North County Regional

Conference
French Revolution (1789)
Introduction by Dais
Welcome delegates! My name is Rose Downey, I am an eleventh
grader, and I am in my second year of MUN. I am so excited to be chairing
this debate, and to be working with all of you. This will be my second time
chairing one of our annual conferences, and I have participated in many
committees over the past two years. If you have any questions feel free to
email me at rdowney2018@hightechhigh.org

Hello my fellow delegates, my name is John McAndrew, I am a senior at

High Tech High, and have been involved with MUN since the second
semester of my freshman year. This will be my first time on the dias, and I
look forward to working with you all, if you have any questions dont hesitate
to send me an email at jmcandrew@hightechhigh.org

Vocabulary

Jacobins/Jacobin Club
A radical democratic group during the French
Revolution

Girondins/Brissotin
A moderate republican faction, whose members were
often also members of the bourgeoisie

Estates General
Meeting called by the king in times of crisis or war,
containing three estates, the clergy, the nobility, represented by
deputies.
First Estate
The estate representing the
clergy in the meetings of the Estates General, with
300 deputies each having greater voting power than
the third estate deputies.
Second Estate
The Estate representing the
nobility in the meetings of the Estates General, with
 300 deputies each having greater voting power than
the third estate deputies.
Third Estate
The estate representing the
people in the meetings of the Estates General, with
600 deputies, each carrying less voting power than
the debates of the first and second estates.

Ancien Regime
The political system before the revolution, where
everyone was a subject of the king, and a member of an estate,
with little to no class movement

National Assembly (1789) or Legislative Assembly (1791 onward)

The assembly formed from the third Estate after
being denied equal voting power per deputy with the first and
second estates.

National Constituent Assembly

Formed from the National Assembly and the first and
second Estates after the National Assembly refused to leave the
Kings tennis court until they had drafted a new French
Constitution.

Civil Constitution of the Clergy

Document created by the National Assembly
restricting the power of the clergy

Background Information to the Topic

Define the issue. What is the problem?

The French Revolution was caused by a number of factors. There had
been an uptake in quality of life at the beginning of the 18th century,
particularly for the poor at the time. They now had more land, and were
frustrated by the remaining parts of the feudal system, which kept them from
becoming landowners. This upward shift also allowed the birth of a new
social class, known as the bourgeoisie, who were high enough in standing to
seek positions of honor or political power, but came up against strict class
boundaries preventing them from taking it. At this time there was much
more education, and discussion of ideas, particularly of 17th century
philosophers, who spoke of changes to social structure.
That same improvement led to longer lifespans, giving France a much
greater population, and as a result, massive food shortages. Extensive crop
failure in 1788 further exacerbated the food shortage and food prices went
up. A 50 year period of economic success had begun to sputter in 1770,
causing frequent panic, and was another reason food prices remained high.
After a plethora of wars throughout the 1700s, many european
countries were low on funds, and instituted a tax on the upper classes,
including France. That same tax fueled the American Revolution, and after
lending their assistance in that, the French government was nearly bankrupt.
In an attempt to gain favor and prevent the taxes the upper classes sought
allies in the peasants and bourgeoisie, and King Louis XVI to do the same,
effectively dividing the country.
A combination of all these factors at the same time caused a lack of
faith in the monarchy, and led to the French revolution.

Who is involved with this issue?

King Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette were the rulers of France at the
time, who were executed in 1793. Among the most influential outsiders were
members of the two opposing factions, Jacobins and Britossins(also called
Girondins). The Jacobins took power

What are the different debates on this issue? What can/should

delegates expect to debate about during formal caucus?
Delegates should expect discussions of voting power between the
estates, taxes on the nobility,

Where is this an issue?

The French Revolution took place throughout France. Battles were
fought in different parts of the country including the Bastille in Paris. The
revolution began in May 1789 with demands for change within the country. It
ended with the deposition of the French Directory on Nov. 9, 1799

How long was this an issue? Are there any other important dates?
The unrest in France began long before this but it formally began in
1787, reaching a climax early on in 1789, and formally ended in 1799

Bloc Positions
 Positions on this topic can be divided into the three Estates, consisting
of the clergy, the nobility, and the common people.
The clergy was affected by the revolution because the new Civil
Constitution of the Clergy drafted by the National Assembly called for
reformations, and took away from the churchs land, power, and number of
powerful members. It required the members in each parish and diocese to be
elected by the common people within it, and limited the number of bishops.
The church was split between those that publicly supported the constitution,
who lost power, and those who didnt, who were stripped of their power.
The second Estate, the nobility, were having difficulties from the
monarchy at the time. The economy was failing, and they had attempted to
fix the problems by increasing taxes on the ruling class. They did not fully
approve of the revolution, since the peasantry wanted to have similar rights
and abilities as the nobility.
The third Estate, the common people, were spearheading the
revolution. Their estate had less voting power in the estates general, the last
remnants of feudalism kept them from upward class mobility, and they were
hit the hardest by the economic failure.

Questions to Consider & Resolution Ideas

Questions to Consider:
How had life in France changed in recent years?
What were the problems with the monarchy and the nobility?
What were the strongest philosophical influences on france at
the time?

Resolution Ideas:
Resolutions should solve at least one of the problems that
caused the revolution
Resolution to deal with economic breakdown
Resolutions relating to the power of the clergy
Resolution to increase or abolish the remnants of the
feudal system
Resolution addressing voting power of the estates

Citations
Paste in Chicago-style citations here.
http://www.citationmachine.net/chicago
History.com Staff. "French Revolution." History.com. 2009. Accessed March 14,
2017. http://www.history.com/topics/french-revolution.
"French Revolution." Encyclopdia Britannica. December 23, 2016. Accessed March
14, 2017.https://www.britannica.com/event/French-Revolution.