French Revolution & Napoleon

The Three Estates First Estate Second Estate The Church Second Estate Rich Nobles Third Estate- “everyone else” Bourgeoisie- merchants, well-educated, paid high taxes Cooks, Servants- were paid low wages, frequently out of work Peasants- half of income went to nobles, tithes, & taxes

The Rulers Louis XVI Marie Antoinette Liked to spend time hunting instead of governing Marie Antoinette From Austria (France’s enemy) Madame Deficit- spent a lot of money on gowns, jewels, gifts, and loved gambling

The Revolution is coming! People began to use the words like equality, liberty, democracy The success of the American Revolution inspired them Causes: heavy burden of taxes High cost of living Bad weather caused crop failures Price of bread doubles

The Estates-General Louis XVI tried to tax the Second Estate called a meeting of the representatives of the three estates

The Estates-General continued.. Under medieval law- each estate would meet in a separate room & vote 3rd. Estate always outvoted They establish the National Assembly Proclaimed the end of absolute monarchy & the beginning of a representative govt.

Tennis Court Oath National Assembly was locked out of their meeting room one day Broke onto a tennis court (hand-ball court) Pledged to stay until a constitution was written

Storming of the Bastille Louis XVI stationed an army in Paris Rumors flew that the troops were going to massacre the citizens July 14- a mob tried to get weapons/gunpowder from the Bastille (a Paris prison) Freed a few prisoners, killed the guards Symbolic act of revolution! July 14- French equivalent to our July 4 Storming of the Bastille

The Revolution Brings Reform & Terror The National Assembly reforms France Aug. 1789- the peasants took away all the power of the 1st & 2nd. Estates (& took over church lands) A “sans-culotte”

Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen Statement of revolutionary ideals adopted by the National Assembly Men are born & remain free & equal Preservation of the natural rights of men- life, property, security, & resistance to oppression Liberté, égalité, fraternité- became the slogan of the Revolution (Liberty, Equality, Fraternity)

The Great Fear Rebellion spread Mobs broke into noble‘s houses; burned their service papers & the houses

March on Versailles Oct. 1789- Parisian women rioted over the high cost of bread Approx. 6,000 women (and some men joined) Took approx. 6 hours to walk from Paris to Versailles Marched on Versailles & forced Louis XVI and his family to go to Paris -------------------------------------------------------------------------- During their stay in Paris, the King and his family tried to escape (disguised as peasants), but they were caught & brought back to Paris

Legislative Assembly Created a limited constitutional monarchy- stripped the king of his authority & L.A. had the power to create laws Despite this new govt., old problems still remained: 1. Food Shortages 2. Debt

The Mountain & Girondins- Formed the Jacobin Club Legislative Assembly Radicals (“the left”, “The Mountain”) Opposed the king & monarchy Moderates (“the middle”)- wanted some changes in govt, but not as much as the radicals Conservatives (“the right”, “Girondins”) Wanted a limited monarchy & few changes in govt. The Mountain & Girondins- Formed the Jacobin Club

The Death of the King National Convention met in Paris (Sept. 1792)- abolished the monarchy & declared France a republic (all males had the right to vote) Louis XVI put on trial for treason, found guilty, & beheaded by the guillotine (Jan. 21, 1793)

The Guillotine http://www.guillotine.dk/ Execution device Used to execute EVERYONE in an equal manner (in a humane way) More people executed by the guillotine from the 3rd estate than the others (the same people the Revolution was supposedly carried out for)

The Reign of Terror July 1793-July 1794 Committee of Public Safety decided who was an enemy of the republic Tried people in the morning & executed them in the afternoon Danton & Robespierre- leaders of the Committee

Reign of Terror continued… Most famous victim- Queen Marie Antoinette 3,000 were executed in Paris (40,000 overall) 85% were peasants/middle class *Members of the National Convention turned on Danton & later Robespierre (they were executed) -Robespierre’s execution officially ended the Reign of Terror

The Directory 1795- new plan of govt. created Upper-middle class with a two house legislature & an executive body of five men Napoleon Bonaparte part of that executive body