1. The Violent Phase of the FRENCH REVOLUTION

3. THE START of the FRENCH REVOLUTION
1789

4. Meeting of the Estates General
Summer 1789
Purpose of meeting:
RESTRUCTURE TAX SYSTEM
All three estates sent representatives
Each were told to send about 300 reps
Third Estate complained that this was NOT fair…

5. Meeting of the Estates General
First & Second Estates
Planned to work together to block any changes that would increase their taxes
DOUBLING OF THE THIRD ESTATE
To help “level” this inequity…
Louis XVI planned to DOUBLE THE THIRD ESTATE and give them as much voting power as the first two states combined

6. Meeting of the Estates General
But…
First and Second Estates said that in the past, each Estate had to vote as a block.
They said that any change in something so important had to be voted on by the members of the Estates General.
… you can see the problem with this…

7. National Assembly Nothing got accomplished
Third estate pulled away and formed a new group. They called themselves…
THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
They swore to change the government, to include a CONSTITUTION
Called The TENNIS COURT OATH
King Louis agreed
(reluctantly)

8. Storming of the Bastille
King Louis brought troops to defend VERSAILLES
Why would he do this?
How should the “common people”
respond?
Paris commoners attacked the BASTILLE
to get guns for protection
Bastille had been a
prison; represented
the KING’S TYRANNY
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9. Storming of the Bastille
They got the guns
And they released all prisoners
All four of them
And the king panicked.
He saw that the common man DID have power
And he went to meet them
The king gave them true legitimacy by meeting with them…
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10. The Great Fear Most Nobles lived in the COUNTRYSIDE
Peasants had for YEARS been forced to work their land… and pay huge dues… and were in debt to Nobles
Peasants attacked houses of NOBLES
Destroyed records of their debts
Nobles ran in fear
Most fled the country:
became known as EMEGREES
(because they emigrated)
Farms now lay idle…

11. Declaration of Rights of Man and Citizen
Feudal rights of first two estates abolished by NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
Debts of peasants totally forgiven
New document – Declaration:
All men are born free and equal in rights
New slogan: LIBERTY, EQUALITY, FRATERNITY for all
Read p. 589; analyze document
Guaranteed rights of
free SPEECH and RELIGION

12. Women’s March on Versailles
Louis changed again..
called in MORE TROOPS back to Versailles
Food was scarce, and women were hungry & mad
Thousands marched to Versailles (12 mi)
(mostly women, around 7000)
Broke into PALACE of VERSAILLES
They wanted to KILL Marie Antoinette
(rumor – that she had been hording bread)
Louis agreed to move to Paris

13. FRENCH REVOLUTION THE REIGN of TERROR

14. The most Violent phase of French Revolution
In this phase, the new National Assembly set up a new government.
They set up a government to rule with the king
But the king tried to escape… so…
They found him, captured him, and
The king was imprisoned
Then, he was put on trial for treason
FOUND GUILTY
EXECUTED JANUARY, 1793

15. Big changes of French Revolution
Political parties formed
The most radical were the JACOBINS
They had demanded the death of the king
Then, the new government declared war on all monarchies of Europe
They changed all religion
They created metric system
They even changed time measurement
All to show all men are equal
and “rational

16. Violence of the French Revolution
The war was going badly at first
So, the government set up a committee to “weed out” the dissenters.
THE COMMITTEE OF PUBLIC SAFETY
They were put on trial
And usually quickly sentenced to death
But, that wasn’t fast enough…
So, they invented (perfected)
THE GUILLOTINE
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17. Violent phase of French Revolution
The guillotine
REIGN OF TERROR
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40,000 people executed
Mostly poor peasants
The remaining Nobles

18. Violence of Terror