CAUSES FOR THE FRENCH REVOLUTION OF 1789 CHAPTER 19 LESSON 1 INTRO NOTES: CAUSES FOR THE FRENCH REVOLUTION OF 1789

Old Regime [“Ancien Regime”] FUNDAMENTAL CAUSE: The centuries-old conservative political, economic, and social system to which every one in France belonged was called the Old Regime [“Ancien Regime”] This system was guilty of abuse upon its 3rd Estate or class).

Find King Louis & the 3 estates

clergy = .05 % pop. = 10 % land ownership nobility = 1.5 % pop. = This is the breakdown of population [about 20 million] and land distribution according to each estate: 1st Estate = clergy = .05 % pop. = 10 % land ownership 2nd Estate= nobility = 1.5 % pop. = 20 % land ownership

3rd Estate = the rest = 98 % pop. = 70 % land ownership 1. bourgeoisie ………. (wealthiest, most educated) 2. sans-culottes……. (poor city workers) 3. peasants (worked the land)

Fraternity ” that had been influenced by: SECONDARY CAUSES: Slogan of the French Revolution: “Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity ” that had been influenced by: A. Enlightenment ideas:

B. English Civil War (1642) [Roundheads v Cavaliers] C. Glorious Revolution (1688) [King James II overthrown w/o bloodshed] D. American Revolution (1776 – 1783) [Declaration of Independence]

IMMEDIATE CAUSE: By 1789, Louis XVI, the conservative French Bourbon king was faced with a major financial crisis as a result of France’s loss in the 1756 Seven Years’ War; France’s aid to American colonists in their war with Great Britain that began in 1776; and excessive deficit spending by the royal family, especially Louis’ wife, Queen Marie Antoinette [French name for Maria Antonia; daughter of Austria’s Maria Theresa], from the Austrian Hapsburg dynasty, that was hated by the French people

bread shortages due to low grain production. 3. the unfair voting procedures of the French legislative body called the Estates General :

a. each estate casts 1 vote despite the number of legislative representatives the 3rd Estate demands 1 vote [by head] for each representative instead of one vote per estate c. King Louis XVI denies the demand

constitution by declaring the 4. The first deliberate act of the French Revolution occurs: The 3rd Estate declares itself a National Assembly ; this newly formed moderate National Assembly, representing all the people of France, not just individual Estates, then promises its French people their own constitution by declaring the

Tennis Court Oath

5. Bastille Day begins on July 14 in 1789 as symbol of the Revolution when the prison-fortress is stormed for weapons 6. The Great Fear (violent peasant revolts) causes French nobles called émigrés to flee France for fear of being killed [these nobles will then work outside France to try to stop the revolution in France]

Major Events of the French Revolution Chapter 19 Lesson 2 Notes: Major Events of the French Revolution from the fleur de lis flag before the revolution to the tri-color flag during and since the revolution

Nat’l Assembly writes a bill of rights called the After the 3rd Estate declares itself a National Assembly as the first deliberate act of the French Revolution; the Parisians storm the Bastille for weapons to defend the new National Assembly; the Great Fear, orchestrated by peasants, causes terrified French nobles, called émigrés, to flee their homeland, the: Nat’l Assembly writes a bill of rights called the Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Constitution of 1791 providing France with a limited constitutional monarchy in the name of Louis XVI

1st Estate lands are confiscated and privileges are revoked by a new anti- Catholic law called the Civil Constitution of the Clergy to pay off the state’s debts Nat’l Assembly dissolves itself and a new Legislative Assembly is elected:

1. Conservatives (royalists) sat on right side [of center] = an absolute monarchy 2. Radicals to the left [of center] = depose king; establish republic 3. Centrists (moderates) in middle = limited constitutional monarchy

1. émigrés work as counter-revolutionaries Problems faced by Leg. Assembly: 1. émigrés work as counter-revolutionaries 2. The Paris Commune, city government radicals, supported by sans-culottes, demands a republic

Hapsburgs and Prussian Hohenzollerns declare war on France 3. Austrian Hapsburgs and Prussian Hohenzollerns declare war on France 4. royal family attempts to escape; is imprisoned; since a limited monarchy is no longer an option the 1791 Constitution must be revoked;

The National Convention is elected and radicals, called Legislative Assembly dissolves itself The National Convention is elected and radicals, called Jacobins, who lead the Mountain, take control over the conservatives called Girondists The monarchy is abolished;

introduction of a new killing machine

King Louis XVI is guillotined

Introduces universal manhood suffrage (all France is declared a republic Introduces universal manhood suffrage (all adult males given right to vote) Institutes conscription (the draft of a citizen- army) to defend against First Coalition, an alliance of foreign countries determined to prevent the revolution from spreading outside of France

Reign of Terror begins July 1793: 1. is led by 3 Jacobins: A radical time period known as the Reign of Terror begins July 1793: 1. is led by 3 Jacobins: Robespierre, the most fanatical radical; (Robespierre carefully eyeing through groups of French citizens to determine which ones are “enemies” of the new French republic)

Charlotte Corday, Marat’s assassin Danton, editor of a Paris Commune radical newspaper; and Marat another French revolutionary leader who will be assassinated in his bathtub. Charlotte Corday, Marat’s assassin

Committee of Public Safety, 2. these radical leaders establish a 12-member court called the Committee of Public Safety, that within a year’s time, will execute about 40,000 enemies of the republic, including Queen Marie Antoinette and Danton 3. Terror ends in July 1794 with the Thermidorian Reaction when Robespierre is beheaded [“show my head to the people – it will be worth it.”] The Constitution of 1795 creates a 5-man moderate executive branch called the Directory to rule France and the Directory chooses

Napoleon Bonaparte to lead France’s citizen-army