FRENCH REVOLUTION

Question -
The tennis court oath, declaration of rights of man and citizen, August decrees, the issue of a new
currency (assignats) and civil constitution of the clergy were important events during the first phase
of the French revolution. Why were these events significant and how did they mark a break from
the ancien regime?

Answer -
The French Revolution refers to a period of radical political and societal change which took place
in France from the year 1789 to 1799. The French revolution was actually a two staged revolution.
The first revolution started in 1789 with an estate general meeting called by then French ruler
Louis XVI in Versailles on 4 May 1789. The highlights of the first phase of the revolution were the
Tennis court oath, Declaration of rights of man and citizen, August decrees, the Issue of assignats
and Making of civil construction of the clergy. A second phase of revolution was started in 1792.
According to some scholars this second revolution was more radical than the first one which ended
in 1791. The second phase of revolution began with the arrest of French monarch Louis XVI in
1792. After his arrest, the national assembly was replaced by a national convention. The National
convention removed the monarchy and declared that France was a republic nation, headed by
Jacobean Club's members Robesphier. The king was executed on 18 August 1793 after he was
declared traitor of France and its people. After the monarch's execution, a violent phase of French
revolution began. It was called the Reign of terror. During this time, people who were suspected of
treason or counter revolution were executed. Such was the cruelty of this reign, that people who
had previously liked Robesphier started hating him. This phase ended in 1794 with the
Thermidorian revolt of parliament and execution of Robesphier and his fellow supporters. After
watching the result of one man power in France, it was decided that the parliament would be
headed by directory, a five members group appointed by parliament itself. But the correction and
still deteriorating economy of France led to the coup by Napoleon Bonaparte. And The French
revolution officially ended when Napoleon Bonaparte came to power in November 1799.

The ancien regime (French of 'old order') was the system in France before the French revolution.
According to this order, all the people living in France were subjects to the monarchy of France.
And they all were members of an estate. But the cracks in the ancien regime were starting to show
as people started to show discontentment with the contemporary system. The society of France was
divided in three estates; clergy, nobility and third state. The first two estates were a privileged
section of society. It was the third state who bore the brunt of the lavishness of the other two
estates. These people were the only ones who gave tax to not only the state but also to the church in
the form of tithe. The economy of France in the eighteenth century did not look good. The people
of France were already facing some serious problems. Bad policies of the king only added to their
burden. But a serious blow was struck to the French economy when the king decided to help
America in their independence war against Britain. The Americans won the war but France was left
with an economy worse than before. Despite facing political, social and economic issues the French
people were inspired by the intellectuals who in their books rejected the concept of absolute
monarchy. The concepts given by Rousseau, Voltaire etc were taken up by people of France and a
hope for a new society with no exploitation of people emerged. These were the reasons due to
which a need for a new order arose among people.

The spark for the French revolution was given during the estate general meeting held at Versailles
on 5 May 1789. The meeting was called by the king, because of the degrading economy of France.
Before the meeting, all the three estates started electing their deputies in early 1789. The total
number of selected deputies were 1254 in the estate- general meeting. 308 came from the first estate
of clergymen. Nobles chose 282 delegates to represent themselves in the meeting. Lafayette,
Condorcet, Mirabeau, Talleyrand were few delegates among those who represented the second
estate. The 661 deputies who were selected by the third estate, consisted of lawyers, officials etc.
Some of them also came from the trade and industry sector. After the meeting began Louis XVI
made the blunder when he decided to give each estate a single vote. The third estate state felt it was
unfair to them as their number was more than both first and second estate combined.
As no result was declared by the king after five weeks of meeting, fearing the two estates will vote in
favour of implementing the tax on third estate, third estate declared themselves as national
assembly on 17 June. Headed by count of Mirabeau, national assembly decided to make
constitution for the king. After they were locked out of the meeting hall in palace, on 20 June 1789,
the third estate moved to the royal tennis court. They took the oath under leadership of Jean-
Sylvain Bailly that they would resume their meeting in the tennis court. This event would became
famous as the Tennis Court Oath. On 22 June, Louis tried to dissolve the situation by announcing a
new scheme but to no avail. The third estate was joined by forty seven nobles on 25 June. To
counter the third estate's protest, Louis XVI dismissed his non noble minister, Jacques Necker on
11 July and replaced him with Baron de Breteuil.

People of France desperate, now armed themselves and took the Bastille fortress on 14th July. It was
a significant victory for the Parisians as it was this fort which dominated the eastern part of Paris. In
some areas people refused to pay taxes and tithes to the state and church after fort Bastile's capture.
After people in villages saw no retaliation from nobles, they too took arms against the feudal system
and feudal lords in their region. This revolt by people was called 'Great Fear'. Nobles fearing for
their lives renounced their privileges and abolished taxes paid by people from 4 August.
The assembly worked on several aspects to improve the condition of France. And it was during this
time, it passed the Declaration of the rights of man and of the citizen on 27th of August. Rights of
free speech and association, of religion and opinion were given to people accordingly after the
passing of this law. The law ended absolutism and seigneurialism. All the church land was now
nationalised, which reduced the power of church emmensely. Tithes were abolished. And all estates
of France were now to pay proportional tax of 15%. But the law was also cryptic in regards to
propertyless, slaves and women.

