The Estates General

In 1787, the nobles pressured the king to convene the Estates General. This body had been abolished in 1614 by Louis XIV who established absolutism under him. By the late 1700s no one really knew what the EG should look like How to select members. It was initially found that each of the tree estates would be evenly weighted. Local communities were left to determine who they wanted to represent them.  Most chosen were wealthy bourgeoisie or minor officials / nobles.

Clash of wills By May 1789 the process of election / selection of members for the EG was complete. The king made one concession to the demands of the third estate: he allowed them to elect twice as many representatives as the other two. When the delegates met though they were told that despite the allowance of more members each estate was to vote as separate groups. The Third Estate demanded that they represented the people and as such were the “National Assembly”  The invites the nobles and clergy to join them  The nobles refused and the clergy barely voted it down  Church reps were low level clergy and ready for reform

Tennis Court Oath On June 19, 1789 the Third Estate formally pronounced itself the people’s government and asked got the support of the nobles and clergy. Most of the clergy joined, the nobles refused with some exceptions. June 20, 1789 the National Assembly tried to meet but was locked out of its hall. They broke into a nearby tennis court and took an oath that they would not disband. The king did not respond as he was still in mourning over the death of his oldest son. On June 23, he met the Assembly and tried to re-exert his supremacy over them and have them vote as three groups. They refused  Louis started reinforcing Paris with 20,000 Swiss and German mercenaries

Opening Shots Over the month of June both sides waited to see what would come. Between July 12 and 14 the people of Paris (Sans Culottes) became fearful of repression and began to demand weapons. On July 14, 1789 an angry mob of 80,000 stormed a military store and armed themselves. At the same time another group struck at a symbol of absolutist oppression: The Bastille The Bastille was a derelict castle that was a jail and insane asylum. In July 1789, it had 7 prisoners: 5 forgers and two insane people incarcerated at the request of their families.  To the people it represented a place that people would “disappear”  The Man in the Iron mask The mob besieged the Bastille until the governor could negotiate a surrender. In the end the mob seized the governor and killed him and displayed his head in their procession around the city. The king was reluctant to repress the mob and made no move. He did authorise the mobilisation of the Paris militia who immediately renamed itself the National Guard and offered to serve the National Assembly.

Lull in the Storm For the rest of July and September people waited to see what would happen. Paris was in revolt but no one knew if the people in the countryside would join them. On August 26, 1789, the National Assembly passed the Declaration of the Rights of Man This effectively legitimised the NA and affirmed the democratic rights of all citizens. On October 1, 1789, a regiment publicly vowed to support the throne which caused the NA to scurry back to Paris to plan their next move. By now the leaders of the NA had risen  Mirabeau: ex-royal moderate  Danton: republican moderate  Marat: republican radical  The NA started to divide among these three

The Women Mobilise On October 5, 1789 a mob of 6,000 women marched from Paris to Versailles to petition the king for price controls on food. Rumour spread of Marie Antoinette’s response: “Let them eat cake.” Not true. Out of fear of violence the king reluctantly agreed to return to Paris with the mob. He was now unofficially a prisoner of the NA.

What to do With Them? Between 1789 and 1791 the king was a prisoner in Paris and the NA tried to rule on its own. They passed a constitution and wanted the king to sign it. He stalled until he could make plans to flee. On June 21, 1791 he and his family secretly fled Paris and almost made it to the German border. He was recognised and returned to Paris. He signed the constitution and waited to see what would happen. To the NA the king’s flight gave ammunition to the more radical elements of the NA who now argued for a permenant solution to the monarchy. In late 1792, the NA formally prosecuted the king: he was on trial for his life