THE FRENCH REVOLUTION
PIVOTAL EVENT OF 18 TH CENTURY Transformed social values & political systems Replaced old regime with modern society Slogan = “Liberty, Equality, Fraternity” Bloody conflicts presented dilemma of means vs. ends
THE FRENCH REVOLUTION ORIGINS Louis XVI not particularly capable Marie Antoinette perceived as frivolous & callous Incompetence of French monarchy Louis XVI (r ) Marie Antoinette
THE FRENCH REVOLUTION ORIGINS Enlightenment & public opinion Philosophes highly critical of existing system But not revolutionary Underground literature more subversive Portrayed aristocracy as decadent & monarchy as ridiculous despotism
THE FRENCH REVOLUTION ORIGINS Fiscal crisis of French government Huge war debt Tax exemptions of elite = insufficient revenues Incompetence of system
THE FRENCH REVOLUTION ORIGINS Desire for institutional change Estates General called in 1789 THIRD ESTATE = driving force of Revolution King insisted on vote “by order” Delegates of 3 rd Estate wanted vote “by head”
THE FRENCH REVOLUTION ORIGINS The Estates General: 1789 3 rd Estate refused to meet separately Proclaimed itself the NATIONAL ASSEMBLY Took “TENNIS COURT OATH” King recognized Assembly, ordered other Estates to join it
THE FRENCH REVOLUTION THE CONVERGENCE OF REVOLUTIONS Masses mobilizing over issues of basic subsistence Faced severe economic difficulties Suspicious of aristocrats STORMING OF THE BASTILLE: July 14, 1789 Finance Minister Jacques Necker dismissed
THE FRENCH REVOLUTION THE CONVERGENCE OF REVOLUTIONS Spread of revolt Cities set up revolutionary governments & militias Revolt in countryside: THE GREAT FEAR Peasants attack noble landlords & manors
THE FRENCH REVOLUTION THE CONVERGENCE OF REVOLUTIONS Night of August 4: Assembly deputies renounce privileges, appease peasants Issue “Declaration of the Rights of Man & Citizen” Men equal in rights Sovereignty of nation against king or any other Authority of legitimate law supreme Liberty defined as ability to do whatever does not harm another