Chapter 17 European Revolutions of Society and State,

1714-1815
Section 4 Revolutionary France
To many Europeans, the American Revolution showed that Enlightenment
ideas could be put into practice in forming a new government. The French
were particularly moved by the American example. The success of the
American Revolution and the popularization of Enlightenment ideas led
many to seek changes in the social and political conditions of France.
These desires exploded into revolution in 1789.i[cxlix] Rulers in other
parts of Europe reacted strongly against the French Revolution, fearing
that the unrest would spread to their territories.
The Old Regime
For more than 100 years, France had been the largest and most powerful
European nation. However, beneath the appearance of stability lay the
seeds of revolution. Within a few months in 1789,ii[cl] King Louis XVI
lost his power to make laws, and eventually the people's elected
representatives voted for his execution. The new rulers of France wrote a
constitution and reformed many laws. Such radical change made many feel
that they were living in a new era. They referred to the political system
before 1789iii[cli] as the ancien regime, or Old Regime.
The Three Estates. The reasons for the French Revolution were complex.
Since the Middle Ages, French society had been divided into three separate
classes, known as the Three Estates. In the mid-1700s discontent grew
among people of all three Estates, although for different reasons. The First
Estate, composed of the Catholic clergy, had long been resented for their
privileges and because they paid no taxes. The Second Estate, the
aristocracy, was also resented because of their long-standing privileges,
such as the right to collect money and services from peasants, and they
also occupied the highest positions in the government and the army.
Together, the First and Second Estates held most of the power and wealth
in France.
The Third Estate included everybody else in Francethe majority of the
population. The Third Estate, however, had its own informal social
divisions. At the top were the city-dwelling middle classesmerchants,
manufacturers, and professional people such as doctors and lawyers. In the
middle were laborers and artisans. At the bottom of French society were
peasants, those who made a living by working the land. Most peasants
lived in inescapable poverty, yet were required to pay feudal dues to their

lords. They paid rents for the land they worked, as well as the heaviest
government tax, known as the taille. In addition, they paid one-tenth of
their incomethe titheto the church. Not all peasants were poor,
however, and some had become quite wealthy.
In the mid-1700siv[clii] growing economic hardship increased the
grievances of all three Estates. The already overburdened peasants suffered
even more when a prolonged drought forced the price of bread to
skyrocket, and hunger became a serious problem. The middle classes
wanted the political power to match their economic strength, and they
wanted important positions in the government and the army that only
nobles could get. The nobility and the clergy, who had struggled
successfully to regain the power and influence that Louis XIV had taken
from them, wanted to prevent Louis XVIv[cliii] from taking it away from
them again.
The financial crisis. The immediate trigger of the French Revolution was
a financial crisis. France had been in debt since Louis XIVs wars. Both the
Seven Years War and French support for the American Revolution had only
added to the burden of debt. Louis XVvi[cliv] borrowed heavily from
bankers to keep the government running. When warned that France would
soon face a real crisis, he simply remarked, "It will survive for my time.
After me, the deluge."
By 1787vii[clv] bankers refused to lend the government any more money.
Financial disaster loomed. Reluctantly, Louis XVI decided to convene the
Estates General, representatives from all three estates, at Versailles in
May 1789.viii[clvi] The king hoped to gain approval for his plan to tax the
wealthy.
The Revolution
Expectations for the meeting of the Estates General ran high. The Count de
Mirabeauix[clvii] wrote about the Estates General that no National
Assembly ever threatened to be so stormy as that which will decide the fate
of the monarchy, and which is gathering in such haste and with so much
mutual distrust.x[clviii] The Abb Sieys,xi[clix] a clergyman, identified
the grievances of the Third Estate:

What is the Third Estate?

