to Paris - October 6th
Forced by the Poor Women of Paris
Made government function under threat of mob violence
France was now to peaceful for almost 3 years
Reconstruction of France
National Constituent Assembly
Faced massive problems of control and state debt
Administration - the Reforming of France
Provinces replaced by 83 Departments
Same sort of courts and laws applied throughout France.
Economic Liberalism
Gets rid of tariffs - unlimited economic freedom
Suppresses guilds and forbids workers associations
The State Debt
Solution was to attack the Church -nationalization of Church lands
Made the Revolution unpopular in many quarters.
Emigrés begin to leave
Split between anticlericals and pro-clericals has been at center of French life
ever since.
Printed bonds - assignats based on value of Church land - became used
as money.
The Church: Civil Constitution of the Clergy July 1790
Made bishoprics same as departments
Priests and bishops to be elected + paid by state (anyone could vote including atheists
Church seen as part of the state - i.e. no separation of Church and State)
Religious orders were abolished.
Assembly required an oath from the clergy - to oppose the pope - only half
did so + 7 bishops
Pope condemned the Revolution,liberalism, & the Rights of Man
Began attack on liberalism for next century.
Constitution of 1791
Purpose of the National Constituent Assembly
One Chamber House
Only men paying tax could vote
Olmpe de Gouge wrote against this policy
Only 50,000 would qualify to be elected
i.e. less than the number of the nobility
Members of National Assembly not eligible for election.
Counterrevolutionary Activities
King's Actions Destabilize the Liberal Revolution
King was becoming more and more impotent.
June 20 1791 - Louis XVI tried to flee, but was stopped at
Varennes and brought back June 24 a virtual prisoner.
Attitude of the King made the constitutional
monarchy of the 1791 Constitution impossible to
work.
No strong executive provided for apart from the
King's ministers.
Reaction to Revolution Abroad
Intellectuals
Most Intellectuals and philosophes praised it:
Adam Smith, Thomas Paine, Beethoven
Conservatives opposed it
Edmund Burke - Reflections on the French Revolution 1790 (i.e.
before the Terror).
Good government is going to come about through long
experience and should not be overthrown
Government is complicated and simple schemes can never be
satisfactoryLonging for how things were that goes with all conservatism
The Revolution also upset other monarchs
Not unhappy to see France weakened.
Dd not want revolution to spread End of Enlightened Despotism. There were attempts all over
Europe to stop reform movements
The Wars Begin
1791 Declaration of Pillnitz August 27
threatens invasion by Austria and Prussia
not really a threat as GB would not join in
War Period - Begins April 1792
Beginning of a long period of war which forms a background to
everything for the next 30 or so years.
In retaliation to Dec. of Pillnitz the French Deputies (in Assembly)
declare war on Austria - 20th Apr 1792
Pressure from democratic exiles from other countries
Radicals thought a successful War would bring them support.
Louis XVI supported the war - he hoped a loss would restore
his position
Robespierre opposed the war as he saw danger of defeat
French armies were soon retreating
Caused radicalization at Home.
A Second Radical Revolution
Political Infighting in the Legislative Assembly
Idea of left and Right - origins in the meetings
of the Legislative Assembly.
Different Factions
Monarchists - inc. Lafayette
The Jacobins
a sort of elitist political club
wanted a republic
met in a Dominican priory (Jacobin a name for OPs)
One group of Jacobins
known as Girondists assumed leadership
First led by Jacque-Pierre Brissot 1754-93.
sometimes known as Brissotins)
April 20 1792 -declared war on Austria thinking
that it would bring most radical revolutionaries to
power.
The Second Revolution
The Revolution became much more radical in 1792.
Losses in the war radicalized the pop of Paris and the rest of
France.
The War, the Monarchy and the Press
The Prussian Army pushed into France as far as Verdun –
July - the Duke of Brunswick issued a threat to Paris if the King was
hurt.
Girondists blamed the monarchy and Marie Antoinette for secret
intrigues and this put the monarchical constitution under strain.
Absolute freedom of the press
Campaign of denunciation vs. the government
Marat and his Ami du Peuple was prominent as a radical here.
Process of Radicalization
Popular agitation was transformed into something powerful by two factors.
arrival of volunteer National Guardsmen from all over France in July
(8th)
political organization of Paris into a Commune and 48 Sections - all
centers of insurrection.
Second Revolution Events
August 10th 1792 Attack on Tuileries Palace
People of Paris + Vol attack the Tuileries Palace
King had to take refuge with the Legislative Assembly.
Deserted his Swiss Guard - 800+ killed.
September 1792 September Massacres
1200 prisoners are murdered in Paris jails as counterrevolutionaries.
The Sans-Culottes
Paris artisans, shopkeepers, wage earners and factory workers.
Name comes from the fact they wore long trousers not the knee
breeches (culottes) favored by the middle and professional
classes.
Wanted immediate relief from hunger,
Resented all social inequality,
Suspicious of representative government.
Opposed the unregulated economy so beloved of all the m/c
revolutionaries, including the Jacobins.
Compelled the Legislative Assembly to agree to call a new
assembly to write new democratic constitution - to be called
the Convention.
