From Estates General to Robespierre.

1. 1

2. Prior to the revolution, France was one of the most
powerful and advanced countries in Europe.
France was the largest country in Europe with around 28
million.
They also had the largest army, around 400,000 soldiers.
France also had a large economy. The sheer size of the
country made it one of the premier economic powers in
Europe.
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3. Despite all this, France in financial crisis.
Debt:
 Seven Years War (1756-1763).
 Support the American Revolutionary War.
Starting with King Louis XIV, the kings incurred great
amounts of debt and passed it on to the new kings to deal
with.
By 1789, France was essentially bankrupt.
3

4.  The English Revolution (Glorious
Revolution) was a struggle between
king and parliament, which Parliament
won and led to a decrease of the king’s
power.
 The success of the American
Revolution showed that common
people could overthrow a king and
establish a new style of government.
Willian III, prince of
Orange and King of
England 4

5.  At the age of 15 years old, he got married the
Archduchess Marie Antoinette, his second cousin
and the youngest daughter of the
German Emperor. At the age of 19 he was
King of France.
 King Louis XVI was an introverted, shy and indecisive
king. He lacked firmness and decisiveness.
 The queen, Marie Antoinette knew nothing about
politics and often gave her husband bad advice.
 She was also well known for her extravagance and
opulence and was very much disliked by the people.
5

6. King Louis XVI Queen Marie
Antoinette
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7. 7

8.  Marie Antoinette was most known of her
extravagant and very luxurious lifestyle.
 She had a love for fashion, luxury fabrics, amazing
jewelry, shoes and designs made for specifically
for her.
 She often had fantastical hairstyles accessorized
with feathers, some standing 1,2 meters high!
 She was an extroverted personality. She enjoyed
parties with gourmet foods and champagne. She
most of all loved masquerades where she could
dress in the most luxurious, gorgeous, imaginative
and extravagant dresses and costumes, jewelry
and decorated masks.
At the age of 12.
At the age of
23.
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9. 9
They were not able to complete the sex act for 7 years and 3 months after their wedding.
They had four
children:
-Marie-Therese
Charlotte.
-Louis
-Louis Joseph
-Sophie

10. The biggest issue leading
into the French Revolution
was the inequalities in
society.
The existing social structure
was similar to the feudal
system in the Medieval Ages.
France was divided between
different social classes and
various ways of taxation.
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11. The estates varied in what they contributed in terms of wealth, work and taxes
•Roman Catholic clergy
•Less than one percent of the
population
•Exempt from taxes
•Owned 10 percent of the
land
– Collected rents and fees
– Bishops and other clergy
grew wealthy
First Estate
•Nobility
•Less than 2 percent of the
population
•Paid few, if any taxes
•Controlled much of the
wealth
•Held key positions
– Government
– Military
•Lived on large country
estates and in Court.
Second Estate
•Largest group—97-98% of the
population
•Paid most of the taxes
•Middle Class: merchants, factory
owners, bourgeoisie, civil servants,
etc.
•Peasants: free and independent
farmers or servants, paid rents and
fees.
Third Estate
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12. 12
The 3rd Estate thought that
the taxes should not be paid
only by the 3rd Estate. They felt
the other estates should share
the financial burden.
Peasants were forced to do
military service.

13.  Years before the start of the revolution,
France had a severe drought that
destroyed much of the crop just before
the winter harvest.
 To add to that, the coming winter was
especially harsh and cold.
 The price of bread was fast rising
beyond the reach of many poorer
citizens and by the summer of 1789,
after a third bad year in a row, food in
general was becoming scarce and
expensive. 13

14. The people were starving in the
streets. Bread was so scarce and
the price of a loaf was nearly a
month’s wage for a peasant.
When told of the crisis, Marie
Antoinette supposedly replied,
“Let them eat cake,” referring to
the abundance they had at the
palace…
14

15.  Louis responds to the financial crisis
by raising taxes to get France out of
debt.
 Prices on goods, services and rent
were raised while wages stayed the
same (inflation).
 People in the Third Estate suffered
greatly from this inflation.
 This angers many people who are now
starving, unable to afford a simple
loaf of bread.
15
1774 Louis XVI budget:
-33% spent on the army
-30% spent to pay the debt.
- 10% Court spendings.
-6% to pay Pensions and wages to members of the Court and Clergy.