All. But an all that is fettered and

oppressed. What would it be without the privileged order? It would
be all; but free and flourishing. Nothing will go well without the
Third Estate; everything would go considerably better without the

two others.
The National Assembly. Despite all hopes and expectations, the meeting
of the Estates General initially disappointed the Third Estate. The First and
Second Estates tried to outvote the Third Estate to retain their own
privileges. After a period of deadlock and with the support of some
members of the First Estate, the delegates of the Third Estate proclaimed
themselves the National Assembly. Outraged, Louis closed down the
meeting. The delegates fled to a nearby tennis court. There they took the
so-called Tennis Court Oath, pledging not to disband until they had written
a constitution. Reluctantly, the king recognized the Assembly, and with the
people's support it assumed power. Meanwhile, fearing that royal troops
would crush the National Assembly, on July 14, 1789,xii[clx] the working
people of Paris stormed the Bastille, a hated prison-fortress in the city, in
search of weapons to defend the Assembly.

The Tennis Court Oath of the National Assembly. Taken from http://teachers.ausd.net/antilla/tennis2.jpg

The Great Fear. The turmoil in Paris contributed to a growing crisis that
spread to the countryside. During the summer of 1789, peasants throughout
France were caught up in what is called the Great Fear. As news of the
uprisings in Paris and other cities spread to the countryside, people often
exaggerated events, and belief in a conspiracy by the aristocracy was
widespread. Peasants also became more angry as food shortages plagued
the countryside. As rumors and fear increased, peasants revolted against
local lords. Angry peasants broke into manor houses, terrorized aristocrats,
destroyed possessions, and burned records in hopes of eliminating their
debts. All France was now engulfed in revolution.
The end of the Old Regime. Many members of the National Assembly
believed that the only way to end the violence was to remove the

oppression and injustice that caused it. They abolished the special
privileges of the First and Second Estates. The Assembly also adopted the
Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen. Strongly influenced by the
English Bill of Rights, the writings of Rousseau, and the American
Declaration of Independence, this document enshrined the principles of the
French Revolution: "liberty, equality, fraternity." In 1791xiii[clxi] the
National Assembly adopted Francs first constitution, which greatly
reduced the powers of the king and set up an elected Legislative Assembly.
The new constitution did not entirely embody the ideals of the Declaration
of the Rights of Man. In 1791xiv[clxii] the playwright and revolutionary
Olympe de Gouges wrote A Declaration of the Rights of Women and
Citizenesses in which she called on the Assembly to extend the same rights
to women. But the National Assembly would not consider the idea of
including women in the political process.xv[clxiii] They also refused to
allow Jews to take public office.xvi[clxiv] By limiting the vote to French
men over twenty-five who paid a certain amount in taxes, the Assembly
placed politics back in the hands of wealthy men.xvii[clxv] The new
government went into effect in October 1791,xviii[clxvi] but lasted less than
a year.
France at war. As news of these revolutionary events spread across
Europe, many of Louiss fellow monarchs were horrified. Louis, his wife
Marie Antoinettexix[clxvii], and their children soon fled Paris, but they were
quickly recognized and returned to their palace under arrest. MarieAntoinette's brother Emperor Leopold IIxx[clxviii] of Austria and King
Frederick William IIxxi[clxix] of Prussia issued a declaration calling for the
restoration of Louis XVI to power.
In April 1792,xxii[clxx] with a nearly unanimous vote, the Legislative
Assembly voted to declare war on Austria. Soon an army of Austrian and
Prussian troops invaded France and headed toward Paris, touching off
mass uprisings in the city. A group of radicals seized control of the city
government and set up an organization called the Commune. The
Commune justly accused Louis XVI of plotting with foreign monarchs. In
Augustxxiii[clxxi] troops imprisoned Louis XVI and his family.
Republican France
In late 1792xxiv[clxxii] a National Convention proposed a new constitution,
which included universal manhood suffragethe right of all adult men
to vote. The National Convention governed France for three years, during
which it proclaimed the end of the monarchy and the beginning of a
republic. The National Convention found Louis XVI guilty of plotting
against the nation. In 1793xxv[clxxiii] Louis lost his head to the guillotine, a

newly invented device that had been designed to make executions of

criminals as quick and painless as possible.
Meanwhile, the French army had not only stopped the Austrian and
Prussian invasion, but had also invaded the Austrian Netherlands. The
National Convention then declared that the French armies would spread
the Revolution and liberate all the peoples of Europe. In 1793, the entire
nation mobilized for war:

Young men shall go forth to battle; married men shall forge weapons
and transport munitions; women shall make tents and clothing, and
shall serve in hospitals; children will make lint from old linen; and old
men shall be brought to public places to arouse the courage of
xxvi

soldiers.

