Transcript the Bourgeois Revolt, 1788-1789

1781- 4 August 1789

Where does the royal authority come from?

Theory
 Political authority- the theory of absolutism
 France did not have a constitution, the definition of royal
power was contained in assorted documents, eg. The
Fundamental Laws of the Kingdom and as an accepted practice.
 Religious authority- the rule by divine right
 The French monarch received his power directly from God.

Dynasty – the Bourbons
 The lineage of the royal family- the idea of a pure
bloodline- the ‘sacredness’ of the king

Public perception
 Competence- the belief that the King cam rule well.
 Benevolence- the belief that the King is a loving father of
his people.

King Louis XVI






Awkward and timid, no man
appeared less like a king than Louis
XVI.
20 years old when he came to the
throne in 1774.
On his accession, France was
poverty-stricken and burdened with
debts, and heavy taxation had
resulted in widespread misery
among the French people.
Greatest fault was that he was
always ready to listen to others and
follow their advice-when this advice
was good, everything was fine; but
later in Louis XVI's reign the advice
was bad and it cost the king his life.
He was repeatedly under the
influence of the beautiful but
frivolous and extravagant queen,
Marie Antoinette.
He was also swayed by his selfish
courtiers, who opposed any financial
reforms.

Queen Marie Antoinette





Youngest daughter of the
Austrian Empress of the Holy
Roman Empire, Maria Theresa of
Austria, and the Holy Roman
Emperor, Francis I.
Married Louis XVI on May 16,
1770.
Often referred to as Madame
Deficit- due to her luxurious
tastes.
Yet the stories of her excesses are
overstated.
Rather than ignoring France's
growing financial crisis, she
reduced the royal household staff,
eliminating many unnecessary
positions that were based solely
on privilege. In the process she
offended the nobles, adding their
condemnation to the scandalous
stories spread by royal hopefuls.
•Corporate society
•Made up of powerful
groups, enjoying special
customs, laws and
privileges.
•Privilege
•‘special deal’ worked
out between the King
and a certain group.
The First Estate- Clergy
•0.6% of the population
•Owned about 10% of the land
•Received tithe from the third estate- 8-10% of
people’s income or value of their crops and livestock.
The Second Estate- Aristocracy/Nobles
•0.4% of the population
•Owned 30% of the land
•Dominated the highest administration roles in France
•Enjoyed tax exemptions- although still paid some taxes
The Third Estate
•Largest group in French society
•Poor, peasants, urban workers, artisans, shopkeepers,
middle-class professionals, bourgeois landowners, and
financiers (millionaires of their age)
Throughout the 18th century, the thinkers of the Enlightenment criticised
the monarchy, the Catholic Church and the nobility.

For many historians it was this criticism of the Old Regime, that ultimately
resulted in its demise.

Found some of its most powerful expression in the works of Montesquieu,
Voltaire, Diderot and Rousseau.

Their ideas were extremely varied, but generally emphasised using
science, progress and reason to create a more humane world.
The Impact of their Ideas

The philosophes and other revolutionary leaders felt that their ideas
challenged the old regime.

Historians argue that they crystallised people’s grievances.

Yet enlightenment ideas did not reach the majority of people.

Ideas of the Enlightenment were linked up with newer social movements
during the 1780s, most notable the increasing confidence and ambition of
the bourgeoisie and the growing doubt of some members of the privileged
orders.

Actual Cause
•France’s involvement in
four foreign wars
Perceived Cause
•Royal Wastefulness
Institutional Causes
•Wasteful, inefficient tax
system
Attempts to resolve the Financial Crisis
Tax (fiscal) reforms proposed by Turgot (1774-1776), Necker (17761781), Calonne (1783-1787), Brienne (1787-1788)
Calling of the Estates General 1788
The Impact of the Financial Crisis
Public perception of the King’s competence- declined
Resentment of Marie Antoinette
Resistance by traditional bodies: the Assembly of Notables and the
parlements (the Aristocratic revolt)
Popular agitation
Repression by the King



For much of the 20th century the dominant
interpretation of the French Revolution has
been the Marxist interpretation.
Marxist historians such as George Lefebvre and
Albert Soboul see the Revolution as
predominantly a Bourgeois revolution.
Yet they see the revolution as going through
four clear stages.
1.
2.
3.
4.
The Aristocratic Revolt- 1787-1789
The Bourgeois Revolt- 1788-1789
The Popular Revolt- July 1789
The Peasant Revolt- July-August 1789

Privileged orders resisted the government’s
attempts to make fiscal reforms.