Tulleries Palace
destroyed in 1871
The Rule of the Convention - 1792-95
Creation
Elected by universal male suffrage
Only 7 1/2% of electorate voted. (not best atmosphere for a free
election)
First met September 21 1792 and declares France a Republic as its
first act
Girondists were still major voice but gradually lost control over next
few months to another group of Jacobins known as The Mountain
Prepared to work with the Sans-Cullottes.
Maximilien Robespierre one of leaders.
Political groups here were
the Girondists [or Brissotins] (name from region deputies
supposed to have come from)
the Mountain, (name from their seats high in the Assembly Hall)
the Marais - the plain.(name from their seats low in the
Assembly Hall)
9 months of political struggle in the Convention.
Fighting the War
War with Austria and Prussia which had radicalized the revolution
was still going on.
Revolution was saved by the slowness and weakness of Prussian and
Austrian preparation
Could certainly have won at first. Too busy in the East digesting Poland.
Major Events
August 1792 - LaFayette defects to Austrians sees no point in fighting
monarchist cause in France.
20th September 1792 - Battle of Valmy - Valmy was the effective
start of the French Revolutionary Wars
November 1792
Convention offers to help all revolutionary groups in Europe.
Dec 15 1792
The Convention abolishes feudalism in occupied territory - beginning of
restructuring of Europe.
Feb 1 1793 - growing Anglophobia reflected in declaration of war
vs. England and Netherlands, by March Spain was also dec. an
enemy.
March 1793 - By now France was at War with all of Europe
April 1793 - Dumouriez defects to Austria - aware he could not
restore monarchy in France.
Domestic Politics In the Convention
Condemnation and Execution of the King
The Mountain had found Louis XVI's correspondence to Austria.
Condemnation of King also put Girondists in a bind
If they supported it they lost moderate support, if they opposed
it they lost patriot support.
Robespierre saw this.
The King was tried as Citizen Capet - [should have been
Bourbon.]
Vote to Condemn –
No one thought Louis was innocent.
King executed 21 Jan 1793
Counter Counter-Revolutionary Activity
March 1793
Counter-revolts going on esp. in conservative Catholic
areas, especially in the Vendee.
Great concern in the Convention, still under
Girondist control, about counter revolution.
it strengthened laws against émigrés.
Revolutionary Tribunals were set up
A decree was passed condemning to
death all rebels taken in the act.
March 21 1793 - Watch Committees set up
in every area
Committee of Public Safety
6th April 1793
Set up to supervise, for Convention, the executive.
Given its own funds
100,000 livres to pay agents
100,000 livre for secret purposes
At first middle men were elected - Jacque Danton
(1759-1794)
Committee of General Security
Set up to fight the War abroad.
The Mountain Takes Over
Population of Paris was still not happy
Inflation due to war + paper money.
Made use of by the Mountain - whose main difference
with the Girondists was that they would work with the
mob.
May/June 2 1793 New insurrection
Mob demanded the expulsion of the Girondist members.
The Mountain seizes control in the Convention.
They passed a new Democratic Constitution - June 22
On hold until the war was over.
Appointed a new Committee of Public SafetyJune 1793
This body was to rule France for the next year.
The Rule of the Committee for Public Safety
July 1793-July 1794
A ruthless and effective government –
Convention and ministers official government, but CPS had all power.
from the Mountain
Herault de Sechelles - a noble
Jeanbon Saint-Andre - Protestant
pastor
Saint Just - wanted a Spartan
state
Couthon - a follower of
Robespierre
Prieur, of the Marne
from the Marais
Barere de Viezac
Robert Lindet
added in July
Maximilien Robespierre (17531794)
Not a dictator - a lawyer from
Arras –
Principles were everything, Men
nothing.
Influenced by Rousseau and his
ideas on virtue.
added in August
Lazare Carnot (1753-1823) - in
charge of military
Prieur, of the Cote d'Or
added in September
Billaud-Varrenne
Collot d'Herbois - the only mob
orator
-both were known as men of
blood
Problems Facing the Committee for Public
Safety
Counter revolt and the war with Europe
i.e. same as before June takeover
Dealt with the war - by military effectiveness and the
internal revolt with the terror
Aimed to restructure society in the most
revolutionary manner
National mission against evil inside and outside France.
Total War
CPS dealt with military threat by use of total war
Whole country was put on a war footing (cf. small ancien
regime armies)
Carnot led the effort
23 August 1793 the levee en masse
Conscripted males into the army
Planned economy to supply the war + to aid the poor and
keep their support.
September 17 Maximum price rules established.
Assignats stopped falling in value in year of CPS control.
By Spring 1794 an Army of 800,000
Largest ever assembled, until then, by European power.
Citizen army, fighting for ideals, as opposed to its opposing
armies, made up of serfs.
The Reign of Terror or the Republic of
Virtue
Revolts around France
July 13 1793 Marat, a radical killed by Charlotte Corday - made
revolutionaries feel threatened.
