Chapter 18 - French Revolution

Reign of terror

(1793-94) during the French Revolution when thousands were executed for "disloyalty". Reign of Terror was brought upon by the National Convention and the Committee for Public safety that was formed after other Euro powers banded together against the French. The other powers were outraged after the beheading of Louis XIV. To prevent being overthrown the Committee for Public Safety went on an execution spree of anyone they deemed disloyal.

Congress of Vienna

(1814-1815 CE) Meeting of representatives of European monarchs called to reestablish the old order after the defeat of Napoleon.

Causes of French Revolution

1) The economic and financial crisis that led to the calling of the Estates General. 2) The political incompetence of Louis XV and XVI. 3) The unfair taxation between the three estates

Third Estate

97% of the population (the rest of France) They consisted of the bourgeoisie, the san-culottes and the peasants; they paid high taxes and had no special privileges

Napoleon

A French general, political leader, and emperor of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. Bonaparte rose swiftly through the ranks of army and government during and after the French Revolution and crowned himself emperor in 1804. He conquered much of Europe but lost two-thirds of his army in a disastrous invasion of Russia. After his final loss to Britain and Prussia at the Battle of Waterloo, he was exiled to the island of St. Helena in the south Atlantic Ocean.

Girondins

A faction of the Jacobin. The Girondins represented the provinces, areasoutside the cities. Girondins feared the radical mobs in Paris and leaned toward keeping the king alive.

Mountain

A faction of the Jacobin. The Mountain represented the interests of radicals in the city of Paris.

The National Assembly

A group of Third Estate delegates that broke ties with the Estates General. Drafted a constitution for France at the Oath of the Tennis court. Marked the first stage of the revolution.

Jacobin

A large network of political groups throughout France. The Girondins and the Mountain, two factions of the National Convention, belonged to the Jacobin

Guillotine

A machine for beheading people, used as a means of execution during the French Revolution.

Who was Jean-Paul Marat?

A new leader for the people that emerged during the time the Paris Commune was in power. He published a radical journal called "Friend of the People."

Great Fear

A period in the summer of 1789 where citizens formed militias, took up arms, and attacked institutions all over France that were associated with Aristocracy. It is called the Great fear because many fears were the motivation behind the citizens taking up arms: 1) Foreign powers trying to crush a revolution 2) The aristocracy of France trying to kill of the poor by starving them and hurting them economically 3) General fear of being attacked by anyone trying to crush the National Assembly

Nationalism

A strong feeling of pride in and devotion to one's country

Olympe De Gouges

A woman who wrote plays and pamphlets in France that refused to accept this exclusion of women from political rights when the "Declaration of the Rights of Man" was established. . Echoing the words of the official declaration, she penned a Declaration of the Rights of Woman and the Female Citizen. In it, she insisted that women should have all the same rights as men.

The Tennis Court Oath

After getting locked out of the National Assembly (Estates General) Third Estate goes to a hand ball court and vows never to leave until a new constitution is created,

Estates-General

An assembly of representatives from all three of the estates, or social classes, in France

Relics of feudalism

Aristocratic privileges based on existing obligations that survived from the even more oppressive serfdom periods. These relics of feudalism strongly affected the Third Estate.

How was the Paris Commune different from the National Assembly?

Aside from the fact that the Paris Commune came second, 1) They believe in universal male suffrage (ALL males could vote) 2) Generally, the Paris Commune consisted of citizens of the Third Estate that poorer than the Third Estate citizens making up the National Assembly. Still, they were not the absolute poorest in the Third Estate. 3) They wanted to get actual revenge on the supporters of the king and citizens that "went against the will of the people". This is why they were even more radical and violent. The original National Assembly generally just used force to achieve more fair government. 4) They actually abolished the monarchy instead of simply making it a limited monarchy.

Causes of French Revolution: Financial Crisis (an immediate cause) Discuss elements of the financial crisis that led to the French evolution

Bad harvests in 1787 and 1788 & a slowdown in manufacturing led to food shortages, rising prices for food, and unemployment. The number of poor, estimated by some at almost one-third of the population, reached crisis proportions on the eve of the revolution French government continued to spend enormous sums on costly wars and court luxuries. The government had also spent large amounts to help the American colonists against Britain.

Legacy of the French Revolution

Balance of Power in Europe, Nationalism, Colonies

Discuss the relationship between the National Assembly and the Catholic Church

Because the Catholic Church was seen as part of the old order the National assembly changed it. The Church was secularized and, because of the need for money, the National Assembly seized and sold the lands of the Church. A new Civil Constitution of the Clergy was put into effect. Both bishops and priests were to be elected by the people and paid by the state. The French government now controlled the Church. Many Catholics became enemies of the revolution.

How did the Reign of Terror end?

