VIVE LA REVOLUTION!

So MANY Problems!

The system of feudalism in France was known as The

Old Regime. Citizens were divided into three classes or
estates.

 Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette spent a lot of money

they didnt really have

Extravagant Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous

The French peasants live in horrid conditions so poor

they cannot even afford bread

Reasonslots of them

The
Enlightenment
movement
spread ideas
everyone should
be equal.
The people of
the 3rd estate
liked that idea.
(American
Revolution)

The French
economy was
failing.
Taxes were
high, profits
were low and
food supplies
were short.
7 Years War
increased debt

King Louis the

XVI was weak
and
unconcerned
about the
plight of the
third estate.

 Louis XVI attempted to tax the nobles.

The nobles forced the king to call a meeting of the

Estates-General an assembly of delegates from each of

the three estates.

Representative
Government for
France
The meeting of
The third estate
the Estatesnow wanted each
General began
delegate to have a
with arguments
vote. They broke
on how to count
with the others
votes. In the
and voted to
past one vote
rename
was cast for each
themselves The
estate.
National
Assembly.

The members of
the National
Assembly claimed
to represent all of
the people. The
king disagreed.
The 3rd Estate
delegates were
locked out of
their meeting.
They went to a
tennis court!

They Rebel

 The Third Estate formed a new National

Assembly to make laws for the French

people
In 1789, the National Assembly swore to a
Tennis Court Oath promising a new
constitution & limitations on the kings
power
beginning of the French Revolution

The National Assembly wrote their

revolutionary ideals in the
Declaration of the Rights of Man
and of the Citizen which said:

Men are born free and

equal in rights
Rights include liberty,
property, security, &
resistance to oppression

 For 3 months riots in the countryside. Peasants burned

chateaux, monasteries and buildings which housed

public records. They targeted documents which
contained records of their feudal obligations. "The
Great Fear" spread quickly

 Louis XVI threatened to dissolve the Estates General

Uprisings throughout France saved the Third Estate

from the King's intervention.

The most famous of these uprisings was the Fall of the
Bastille - July 14, 1789.
Although the Bastille only had seven prisoners in it
when it was liberated by the Parisian mob, became a
symbol of triumph over despotism.

 October, 1789: A crowd of Parisian women marched to

Versailles to demand King Louis XVI give out free

bread during a bread shortage. After camping out at
Versailles overnight, the mob decided to take Louis
XVI back to Paris. They insisted that the royal family
return to Paris where, in fact, they would find
themselves under virtual house arrest.

 At first the king seemed inclined to work with

the revolutionaries
But the influence of the queen and of the
courtiers were too strong.
He was encouraged to disregard all promises
he had made
He sought to flee from France in order to
obtain aid against the revolution from Austria.

His disregard of his promises to abide by the

constitution led to the storming of the royal
palace of the Tuileries on Aug. 10,
1792. The king and his family escaped
before the mob arrived and took refuge in
the hall of the Legislative Assembly.

Quick Class Discussion:

What should the
National Assembly do to
solve Frances problems?

 Louis was tried and convicted of high treason

He was sentenced to death by guillotine
Stripped of all titles and honorifics by the egalitarian,

Republican government, Citizen Louis Capet was

guillotined in front of a cheering crowd on
January 21, 1793.

They even have a committee about it!

The French lawyer and

political leader- one of the
most influential figures of
the French Revolution and
principal exponent of the
Reign of Terror.

Started by Robespierre in
the summer of 1793 decided who should be
considered enemies of the
public.

 incited by conflict

between rival political

factions, the Girondins
and the Jacobins
The guillotine ("National
Razor") used for many
executions
The repression
accelerated in June and
July 1794 - "la Grande
Terreur

 Seven months after the

execution of the King, shortly

after the declaration of
"Revolutionary Government,"
the Convention turned to the
rest of the royal family.
Fearing that Marie Antoinette
and her son would provide
rallying points for royalists
within France and abroad, a
Revolutionary Tribunal
indicted Marie Antoinette
and her children for treason.

 A conspiracy overthrew

Robespierre.
On July 27, 1794, he was
barred from speaking in
public and was placed
under arrest.
An uprising by his
supporters was stopped,
and on July 28 Robespierre
died on the guillotine with
his other supporters.
Eighty more followers of
Robespierre were executed
the next day.

Napoleon at St. Bernard

The Death of Marat

Because the French KNOW how to revolution!

 "abolition of feudalism" promoted individualism and

egalitarianism - retarded growth of a capitalist economy

France became increasingly a land of peasant proprietors
Established an enduring administrative and legal system Napoleonic Code
Plebiscitary ideals continue to inspire and embitter French
politics and keep right and left, church and state, far apart
Revolutionaries defied, and Napoleon conquered, the rest
of Europe
Haitian Revolution