-

France fell into revolution in 1789, replaced old regime with new society.
Occurred in the most socially and philosophically advanced country in the
world at the time.
French really was the lingua franca
The old regime was aristocratic and in some ways feudal
Everyone belonged to an estate in a society: the first was the clergy, the
second the nobility, and the third everyone else. These estates were
important because they represented legal rights and limited potential social
growth.
These estates were politically and socially obsolescent; it had been almost
200 years since the last convention of the estates and the three estates did
not reflect the needs or wants of the French people
The secular atmosphere of the church had declined, although French clergies
continued to levy taxes on agricultural products.
The money they did get though, was distributed extremely unequally and
mostly into the hands of the upper class
The noble order, which in 1789 consisted of around 400,000 people, enjoyed
great privilege. Distinguished government positions, higher church offices,
positions in the army, and honors were almost completely monopolized by
the nobility.
Even through all of this, the bourgeois, or the upper level third-estate people
were becoming more influential, consisting of wealthy merchants and other
occupations, and saw a large growth after a growth in French trade.
As these people became better educated and more privileged themselves,
they began to resent the French nobility for the privileges they possessed,
including financial ones, which included direct tax that nobles were exempt
from (the taille), as well as the superiority and arrogance of the second estate
and the perceived slight against their egos.
The common people had the same plight of the rest of Europe. They lived a
pretty terrible life. Wages only increased by 22 percent, while the price of
goods increased by 65, which meant that more families were struggling to
make ends meet. Along with even wider income inequality, a storm was
brewing.
Around that time in France, over 4/5 of the population was rural, but without
serfdom. However, the manor enjoyed hunting rights, monopolies over
certain buildings like wine mills, and often collected fees known as banalites.
They also possessed certain powers of jurisdiction, police powers and acted
as a unit of government.
Not only that, but such manor owners (not exclusively limited to any estate)
possessed the right to eminent property, which meant that although lesser
landowners could buy, sell and bequeath land to whoever they wanted,
ultimately, the manor owner controlled the property. This was made known
by rents, paid annually and transfer fees if the property changed hands.
Peasants owned 2/5 of land; bourgeois, 1/5; nobility, 1/5; the church, 1/10,
with the rest being crown lands, wastelands, etc.

By the time of the revolution, the bourgeois owned more land than either the
nobility or the church. The Revolution was supposed to revolutionized the law
of property by freeing the private ownership of land from all the
encumbrances that the common people endured, such as the manorial fees.
Peasants begun to resent the manor owners who they felt lived a cushy life
and lived off collected dues.
France was a centralized nation, so these sentiments spread quickly

The government suffered a financial collapse, which was not due to war debts
or the extravagance of the rich, but because of poor management of funding.
Their debt at the time was no greater than what it had been 75 years ago
Because of the tax exemptions and evasions of the rich and the church, the
burden of the debt fell on the poor
Previous rulers and people, such as Louis XIV had seen the need for a
stronger tax code that targeted the rich as well as the poor, but these sorts of
plans were dismissed by Louis XVI.
Jaques Necker proposed to tax the privileged classes. Calonne, his successor,
proposed an even more radical plan to tax all landowners without exception
and to remove the taille. However, this plan was rejected because it would
upheave all the social standards of the time.
Calonne assembled an assembly of notables he knew that the Parlement
would not accept it, but the notables insisted on concessions in return,
causing a deadlock and the dismissal of Calonne. Brienne, his successor, tried
to push the same program through Parlement but was rebuffed. Parlement
stated that the only groups that could levy taxes were the Estates General.
Brienne and Louis XVI attempted to break Parlement and replace it, causing a
semi-revolt among the nobles, and chaos, and the government was brought
to a standstill.
On July 5, 1788, Louis XVI promised to call up the Estates General.
The king asked the people how he should hold it
Many pamphlets were sent out saying that the estates should not sit in
separate chambers. The nobility revealed that they wanted to take action
against the absolutism of the king, and thus started the revolution.
The third estate did not want to be governed by the aristocracy and wanted
to abolish the useless noble class.
People like Sieyes launched pamphlets stating What is the Third Estate
The lawyers of the third estate insisted that all sit in the same chamber to
give the numerical advantage to the third estate.
On June 17, the third estate declared itself the national assembly.
Louis XVI, under pressure from nobles, closed the meeting hall. On a tennis
court, members of the third estate signed the oath of the Tennis Court,
stating that the National Assembly had been convened and would not break
until a new constitution was drafted.
The king chose the nobles over the common people, against tradition, which
stated that kings drew strength from the common people and were against
feudalism
Louis XVI lost control over the Estates General, showed no leadership, and
offered no solution until it was too late. He failed to use the wishes of the
common people for a king against the nobles and then realized too late that

