REVOLUTION IN FRANCE

Introduction
France required a revolution to overthrow the monarch and establish rights for
ordinary citizens because the monarchy was desperately out of touch with the
severity of the situation
The FR would have a profound impact in Europe and became a model for many
outside its boundaries
French rulers were out of touch, the country was heavily in debt and taxes were
very high - these conditions were heightened by an outdated feudal system with
privileged nobles and illiterate serfs
The business class, known as the bourgeoisie, had many restrictions which
impacted the economy
In this atmosphere, ideas of enlightenment were being spread by the writings of
the philosophes, who largely opposed absolute monarchy and favoured
democracy
French Society in the 17th Century
The Peasants

Most land was controlled by aristocrats and the Catholic Church where 4 out of 5
French citizens farmed for a living on feudal lands
French society was organized like a pyramid with few aristocrats at the top and
the vast majority of serfs at the bottom
Ironically the wealthy paid few taxes but peasants paid a 10% tax to either the
church or their lord-this tax was called a tithe
French peasants used medieval farming methods and they produced far less in
value than their English and Dutch counterparts
Peasants suffered more than others in epidemics and famine and were fiercely
superstitious
To add insult to injury, peasants had to work part of the time on the lords
property and government projects
City Life and the Bourgeoisie
Paris was the largest city in Europe in the 18th century with a population of 600
000
Paris was a constant draw for people from the country so the city tended to be
overcrowded with many slums which saw a rise in beggars, vagrants and thieves
Juxtaposed to this destitution were prosperous merchants and aristocrats who
displayed their wealth which drove up prices (inflation)of goods making flour, a
staple, very expensive for the majority
The middle classes, mostly artisans and shopkeepers, had trouble competing
with guilds who held special privileges
The varying districts of France had their own internal tariffs and tolls, and a
severely undeveloped infrastructure inhibited the movement of goods and
services
Louis the XIV: The Sun King
Louis ruled for 72 years and was the centre of French life and culture
He named himself the Sun king because he saw himself as the source of all light in the
nation
His confidence as the greatest monarch in Europe saw him have the palace of Versailles
built and he forced important nobles to live there with him so he could keep an eye on
them and make them feel in debt to him
The court was a popularity contest where noble competed to be part of daily
ceremonies like the royal breakfast, lunch and dinner and the royal ballet
Nobles, who did not work, took ballet lessons and table manor lessons so they could be
more refined around the King
Louis was the absolute law in France and his decisions like wars depleted the treasury-
his persecution of Calvinist Protestants known as Huguenots who were often business
people, along with the cost of building Versailles left France in a huge deficit by his
death in 1715
Louis the XVI
Louis the XV came to the throne when his great grandfather died the economy
continued to slide out of control
When Louis XVI became King in 1774 he was ill prepared and left most governing
to others in his court
His disconnect with the middle and lower classes only worsened things although
he was not known as a brutal leader but one completely out of touch
Part of the trouble was that there were no national laws and different regions of
France had different rules. There were also varying languages and dialects which
made for poor communication in commerce
Also, Louis did not have support of the middle class who did not understand why
improvements were not taking place
Louis was completely ignorant of the values and ideas that flourished during the
Enlightenment
Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette
In 1770, Louis married Marie Antoinette, a member of the Austrian royal family,
as a way to mend bridges but the move was fiercely unpopular with the French
people
She loved the good life but she offended many French aristocrats with her
attitude toward French manners and customs
In addition, her love of jewelry and the affair of the diamond Necklace saw her
purchases of jewels worth more than the annual income of France deeply
offended people living in poverty
In addition, Marie had strong opinions on government, a field she had no
experience with, and she often would select and dismiss ministers based on her
feelings toward the person and not their policies- Louis went along with it
She had finance minister fired because he suggested an increase in taxation for
nobles to help France get out of debt
New Ideas: The Enlightenment