16. 16
 On June 7th 1788 in Grenoble. The King
attempted to pass a law in parliament
that would allow him to take a
significant loan. However, the
parliament refused. The wealthy and
powerful parliamentarians of Grenoble
decided to protest. The king sent his
soldiers to Grenoble to disperse the
people who support the
parliamentarians. The king's soldiers
were not welcomed in the city. From
now on, the victorious parliamentarians
decided not to pay taxes to the King
anymore and asked representatives of all
the other regions of France to do the
same.

17.  The King couldn't raise more taxes
and didn't have the power to find the
money he needed to govern. His last
chance was to call for the meeting of
the Estates-General.
 This was the first time this meeting
had happened in over 150 years! (1614)
 Representatives of each estate met to
discuss the financial crisis.
 There are 300 members of the Clergy,
300 members of nobility and 648
members of the Third Estate
(commoners). Third Estates asked the
King for double representation. 17

18.  On May 5th, 1789 the Estates General were opened by the King. The
Third Estate was represented by Maximilien de Robespierre who dedicated
to the defense of the rights of the poor and vulnerable.
 On the first days of the meeting, the King and his delegates announced the
principles of the meeting and the Third Estate discovered that the double
representation was in fact a deception. It was decided that the votes will be
hold by orders, 1 vote for each estate and not by head.
 Louis XVI and his advisors focused on a complete reform of the French tax
system.
 Necker, Louis XVI finance minister, thought that the only solution to the
financial crisis was to make all the people of France pay the taxes, no matter
what estate they were from.
 Louis XVI faced a huge resistance from nobility and clergy, who wouldn't
accept any loss of wealth or power.
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19.  The Third Estate, fed up with the King's
decisions decided to constitute themselves
as the National Assembly. It was aimed at
representing the three Estates but without
the supervision of the King.
They called for the two other orders to join
them.
 Then, Louis XVI canceled the Estates
General Meeting but the newly created
assembly decided to meet in another part:
in an indoor tennis court.
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On 20 June 1789, they swore that they would continue to meet until
their constitution was written. This is known as the Tennis Court Oath.

20.  Louis XVI didn't approve the new
Assembly. The King dismissed his very
popular Minister of Finances, Jacques
Necker.
 On July 13th, 1789 a rumor spread in
the streets of Paris of a coming counter
attack by the King's army.
 On July 14th, 1789, angry and afraid for
their lives, thousands of people
gathered and stormed the Bastille
looking for weapons to protect
themselves.
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21.  The Bastille was a fortress/prison and also
housed guns and ammunition. At the time of
the storming, the Bastille was only guarded by
a few soldiers.
 The Marquis de Launay, fearing a growing
anger among the revolutionaries, accepted to
meet some of their representatives inside the
prison. He was expecting a rescue team to
arrive and to help him secure his castle.
 The revolt completely changed when the
rescue team decided not to fight against but
with the people. They brought victory to the
people of France against Louis XVI's guards in
a few hours.
 Marquis de Launay surrendered and let the
people enter the Bastille. The guards were
killed and the Marquis de Launay was
beheaded, with his head then put on a stake
and carried all over the city as a sign of victory.
21
There weren't many prisoners in the
Bastille at the time of the storming; only
7 people were freed.
That very night, 800 men began to
destroy the Bastille

22. When, after a hunting trip, Louis XVI was informed
about what had happened at the Bastille, the King asked
his advisor "is this a revolt?" and he was answered, "No
Majesty, this is a revolution".
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23.  Because the French were so
inspired by the American
Revolution, a key to the
Bastille was presented to
George Washington. The
key currently hangs in his
home at Mt. Vernon,
Virginia.
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24.  What started as a revolt became a revolution.
 The National Guard was quickly formed, composed of more
than 40,000 people directed by Lafayette. They adopted the tri-
color flag as the new symbol of the Revolution. The White, the
color of the Monarchy is encircled by the Blue and the Red, the
colors of Paris.
 Louis XVI had no choice but to accept his defeat. He arrived in
Paris with La Fayette.
 On August 26th, 1789 the National Assembly voted
the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen, defining a set
of individual and collective rights for all the people, regardless
of their estate.
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25. 25
 Revolutionary leaders use the
slogan, “Liberty, Equality,
Fraternity”
 Soon after the storming of the
Bastille, the 3rd Estate’s National
Assembly drafted a Constitution.
 The Constitution eliminated special
privileges of the 1st and 2nd Estates.
Moreover, stated that there would
only be one common assembly like
Parliament and the king would have
special “veto power”.
 Additionally, it stated many other
things similar to the American
Constitution such as freedom of
speech and religion.

