French Revolution

1
French Revolution
2
THE BACKGROUND
3
The Ancien Regime 3 Estates (classes)

• 1st Estate The Clergy
• 130,000 people (1)
• Owned lots of land
• Received tithes fees
• 2nd Estate The Nobility
• hereditary
• 300,000 people (2)
• Owned 30 of the land
• Controlled almost everything, paid no taxes
• 3rd Estate Everybody Else
• Wealthy Commoners17
• Peasants80
• Lacked political privileges
• paid ALL taxes

4
3rd Estate Top Component The Bourgeoisie

• Involved in commerce, finance, manufacture AKA
  had some money

• Bourgeoisie wealthy and growing middle class in
  France.
• Literate, influenced by Enlightenment ideas

5
3rd Estate Lower Component Sans-Culottes

• Sans-Culottes Urban Poor People
• Life was OK when crops were good ? ? if they
  werent.
• Violent protests and anger over
• Increased bread prices
• taxes

6
THE CAUSES
7
I. National Bankruptcy

• Expensive wars (American War for Independence)
• Unfair tax system
• Versailles 1/3 of national budget

8
The Unlucky Couple
9
II. New Ideas About Government

• Locke natural rights
• Rousseau government a contract
• okay to overthrow a government not doing its job
• Bourgeoisie (Middle Class) began to demand to
  have a say in their government

10
III. No Food

• bad harvests
• Hungry people angry people

11
THE EVENTS

• MODERATE PHASE

12
IV. Crisis

• Louis XVI called the Estates General (Parliament)
  to a meeting to help gain support for new taxes
• Estates General members from each estate who
  met to help advise the King
• Argued over how to vote by estate or one man,
  one vote

13
V. National Assembly

• 3rd estate walked out
• Met at a tennis court on the palace grounds
• Gave the Tennis Court Oath would not disband
  until France had a Constitution
• Night of August 4th - Abolished nobility
• France now a Constitutional Monarchy

14
(No Transcript)
15
VI. Storming of the Bastille Prison

• July 14, 1789
• Paris workers (sans culottes) attacked the
  Bastille (govt prison) which was thought to hold
  weapons that would be used to stop the peoples
  revolution

16
(No Transcript)
17
The Events

• The Radical Phase

18
VII. Reign of Terror

• Austria Prussian rulers invade France to stop
  the revolution (absolute monarchs feared their
  own people would rise up)
• Fear panic grip France
• Radical Jacobin political party takes control
  of Paris. France run by the Committee of Public
  Safety (led by Robespierre)
• Guillotine used to execute enemies of the
  revolution including Louis XVI

19
Order Restored
20
(No Transcript)
21
VIII. Napoleon

• Successful war general
• Has a coup detat (military takeover)
• Declares himself EMPEROR (ironic, right?!)
• Conquered almost all of Europe stopped by the
  Russian winter scorched earth policy of the
  Russians
• Napoleonic Code equality before the law
  meritocracy but NOT freedom rights like
  speech, press, and assembly restricted

If the Press is not controlled, I shall not
remain in power 3 days. - Napoleon
22
(No Transcript)
23
(No Transcript)
24
IX. Napoleons Downfall

• British and others defeat his army at Waterloo
  he is exiled to St. Helena Island in the Atlantic
• Constitutional Monarchy (not absolute!) restored
  in France. Very few rich men voters. Napoleonic
  Code still used.
• Congress of Vienna reestablishes the old
  monarchs overthrown by NapoleonEurope moving
  toward democracy but not there yet!