4. The Eve of Revolution
The three estates:
1. First Estate: Clergy, Church leaders who
owned 10% of the land, and paid no taxes.
(However, few parish priests did live like
the peasants in the community that they
served in).
2. Second Estate: Nobility, who had top
government jobs, in the courts, and the
army. Lost influence and power during the
1600’s, and feared they would continue to
loose their influence.
3. Third Estate: Diverse social group. At the
top were the bourgeoisie, (bankers,
merchants, manufacturers, lawyers,
doctors, journalists, professors). Followed
by the rural peasants, and lastly the urban
workers. They paid the bulk of the taxes,
and wanted others to pay their share.
Estates: social class
Bourgeoisie: the middle class
Reflect on the above photo.
Who does each person represent?
What does this image say about society pre-revolution?
5. Financial Troubles
National Debt
Seven Years War- (Took place in
America, when British attacked
French merchant ships).
Helped sponsor the American
Revolution- (Colonists in the 13
colonies rejected British monarchy
and created The United States of
America).
Borrowing Money- Taxes went to
paying off interest rates
Lavish spending- Versailles: palace
of the French royal family.
Bad harvest increased food prices
among the peasants
Economic Reform
Louis XVI chose Jacques
Necker as financial adviser,
who suggested reduced
spending and taxes for the
rich. Was dismissed because
he proposed taxing the
nobility and clergy.
Louis XVI called for the
Estates-General so that all
estates would be
“represented” in deciding
reforms.
Louis XVI: King of France during the French revolution
Jacques Necker: financial adviser up until the beginning of the French revolution.
Estates-General: an assembly where all estates were represented.
6. The Results of the Estates-GeneralEstates Meet:
1. Cahiers were prepared by each estate, listing
where they believed France needed reform.
2. But voting was done by group, not by head. Each
group had one vote, so the two upper estates
ALWAYS outvoted the third.
3. The Third Estate decided to create their own
group: the National Assembly. Members of the
National Assembly took the Tennis Court
Oath, where they swore “never to separate
and to meet wherever the circumstances
might require until we have established a
sound and just constitution.”
Rumors spread that troops were going
to occupy Paris, so Parisians
assembled outside of the Bastille,
demanding weapons.
The commander began shooting into
the crowd, angering the mob.
The mob broke into the Bastille,
killing the commander and five
guards, and releasing prisoners.
July 14, 1789- Bastille Day
Cahiers: notebooks with suggestions on reforms.
Head: each person receives one vote.
National Assembly: group formed by the members of the Third Estate.
Tennis Court Oath: oath made on a tennis court, by the Third Estate, to bring justice to France.
Bastille: prison in Paris.
Women’s March on Versailles:
hundreds of women stormed the
Palace of Versailles, demanding to see
Marie Antoinette (Louis XVI’s wife).
They wanted to tear her apart, and
blamed her for the troubles in France.
8. The Revolution Unfolds
National Assembly Acts:
1. Abolished feudalism
2. Creation of the Declaration of the
Rights of Man, and later Olympe de
Gouges created the Declaration of
the Rights of Women.
Factions formed as a result
of peasant revolts in the
countryside and in the
cities:
1. Moderates: led by Marquis
Lafayette, he led the
National Guard and was the
first group to wear the tri-
colors red, blue, and white.
2. Paris Commune: replaced
the royalist government,
and encouraged violent
actions to further the
revolution.
Factions: dissenting groups of people.
Feudalism: old system of rule where lords divided land to men who swore their loyalty to the lord.
Declaration of the Rights of Man: proclaimed that all male citizens were equal under the law.
9. Rule under the National
AssemblyChurch is placed under state
control, papal authority was
ended. France dissolved all
convents and monasteries, and
the clergy became elected
salaried officials.
A new calendar was also created,
called the Revolutionary Calendar,
to eliminate Christianity and any
mention of God. 10 day weeks,
months renamed.
Louis XVI began to wear
the tricolor to show his
support of the revolution.
Him and his family also
moved to Paris from
Versailles.
New government
established with the
constitution of 1791. A
Legislative Assembly was
created, and lawmakers
were elected by citizens,
(males at least 25 y.o.)
