2. The French Revolution

3. The Class
You will be divided up into the 3 Estates and then will answer the following questions as the Estate you belong to.
1st Estate: 3 People
2nd Estate: 5 People
3rd Estate: AYO

4. What should the people of France do?
Situation 1
France’s government is in extreme debt. Half of France’s debt is attributed to war, especially money owed for helping the US gain independence. Recent crop failures have caused a shortage of food, making famine a real possibility. Yet, the newspapers publish stories about King Louis XVI’s lavish parties and his wife’s extreme spending habits.
What should the people of France do?

5. Discuss and vote on the following issues as Estates-General delegates
Situation 2
King Louis tried to force the nobles and the clergy to pay taxes, but they refused and summoned the Estates-General. It was a representative body of all three Estates that can be traced back to 1303, but the last time it was convened was in 1614 (175 years ago). The Estates-General has members from each Estate, but only one vote per estate, regardless of population.
Discuss and vote on the following issues as Estates-General delegates

6. Should we make reforms to the French government?
Estates-General Voting
Should we make reforms to the French government?
Should the Church give its share of French lands (10%) back to the French people?
Should the First Estate (clergy) pay more taxes (currently they pay 0%)
Should the Second Estate (nobility) pay more taxes (currently they pay only 2%)
Should the merchants and businessmen of the Third Estate be given greater roles in the government?
Should we continue to maintain our current systems of governing and taxation?

7. Situation 3 How do you feel about the Estates-General?
May, 1789, members of all three Estates meet at the palace, Versailles. After six weeks of negotiating nothing has happened. The First and Second Estates want reform as long as they do not have to pay taxes.
How do you feel about the Estates-General?
How can you get the sweeping government reforms you desire?

8. What do you think will happen as a result of this situation?
June, 1789, representatives of the Third Estate (meeting in an indoor tennis court) break from the Estates-General and form the National Assembly, the “true representative of the majority of the French people.” They agreed to the Tennis Court Oath, pledging to continue meeting until a new constitution was established and the National Assembly was recognized by King Louis.
What do you think will happen as a result of this situation?

9. Situation 5 What is the next step for members of the Third Estate?
Fearing a full-scale riot in Paris, King Louis sent his Swiss mercenary (paid) soldiers into the streets to maintain order. The people of Paris feared that the Swiss soldiers were being sent to massacre them. The also knew that the Bastille, a prison, held political prisoners and weapons.
What is the next step for members of the Third Estate?
What will this mean for the stability of France?

10. What action might the nobility and clergy take?
Situation 6
The Revolution began after the Storming of the Bastille. Members of the Third Estate, angry and frustrated by generations of unequal treatment by the nobles and clergy, began to take matters into their own hands - both in the cities and in the countryside.
How might the anger and frustration of the Third Estate manifest itself?
What action might the nobility and clergy take?

11. The Estates are no more! The Class Now, it is those And those
fighting for fighting Revolution against it!
1st and 2nd Estate: You are against
We need 7 others to join
3rd Estate: You are for the Revolution (except for 7 of you)

12. The Revolution Begins!!

13. How should the French people respond to this threat from outside?
Major Event 1
Prussia and Austria declare war on the people of France to re-affirm the right of the monarch to rule.
How should the French people respond to this threat from outside?

14. What is the significance of this action?
Major Event 2
The Radicals, or “Jacobins”, seized King Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette as they attempted to flee the country and executed them for treason.
What is the significance of this action?
What will come next?

15. Situation 7
The Reign of Terror results in the deaths of more than 40,000 French people (17,000 by guillotine), including aristocrats and clergy. The Jacobins attempted to restructure the government, shut down churches and take church lands, and re-organize the calendar.
What reaction might the French people have to these actions at first? Later?

16. What steps might this new government take to maintain order?
Situation 8
The instability of the revolutionary leaders of the Jacobins lead to their downfall. In July, 1794, Jacobin leader Maximilien de Robespierre, is arrested and executed by guillotine. A group of property owners took power and formed The Directory, a weak governmental body which did little to help strengthen France.
What steps might this new government take to maintain order?

17. What might be the result of this request?
Situation 9
In November, 1799, a young army general, Napoleon Bonaparte, was asked by the Directory to come and help restore peace and stability to France after a decade of revolution.
What might be the result of this request?

18. Situation 10
Napoleon engineers a coup d’etat and takes control of France, eventually naming himself Emperor.