THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

The system of estates in French society

Clergyst – associated
nd
with the church
The 1 and the 2 estate did not pay taxes – right by birth.
3rd estate made up 90% of the population. Paid taxes.
The 3 estates were headed by the king who was the monarch.
THE KING :
• King Louis XVl
• Ascended the throne in 1774.
• 20 years old
• From the Bourbon family.
• Married to Mary Antoinette who was Austrian
Old regime : the society and institutions of France before 1789.
Apon his accession to the throne, he found an empty treasury.
Long years of war had drained thee financial resources of
France.
Under king Louis XVl. France helped America gain
independence from their common enemy – Britain. The war
added more than a billion livres to a debt that had already risen
above a million livres.
Lenders who gave the state credit now began to charge 10%
interest. So the gov. was obliged to spend an increasing
percent of their budget on interest payments alone.
The gov. was forced to raise taxes to meet the regular expenses.
60% of the land was owned by the clergy and other richer
members of the 3rd estate.
The nobles enjoyed feudal privileges. These included feudal
dues which they extracted from the peasants. The peasants
were obliged to render services to the lord.
Taille was the direct taxes paid by the 3rd estate to the gov. tithes
were the taxes levied by the clergy which comprised 1/10 of the
total agricultural produce.
The pop of France rose from 23 million in 1715 to 28 million
1789. this lead to rapid demand for food grains. Production could
not keep pace with demands. Price of bread rose. Wages did not
keep pace with prices. Gap between poor and rich widened. This
led to subsistence crisis.
Rise in pop Food shortage static wage
Subsistence crisis starvation Inc. prices

The
nd
higher class of the 3rd estate were jealous ofrd the 1st and the
2 estate. The only thing that kept them in the 3 estate was
that they were not born as nobles or clergy
They believed that the people should be privileged on merit
rather than birth.
Philosophers:
• John Lokhe -2 treatises of the gov. – sought to refute the
divine and absolute power of the monarch.
• Jean Jacques Rausseau – proposed a form of gov. based on
the social contract between the people and their
representatives.
• Montesquieu – proposed a division of power within the
legislature, excutive and judiciary. [ this form of gov. was put
into force in usa after the 13 colonies gained independence.
This was an important example for France.]
The idea of the philosophers were discussed in coffee shops,
saloons, books, newspapers and were frequently read out in the
public for the benefit of the illiterate. The news that the king was
going to raise taxes enraged the people and the protested
against the system of privileges.
OUT BREAK OF THE REVOLUTION
The monarch did not have the power to impose taxes according
to his will alone. He had to call a meeting of the estates general
which would decide.
An estate general was a political body consisting of
representatives of the 3 estates. However only the monarch
could decide when to call the meeting. The last time it was called
in 1614.
Estates general of 1789:
• It was called in 5 May, 1789
• Venue: a resplendent hall in Versailles.
• 300 hundred members from the 1st and the 2nd estate each
who were seated facing each other.
• 600 members each of the 3rd estate who stood at the back.
• Third estate represented by its more prosperous and
educated people.
• Peasants, artisians and women were denied entry. Their
 grievances were acknowledged by about 40000 letters.
• Voting in the estates general in the past had been that a
vote per estate. This time too Louis XVl wanted to continue
with the same practice. The members of the third estate
demanded a vote per person. This was one of the
democratic principles by Rousseau in his book – the social
contract
• When the king rejected the proposal, the 3rd estate staged a
walkout.
• The representatives of the third estate spoke for the whole
nation. They assembled inththe indoor tennis court in the
ground of Versailles on 20 June
• They declared themselves a national assembly.
• They swore not to move out unless a constitution was
framed which limited the powers of the monarch.
• They were led by Mirabeau and Abbé Sieyès.
Mirabeau was born in a noble family but was against the system
of social privileges. He brought out a journal and delivered
powerful speeches to the crowd.
Abbé Sieyès was a priest who wrote the influencial pamphlet
called – “what is the third estate?”
The national assembly busy at Versailles drafting the constitution.
Severe winter – bad harvest – bread price increase –
Bakers exploited situation and hoarded supplies – angry people.
The king ordered troops to move to Paris.
14th July 1789 – agitated crowd destroy Bastille.
Rumours went about that lords of manors had hired brigands to
destroy crops. In fear, farmers seized hoes and pitchforks and
attacked chateaux. Looted hoarded grain – burnt down
documents containing records of manorial dues. Nobles fled.
Louise XVl accorded the recognition of the national assembly and
accepted the principle that his powers would from now on be
checked by a constitution.
4th July 1789:
• Assembly passed decree abolishing the feudal system of
obligations and taxes.
• Members of clergy were forced to give up their privileges.
• Tithes were abolished and a land owned by church
confiscated.
• The gov acquired assets worth about 2 billion livres.
The national assembly completed draft of the constitution in 1789.
it proposed:
• Limitation of powers of the monarch.
• Powers being separated and assigned to different institutions
– the legislature, the executive and the judiciary.
 • France being a constitutional monarchy.

