The French Revolution (1789-1799)

A major question has for historians has been, What caused the French Revolution?
-A difficult question
-The Role of the Enlightenment
-Marxist history
Belief that people are fighting for more material goods Based on economics
Background
All of society is broken into three estates
The clergy, the Nobles, and the Peasants
Based on status not wealth
Upper third estate has wealth but wants to participate in government
The Crisis of the 18th century
Louis XV (1715-1774)
Known for being a ladies man
Rules by the power of God its hard to justify the King having authority if he is
morally corrupt
Gets injured in battle promises to quit lavish lifestyle if he survives. He does but
goes straight back to sleeping around.
Louis XVI (1774-1792)
Seen as weak surprised he could father an heir
Marie Antoinette (1755-1793)
Sister of the Holy Roman Emperor French Citizens hated her denounced her as a
foreigner.
Divine right and the moral crisis of the monarchy
Why does the character of the king matter?
The French Fiscal Crisis
-France undertook massive military spending in the 18th century
-To get out of debt France borrows from foreign countries and banks. They charge
France massive interest rates, and drives France into more debt.
Jacques Necker (1732-1804)
-Hugenot fianc minister to Louis XVI
-Necker was hugely popular with the people
-The royal budget that he published was misleading; the crown was actually heavily
burned by debt
-He did not include the interest rates in his account only the actual debts for goods.
-He gets ousted from the government eventually because he was a Hugenot

Continued
New finance minster sees actual debt
Argues they need to raise taxes
People of France flip out. They think they are fine financially
People believe that the new government has spent all the money that France didnt
have in the first place.
People in France spend 70-80% of their income on Bread
The Physiocrats
-Enlightenment thinkers who took reason and rationality and apply it to economics
-Believed that wealth was based on land
-But they also believed that the best way to support the economy was to allow the
market to operate freely, without government interference.
-Royal law established what price grain should be sold at but Physiocrats convince
king to change to Supply and demand style
Famine hits in 1788 supply doesnt go up people begin to starve.
The Estates General (May 1789)
The Three Estates
-The estates general had not met since 1614
-Meant to give legitimacy to the new taxes proposed by the crown
The clergy the nobility and the commoners send their representative. If the estates
can agree it will be accepted
No one knows the exact power of the estate since it hasnt met for over a hundred
years
Debates over the power of the estates general
Reforms
Double the Third, and vote by head
1. Increase the number of delegates in third estate by 100%
2. Vote individually to increase the power of the third estate in estates
Louis XVI allows them to increase their number but doesnt allow them to vote
individually
The tennis court oath
Members of the third estate begin to assemble in Paris and decide that they need to
draft a constitution
Louis XVI locks the third estate members out of the assembly hall so the delegates
descend upon the royal tennis court.
Members vow that they wont leave until they have a constitution even if Louis XVI
tries to use force
The national assembly (June 17, 1789)

Jacobins
-Members of a social in which, sometimes radical political ideas were discussed;
members of the Jacobins became prominent in the National Assembly.
-Arguing for participation in government and against absolute monarchy
Delegates of Third Estate
Believe in a government where all people are equal and have a say. Ideas of Locke
Sometimes work towards common purpose other times not. Fall of Bastille is one of
these moments.
The Fall of Bastille (July 14, 1789)
Common people of Paris
Not motivated by high-minded ideas of Locke but care the amount of taxes they pay,
the go to bed starving, they have to bury their children. They are driven by anger
and rage. They see the Estates General as a chance to address their grievances and
show Louis how angry they are. Fear Louis will disband them by force. Louis calls
troops into Paris people steal guns and ammunition most of it being stored at the
Bastille. People storm the Bastille and take over the last remaining fortress in Paris.
Destroys Louis chancing in dismissing the estates general.
Estates General becomes the National Assembly which includes the members of the
third estate and some members of the first and second estates. Louis gives up
powers of taxation and control of money.
Sparked by Louis calling troops to fortify Paris and his dismissal of Necker amid
fears of the Estates General being dismissed
Louis recognizes the National Assembly and gives it powers over taxation and
spending. Louis is no longer even theoretically an Absolute Monarch
Revolt in the Countryside
The Great Fear (1789)
An attack on feudal dues
The end of Feudalism
Noble privileges and rights are repealed by the National Assembly
People here that the National Assembly could cancel Noble privilege
The people decide not to wait for a verdict but instead decide to raid and destroy the
homes of their noble superiors.
Destroy all records of dues that they owe to the nobles
The delegates of the National assembly fear the countryside violence, which makes
them abolish the legal status of the nobility as a separate class

Restructuring French Politics

The Declaration of the Rights of Man (august, 1789)
-a statement of principles for the new constitution
The Civil Constitution of the Clergy (July 1790)
National Assembly takes over control of the churches land
Abolish the idea of monks and nuns, released from their vows
Parish priests in local communities and bishops are left.
The clergy are now treated as members of the government elected by local
governments
Freedom of worship