the third estate would no longer obey his orders. By the end of June, Louis XVI
intended to dissolve the Estates General by use of military force.
By this time, the revolt had clear drawn sides: the third estate vs the second
estate and the king.
The lower classes were out of hand; the price of bread had increased to the
highest in over 50 years, and the economy was in depression. Scarcity and
unemployment occurred and the masses were restless everywhere, and
rioting and labor trouble began to break out
Peasants refused to pay manorial dues and the number of vagrants increased
exponentially. People also refused to pay taxes.
People began to arm themselves, and crowds came to the Bastille, and arms
stronghold to get weapons. The governor of the Bastille refused to give them
arms. Misunderstandings occurred, which finally resulted into a mob
assaulting the fortress, which, with the help of 5 trained soldiers with artillery,
persuaded the governor to surrender. The crowd brutally murdered the
garrison, officials and the governor. Their heads were stuck on pikes and
paraded around the city.
The capture of the Bastille saved the assembly at Versailles. The king
recognized the citizens committee as he had no other solutions for this
unrest.

Initial Reforms of the National

Assembly
On the night of August the 4th, a number
of nobles gave up their titles, special
rights and their manorial payment plans
for compensationthat they never
received
The Declaration of the Rights of Man and
Citizen, August 26, 1789

Formation of revolutionary clubs

Iconoclasm, destruction of political and

legal entities

Holding elections for positions

Decentralized Government

Solved or not?
It appeased the peasants and abolished
feudalism. The nobles could not be so
happy about this, but it was beneficial to
the third estate
It was a document stating that the law
still remained, and that all men were free
an equal in rights, and operated much
like the US Constitution and Bill of rights.
It became the catechism of the
revolution in France. It applied to men as
well as women. It worked in bringing
together the French people, but the
Revolutions leadership fell apart soon
after.
Clubs formed that required sometimes
membership dues, which ensured that
only the bourgeoisie could join. This led
to mistrust and fractured the unity of the
Revolutionary movement
The 3rd estate believed that they needed
to completely uproot the political and
legal systems that had led France to
where it was to make concrete changes.
This drew criticism where people tried fix
systems that worked fine.
No longer did nobles hold hereditary
rights to positions. This ensured that
qualified people that the people wanted
represented them. Appeased the third
estate
Did this to prevent bureaucracy from
controlling the people. No national laws,
only local laws and localities only

Created a Constitution (of 1791)

The Constitution of 1791

Established a unicameral body of
legislators in a place called the
Legislative Assembly

Suspension Veto/Constitutional Monarchy

Lack of Womens rights

No voting rights for the illiterate

enforced the laws they wanted. This was

bad. This will be disastrous and result in
a situation not smooth like the founders
of the revolution wanted.
Gave sovereign power to a unicameral
elected assemble called the Legislative
Assembly. The king was only given a
suspensive veto power to hold back
legislation. The king and minsters were
weak in this new government system.
The king tried to escape with his
noblemen in 1791, but was arrested and
told his place as a constitutional
monarch. This left the government
without a willing figurehead

Potential for Success

While not the most creative name, this
was a solid representative system.
However, without a second house to
check it, this could result in a
supermajority that would pass radical
legislation.
This is a decent plan. With this, Louis XVI
is given the power to suspend
legislation. However, since he cannot
alter key parts or reject it completely, he
can only postpone legislation.
Even though this is sad, it is not
altogether surprising in the maleoriented society of 18th century France.
This basically shifts the power from the
nobles to the nobles and the
bourgeoisie. The poor people that this
revolution should have been about once
again are left out in the cold and dont
have their wishes listened too. This is not
good. At least they have basic rights
though

Electors represent 100 men that are active and decently wealthy.