French backwardness would produce many men and woman whose writings
reflected a distaste for absolutism and favoured democracy
Woman were especially important because some held salons where ideas about
society, religion and government could be freely exchanged
In this climate the Enlightenment flourished which essentially meant that science
and human intelligence were of highest importance
If something could not stand up to reason or proven through empirical
understanding then it should be discarded
In Britain, Isaac Newton's laws of gravity and John Locke's ideas of empiricism
(knowledge only possible through observation and experience) were the basis of
the French Enlightenment
These ideas would provide criticism of religion which was faith based. Who then
could prove that the monarch had god given right to power.
Rousseau, Voltaire
and Montesquieu
These three had international fame and all questioned absolutism of any kind
Voltaire opposed the absolutism of the church and favoured freedom of thought.
He despised injustice and defended those people unable to defend themselves
Montesquieu believed monarchs should be held in check by various levels of
government: i.e.. municipal, provincial and federal laws
His ideas became the basis of levels of power in democracies, but at the time
did not receive popularity amongst European monarchs
Rousseau believed society needed a social contract, an agreement of rules that
all citizens must abide by
He went further to suggest that people have a naturally good will which is
destroyed or eroded by government and modern society
The Revolution Begins
By the 1780s the financial crisis was creating tremendous strain on the middle
and lower classes who resented paying heavy taxes to support the kings lavish
lifestyle
The models of the American revolution and the constitutional monarch in Britain
made France appear even more backward
Problems became extreme when a series of famines and crop failures occurred
which broke up families because parents could not provide for their children- 40
000 children would be abandoned each year!
Britain's industrial revolution would produce textiles cheaply which the French
could not compete with- in Paris a mob developed where the strains of empty
stomachs made the mob violent and unpredictable
Louis XVI simply punished critics or brought in the army to put down bread riots
in Paris-desperate to find solutions he called the Estates General
The Estates General
The EG met only by royal command and it had been since 1614 when they last
met
Within the EG there were three levels: The 1st estate were clergy (.5%), the 2nd
Aristocrats (1.5%) and the 3rd was comprised of the middle class (98%)
Each estate voted as a bloc which mean the 3rd estate could be out maneuvered
by the other two whose interests were far more in line with each other
Louis inability to compromise led to failed attempts by Turgot and later Necker,
finance ministers, to make constructive suggestions for gathering taxes
Since the 3rd estate was 98% of the population they decided to create a new
government on their own called the National Assembly
They met in the royal tennis court after being locked out of there meeting area.
The other two estates would feel obliged to join the NA
The Fall of the Bastille
Riots would continue over the high price of bread and the mobs began to attack prisons
which housed political prisoners
The revolution took a major turn on July 14, 1789 when a mob attacked the Bastille, a
royal prison and fortress in Paris
Troops sent by the King would join the mob and when the Bastille was captured only 7
prisoners were inside and released- the governors head was cut off and paraded
through the streets
Louis was frightened by this action and he agreed to have loyal soldiers retreat. As a
result the citizens formed their own army called the National Guard which was
commanded by Marquis de Lafayette, a hero of the American Revolution of 1776
As the revolution spread to the country, peasants feared retribution from the King and
attacked offices and burned feudal certificates that recorded their obligations to the
lord- The Great Fear
Chateauxs were burned to the ground and nobles killed
Declaration of the Rights
of Man and Citizen

On August 4, 1789, the NA abolished all feudal rights and ended serfdom. The
next day it declared all people equal before the law
In October, crowds of women marched from Paris to Versailles to meet the King
and when they arrived all muddy and tired they attacked the palace and forced
to King and queen to come back to Paris
In August the DRMC was passed by the NA which now met in Paris and
guaranteed freedom of thought, speech, religion, security and property while
putting limits on the power of government
Next step for the NA was a constitution which swept away noble titles and seized
church property
In 1791 Louis, inspired by an exodus of aristocrats for England and Switzerland
called emigres, tried to leave the country in disguise with his family but they
were recognized in Varennes where they were arrested
A Revolution Devours
its own Children
By 1791 the newly formed legislative assembly was doomed to failure as too many
groups struggled for power: radicals wanted a republic, moderates a constitutional
monarch, and monarchists a return of the kings powers
Since there were no political parties, people joined political clubs like the Girondists
who were revolutionary moderates and Jacobins who were the most radical of the
two-their power struggle would see the Jacobins victorious
Sans culottes were poor people who resented reforms that benefited the business
classes and they demanded the government to lower prices of goods and supply
bread
The SC were led by Marat, a fiery writer who encouraged the radical side of the
revolution (those who thought current leaders too moderate) which would lead to the
terror
Marat, Danton and Robespierre were radical leaders of the revolution who wanted the
king executed and critics guillotined
The Reign of Terror
rumours of foreign invasion gave pretense for the Jacobins to exploit fear in France but
they did defeat Austria at Valmy in 1792
A newly elected body called the National Convention tried the King and Queen for
crimes against France and both Louis ( Jan 21, 1793) and Marie (Oct 1793) would be
executed by guillotine
Between 1793-94 all perceived enemies were executed in a reign of terror that left very
few free from persecution and it is estimated that 37 000 people were killed this way
Danton would be killed and Robespierre would rule as a dictator but there was
modernization. The metric system would be introduced, army made more efficient and
new schools built
Robespierres dictatorship turned on him and he was replaced by the moderate
Directory controlled by the middle class who gave power to people of property and
special privileges returned for people with money
It was during this time that Napoleon would rise from the ranks of the French army!