Merriman Outline “Men are born, and remain, free and

IV. New Epoch equal in rights;” the “rights of man”

included liberty, property, and
A. Constitutional restraints upon the monarchy resistance to oppression; freedom of
B. The Declaration of the Rights of Man and thought and religion were
Citizen. guaranteed; careers were to be open
1. Individual freedom to all; law was to express the General
2. Civic equality Will; powers of government were to
3. The primacy of reason be separated in branches.
4. Popular sovereignty
5. Exclusion of women few men argued for
women’s rights
6. Religious freedom
C. Growing pressure on the king
1. Marat and the patriots caused an outburst of patriotic sentiment and anger against
the king.
2 Parisian women march on Versailles crowd of market women and revolutionary
militants, followed by the Paris national guard, besieged Versailles
3 The king and his family moved to Paris In Paris: the king’s guard was massacred, the
royal family imprisoned, and a revolutionary "commune” established in Paris. War
hysteria and anarchy also led to the
The Church was outraged by the loss of its property
death of 1100 counter-revolutionaries (leading to the closing of many schools), but the
(“September Massacres”). crowning blow was the Civil Constitution of the
D. Reforming the Church Clergy of 1790. The Assembly created a national
1. Selling off Church lands church: parish priests and bishops were to be elected
2. Civil Constitution of the Clergy: a by all citizens, and were to be paid by the state; the
national church number of dioceses was cut; bishops were forbidden
3. Growth of a counter-revolutionary to accept the authority of the Pope; and all religious
movement orders were closed.
E. Structural reforms
1. The Constitution of 1791 It ended the manorial system, with peasants freed
2. Restricted franchise of all compensation to the former owners. Slavery
3. Citizenship rights for Protestants and was abolished. The government also abolished the
old guilds and trade unions in favor of “free
Jews
trade”--clearly favoring bourgeois owners. Olympe
4. Abolition of guilds
de Gouges wrote The Rights of Woman (1792),
5. Abolition of slavery in France and in and her ideas were seconded by Mary
colonies Wollstonecraft’s Vindication of the Rights of
6. Olympe de Gouges and the rights of Woman (1792)
women
F. The dynamics of radicalization
1. Resistance to the Revolution
 2. Democratic clubs: the sans-culottes A new Jacobin group now appeared, the
3. The importance of symbols Montagnards--representing the most
G. The flight to Varennes radical in Paris, the sans culottes, shop-
1. Louis XVI flees and is returned to Paris keepers and artisans. They denounced
V. War and its impact on the Revolution the king and queen; Louis was put on trial
A. Republican Jacobins in December, found guilty of treason, and
1. Danton ordered executed--by one vote.
2. Marat
3. Robespierre – lawyer and Convention leader delegate to the Estates General and
served in the Legislative Assembly (opposing the war)
4. Taking control of the National Assembly by March 1792 On the point
of invading France, Austria and Prussia made the Brunswick Manifesto: if any harm came to the king
or queen, the invaders would exact retribution. This threat, plus the oratory of Robespierre, Danton,
and Marat caused an outburst of patriotic sentiment and anger against the king.
B. Reaction throughout Europe
1. A profound threat to absolute monarchy everywhere
2. Burke’s criticisms (1790) and Paine’s defense (1791) Reflections on the Revolution in
France predicted anarchy and dictatorship for France and called on Englishmen to support gradual
change.
3. Mary Wollstonecraft’s Vindication of the Rights of Women (1792) Influenced by
radical elements, the National Assembly became more liberal--as conservatives formed a
second wave of emigrés. The more liberal now began to form into clubs, of which the most important
was the Society of the Friends of the Constitution, known as Jacobins. The Jacobins used the club as
a caucus to discuss policies and plan change.
1. The Declaration of Pilnitz (1791) Action began over the position of Louis and Marie
A.: at Pillnitz, Austria and Prussia declared that if Leopold acted against France, they
would, too. Though action was unlikely, emigrés used this Declaration of Pillnitz as a
threat against France.
C. The National Assembly Declares War on Austria (1792) Leopold died and was replaced by
Francis I, who was much more willing for war. As a result, the French Assembly declared war on
Austria.
D. The Second Revolution
1. Early defeats in the war
2. A revolutionary Commune established in Paris (August 1792) In Paris: the king’s guard
was massacred, the royal family imprisoned, and a revolutionary "commune” established in Paris. It
ended the Legislative Assembly,
3. The September Massacres (1792) War hysteria and anarchy also led to the death of
1100 counter-revolutionaries (“September Massacres”).
4. The French victory at Valmy (September 1792) a minor victory at Valmy led to the
Austrian retreat--and the French occupation of Belgium, Savoy, and the left bank of the Rhine. Britain
opened talks with Holland, Prussia, and Austria--and France declared war. Russia and Prussia agreed to
the second partition of Poland, but left Austria out--ending the coalition.
5. The monarchy abolished
6. Success of the citizen-armies beyond France’s borders
 7. The king executed (Jan 21, 1793) found guilty of treason, and ordered executed--
by one vote

