French Revolution

The Dawn of the Revolution  Clergy and Nobles dominated the government from the Middle Ages until 1789  The Third Estate, mostly made up of Bourgeoisie, were eager to make changes to the government  They wanted all three estates to meet and vote together in a group  Why? Because the third estate had as many delegates as the other two combined!  However, the king ordered the nobles to follow medieval rules  This led to the Third Estate becoming more determined to wield the power  Emmanuel-Joseph Sieyès – Leading spokesperson of the Third Estate  In a dramatic speech, Sieyès suggested that the Third Estate delegates name themselves the National Assembly and pass laws and reforms in the name of the French people.

King Louis XVI  Major factor in the start of the revolution  He was very indecisive and tended to let issues drift and linger  Did not pay attention to his government advisers and little patience for detailing government  The queen, Marie Antoinette also was an issue in Louis’ reign  She tended to interfere with government and gave Louis poor advice  Why? She was from Austria which was France’s long-time enemy.  She spent money on herself (Jewels, gowns, etc)  Louis left this matter in the background until he essentially had no money left  His solution was to impose taxes on the nobility, but they forced him to call a meeting of the Estates General – an assembly of representatives with all three estates to approve this new tax

National Assembly  On June 17, 1789, they voted to establish the National Assembly, in effect proclaiming the end of absolute monarchy and the beginning of representative government. This was the first deliberate act of the revolution  As a result, the Third Estate delegates were locked out of the their meaning room  In retaliation, they break down a door at a tennis court and pledged an oath that they would stay until they had come up with a new constitution  This became known as “The Tennis Court Oath”  Even nobles and members of clergy joined the National Assembly due to the fact that they favored reform  Louis stationed his army in retaliation to this

Storming the Bastille  There were rumors that: a) Louis was going to use military force to dismiss the National Assembly b) foreign troops were going to come and slaughter French citizens  As a result, people began to gather and prepare to defend the city.  July 14, 1789 – a mob was searching for gunpowder and it resulted in the storming of the Bastille, a prison in Paris. (Similar to the Boston Tea Party!)  The mob seized control of this building  This was a great symbol of the French Revolution

The “Great Fear”  Rebellion spread from Paris into the countryside.  Rumors spread, from one village to the next, that the nobles were hiring people to terrorize the peasants (Third Estate)  This brought a huge panic in France and became known as “The Great Fear”  Peasants become outlaws as a result, using farming tools pitchforks, anything they could pick up as weapons.  October 1789, thousands of women rioted over the rising price of bread  Even women marched through Versailles to riot against the First and Second Estate  These women demanded that the National Assembly supply the bread.  They then demanded that the King and Queen return to Paris. Louis eventually agrees