August decrees was another important set of nineteen articles which emphasised on equal rights
among people passed on 4 August 1789. It abolished not only feudalism but also tax exemption by
upper classes. It removed social distinctions which could become the hassle for people while
choosing their career options. The times where privilege was enjoyed by certain sections of society,
was over and was replaced with a system where selection was based on person's skill.
But both the laws, Declaration of the rights of man and August decrees were declined by the king.
As a result of the king's refusal, a large number of women rose against the king. They marched to
Versailles on 5 October 1789, where assembly was taking place. As a result of this disruption, the
king was forced to sign the two laws. But the women's demand did not end there. They wanted to
take the king with them to Paris. And the king once again gave in to their demands and left
Versailles on the 6 October 1789.

When lands of Catholic Church were nationalised, it led to a large redistribution of previously
catholic property. The bourgeoisie and landowners bought these lands. The transfer of land was
made through sale of assignats. Assignats were bonds issued by National Constitution Assembly.
But once the transfer got completed, bonds were discharged. It was a simple method, but the
situation did not go accordingly when assignats of different denomination started getting printed
within a year. When assignats started getting printed as form of revolution currency, many
economists predicted inflation in future France.

On the eve of one year of Bastille's capture, Fete de la federation i.e. festival of federation, was
celebrated by French people on 14 July 1790. Lafayette, Louis, Talleyrand celebrated the day in
Champ de Mars. In other places like Beaufort- en- Vallee which is situated in western France, it was
women who dressed up with patriotic motifs.

Significant changes in religious aspects of the country were also taking place. The National
Constitution Assembly succeeded in nationalising church lands. Religious liberty was also given to
religions other than Catholic. Protestants were given freedom to practice their religion in 1789
whereas Jews got the same rights a year later. An important law which was passed by the National
Constitution Assembly regarding the Catholic religion was the Civil Constitution of Clergy passed
on 12 July 1790. The passing of this law was a turning point in the revolution of France.
Tithe, which was the tax collected by the Church before the revolution, was already abolished by
the new government. Now, as stated by the Civil Constitution of Clergy law, the expenses of the
Church were supposed to be fulfilled by public functions which the church held. Another issue
taken by the law was Clergy appointments in future. Law was made that the people should be the
ones to choose their bishop. The reason for the change as given by many people was that since the
appointment in Church was done by superiors, it resulted in nepotism. And only those who were
close to superiors got the position.
The result of this went both ways. Some priests were happy as they were profited by the new law.
Now, under the new law, their salary was better. But others were not so happy. Upper clergy's
salaries were reduced. Not only upper clergy, but some parishes were also unhappy since they were
transferred to neighbouring churches for worship. This was a consequence of the Civil
Constitution of the clergy which reallocated boundaries to better align them with districts they had
recently specified. Many historians are of the view that it was this law which broke the unity in
French revolution since many clergy who previously supported the revolution and constitution
now stood against them. Despite all the ruckus caused by this law, critics have argued for the
presence of a major flaw in it. Assembly stated that only 'active' citizens, those who were rich
enough to vote would be able to choose the clergy. By making this rule, the assembly was able to
exclude not only women but also poor people from the community.
As the clergymen were still unsure and protesting against the law, the assembly decided to hold a
Clergy election on 1 January 1791. The elected clergy were told to swear oaths to the law, the
nation and the king. But only a few bishops and clergymen took the oath. Some of the priests like
Quesques and Lottinghem refused to take oath as the national assembly required. They made their
own oath where they recognised the superiority of the Pope rather than that of the king. The Pope
himself in April 1791 declared that the assembly's Civil Constitution and Declaration of rights of
man were harming church and Christian lives. After the Pope's condemnation, many of those who
previously took the oath retractor. As a result of this law and oath, two sects of Clergy emerged.
First were those who claimed that they were servants of God. They were the ones who didn't take
the oath. Second category consisted of clergymen who claimed they were servants of people. They
took the oath and believed that the king was superior. People who were not part of clergy also took
different stances regarding this matter. In some areas, like Paris, bishops were forced to take oaths so
that they could avoid ridicule while in others like Sommières, people displayed anger towards the
changes in religious life which were the result of revolution and assembly.
The tennis court oath, declaration of rights of man and citizen, August decrees, the issue of a new
currency (assignats) and civil constitution of the clergy played significant roles in the first phase of
the French revolution. These events together not only shaped the French revolution but also
changed the polity of France. From changing ancien regime to establishing the national assembly,
the French revolution is an important discourse on the history of France. And the revolution will
continue with occurence of many more events until its end in 1799.

BIBLIOGRAPHY -
● McPhee, Peter, The French Revolution, 1789-1799. Oxford University Press, (2002)
● Popkin, Jeremy D., A short history of the French revolution, sixth edition, New York,
Routledge, (2016)