The Assembly of Notables (22 February 1787- 25 May
1787, then November- 12 December 1788)
The Parlements (July 1787)
Their resistance was crucial, as it prevented the
government from attaining international loans.
The Monarchy was forced to retreat back into
authoritarianism.
This is seen as a ‘trigger’ of the French Revolutionas it progressively drew in the bourgeoisie, urban
working-classes and peasants into the rebellion.



As a result of the Aristocratic revolt- popular
resistance began to gathered pace across France
between May and June in 1788.
By August 1788, the French nation had slid into
bankrupsy.
Brienne had no option but the call the Estates
General for 1 May 1789.





Drawing up of lists of grievances to be presented
to the Estates General
Nearly everyone in France contributed in some
way to drawing up the books.
The process created new expectations among all
social groups.
The process for each estate appears open and fair.
Yet for the Third Estate a problem arose;


Majority of peasants were illiterate and had to rely on
local bourgeois to write the document for them- the
process was dominated by the educated middle-class.
The final ‘general cahiers’ were not a representation of
the Third Estate as a whole.


The calling of the Estates General led to a surge
of optimism.
Yet the situation for the working was about to
get suddenly worse:



Food crisis- a savage storm in July 1788 devastated
crops around Paris- the result was increasing bread
prices- with some families spending 65%-90% of
their income on basic foods.
Working people began to link these problems with
current political issues- including the rebelling
parlements
This culminated in the Reveillon Riots of April 1789the beginning of a conflict between rich and poor.


This was the result of conflict over the Estates
General.
At the last meeting in 1614- each estate was made
up of roughly equal number of representativesmeaning that the two privileged minority orders
were over represented compared with the large
Third Estate- worse they voted by order- therefore
the First and Second Estate would always outvote
the Third Estate.

The provincial assembly of Vizille- proposed a
different system of voting
Doubling the Third Estate- giving the Third Estate twice as
many representatives as the other two estates.
 And instead of voting by order they vote by head



Radical pamphleteers (eg. Sieyes) began churning
out pamphlets which suggested this form of voting.
In December 1788 Necker made half a decision, by
doubling the Third Estate- yet trying to please the
privileged he refused voting by head.



When the Estates General met (5 May 1789) it still
reflected the hierarchies of the Old Regime.
The matter of voting had still not been settled.
The Third Estate invited other estates to join it in a
common assembly- they elected Bailly (Mayor of
Paris) as their president (10 June)- members of the
the clergy began to join them (13-16 June)- a vast
majority voted to call themselves the National
Assembly (17 June).



20 June- the deputies of the new National
Assembly- arrived at the Estates General to
find that they had been locked out .
They marched out of the Palace of Versailles
and to a local tennis court, big enough to hold
them all.
It was there that the deputies swore the Tennis
Court Oath- under Bailly’s leadership.


Remain until the nation is given a constitution
Meanwhile the clergy had voted to join
the national assembly and did so two
days later.





As a result of all the points above by July 1789
Paris was ready to explode.
The King called for military intervention to put an
end to the popular agitation.
The radical bourgeoisie were challenging royal
authority- they knew that the popular rising could
aid their cause.
The Parisian crowd was spoiling for a fightbourgeois such as Desmoulins and Danton, began
calling for the people to arm themselves and rebel.
But worse of all the army was beginning to defect.



14 July, 1789
30,000 people attacked Les Invalides, a military hospital- the
crowd looted the hospital and seized a battery of 12
cannons and 40,000 muskets and dragged them across
town.
Their target was the royal prison of the Bastille- believed to
be an emotive symbol of the Old Regime- in search of
gunpowder and shot.
 The crowd attempted first to negotiate a handover
 When that failed they broke into the courtyard- the
guards opened fire, killing approx. 98 people
 The crowd was reinforced when approx. 60 French guard
arrived.
 The governor of the Bastille de Launay was forced to
surrender.