By the summer of 1794, the French had largely defeated their foreign foes. There was less need for the Reign of Terror, but it continued nonetheless. Robespierre, who had become very powerful, was obsessed with ridding France of all its corrupt elements. Only then could the Republic of Virtue follow. Many deputies in the National Convention who feared Robespierre decided to act. They gathered enough votes to condemn him, and Robespierre was guillotined on July 28, 1794. After the death of Robespierre, revolutionary fervor began to cool. The Jacobins lost power and more moderate middle-class leaders took control. Much to the relief of many in France, the Reign of Terror came to a halt.

How did the Paris Commune come into power?

Defeats in war, coupled with economic shortages at home, led to new political demonstrations, especially against Louis XVI who was still seen as part of the established order. In August, radical political groups in Paris, declaring themselves a "commune", organized a mob attack on the royal palace and National Assembly. They established the National Convention (their own governing body).

The Storming of the Bastille

Event occurred on July 14, 1789, symbolizing the toppling absolutism and the ancient regime of France. This was also significant because the storming of the Bastille showed King Louis that he couldn't just use force to crush those citizens from the Third estate. The entire population was angry, not just the voters from the Third estate. This even also shook the trust King Louis had in his royal army.

National Convention

Governing Body that took power after the Paris Commune took power and overthrew national assembly.

French Revoution

In 1789, King Louis XVI, faced with a huge national debt and convened parliament. The Third Estate, or Commons, a division of the French Parliament, then claimed power, and the king's resistance led to the storming of the Bastille, the royal prison. The people established a constitutional monarchy. When King Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette attempted to leave the country, they were executed on the guillotine. From 1793 to 1794, Robespierre and extreme radicals, the Jacobins, instituted a Reign of Terror, executing thousands of nobles as well as anyone considered an enemy of the Revolution. Robespierre was then executed, as well, as the Directory came into power. This governing body proved incompetent and corrupt, allowing Napoleon Bonaparte to come to power in 1799, first as a dictator, then as emperor. While the French Rev threw off the power of a corrupt monarchy, its immediate results were likely not what the original perpetrators of the revolt had intended.

What was the result of the roughly 5 year period of Directory System rule? (i.e. how did they lose power?)

In 1799, a coup d'état (KOOday•TAH), a sudden overthrow of the government, led by the successful and popular general Napoleon Bonaparte, toppled the Directory. Napoleon seized power.

After the reign of terror ended, the National Convention reduced the power of the Committee for Public Safety and set up a new system of government to prevent government groups from taking power. Can you describe the new system?

In an effort to keep any one governmental group from gaining control, the Constitution of 1795 established a national legislative assembly consisting of two chambers: a lower house, known as the Council of 500, which initiated legislation; and an upper house, the Council of Elders, which accepted or rejected the proposed laws. The 750 members of the two legislative bodies were chosen by electors (individuals qualified to vote in an election). The electors had to be owners or renters of property worth a certain amount, a requirement that limited their number to 30,000. From a list presented by the Council of 500, the Council of Elders elected five directors to act as the executive committee, or Directory. The Directory, together with the legislature, ruled.

What was the result of the fighting between the National Convention and Committee for Public safety controlled France VERSUS the allied EURO powers outraged by the death of King Louis XIV

In less than a year, the French revolutionary government had raised a huge army. By September 1794, it was over one million. The republic's army was the largest ever seen in European history. It pushed the allies invading France back across the Rhine and even conquered the Austrian Netherlands

What is the story behind how King Louis finally conceded?

King Louis refused to accept the National Assembly's decrees on the abolition of feudalism and the Declaration of Rights. On October 5, however, thousands of armed , Parisian women marched to Versailles. A delegation of the women met with Louis XVI and described how their children were starving from a lack of bread. They forced the king to accept the new decrees. On October 6, the royal family journeyed to Paris. As a goodwill gesture, Louis XVI brought along wagonloads of flour from the palace stores. The royal family and the supplies were escorted by women armed with pikes. The king and his family became virtual prisoners in Paris.

Louis XVI

King of France (r.1774-1792 CE). In 1789 he summoned the Estates-General, but he did not grant the reforms that were demanded and revolution followed. Louis and his queen, Marie Antoinette, were executed in 1793.

Committee for Public Safety

Led by Robespierre and the Jacobin party, it closed churches and promoted the "cult of reason" and said that women could divorce their husbands and inherit their property. It oversaw the reign of terror and the 40,000 executions and imprisonments.

Bourgeoisie

Literally means "middle class," This was a part of the Third Estate that comprised about 8% of the Third Estate and owned 20-25% of the land. This group included merchants, bankers, and industrialists, as well as professional people—lawyers, holders of public offices, doctors, and writers.

What did members of the Paris Commune call themselves and what does the name mean?

Many of its members proudly called themselves the "sans-culottes" (Literally translates to "without breeches"), ordinary patriots without fine clothes.

Second Estate

Nobility

War with Austria

Over time, some European leaders began to fear that revolution would spread to their countries. The rulers of Austria and Prussia even threatened to use force to restore Louis XVI to full power. Insulted by this threat, the Legislative Assembly declared war on Austria in the spring of 1792.