[clxxiv]

The decision to export the Revolution alarmed all the monarchs of Europe.
Great Britain, the Netherlands, Spain, and Sardiniaxxvii[clxxv] joined
Austria and Prussia to form an alliance, called the First Coalition, against
France. They drove French troops out of the Austrian Netherlands and
invaded France once more.
The Reign of Terror. Not all of the Revolution's opponents were from
outside. Some people still supported the Old Regime. To meet the danger
of revolt from within, the National Convention declared an emergency and
appointed a Committee of Public Safety to coordinate the defense of the
new regime. The Committee soon initiated a Reign of Terror, a brutal
program to silence critics of the republic. The Law of Suspects, issued in
1793, defined suspected enemies of the republic:

Those who have shown themselves the enemies of liberty, those who
cannot justify their means of existence and the performance of their
civic duties, those of the former nobles who have not constantly
manifested their attachment to the revolution, and those who have
emigrated during the interval between July 1, 1789, to April 8,
xxviii

1792.

[clxxvi]

The Reign of Terror lasted for less than a year, but its effects were harsh. A
Revolutionary Tribunal swiftly arrested, tried, and executed many people
on mere suspicion. Marie-Antoinette was an early victim, but the Reign of
Terrorxxix[clxxvii] was directed against people from all classes suspected of
disloyalty to the Revolution. Georges-Jacques Dantonxxx[clxxviii] and

Maximilien Robespierre,xxxi[clxxix] radical members of the National

Convention and the Committee of Public Safety, sent many of their
political opponents to the guillotine. Robespierre's ruthless policy of
suppression, however, eventually aroused fear even among his supporters.
After ordering the execution of some of his colleagues, including Danton,
in July 1794xxxii[clxxx] Robespierre himself was arrested and guillotined.
With his death, the Reign of Terror ended.

The death of Robespierre. Taken from http://teachers.ausd.net/antilla/robes.jpg

The Directory. The radical Reign of Terror inspired a conservative

reaction. In 1795xxxiii[clxxxi] the National Convention drafted yet another
constitution. Universal manhood suffrage was eliminated, and only male
property owners could vote. The wealthy controlled the government once
more. The new constitution established an executive branch of five
directors. The government was known as the Directory.
Although the Directory governed France for four years, it pleased almost
no one. The directors quarreled among themselves and were unable to
agree on any reforms. When prices began skyrocketing and the directors
did nothing to improve the situation, crowds protested. A worker in Paris
summed up his feelings:

Under Robespierre blood was spilled and we had bread. Now blood
is no longer spilled, and we have no bread. Perhaps we must spill

some blood in order to have bread.

The Directory soon became as unpopular as the Old Regime, and it too
went bankrupt.
In 1799xxxiv[clxxxii] the directors were dismissed, leaving the way
open for change. Troops with bayonets surrounded the legislature and
forced most of its members to leave. Those that remained turned the
government over to a 30-year-old general, Napoleon Bonaparte. Napoleon
later remarked, "I found the crown of France lying on the ground, and I
picked it up with my sword."
Section 4 Review
IDENTIFY and explain the significance of the following:
Old Regime
Louis XVI
Estates General
National Assembly
universal manhood suffrage
Reign of Terror
Georges-Jacques Danton
Maximilien Robespierre
Napoleon Bonaparte
1.Main Idea Why and how did the French Revolution begin?
2. Main Idea What was the purpose of the Reign of Terror?
3. Government How did revolutionaries in France try to reform the
government?
4. Synthesizing How did the revolution change society in France? In
answering, consider each of the following groups: (a) the aristocracy
and clergy; (b) the middle classes; (c) the peasants; and (d) women.

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