Pamela Ozga AP Euro HW #3 pgs.

538-551 Unit 8
1/3/11

I. The French Revolution

-Summoned Estates-General b/c way to solve immediate financial crisis; no wish for major reform of gov’t nor delegates arrived
@Versailles came w/ plans for revolutionary changes; b/c of interplay of deputies meeting in various legislative assemblies ->
common ppl of city &peasants of countryside; old regime be destroyed; Europe-new model for political/social change
A. From Estates-General to a National Assembly
-Repped 3 orders of society; ruled 3rd estate get double representation in voting b/c was 97% population (1st &2nd estate-300
delegates but commoners had 600 reps (2/3 w/ legal training &3/4 from towns w/ 2000+ ppl so strong urban, legal rep)
-282 nobility reps, 90=liberal, urban-oriented, enlightened &half under 40; had ties w/ activists in 3rd estate w/ reform mind
-Youth, urban background, hostility to privilege; cahiers de doleances (statements of local grievances) drafted throughout
France during elections to Estates-General- advocate regular constitutional gov’t to abolish fiscal privileges of church/nobles
-Regenerate country^; Estates-General open @Versailles May 5, 1789; divided from beg over voting by order or by head
(each delegate=1 vote); Parlement of Paris (nobles of robe) advocated voting by order ac. To form used in 1614
-Each order vote sep; each could veto power over other 2; guaranteed aristocratic control over reoforms
-Patriots/ “lovers of liberty” opposed; claimed to rep nation, consisted primarily of bourgeois &nobles; Society of Thirty dew
most members from Paris salons; directly influenced by American Revolution &Enlightenment (reforms in reason/utility)
1. The National Assembly
-Failure of gov’t to assume leadership @opening->opportunity for 3rd estate’s demand for vote by head; double reps &w/
assistance of liberal nobles &clerics, could turn 3 estates ->single chamber legislature reforming France in own way
-Sieyes, a rep said third estate wanted to be something but not fully felt in 1789; delegates still make changes within
framework of respect for authority of king; revival &reform=not overthrow of traditional institutions
-1st Estate declare favor of voting by order, 3rd estate responded in significant fashion; June 17, 1789 3rd estate voted to
constitute self as “National Assembly”, draw up constitution; June 20th, deputies arrive @meeting place to doors locked
-Move to indoor tennis court (known as Tennis Court Oath-swore continue to meet until produced French constitution
-Actions were first step in revolution (3rd estate had no right to act as National Assembly); revolution largely work of
lawyers of 3rd estate soon in jeopardy as king sided w/ 1st estate &to dissolve Estates General so Louis XVI force use
2. Intervention of the Common People
-Common ppl in series of urban/rural uprisings (July/August 1789) save 3rd estate from king’s attempt to stop revolution
-Mobilized by revolutionary/counter-revolutionary politicians used to support interests; own interests ad well &used
named of 3rd estate to wage war on rich, claiming aristocrats plotting to destroy Estates General &get their privileges
-War not like planned by deputies of 3rd estate; famous urban rising was fall of Bastille; king’s attempt to take defensive
measure by ^# of troops @arsenals in Paris &along roads to Versailles =not intimidate by inflame public opinion
-Increased mob activity -> leaders form so-called Permanent Committee; needed arms, organized popular force to
capture Invalides (royal armory); July 14th attacked Bastilled, other royal armory; Bastille also state prison
-Only 7 prisoners (5 forgers, 2 insane), fall became symbol of triumph over despotism; Paris abandoned to insurgents
&Louis XVI soon informed royal troops =unreliable; acceptance hinted collapse of royal authority; king no enforce will
-Confirmed appointment of marquis de Lafayette as commander of new citizen created militia=National Guard; fall of
Bastille saved National Assembly; @same time, besides in Paris, popular revolutions broke out in other cities
-Nantes, permanent committees &national guards created to maintain order after crowds seized chief citadels
-Collapse of royal authority in cities =parallel by peasant revolutions in country side
3. Peasant Rebellion and the Great Fear
-^Resentment of entire seigneurial system w/ fees &obligations (exacerbated by economic/fiscal activities of great estate
holders, noble/bourgeois, in 1780s created up rise conditions); fall of Bastille &king capitulation to demands of 3rd estate
encouraged peasants to take matters into own hands; July 19-Aug 3 occurred peasant rebellion; 5 major areas of France
-Pattern varied; Some places peasants forced lay &ecclesiastical lords to renounce dues &tithes; other places they burnec
charters listing obligations; not acting in blind fury, knew the consequences; believed king supported their actions
-Agrarian revolts= as backdrop to Great Fear (vast panic spread in France btwn July 20-Aug 6, fear of invasion by
foreign troops aided by supported aristocratic plot); encouraged the formation of citizens’ militia/permanent committee
-Impact of agrarian revolts in Great Fear on National Assembly meeting in Versailles (its attempt to reform France)
B. Destruction of the Old Regime
-One of 1st acts of Nation Assembly/Constituent Assembly (1789-1791 wrote constitution) was destroy relics of feudalism
-Measure necessary to calm peasants &restore order in country side although many urban bourgeois=willing to abolish
feudalism/aristocratic privileges as matter of principle; Aug 4, 1789-National Assembly in astonishing session voted abolish
seigneurial rights &privileges of nobles/clergy/towns/provinces
1. The Declaration of the Rights of Man &the Citizen
-August 26h assembly provided ideological foundation for actions &educational device for nation by adopting
Declaration of Rights of Man &Citizen=charter of basic liberties reflecting French philosophes ideas
-Declaration similar to America’s &began w/ ringing affirmation of “natural imprescriptible rights of man” to “liberty,
property, security, &resistance to oppression”; affirmed destruction of aristocratic privileges
-Proclaimed end to exemptions from taxation, freedom, &equal rights for all men; access to public office based on talent
-Monarchy=restricted; citizens =right 2b in legislative process; freedom of speech& press w/ outlawing arbitrary arrests
-Raised important issues; all men rights include women? Deputies insisted it did in terms of civil liberties “women do
not aspire to exercise political rights &functions”; Olympe de Gouges, playwright &pamphleteer, no accept exclusion
-She penned Declaration of the Rights of Woman &Female Citizen insist women have same rights as men, ignored
2. The Women’s March to Versailles