The French Revolution was a period of fundamental political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended in November 1799 with the formation of the French Consulate.

1. FRENCH
REVOLUTION
1789 - 1799
The causes of
the French
Revolution
Figure 1: The French Revolution

2. Figure 2: France on the World Map

3. CONTENT
 INTRODUCTION
 WHAT IS A REVOLUTION (SOUTH AFRICAN CONTEXT)
 THE FRENCH SOCIETY BEFORE 1789
 CAUSES OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION
 THE ROLE OF ORDINARY PEOPLE IN THE REVOLUTION
 THE ROLE OF WOMEN IN THE FRENCH REVOLUTION
 RIGHTS GIVEN TO WOMEN
 REVOLUTIONARY REFORMS
 THE REACTION TO THE REFORMS
 THE VIOLENT AND RADICAL PHASE OF THE REVOLUTION

4. Lesson objectives
By the end of this lesson you will:
 Understand the concept of revolution in the South African context
 Understand the different estates in the French society before 1789.
 Understand the FIVE causes of the French Revolution.
 Understand the roles of ordinary people and women in the French revolution.
 Understand the different consequences of the French Revolution

5. EXAMPLES OF REVOLTS IN SOUTH
AFRICA

6. INTRODUCTION
 The underlying causes of the French Revolution are generally seen as arising from
the failure of the Ancien Régime to manage social and economic inequality.
 Rapid population growth and the inability to adequately finance government
debt resulted in economic depression, unemployment and high food prices.
 These combined with a regressive tax system and resistance to reform by the
ruling elite to produce a crisis Louis XVI proved unable to manage.

7. THE FRENCH SOCIETY BEFORE 1789
Figure 3: The Three Estates

8. CAUSES OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION
 The French Revolution occurred due to FIVE main issues.
These issues include:
 SOCIAL CAUSES
 POLITICAL CAUSES
 ECONOMIC CAUSES
 IMMEDIATE CAUSE
 INTELLECTUAL CAUSE

9. SOCIAL CAUSES
 The society was divided into 3 estates:
 CLERGY, NOBLES AND the 3RD estate which comprised of big businessmen,
merchants, lawyers, peasants artisans, small peasants, landless labourers and
servants.
 The members of the first two estates enjoyed certain priviledges from birth.
They were exempted from paying taxes to the state.
 Nobles enjoyed feudal privileges which included feudal taxes from peasants.
 The churches received its share of taxes from peasants through Tithes.

10. SOCIAL CAUSES CONT.
 The French people had many complaints:
 The Third Estate was heavily taxed – 80% of their income could be taken from them. But the rich First
and Second Estates were not taxed.
 The factory workers were cruelly treated. They were poor and lived in dreadful conditions in the towns.
 The peasants on the farms hated the feudal system. In return for the protection of a noble, the peasants
had to work for him, pay to use his mill, oven, slaughterhouse and winepress.
 The peasants could not hunt on the farm.
 The noble would often ride all over the peasants’ precious vegetable gardens.
 The wealthy professionals, called the bourgeoisie, were angry because: they had no say in the
government and no freedom of speech they could never be promoted because the nobles got all the
top positions, even though many were not suited to these positions.

11. POLITICAL CAUSES
 King Louis XVI, from the Bourbon family, had a weak personality.
 His Austrian wife, Queen Marie Antoinette, dominated him.
 The King had absolute power – what he said was law. The Estate-General, the
French parliament, had not met since 1614.
 With a lettre de cachet (= a letter bearing the King’s seal), anyone could be sent
to prison without a trial.
 It is interesting to note that at this time the monarchies in Britain and Russia had
introduced some social and labour reforms. Therefore, there was no need for
their people to revolt.

12. ECONOMIC CAUSES
 People were starving in France in 1789 because of a severe drought, which had
caused a lack of food, making food prices too high for them to afford.
 The rich First and Second Estates were not taxed, as the King did not want to lose
their support.
 Louis XVl demanded heavy taxes from the Third Estate because France was almost
bankrupt as a result of:
 past wars, e.g. the American War of Independence
 debt because Louis XV had spent a fortune on his Versailles palace
 Marie Antoinette’s extravagant lifestyle, spending huge amounts of money on
clothes and court entertainment.

13. ECONOMIC CAUSES CONT.
 The Church too extracted its share of taxes known as tithes from the peasants and
ultimately all members of the third estate had to pay taxes to the state. These included a
direct tax called taille and a number of indirect taxes which were levied on articles of
everyday consumption like salt or tobacco.
 The burden of financing activities of the state through taxes was borne by the third estate
alone, which angered the people in the third estate.
 Government found its funds depleted.
 As a result of wars including the funding of the government spending more money than it
takes from tax revenues.
 Priviledged classes would not submit to being taxed.
 Consequently, France was facing bankruptcy.

14. IMMEDIATE CAUSES
 Formation of the Estate General.
 Compelled by Financial bankruptcy, the French Emperor Louis XVI called a
meeting of Estate General in 1789.
 It generated much heat as the members of the 3rd Estate were determined to
put forth their demand.
 However, the first two Estates i.e. ‘the Clergy’ and ‘the Nobility’ refused to have
a joint meeting with the Third Estate.
 This resulted in the members of the Third Estate walking off the Assembly.

15. INTELLECTUAL CAUSES
INFLUENCE FROM THE WRITERS:
 They wrote articles that encouraged the French people to question the Divine Right
 of Kings, which meant that a king’s authority came from God and no one could ever criticise the king.
 Voltaire openly attacked the abuses in the church and the political tyranny of the Ancien Régime (Old
Order).
 Rousseau wrote The Social Contract, which said that all citizens should submit themselves to the General
Will of the people (= democracy).
 Montesquieu promoted the radical and unheard-of idea of the separation of government powers:
●● some people make the laws = legislative powers
●● some people carry out the laws = executive powers
●● some people judge the lawbreakers = judicial powers.

