The French Revolution: The Radical Revolution

Welcome!!! The Revolution you have been hoping for has begun!!!!! The storming of the Bastille was successful and now you have a revolt to lead! You have a long and difficult road ahead of you. Work together to solve the problems you will encounter. Good Luck!!!!

The Great Fear Before long, rebellion spread from Paris to the countryside. Rumors have spread like wildfire and it has become difficult to bring about any sense of order. Peasants have turned on the nobles. They are waving pitchforks and torches, breaking into nobles’ houses, tearing up legal papers that bind them to pay dues to the nobles, and even burning the manor houses!

The Bread Riots In October 1789, approximately 6,000 Parisian women rioted over the rising price of bread. Their anger quickly turned against the King and the Queen. Seizing knives and axes, the women marched on Versailles. They broke into the palace and killed two guards. The women demanded that Louis and Marie Antoinette come to Paris (Versailles is located about 40 miles from Paris) to see the suffering that was happening there.

The Bread Riots (Con’t) Three hours later the King, his family and servants left Versailles, never again to see their palace.

What are you going to do? You have been successful thus far. The king’s power has been all but eliminated. It is imperative that some order be brought to life in France. Please work together as a class to establish some sort of leadership and government that will restore order.

State Controlled Church During 1790, a lot of people were focusing on the relationship between the church and the state. The National Assembly took over church lands and declared that church officials and priests would be elected by property owners and paid as state officials. Thus, the Catholic Church lost both its lands and its political independence.

State Controlled Church The nobles stand to benefit from this situation. The clergy, of course, are angry because it means they will lose a tremendous amount of power. The peasants are alarmed by these actions and rally around their parish priests to support them.

What will you do? How will your new government deal with this unrest? Will you crack down on the people who rebel? How will you keep the peasants happy, while still keeping control of the church?

Louis Tries to Escape The king’s advisors warned him that they thought his life was in grave danger. Many supporters of the King have left France, for fear that their lives are in danger. In June 1791, Louis and his family tried to escape from France to the Austrian Netherlands. As they neared the border, however, a postmaster recognized the King from his portrait on some paper money. The royal family was returned to Paris under guard.

What will you do? What will you do with the King??? He is resented by most, but he is still the King of your country. Many countries that surround France warn you that they will be forced to respond if the King is injured.

WAR!!!!!!!!! WAR!!!!!!!!!

WAR You hope to spread your revolution to all of the countries of Europe. You think everyone should overthrow their kings and take control of their governments. When Austria and Prussia propose that France put Louis XVI back on the throne, the Legislative Assembly responds by declaring war on Austria! Prussia later joins the war against France.

What will you do? The war begins badly for your poorly equipped French forces. On July 25 th, the Prussian commander threatened to destroy Paris if you harmed any member of the Royal Family (part of this was selfish, the Prussian King did not want people to get the idea they could survive without a king).

What will you do? What will you do with the king? How will you fight the war? How will you raise enough money to support the war?

The King Problem Parisians were infuriated by the Prussian order not to hurt the king. On August 10 th, 1792, 20,000 men and women invaded the palace where the King and Queen were staying. The mob brutally massacred the troops protecting the King and imprisoned the king.

The Problems Continue…. The war was going badly in As volunteer soldiers prepared to go to the front, a rumor spread that royalists (people who supported putting the king back on the throne) were plotting to take over Paris while the soldiers were gone and restore the king to the throne.

More Problems Parisians proceeded to raid the prisons (were they believed royalists were) and murder the prisoners.

What will you do? How will you bring order back to Paris? How will you balance the desire of some people to restore the king to the throne with the desire of others to be done with the king once and for all?????

Radicals Take Control Paul Marat, a radical in Paris, wrote a newspaper article calling for “five or six hundred heads cut off” to rid France of the the enemies of the Revolution. He became a very powerful and influential leader.

What will you do? Will you join Marat and give into his desire to abolish the monarchy and declare France a republic in which leaders are freely elected?

The Decision The National Assembly met on September 21 st and abolished the throne and gave all adult male citizens the right to vote and hold office. The King became a common citizen and was charged with treason.

The Decision The King was found guilty of treason and sentenced to death. On January 21, 1793, the king was beheaded in the guillotine.

TERROR DEATH D E A T H DEATH DEATH DEATH TERROR TERROR

Terror The political party that came to power (the Jacobins) realized that they had to keep their enemies in check. They decided to silence their enemies by trying them and putting them to death.

What will you do? How will you respond to this new terror? What will you do to bring calm to the country?

REVOLUTION The Jacobins went on a mission to destroy everything that had to do with the King. The calendar was changed to the year 1, representing the new order in the country. The new calendar did not include Sundays, because the leaders felt that religion was old fashioned and dangerous. They even removed kings and queens from card decks!!!!

REVOLUTION A man named Robespierre assumed leadership of the government of France. He believed that terror was the only way to keep his enemies in check. Trials and executions were often held on the same day and the leaders of the revolution slowly turned on each other.

DEATH

What will you do???? What now? How will you ever establish peace in France again? How will you deal with Robespierre? Is it possible to put together a government that can bring peace and stability????

Do this Now!!!!! Please take out a piece of paper and answer the following questions: How did this class make you feel? Do you think the class worked well together? Why or why not? How do you think people in France felt during and after the Revolution? How was this class like the French Revolution?

Homework For homework this evening, please write a paragraph in which you explain why you think the French Revolution failed. Think about the chaos of today’s class-how would that be like the chaos of the French Revolution??? What were some of the problems that led to the failure of the Revolution???