The citizens voted for a group of electors who chose the

assembly. Not all citizens had the right to vote. Only those men
who were above the age of 25 and paid taxes equal to 3 day’s
labourer’s wages. These were the active citizens. The rest – the
women, people under 25 and those who did not pay taxes – were
not given the right to vote. To qualify as an elector and then as a
member of the assemble, a man had to belong to the highest
bracket of the tax payers.
The declaration of the rights of man and citizen by the constitution
was that every citizen had the right to life, freedom of speech,
freedom of opinion, equality before law. These were established
as ‘natural and inalienable rights that is, they belonged to each
human by birth and could not be taken away. It was the duty of
the state to protect its citizen’s natural rights.
FRANCE ABOLISHES MONARCHY AND BECOMES A
REPUBLIC
Although Louise XVl had signed the constitution, he entered a
secret negotiation with the King of Prussia. Rulers of the
neighbouring countries were worried about the developments in
France and sent troops to put down the events happening there
since 1789. before this could happen, the national assembly
voted in April 1792 to declare war against Prussia and Austria.
Thousands of volunteers came from the provinces to join the
army. They saw this as a war of the people against king and
aristocracies. Patriotic song – Marseillaise – composed by the
poet Roget de L’isle – now the national anthem of France.
The revolutionary wars brought losses and economic difficulties to
the people. While the men fought, the women were left to cope
with the tax of earning a living and looking after the family.
Large sections of the population were convinced that the
revolution had to go on as the constitution of 1971 only gave
rights to the richer section of the French society to vote.
A few political clubs came into being to discuss government
policies and to plan their own forms of action. The most
successful political club was that of the Jacobins which got its
name from the former convent of St. Jacob in Paris.
The people of the Jacobin club were from the lower sections of
the 3rd society. Their leader was Maximilian Robespierre.
A large group of Jacobins began wearing long striped trousers
which set them apart from the richer section of people. It was a
way of proclaiming the end of power wielded by those who wore
knee breeches. These people became known as sans-culottes or
literally meaning those without knee breeches.
In then summer of 1792, the Jacobins who were enraged by the
shortage and high prices of bread, they stormed the palace of
Tuileries where the king lived. They held the king as hostage.
As a result, all men above the age of 21 had the right to vote,
regardless of wealth.
The newly elected assemble was called the convention. On 21st
september 1792, it abolished monarchy and declared france as a
republic.
Louis XVI and queen Marie Antoinette were sentenced to death
on the charge of treason.
REIGN OF TERROR
The period between 1793 to 1794 was called the reign of terror.
Robespierre followed a policy of severe control and punishment.
Ex-nobles and clergy, members of other political parties and even
those of his own party who did not agree with his methods were
arrested, imprisoned and then tried by the revolutionary tribunal. If
the court found them guilty, they were guillotined. the guillotine is
a device consisting of two poles and a blade with which a person
is beheaded.
Robespirre's government issued laws placing a maximum ceiling
on wages and prices. Meat and bread were rationed. peasants
were forced to transport their grain to the cities and sell it at prices
fixed by the government. The use of more expensive white flour
was forbidden. All citizens were required to use the same equality
bread made of whole wheat. Equality was also sought to be
practised through forms of speech and address. Instead of the
traditional Monsieur and Madame, all french men and woman
were to be hence forth called Citoyen and Citoyenne. Churches
were shut down and the building were converted into barracks or
offices.
Robespierre persued his policies so rentlessly that even his
supporters demanded moderation. Finally he was convicted by a
court in July 1794, arrested and on the next day sent to the
guillotine.
[STUDY - "A DIRECTORY RULES FRANCE" AND "DID WOMEN
HAVE A REVOLUTION" AND "ABOLITION OF SLAVE TRADE"
FROM THE TEXT BOOK]