16. INTELLECTUAL CAUSES CONT.
 The French people were oppressed, hungry and angry in 1789.
 They blamed King Louis XVI for their problems.
 The philosophers inspired them to protest and fight for their rights.
 The revolutionary motto was: ‘Liberty, Equality and Fraternity’ = freedom, no
social classes, brotherhood.

17. THE ROLE OF ORDINARY PEOPLE
IN THE FRENCH REVOLUTION
Meanwhile, tempers were flaring up in Paris because
of the dismissal of Necker, the King’s financial
advisor.
The King had fired Necker after Necker had
suggested that the nobles and clergy should also
pay taxes.
On 14 July 1789, a starving, lawless mob equipped
with pikes stormed the Bastille.
The Bastille was a prison and therefore a visible
symbol of the royal tyranny.
The mob paraded through the city with some of the
prison guards’ heads on their pikes, as proof of their
victory.
The 14th of July is now celebrated as a public
holiday in France.
Figure 4: Storming the Bastille

18. THE ROLE OF ORDINARY PEOPLE IN
THE REVOLUTION CONT.
 Ordinary people in the French revolution were peasants, san-culottes,
bourgeoisies or any group classified as commoners.
 They were the main reason for the revolution and played a major part in it.
 Ordinary people could not vote against their autocratic leader and then began
to question this situation and revolted for government change.
 They then assumed the role of overthrowing absolute monarchy, erasing all of
its signs.

19. THE ROLE OF WOMEN IN THE
REVOLUTION
 Youtube Video:
https://youtu.be/_ePgfGKu4W4
 Women in the Third Estate participated very
actively in the French Revolution.
 They revolted against the unfair rules that
oppressed them such as:
 Women had no right to education except
daughters of nobles and rich people.
 They were only allowed to work as maids,
laundresses, selling vegetables, selling
flowers and getting paid low wages.
Figure 5: Women revolting in France

20. THE ROLE OF WOMEN IN THE
REVOLUTION
 To voice their opinions women started POLITICAL CLUBS.
 The women had demands such as:
 Same Political Rights as Men
 Right to Vote
 Right to be Elected to the Assembly
 Right to Hold Political Office
They challenged the French Constitution and were given new rights.

21. RIGHTS GIVEN TO WOMEN
 Schooling was made compulsory for girls.
 Women could train for jobs and run small businesses.
 Fathers could no longer force their girls to get married.
 Marriages were registered and women had rights in marriage.
 Divorce was made legal and women could also apply for a divorce.

22. REVOLUTIONARY REFORMS
 The National Assembly now controlled the King, the
administration and the army.
 By 1791 a document was drawn up which gave all
citizens liberty, equality, justice and a say in the
government.
 It was called ‘The Declaration of the Rights of Man
and of the Citizen’.
 The evils of centuries were swept away. A limited
monarchy was created together with a parliament.
This is known as a constitutional monarchy.
 The privileges of the nobles and clergy were
abolished
 The clergy became civil servants paid by the
government.
Figure 6: The National Assembly

23. THE REACTION TO THE REFORMS
 Bitter opposition came from the royalists, nobles and clergy who were angry at
their loss of power and privileges. They turned to foreign countries for help.
 The poverty-stricken town workers and peasants were furious that their
economic grievances were not sorted out.
 In June 1791, the royal family disguised themselves and tried to flee to Marie
Antoinette’s family in Austria.
 However, they were recognised and arrested at Varennes near the border, and
brought back to Paris, humiliated.

24. THE VIOLENT AND RADICAL PHASE OF
THE REVOLUTION
 In October 1791 a group of extremists, called the Jacobins, managed to get control of
the new Assembly.
 Prussia and Austria were desperate to prevent a revolution in their countries. They
invaded France in April 1792 to rescue the monarchy.
 Panic and wild rumours spread. The Tuileries palace was stormed and the royal family
became prisoners. About 600 of the Swiss guards, who have been recruited to
safeguard the royal family, were massacred by the mob.
 The Jacobins, led by Danton and Robespierre, hunted out nobles and priests. More
than 1 000 people were killed. This time became known as the September Massacre.
 The monarchy was abolished and France was declared a republic.
 Patriotic soldiers filled with a nationalistic spirit marched to the borders singing the new
national anthem, the Marseillaise.
 In January 1793 the King was guillotined. The revolutionaries were fighting the enemy
inside and outside the country. Figure 7: September Massacre

25. REFERENCES
 Dutta, A. (2020). Role of Women in French Revolution https://youtu.be/_ePgfGKu4W4 (Accessed on 25 August
2021).
 Gopi, N. (2020). The French Revolution. Available from Slideshare at https://www.slideshare.net/gopi1969/the-
french-revolution-238041616 (Accessed 26 August 2021).
 Khushboo, V. (2020). The French Revolution. Available from Slideshare at https://www.slideshare.net/duft123/the-
french-revolution-237283733 (Accessed 25 August 2021).
 Legoane, L. (2018). The French Revolution. Available from Slideshare at
https://www.slideshare.net/LebogangLegoane/the-french-revolution-112789446 (Accessed 26 August 2021).
 Phillips, D,W. (2016). The French Revolution. Available from Slideshare at
https://www.slideshare.net/davidwilliamphillips/the-french-revolution-68090021 (Accessed 25 August 2021).
 Sarkar, M. (2021). The French Revolution. Available from Slideshare at
https://www.slideshare.net/MeenakshiSarkar4/the-french-revolution-240923511 (Accessed 25 August 2021).