2. Click the icon to play Listen to History audio.
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3. The Revolution Begins Main Idea Reading Focus
Problems in French society led to a revolution, the formation of a new government, and the end of the monarchy.
Reading Focus
What caused the French Revolution?
What happened during the first events of the Revolution?
How did the French create a new nation?

4. Causes of the Revolution
Long-standing resentments against the monarchy
Inequalities in society
Existing social and political structure called the Old Order, or ancient régime
King at the top and estates under him
King Louis XVI, shy and indecisive
Unpopular, self-indulgent queen, Marie-Antoinette
Rest of French society divided into three classes, called estates

5. King Louis XVI & Queen Marie Antoinette
Louie became King at 17, marries at 19.
Marie was an Austrian Princess by birth and 18 at time of marriage.

6. French society was divided into 3 estates.
The Three Estates
French society was divided into 3 estates.
Roman Catholic clergy
One percent of the population
Exempt from taxes
Owned 10 percent of the land
Collected rents and fees
Bishops and other clergy grew wealthy
First Estate
Nobility
Less than 2 percent of the population
Paid few taxes
Controlled much wealth
Held key positions
Government
Military
Lived in country palaces
Second Estate
Largest group—97% of the population
Bourgeoisie—city-dwelling merchants, factory owners, and professionals
Sans culottes—artisans and workers
Peasants—poor with little hope, paid rents and fees
Third Estate

7. The Three Estates
This is an editorial from a French Newspaper of the day.
Also see the primary source document on page 196 of the textbook.
What do these cartoons suggest is the role of the third estate?
How did life for each class (or estate) differ in France at the time?

8. Further Causes Enlightenment Ideas A Financial Crisis
Inspiring new ideas from Enlightenment philosophers
Great Britain’s government limiting the king’s power
American colonists rebelled successfully against British king
New ideas changed government and society in other countries
Enlightenment Ideas
Severe economic problems affected much of the country
France in debt, spending lavishly, borrowing money, and facing bankruptcy
Hailstorm and drought ruined harvest; harsh winter limited flour production
People hungry and angry; clergy and nobility no help
A Financial Crisis

10. What were the causes of the French Revolution?
Summarize
What were the causes of the French Revolution?
Answer(s): inequalities in society, Enlightenment ideas, poor leadership, financial crisis, hunger and cold

11. First Events of the Revolution
By 1789, no group happy
Clergy and nobility lost power to monarchy
Bourgeoisie resented regulations
Poor worse off
Estates General assembled
Desire for reforms
Voting process a problem
Third Estate proclaimed themselves National Assembly
Tennis Court Oath - Constitution
Storming of the Bastille
Bastille was an ancient prison
King ordered troops to Paris
People of Paris, fearing the King, armed themselves
Searching for weapons, a mob stormed the Bastille (an armory)
Panic and Great Fear swept across France

12. Tennis Court Oath
In the 1st days of the Revolution, the 3rd estate is locked out of the Estates General and moves to a nearby Tennis Court in 1789

13. Storming of the Bastille

14. Peasants destroy a lords castle.
Great Fear spread
King to punish the Third Estate with foreign soldiers
Rumors of massacres
Peasants destroyed records and burned nobles’ houses
Peasants destroy a lords castle.

15. Identify Cause and Effect
What was the connection between the fall of the Bastille and the Great Fear?
Answer(s): After the fall of the Bastille, the people all over France were terrified that the king would punish them.

16. National Assembly-Creating a New Nation 1791
Feudal dues eliminated
“liberty, equality, fraternity”
Inspired by the English Bill of Rights, American Declaration of Independence, and the writings of Enlightenment philosophers
Men equal under the law
The rights did not extend to women
Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen
Louis tried to protect his throne angering the common people
7000 women broke into the palace demanding bread
Royal family was seized
Church lands were taken over to pay off debt
Clergy were turned into public employees
Restricting Power and the Civil Const. of the Clergy

17. Formation of a New Government
The Legislative Assembly
Citizens gained broad voting rights
Austria and Prussia warned against harming the French monarchs
Austrian army defeats French
Financial strain of war, food shortages, and high prices
King blamed and the people demanded action
Foreign Powers
August 10, 1792 royal family imprisoned by mob
Radical faction took charge with National Convention
Monarchy abolished and France was declared a republic
Military victory gave people hope
End of Monarchy
French Revolution had chaos, foreign pressures, and poverty
American Revolution had prosperity and increased trade

18. Sequence
What steps did National and Legislative Assemblies take to create a new nation?
Answer(s): National Assembly completed constitution and created Legislative Assembly; Legislative Assembly—created a new legislature, the National Convention, which abolished the monarchy and declared France a republic