European government unwilling to become involved in France due to

philosophy of French Revolution and universal doctrines that they advocated
Unable to determine who incited the revolution and to whom it benefited.
Peasants in other locations outside of French began to rebel too, with strikes
breaking out and armies with a stranger sense of democracy, including those
in Austria, Germany and Ireland. Many of the radicals wanted a seat in the
British Parliament.
Anti-revolutionary forces also gained strength. Burke, in 1790 wrote the
Reflections on the Revolution in France, predicting anarchy and dictatorship.
The king of Sweden, Gustavus II proposed a monarchial crusade on France,
and nobles were disgusted by the state of French nobles (emigres)
Europe was split by a division that overran all frontiers, as well as the
Americas. Jefferson was hailed as French and Jacobin, while Hamilton was
said to be aristocratic and pro-British.
This was the biggest revolutionary event in Europe since the protestant
reformation.
However, outside governments were slow to move. Catherine did not want to
become involved in Western Europe, and Pitt, the prime minister of Britain
refused to listen to the jingoistic cries of Burke. The Habsurg Emperor,

Leopold II basically told his sister Marie Antoinette to suck it up and adjust to
life in France, and resisted the cries of the Emigres.
However, after the capture of the French King and Queen as they attempted
to flee, governments could no longer deny that the revolutionary forces in
France had ill intent towards the king and queen.
In August, 1791, Leopold met with the King of Prussia at Pillnitz in Saxony.
The declaration of Pillnitz stated that Leopold would take military action
against the French revolutionaries if other governments joined him. He,
knowing that Pitt was firmly anti-war, knew that this was unlikely. He also
quieted the voices of the complaining emigres.
Meanwhile, in France, the leaders of the revolution were shocked and
disturbed. The Declaration of Pillnitz served only to enrage the French, and
gave political power to the Jacobins, attracting many foreigners such as Paine
and Cloots, as well as Watts.
The Jacobins declared that they would not be finished until they spread such
radical thinking to every corner of the world.
Some Jacobins contemplated a war in which they would enter other European
countries to free the common people
War was also favored by another group, led by Lafayette. He wanted to curb
the revolution by using a war to affirm the power of the constitutional
monarchy and restore popularity in the King.
As this war tension began to build up, Leopold died. He was succeeded by
Francis II, who was much more willing to consider war. War tensions
continued to build up as the French began to fear outside influence allowing
the nobles to take control again.
On April 20, 1792, the Assembly declared war on the King of Hungary and
Bohemian the Austrian monarchy.
The war intensified the unrest felt by the peasants and non-landowners who
felt that not enough was being done to distribute land and lower prices on
basic goods. The assignats was now the main paper currency, and
uncertainty meant that it lost value quickly. All gold had been taken out of the
country by the emigres. Although this was bad, they recognized that the
emigres taking power again would be even worse, so they rallied behind the
war effort, just not the revolutionary leaders.
However, the war went unfavorably for the French at first. Prussia
immediately joined Austria, and by summer 1792, both countries were ready
to invade France. They issued a proclamation on July 25 to the French people,
stating that if harm befell the king or queen of France, the same harm would
be meted out to the residents of Paris, known as the Brunswick Manifesto.
This caused the people to turn against the king even further as they believed
he was allied with the enemy and caused an outpouring of patriotic fervor.
This caused more agitation

On August 10, 1792, the working class quarters rose up in revolt and stormed
the Paris palace of Tulieres. There, they killed much of the resisting Swiss
guard and imprisoned the king and royal family.
A revolutionary government, or commune, was set up in Paris that usurped
the power of the assembly.
Hysteria, anarchy and terror reigned in Paris. Mobs of insurrectionary
volunteers dragged about 1,110 people that were counterrevolutionaries, like
refractory priests from the prisons and killed them drumhead trials brutally,
known as the September massacres.
This was the Second French Revolution.