Revolution Brings Reform and Terror

The Assembly Reforms France Nobles began to declare their love of liberty in order to save themselves from the angry mobs This ends the Old Regime

The National Assembly issued the Declaration of the Rights of Man in August of 1789 The document contained principles found in the Declaration of Independence “men are born and remain free and equal in rights”

The slogan of the revolution became “Liberty, Equality, Fraternity” These rights did not apply to women

A State-Controlled Church The National Assembly then turned its attention to reforming the Catholic Church The church was stripped of its land and the priests were made elected positions

The purpose was to sell the lands and pay off the debt However, the French Peasants were devout Catholics who were upset by the reforms and began to oppose further reforms

Louis and his family began to fear for their lives and tried to leave France in June 1791 They were caught trying to cross the border

Divisions Develop For 2 years the National Assembly argued over the new constitution Eventually, a constitutional monarchy was created and a new legislative body was formed called the Legislative Assembly The new government was not able to solve the food and money shortages

The body soon split into three groups Radicals sat on the left of the hall and wanted to end the monarchy Moderates sat in the middle and want some changes Conservatives sat on the right and wanted limited monarchy but few other changes

Other groups in society also developed Emigres were nobles who had fled France and wanted to restore the Old Regime Sans-culottes were the workers who insisted on greater changes

Summarize the events of the French Revolution you have studied up to this point.

War and Execution Other European nations feared the Revolution would spread to their lands Austria and Prussia wanted Louis restored to the throne The Legislative Assembly responded to these requests by declaring war

The war began badly for France The Prussians were closing in on Paris In August 1792, 20,000 people invaded the king’s palace and took the royal family prisoners

When the troops in Paris were sent to reinforce the army, rumors began to spread that the king’s supporters would try to revolt The citizens responded by breaking into the prisons and murdering the supports of the king in during the September Massacres

After pressure from the streets, the constitution was set aside and a new assembly called the National Convention was elected The king was deposed and all male citizens were given the right to vote

The radical political agenda was pushed by the Jacobins Jean-Paul Marat was a prominent leader who wrote the L’Ami du Peuple. Georges Danton was a lawyer who was devoted to the poor in Paris

The Jacobin led National Convention declared Louis to be a normal citizen and he and his family were sentenced to death They were executed by guillotine

After the British and Spanish joined against the French, the war efforts began to suffer The National Convention ordered the draft of citizens to strengthen the army

The Terror Grips France The Revolution soon faced enemies from within Peasants, clergy, and rival leaders became the concern Maximilien Robespierre gained power within the revolution

The Jacobins sought to eliminate all aspects of old France The calendar was changed to eliminate Sundays and churches were closed He soon became the leader of the Committee of Public Safety and acted as a dictator

Robespierre’s rule became known as the Reign of Terror He felt if the people lived in fear they would be true to the Revolution

Common citizens were killed for trivial reasons and Georges Denton was killed for not being radical enough As many as 40,000 people were executed during the reign, most of which were members of the Third Estate

End of the Terror Robespierre was soon found to be too radical and was himself put to death The moderates in the National convention soon drafted a new plan for the government The third government in 6 years

Two legislative houses were made and the five man Directory was placed in charge of the country These men soon found a general to lead the troops – Napoleon Bonaparte