Marie Antoinette

Queen of France (as wife of Louis XVI) who was unpopular her extravagance and opposition to reform contributed to the overthrow of the monarchy; she was guillotined along with her husband (1755-1793)

Declaration of the Rights of Man

Statement of fundamental political rights adopted by the French National Assembly at the beginning of the French Revolution. Very similar to the Declaration of Independence in U.S. Reflecting Enlightenment thought, the declaration went on to proclaim freedom and equal rights for all men, access to public office based on talent, and an end to exemptions from taxationIronically, though, this declaration brought up important questions about whether women would be treated equally as well.

What was the significance of Nantes & Lyon? (Hint: these were places in France)

The Committee of PublicSafety decided to make an example of Lyon. Some 1,880 citizens of that city were executed. When guillotining proved too slow, grapeshot (a cluster of small iron balls) was used to shoot the condemned into open graves In Western France, perhaps the most notorious act of violence between revolutionary armies and rebel armies occurred in Nantes, where victims were executed by being sunk in barges in the Loire River

Name some other methods the Committee of Public Safety had for maintaining control and order.

The Committee sent "representatives on missions" as agents of the central government to all parts of France to implement laws dealing with the wartime emergency. A law aimed at primary education for all was passed but not widely implemented. Slavery was abolished in France's colonies. The committee also attempted to provide some economic controls by establishing price limits on goods considered necessities, ranging from food and drink to fuel and clothing. The controls failed to work very well, since the government lacked the machinery to enforce them. The National Convention pursued a policy of dechristianization. The word "saint" was removed from street names, churches were pillaged and closed by revolutionary armies, and priests were encouraged to marry. In Paris, the cathedral of Notre Dame was designated a "temple of reason." As Robespierre came to realize, however, dechristianization failed to work because France was still overwhelmingly Catholic.

The National Assembly created a New Constitution. Basically, it did what?

The Constitution of 1791 set up a limited monarchy. According to the constitution, there would still be a king, but a Legislative Assembly would make the laws. The Assembly was to consist of 745 representatives. Only men over 25 who paid a specified amount in taxes could vote.

Georges Danton

The Minister of Justice (the leader) of the Paris Commune, when it came to power.

In the National Convention fued between the Mountain and the Girondins, who won?

The Mountain won at the beginning of 1793 when it convinced the National Convention to pass a decree condemning Louis XVI to death. On January 21, 1793, the king was beheaded on the guillotine.

Committee of Public Safety

The National Convention gave broad powers to a special committee of 12 known as the Committee of Public Safety. It was dominated at first by Georges Danton, then by Maximilien Robespierre.

Old regime

The Political and Social system that existed in France before the French Revolution

What did Robespierre call France while the Committee of Public Safety was in power?

The Republic of Virtue

Why did the National Convention form the Committee for Public Safety?

The execution of Louis XVI had outraged the royalty of most of Europe. An informal coalition of Austria, Prussia, Spain, Portugal, Britain, and the Dutch Republic took up arms against France. To meet these crises, the National Convention gave broad powers to a special committee of 12 known as the Committee of Public Safety.

First Estate

The first class of French society made up of the clergy of the Roman Catholic Church.

Was the Directory system of government effective?

The period of the revolution under the government of the Directory (1795-1799) was an era of corruption and graft. People reacted against the sufferings and sacrifices that had been demanded in the Reign of Terror. Some of them made fortunes in property by taking advantage of the government's severe money problems. At the same time, the government of the Directory was faced with political enemies. Royalists who desired the restoration of the monarchy, as well as radicals unhappy with the turn toward moderation, plotted against the government. The Directory was unable to find a solution to the country's continuing economic problems. In addition, it was still carrying on wars left from the Committee of Public Safety.

What issue did the Third Estate take with how the voting of the Estates-General was set up?

While the Third Estate has about 600 delegates and the other two estates had around 300 each, the voting was set up so each Estate, AS A WHOLE, got one vote. This meant that the first two estates could always outvote the third estate. The third estate demanded each delegate get a vote, but King Louis denied the request. This was the catalyzing action that led to the formation of the National Assembly.

Did women continue to play a role in the new republic under the National Convention?

Women remained actively involved in the revolution, even during its more radical stage. Women observed sessions of the National Convention and made their demands known to those in charge. In 1793, two women founded the Society for Revolutionary Republican Women. This Parisian group, which was mainly composed of working-class women, stood ready to defend the new French Republic. Many men, however, continued to believe that women should not participate in political or military affairs.

Jean Paul Marat

Wrote Friend of the People, angry individual that lived in sewers, murdered, becomes martyr and figure of the revolution, Popular to most people.

Effects of the French Revolution

ended absolutism in France, the bourgeoisie gained political power, revolutionary ideas spread throughout Europe

Radical Phase

the goal of this phase was to get rid of monarchy all together; during this phase the government goes from a constitutional monarchy to a republic 1792-1794; escalating violence led to the end of monarchy and the reign of terror

Robispierre

worked with danton in the beginning of the revolution; then become crazy; took control of the CPS in 1793 then killed loads of people; created the religion of the supreme being and was killed