Papal authority: authority from the Pope. Why would the lower classes, especially the peasants,
be angered that the Church was now under state control?
10. Radicals Rule
The working class men and
women who called themselves
sans-culottes, took radical
action. They demanded a
republic form of government
and for the abolishment of the
monarch.
Émigrés fled France and
told the rest of Europe
about the attacks on
nobles. Europe began to
send threats to France
that they will intervene.
A radical group called
the Jacobians created
the National Convention,
which in turn created
the French Republic.
The French Republic
put Louis XVI on trial as
a traitor of France, and
was executed along with
his wife Marie
Antoinette.
Sans-culottes: radical political group.
Republic: government ruled by elected representatives.
Émigrés: people who fled the revolution in France.
Jacobians: political club.
National Convention: a new legislative body.
Marie Antoinette: Austrian born wife of Louis XVI.
11. Reign of Terror
France was at war with Europe,
and had social unrest within
the country. To keep the
“peace,” the convention created
the Committee of Public Safety,
12 members who were in
charge of trials and executions.
Maximilien Robespierre became
the leader of the Committee of
Public Safety. He was nick named
“the incorruptible,” and believed
in the use of prompt and severe
terror. This era became known as
the Reign of Terror.
300,000 were arrested, and
17,000 executed with the
guillotine. Those arrested where
ones who were believed to be
against the revolution.
July 27, 1794- Robespierre was
arrested and and beheaded. After
this, executions came to a stop.
Guillotine: method of beheading,
became known as the symbol of horror.
12. The End of Terror
The end of the Reign of
Terror, was the start of a
new government and
Constitution. (Third since
the beginning of the
revolution).
The new government
created a Directory and a
two-house legislature of
elected officials. The new
government was unstable
and chaotic. The French
turned to Napoleon
Bonaparte for leadership.
Napoleon Bonaparte: Military hero who would later become the emperor of France.
15. The Age of Napoleon
Napoleons Rise to Power
Napoleon was born in Corsica, an island in
the Mediterranean.
At the start of the revolution he was a 20
year old lieutenant. He drove the British
out of France and captured northern Italy.
Egyptian Campaign: Led a disastrous
expedition in Egypt, but the French
newspapers reported it as a success.
Helped overthrow the Directory, and set up
a new constitution and new government
called the Consulate.
In 1802 he named himself First Consul for
life.
In 1804 he held a plebiscite where he was
voted to be Emperor of the French.
Napoleon Reforms France
Strengthened the central government.
Replaced the old slogan of, “liberty,
equality, & fraternity,” with “order,
security, & efficiency.”
Balanced the budget, jobs opened to
people based on talent
Built roads, canals and pubic schools
Brought back the Catholic Church to
France
Created the Napoleonic Code: equality
of all citizens, religious toleration,
abolition of feudalism. BUT women
lost their rights to their husbands.
Plebiscite: popular vote by ballot.
Napoleonic Code: new code of law under Napoleon.
16. Napoleons Empire
Forceful diplomacy
Placed friends and family members
on the thrones of Europe
Was not able to take over Britain.
Napoleon prepared to invade
Britain, but was crushed by Horatio
Nelson, the British admiral.
Economic warfare with the
Continental System, which closed
European ports to British goods.
This was not successful because
Britain continued to trade with the
Americas and India. It also angered
the French because of the scarcity
of items.
17. The end of the Napoleonic
Era
Europeans saw Napoleon as a
foreign oppressor and resented
the continental system. The
Spanish were still loyal to their
king and queen, and began
guerilla warfare, small hit-and-
run raids. (Guerilla means “little
war” in Spanish).
Napoleon marched into Moscow
with his army, but the cold
winter and limited crops forced
them to return home. After this
defeat, Russia, Austria, Prussia
and Britain became allies,
defeating Napoleon in the Battle
of the Nations, forcing him to
abdicate, or step down, his
throne.
Napoleon returned to power
with the unpopularity of
Louis XVIII. His return was
short lived with his loss at
the battle of Waterloo against
the British and Prussians. He
again abdicated the throne
and was exiled to St. Helena.Napoleon: For or Against?
Did Napoleon protect or betray the ideals of the century?