26.  Louis kept himself in Versailles and refused to accept and recognize the
new government, wishing to remain absolute monarch and protect his
throne.
 Meanwhile, there continued to be many major problems including debt
and food shortages.
 On October 5th, 1789 Louis XVI was forced by a group of 4,000 rioters,
mostly hungry women, to move out of Versailles and to take residence
under the revolutionaries watch at the "Tuileries", in the heart of Paris.
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27.  Louis, worried about his future, attempts to
escape France.
 The family dresses like lower class citizens
and tries to flee into Austrian controlled
Netherlands (Marie Antoinette was from
Austria).
 Rumors of the King's escape spread quickly
across France and the royal refugees were
recognized and captured few miles from
the German border, in Varennes. They were
only 30 miles from their destination and
freedom.
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When they were returned to Paris,
Danton and Marat launch a campaign to end
definitely the King's political power. They
wanted to abolish the Constitutional
Monarchy.

28.  Some countries such as Austria and Prussia, who also have absolute rulers,
threaten to attack if the king is not placed back into power.
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29.  The tension was rising between the protectors of
the king and the revolutionaries.
 On August 10th, 1792 the "Sans-Culotte", a group
formed of Parisian people who wanted to protest
against the aristocracy stormed the Tuileries.
Louis XVI was officially arrested and sent to
prison.
 A new, radical political group known as the
Jacobins come to power in 1792 led by the
influential Maximilien Robespierre.
 Robespierre was a very outspoken and
prominent figure in the years leading up to the
revolution.
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30. The King had a trial. He
was sentenced
to Guillotine in January
1793. He was accused of
High Treason and
Crimes against the State.
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At his execution, thousands of people gathered to see the king.
He was marched up onto the stage where he delivered a short
speech proclaiming his innocence.

31.  It is said that many people rushed the
stage to be covered in Louis’ blood and to
dip their handkerchiefs in it to
commemorate that historical event.
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32.  Just nine months following King
Louis’ execution, Marie Antoinette
is also tried for treason and found
guilty.
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33. 33
 France, at war against Austria, needed to find men to
fight the enemy. The new government, led by Danton ,
asked 300,000 men to join the French army. The first
revolts started in the country, especially in Vendee
where the peasants denounced the authority of the
government and the idea of the Revolution.
 They asked for the reestablishment of the Monarchy. A
real civil war took place in the French countryside,
between the Vendeen and the republican guards. From
March to September 1793, more than 100,000 people
died from this opposition.
 On April 6th, 1793 the government created the
"Committee of Public Safety”, led by Robespierre, took
urgent measures to stop the insurrection and the
French military defeats in Belgium. The original
revolutionary system was breaking apart.

34.  Under Robespierre, thousands of people will
be arrested and died.
 During his 10 month reign between 1793-1794,
over 200,000 people would be arrested.
 Another 40,000 people would be executed by
the guillotine.
 Of those executed; many are former allies of
the king, but 85% of them are people from the
3rd Estate, the very people who’s rights he was
supposedly defending ….
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35. 35
 The Constitution was suspended. Robespierre became a despot, who
thought anything was justified when it came to the revolution's rights.
He changed his views on the death penalty, saying it was justified
against enemies of the Republic.
He reinstalled
censorship, especially in
the press and acted for a
secular state. To this
effect, he changed the
calendar. A campaign of
dechristianization took
place all over the country.
On May 8th, 1794 the
Assembly introduced the
"The cult of Supreme
Being”, as form of deism.

36.  In July 1794, Robespierre was finally accused
of dictatorship and tyranny. The members of
the government voted for his execution,
without allowing him to defend himself. The
following day, Robespierre was beheaded to
an ovation by the people of Paris. His death
was the symbol of the Reign of Terror's
end and the end of the democratic movement
at the same time.
 The Reign of Terror results in public opinion
shifting away from radicals and another, more
conservative group comes to power.
 These new, moderate leaders write a new
constitution; but most importantly, they
appoint the young, brave and ambitious
Napoleon Bonaparte as the general of the
armies… 36