News of events in Paris spread to the provincial
cities and countryside- where revolutionary
outbreaks also began to occur.
This rebellion sprang from the long-term anger
over feudal dues, hunting rights, tithes, royal taxes
and bread prices.
The bad harvest of 1788 also greatly affected
peasant families.
A whole village population, led by their officials,
would systematically go from one castle to
another, breaking into the strongroom which
contained the feudal documents and burning
them.




The reports of the peasant revolts terrified the deputies of the National
Assembly- as many bourgeois deputies were themselves landowners.
This led to the night of ‘Patriotic Delirium’- where attention was paid to
the rebellion in the countryside.
Nearly 100 deputies (the Breton Club)- asked that the assembly
recognise the grievances of the peasants and relieve them of the feudal
dues.
The debate was chaotic and emotional- some nobles gave up their
privilege- this led to the stirring introduction of the August Decreesabolishing feudalism altogether.
Abolish privilege
 Establish equal responsibility for taxation
 Abolish venal offices
 End of feudal dues.



Yet this took time as deputies felt financially they could not abolish
feudalism altogether, or cancel feudal dues.
It was not until 1792 and 1793- that the assembly finally abolished
feudal dues- as the peasants had simply stopped paying them.



So this is where our story ends for now.
But remember this Area of Study is about
analysing the impact of ideas, leaders, movements
and events on creating a revolutionary situation in
France.
So lets think about that now.




Think about the ideas that came out of the
Enlightenment- ideas relating to Liberty, Equality
and Property- how influential were these?
Think about the documents we read by Sieyes and
Mirabeau- what were their ideas and how influential
were they?
What about merit and utility?
Think about the Declaration of the Rights of Man and
Citizen- this is where many of these ideas were put
into practice.
Royal Leaders
 Think about Louis XVI, Necker, Calonne and
Brienne.
 What mistakes did these leaders make, which
ultimately resulted in the revolution.
 Think about their response to:
 The
financial crisis
 The calling of the Estates General
 The popular rising
Revolutionary Leaders
 Think about leaders such as Mirabeau, Desmoulins,
Bailly, Sieyes, and Lafayette.
 These leaders moved quickly and acted decisively as
the events of the revolution where developing and
were able to push the revolution into dramatic new
directions.
 Yet many mistakenly believe that these leaders led and
encouraged the popular movement- yet it important to
be aware that the popular movement was very
powerful and radical and needed no encouragement
from leaders- therefore they spent a lot of time trying
to channel the energies of the popular movement to
serve their purpose.



Think about the popular movement, peasant movement,
bourgeoisie movement, aristocratic movement- all very
different, yet influential in their own way.
Most important was the mass movement or crowd.
What was its impact?
 The role of the crowd was not new- working people in
France had a long tradition of action or protest and the use
of violence.
 The crisis of the French Revolution revealed how strong the
crowd could be.
 Also revealed that working people were not only concerned
with material grievances but also national political issues.
 Through 1789- the popular movement revealed that they
could act independently of the middle-class political
leaders.


Think about the impact of the following events and
think- what would have happened if these did not
occur?
The Assembly of Notables, the battle over the
Parlements, the calling of the Estates General, drafting
the Books of Grievances, doubling the Third Estate,
the Reveillon revolts, the declaration of the National
Assembly, the Tennis Court Oath, the King orders
troops to Paris, the capture of the Bastille, the
Peasant revolt, the ‘August Decrees’
This knowledge includes
 the chronology of key events and factors which contributed
to the revolution.
 the causes of tensions and conflicts generated in the old
regime that many historians see as contributing to the
revolution; for example, rising and unfulfilled class
expectations; fluctuations in economic activity; failed
attempts at economic, social or political reform; perceived
social or economic inequality or lack of political voice; the
impact of war or economic crisis that contributed to
revolution such as the harvest crisis and state bankruptcy in
the French economy.
 the ideas and ideologies utilised in revolutionary struggle;
for example, ideas of liberty, equality, fraternity.
 the role of revolutionary individuals and groups in bringing
about change; for example, in France, Sièyes, Lafayette,
Mirabeau.