1. CAUSES FOR THE FRENCH REVOLUTION OF 1789
CHAPTER 19 LESSON 1
INTRO NOTES:
CAUSES FOR THE FRENCH REVOLUTION OF 1789

2. Old Regime [“Ancien Regime”]
FUNDAMENTAL CAUSE:
The centuries-old conservative political, economic, and social system to which every one in France belonged was called the
Old Regime [“Ancien Regime”]
This system was guilty of abuse upon its
3rd Estate or class).

3. Find King Louis &
the 3 estates

4. clergy = .05 % pop. = 10 % land ownership nobility = 1.5 % pop. =
This is the breakdown of population [about 20 million] and land distribution according to each estate:
1st Estate =
clergy =
.05 % pop. =
10 % land ownership
2nd Estate=
nobility =
1.5 % pop. =
20 % land ownership

5. 3rd Estate = the rest =
98 % pop. =
70 % land ownership
1. bourgeoisie ……….
(wealthiest, most
educated)
2. sans-culottes…….
(poor city workers)
3. peasants
(worked the land)

6. Fraternity ” that had been influenced by:
SECONDARY CAUSES:
Slogan of the French Revolution:
“Liberty,
Equality, and
Fraternity ” that had been influenced by:
A. Enlightenment ideas:

7. B. English Civil War (1642)
[Roundheads v Cavaliers]
C. Glorious Revolution (1688)
[King James II overthrown w/o bloodshed]
D. American Revolution (1776 – 1783)
[Declaration of Independence]

8. IMMEDIATE CAUSE:
By 1789, Louis XVI, the conservative French Bourbon king was faced with a major financial crisis as a result of France’s loss in the 1756
Seven Years’ War;
France’s aid to American colonists in their war with Great Britain that began in 1776; and excessive deficit spending by the royal family, especially Louis’ wife,
Queen Marie Antoinette [French name for Maria Antonia; daughter of Austria’s Maria Theresa], from the Austrian
Hapsburg dynasty, that was hated by the French people

9. bread shortages due to low grain production.
3. the unfair voting procedures of the French
legislative body called the
Estates General :

10. a. each estate casts 1 vote despite the number of
legislative representatives
the 3rd Estate demands 1 vote [by head] for
each representative instead of one vote per estate
c. King Louis XVI denies the demand

11. constitution by declaring the
4. The first deliberate act of the French Revolution occurs:
The 3rd Estate declares itself a National Assembly ;
this newly formed moderate National Assembly,
representing all the people of France, not just individual
Estates, then promises its French people their own
constitution by declaring the

12. Tennis Court Oath

13. 5. Bastille Day begins on
July 14 in
1789 as symbol of the Revolution when
the prison-fortress is stormed for weapons
6. The Great Fear (violent peasant revolts) causes
French nobles called
émigrés to flee France for fear of being killed [these
nobles will then work outside France to try to stop
the revolution in France]

15. Major Events of the French Revolution
Chapter 19 Lesson 2 Notes:
Major Events of the French Revolution
from the fleur de lis flag before the revolution
to the tri-color flag during and since the revolution

16. Nat’l Assembly writes a bill of rights called the
After the 3rd Estate declares itself a National Assembly as the first deliberate act of the French Revolution; the Parisians storm the Bastille for weapons to defend the new National Assembly; the Great Fear, orchestrated by peasants, causes terrified French nobles, called émigrés, to flee their homeland, the:
Nat’l Assembly writes a bill of rights called the
Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Constitution of 1791 providing France with a limited constitutional monarchy in the name of Louis XVI

17. 1st Estate lands are confiscated and privileges
are revoked by a new anti-
Catholic law called
the Civil Constitution of the Clergy to pay off the
state’s debts
Nat’l Assembly dissolves itself and a new Legislative Assembly is elected:

18. 1. Conservatives (royalists) sat on right side [of
center] = an absolute monarchy
2. Radicals to the left [of center] = depose king;
establish republic
3. Centrists (moderates) in middle =
limited constitutional monarchy

19. 1. émigrés work as counter-revolutionaries
Problems faced by Leg. Assembly:
1. émigrés work as counter-revolutionaries
2. The Paris Commune, city government
radicals, supported by
sans-culottes, demands a
republic

20. Hapsburgs and Prussian Hohenzollerns declare war on France
3. Austrian
Hapsburgs and Prussian
Hohenzollerns declare war on France
4. royal family
attempts to
escape; is
imprisoned;
since a limited
monarchy is no
longer an option
the 1791
Constitution
must be revoked;

21. The National Convention is elected and radicals, called
Legislative Assembly dissolves itself
The National Convention is elected and
radicals, called
Jacobins, who lead the
Mountain, take control over
the conservatives called
Girondists
The monarchy is abolished;

22. introduction of a new killing machine

23. King Louis XVI is guillotined

24. Introduces universal manhood suffrage (all
France is declared a republic
Introduces universal manhood suffrage (all
adult males given right to vote)
Institutes conscription (the draft of a citizen-
army) to defend against First Coalition, an
alliance of foreign countries determined to
prevent the revolution from spreading outside
of France

25. Reign of Terror begins July 1793: 1. is led by 3 Jacobins:
A radical time period known as the
Reign of Terror begins July 1793:
1. is led by 3 Jacobins:
Robespierre, the
most fanatical radical;
(Robespierre carefully eyeing through groups of French citizens to determine which ones are “enemies” of the new French republic)

26. Charlotte Corday, Marat’s assassin
Danton, editor of a Paris Commune radical
newspaper; and Marat another French
revolutionary leader who will be assassinated
in his bathtub.
Charlotte Corday, Marat’s assassin

27. Committee of Public Safety,
these radical leaders establish a 12-member
court called the
Committee of Public Safety,
that within a year’s time, will execute about
40,000 enemies of the republic, including
Queen Marie Antoinette and Danton
3. Terror ends in July 1794 with the
Thermidorian Reaction when
Robespierre is beheaded
[“show my head to the people – it will be
worth it.”]
The Constitution of
1795 creates a 5-man moderate executive
branch called the
Directory to rule France and the Directory
chooses

28. Napoleon Bonaparte to lead France’s
citizen-army