Height of Terror from Fall 1793 to July 1794
Marie-Antoinette + Royal Family,
Aristocrats
Girondists,
1794 moves to provinces and includes peasants and sanscullottes, then in Spring 1794 even includes republicans like
Danton
CPS also opposing even more extreme groups from among
sans-cullotes
known as Hebertists
June 10 - Law of 22 Prairal
conviction without evidence was now allowed
Large increase in numbers killed in last month of Terror.
Terror fiercest in those areas of rebellion + Paris circa. 25,00040,000 killed/300,000 arrested - It was intentional,
The New Culture
Fashions
Followed Roman and/or sans-cullotish style.
New Calendar
Convention began dating form Year One when
it abolished the Monarchy.
A system of new months adopted on November
10th 1793
Messidor, Thermidor, Fructidor, Vendemiaire, Brumaire, Frimaire, Nivose,
Pluviose, Ventose, Germinal, Floreal, Prairal
Beginning from Sept 22, 1792, Day after
monarchy abolished.
Every 10th day as rest day (not good for
workers)
– Aim was to blot out the cycle of Sundays and
Saint's days
– It was part of dechristianisation effort.
New Religion
Revolution had been anti-clerical from the start
November 1793
The Convention outlawed the worship of God
Notre Dame made a Temple to Reason
ceremonies were conducted by the Commune of Paris.
November 10 Cult of Reason begun
Alienated Christians Made direct efforts to close Churches
throughout France.
[Dechristianisation opposed by Robespierre
– Toleration of Catholics was ordered by CPS under his orders.
Robespierre thought this not sufficient as effective religion.
May 7 1794 Cult of the Supreme Being proclaimed
Deism + cultic festivals celebrating republican virtues humanity, liberty etc.
June 8 Robespierre leads a massive public Festival of
Supreme Being.
Emphasizes the attempt to restructure the whole
civilization.
Reaction and the Rise of Napoleon
The Thermidorean Reaction (1795-1799)
The Reign of Terror
Was not popular in the long run
It was genuinely terrifying - it got out of hand and
malicious accusations were made
episode of the rafts at Nantes and 2000 killed
Politicians feared for their own heads when Robespierre
made a threatening speech on July 26th
Robespierre
Condemned to the Guillotine in the Convention
9th of Thermidor (July 27th 1794)
executed July 28th 1794
The New Government - The Directory
The Directory
The Directory was a 5 man executive body
Aim was to avoid dictatorship and excessive democracy.
Four-year period of lack of strong government and a series of coup
d'etats.
People in control were again rich bourgeois liberals
Girondist deputies allowed to take seats
Paris Commune outlawed
Law of 22 Prairal revoked
People involved in the Terror were now attacked
the White Terror
economic liberalism revived + inflation
A frivolous culture came into being
fashions etc. Salons re-opened
There was also a revival of Catholicism
Cult of reason and the new calendar were kept.
1795 August 22 - Constitution of the Year III
First formally constituted Republic.
property and wealth, not birth were now important.
Peasants now were a major landowning group in society.
Sans-cullottes were removed from political life.
Riots by the poor were now put down
October 1795 - a Paris mob was put down.
– Napoleon commanded the cannon.
Poor had been victims of the Terror so some loss of fervor for
revolution.
Political pressures on the Directory
Pressure from the left, from old Jacobins + there
were food riots.
Strong movements to have the Monarchy restored
Monarchists won a majority in the election of
1797
Directory staged a coup against them, supported by
Napoleon
Problem for Monarchists was when Louis
(XVII), the son of Louis XVI died.
New legitimate heir wanted to restore the 1789
constitution
Not acceptable to the Peasants, the moderate Middle
Class, or to Napoleon.
To keep control Directory increasingly depended on
the Army - opens way to Napoleon.
Expansion and Empire
The Military expansion begun under the convention
continued, with help of CPS's war economy - great new
generals had been brought to the fore in eight of Napoleons
marshals.
March 1795 - Peace concluded with Prussia and Spain but war
continued with GB and Austria.
Directory dependent on the military for stability
Military Successes under the Directory
Under the Directory
Military expansion begun under the convention continued
with help of CPS's war economy - great new generals had been
brought to the fore - inc. 8 of Napoleons future marshals - as
old officer class went into exile.
March 1795
Peace concluded with Prussia and Spain but war continued
with GB and Austria.
Directory was dependent on the military for stability at home
and success abroad.
One of most successful Generals was Napoleon.
First Triumph in defending Toulon in 1793
He appealed to many, disgusted with the Directory, who looked
for authority from above.
Summing Up the French Revolution
Three Periods
Liberal Revolution 1789-1792
Estates General - Nat. Assem. - Nat. Const. Assem - -Legislative
Assembly
Radical Revolution 1792-1794
The Convention - + Comm. Pub. Safety
Thermidorean Reaction 1794-1799
The Directory
Achievements of French Revolution
Liberal Rev
end of Feudalism
Made the people important in politics
The old order was never re-established
Radical Rev.
National army, Idea of a Nation at war
Metric system (Convention) + Abolishes Slavery in Colonies (Nap.
rescinds)
In General
In idea of Liberty, Equality, Fraternity- leads to nationalism
Problems of French Revolution
It did not produce a stable government
The Reign of Terror
Rad. Rev - led to ideas of totalitarian democracy