THE FRENCH REV O LUTION Four Phases of the French Revolution - PowerPoint Presentation

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THE FRENCH REV

O

LUTION

Four Phases of the French Revolution

LONG TERM CAUSES

SHORT TERM CAUSES

National Assembly

(1791-1792

) – p 78

THIRD ESTATE WANTED TO CHANGE THE VOTING SYSTEM

Tennis Court Oath

National Assembly (1789-1791)

Louis XVI did not actually want

the written constitution he had agreed to and sent troops to close down the assembly.

Tennis Court Oath

The people (mobs) stormed the Bastille prison in response

The Great Fear

People in the countryside thought the nobles would burn their crops and starve them into submission. The peasants attacked the nobles and burned many of their

chateauxs

or castles.

Main Achievements of the National Assembly

The 1791 Constitution in which the king would no longer be an absolute monarch, but subject to parliament in a constitutional monarchy

Political powers were divided (legislative, executive and judicial) and limited suffrage introduced.

The declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen:

Freedom of religion

Freedom of speech

“Liberty, equality, fraternity!”

Guaranteed property rights

Right to a fair trial

This new government became known as the

Legislative Assembly

Democratic features

France became a

limited monarchy

All

laws were created by the

Legislative Assembly

Feudalism was abolished

Undemocratic features

Voting was limited to taxpayers

Offices were reserved for property

owners

Church lands were seized

, divided, and sold to peasants

Church officials

were

elected by the people,

with

salaries paid by the government

(2/3 of Church officials fled the country rather than swear allegiance to this)

All

special privileges

of the First and Second Estates were

abolished

Legislative Assembly (1791-1792

) -p 79

The new government, however, had many opponents both inside and outside of France.

Royal fami

ly looked to Austria (Ruled by Emperor Leopold, Marie Antoinette’s brother) for help

In June, 1791, they were caught trying to escape to Austria

Nobles

who fled the revolution lived abroad as

émigrés

They hoped that, with foreign help, the Old Regime could be restored in France

Church

officials wanted Church lands, rights, and privileges restored

Some

devout Catholic peasants

also supported the Church

Other

European monarchs

were frightened the revolution would spread to their own countries.

France was invaded by Austria and Prussia.

Marie Antoinette

Two main political forces appeared: the

Girondins and the Jacobins (also known as the

Montagnard

)

The

Girondins

were

moderates

and wanted to

spread

the

revolution

to other European countries (represented the provincial

middle class

and

intellectuals

).

The Jacobins

were radicals led by Marat,

Danton, and Robespierre (represented the urban working classes

and were supported by the sans-culottes of Paris). People

suspected

the

king

of wanting to lose the war against Austria so he could

restore Absolute power

Robespierre

The

Paris mobs

attacked the Palace and demanded the

king

was

removed

and a

Republic established

. France was declared a republic and the

new government was called the National Convention. sans-culottes

The

Convention (

1792-1795

) p 80

January 21, 1793 King Louis XVI

was tried and

condemned to death

by one vote (361-360)

for

:

Using force against the National Assembly

Secretly plotting to overthrow the Revolution

Attempting to escape from France

Bankrupting the country

Other European countries

were

horrified

and

Austria, England, Holland, Prussia, Sardinia and Spain formed a

Coalition

to invade France

The

war went badly

for France and

prices rose

as a result.

The

sans-culottes rioted

in Paris and in some regions peasants loyal to the king revolted against

the moderate

Girondin

government

, who were

blamed for the problems

.

The Jacobins seized power through a parliamentary coup. The

Committee of Public Safety

was set up and came under the control of

Maximilien Robespierre

. The Jacobins Reign of Terror began (1793 - 1794). 

The Reign of Terror

Decree by Convention, April 1793

on the Committee of Public Safety.

“The Committee shall

talk in secret

; it shall be

responsible for watching over the work of the

government…under the critical circumstances it

is

authorised

to take measures to

defend the

revolution

against

internal and external enemies

.”

Committee of Public Safety.

Extract from a law introduced by the

Committee for Public Safety, 17th September

1793, to deal with suspects brought to

tribunals

.

“ Suspects shall be locked up…. The proof

necessary to convict enemies…can be any kind of

evidence….If proof already exists there need be

no further witnesses….The penalty for all

offences under the law of revolutionary tribunal is

death

.”

Between 3,000 and 15,000 people died on the guillotine during the Reign of Terror. 90% were members of the Third Estate, 7% the Second Estate and 3% the First Estate.

Execution

Records, 1793.

1. Jean-

Baptiste

Henry,

aged

18,

journeyman

Tailor

,

convicted

of

having

cut

down a tree of liberty,

executed

6th September,

1793.

3. HenrietteFrancoise

Marboeuf

,

aged 55, convicted

of having hoped for

the arrival of the

Austrians and

Prussians and of

keeping food for

them, condemned to

death and executed

the same day.

2. Marie

Plaisant

,

seamstress

,

convicted

of

having

exclaimed

that

she

was an

aritocrat

and that

she did

nots

care a fig for

the

nation

,

condemned

to

death

and

executed

the

same

day

.

4. Francois

Bertrand, aged

37, publican,

convicted of

having provided

the defendersof the countrywith sour wine,condemned andexecuted thesame day.

The Committee allowed revolutionary tribunals to convict people without hearing evidence. This was called the Law of Prairial. In September 1793, the Convention passed a law called the Law of Suspects. People could now be put in prison without trial.

On

July 27, 1794

, Partly because of military successes in the wars with European states, the French people revolted against the excesses of the

Reign of Terror

in what became known as the

Thermidorian

Reaction.

The moderate

Girondin

members were able to gain control of the convention and

Robespierre

was arrested and sentenced to death. He was guillotined on July 28, 1794.

The Convention approved a new "Constitution of the Year III" on

17 August 1795

; a plebiscite ratified it in September; and it took effect on

September 26, 1795

.

The new constitution included a new structure of government

Known as the

Directory

Government under the Directory

The new régime met with opposition from remaining Jacobins and royalists.

The rule of the Directory was marked by corruption, financial difficulties, political purges, and a dependence on the army to maintain control.

The people of France grew poorer and more frustrated with their government.

Because of military successes, and maybe because of their frustration with the new government, the French had a focal point and a strong feeling of

National Pride

emerged.

Directory (

1795-1799

) – p80

Victories in Italy and the defeat of the British in Egypt

made

Napoleon Bonaparte

the most famous general in France. He He would come to power through a

coup d’état,

ending

the ten-year period (1789-1799) known as the French Revolution.