E. Quarrels and splits within the revolutionary leadership

1. Girondins: economic liberalism the Girondins became the dominant faction of
revolution they favored international revolution as the only sure way of preserving the
Revolution
2. Montagnards: radical centralizers. A new Jacobin group now appeared, the
Montagnards--representing the most radical in Paris, the sansculottes,
shop-keepers and artisans. They denounced the king and queen
F. Counter-revolution
1. The role of the church Catholics threatened counterrevolution.
2. The Vendee rebellion (March 1793) peasants in the Vendée revolted, angered by
conscription and encouraged by Catholic priests and British agents; they were followed by the
cities of Lyons, Bordeaux, Marseilles and others, led by fleeing Girondins who also became
counter-revolutionariess.
G. The Terror
1. The Committee of Public Safety (March 1793) The Convention needed to end civil
strife and counter-revolution at home, mobilize the nation’s people and resources to fight a war,
and prepare a new democratic constitution and initiate social legislation. Wide powers were
given to 12 men, the Committee of Public Safety. To repress counter-revolution, the Committee
began the Terror.
2. Girondins vs. Jacobins
3. St. Just makes war on all “enemies of the Revolution”
4. Robespierre systematizes Jacobin power
5. Revolutionary symbols: a new calendar and Marianne They launched a program of
Dechristianization, adopting a republican calendar with new months, décades replacing weeks,
and no saints days and church holidays. Many radicals proposed the worship of Reason;
Robespierre, fearing to alienate the peasants, vetoed the act. They also attacked the “right-
wing” Dantonists.
6. Between 11,000 and 18,000 deaths in the Terror
7. French military victories French troops retook Belgium and Holland. Military success
eased the pressures that had made the Terror possible.
8. The Revolution consumes its own children
9. The “Cult of the Supreme Being”
VI The Final Stages
A. Thermidor
1. Robespierre guillotined (July 1794) Military success eased the pressures that had made
the Terror possible. Robespierre was “outlawed” on 9 Thermidor, to be guillotined the
next day. The Terror was over (July 27-28, 1794).
2. Jacobins purged
A. The Directory The Directory was the first formally constituted Republic. It rested on a
narrow social base, with full political rights given only to “electors,” men of property--as in
1791. Two-thirds of the new legislature had to be from the Convention--a decision that
 provoked a riot that was ended by a young general named Bonaparte with a “whiff of
grapeshot.”
1. A new admin. Body The Thermidorian Reaction: The Convention reduced the powers of
the Committee and closed the Jacobin Club. Government controls were relaxed,
producing inflation and sporadic working-class insurrections put down by the army.
2. A turn against the asceticism of Robespierre
1. Inflation Government controls were relaxed, producing inflation and sporadic working-
class insurrections put down by the army. The bourgeoisie was triumphant--lawyers,
office holders of the Old Regime plus parvenus and nouveaux riches, enriched by war-
time profiteering or buying up former church land at bargain prices. Men of the
Convention believed in individual rights and written constitutions, but they saw
democracy as “red terror” and mob rule and they resolved to write yet another
Constitution.
B. Instability
1. Failed royalist attempts to regain power
1. Babeuf: a conspiracy of radical egalitarians The right, royalists, who backed Louis XVIII,
brother of Louis XVI, and reinstatement of nobility and church; the Left favored the
democratic ideals of the Revolution. But radicals like Babeuf, who wished to abolish
private property and introduce full equality, were quickly “liquidated.”
2. The Directory moves towards full dictatorship
1. Financial difficulties
1. Napoleon’s rising star In 1789 he joined the Rev, helping occupy Marseilles in 1792. His
bravery and strategy in helping drive the English from Toulon led to his promotion to
general.
2. The Treaty of Campo Formio (1797) French hegemony in Italy Within two years he
defeated the Austrians, won control of most of Italy, and made the Peace of Campo
Formio (1797) by which he reorganized his conquests into the Cisalpine Republic (Milan)
and the Ligurian Republic (Genoa) under French “protection.”
1. Russia Britain and Austria combine against Napoleon Britain in 1797 needed peace:
Whig opposition to the war, republican radicals; bad crops, inflation; mutinies in the
fleet, Ireland in rebellion--and now its only continental ally defeated. French royalists
won elections; the Republicans worked a coup d'état, led by a general loaned by
Napoleon. They annulled the elections and made peace with Austria. French
revolutionary ideals were spread through Italy and Switzerland; France annexed Belgium
and the west bank of the Rhine.
2. The coup d’etat of Eighteenth Brumaire (November 9, 1799) The Directory was an
inefficient dictatorship, unable to solve the problem of the national debt or restore
financial confidence or stability, or prevent peasant risings in the Vendée. Napoleon had
moved against Egypt, hoping to create a shorter route to India; but he angered the
Russians and brought a new coalition against him. He won on land in Egypt, but his fleet
was defeated by Nelson--leaving his army stranded. Meanwhile, Russian troops had
retaken much of Italy. Napoleon returned to France a conquering hero; coup plotters
saw him as the “man on the white horse,” able to lead France to victory and give them
power. The resulting coup produced the Consulate, run by a three man committee
headed by Napoleon.