1. Radical Days of Revolution
Section 3
SWBAT:
understand why and how radicals abolished the monarchy
Explain why the Committee of Public Safety was created and why the Reign of Terror resulted
Summarize how the excesses of the Convention led to the formation of the Directory
Analyze how the French people were affected by the changes brought about by the revolution.
Radical Days of Revolution

2. Do Now Tuesday1/15/13
During the French and American revolutions printed materials were the primary means of communication. During WWII, radio and newspapers were the primary means of communication while during the Gulf Wars, television news and the Internet were used by many as the primary source of information.
How has technology and access to it impacted the believability of propaganda?

3. Radical Revolution
Storming Versailles – Royal family to Paris October 6, 1789
Tensions rise abroad
Émigrés were groups of people hoping to restore the king’s power
Louis XVI attempted escape  June 21, 1791
Consequence  RADICAL transition

4. National Convention Louis XVI put on trial as a traitor to France
Radicals take control of the Assembly
Call for new legislative body called the National Convention.
Louis XVI put on trial as a traitor to France

5. Another Constitution
National Convention drafts new constitution for France.
Jacobins  radical group control the Convention
erase all traces of the old order
Seized lands of nobles & abolished titles of nobility
Suffrage: the right to vote, for all male citizens, not just property owners
Voted to
abolish the monarchy
and establish a republic  The French Republic
Louis XVI convicted (treason) & sentenced to death  Guillotine
Executed January 1793

6. The Royal Family Marie Antoinette outlived her husband by 9 months
Found guilty of treason:
October of 1793
sent to the Guillotine
Marie had two surviving children,
Marie Therese & Louis Charles
Louis Charles died in prison in 1795 – age10
Marie Therese  exiled &married
died childless in 1851

7. three most memorable Jacobins: Georges Danton, Maximilien Robespierre,
Jean-Paul Marat.
Because of a debilitating illness, Marat was forced to work from home.
He was assassinated (in the tub while taking a medicinal bath)
by Charlotte Corday, a Girondist sympathizer, in July, 1793.
The Death of Marat by Jacques-Louis David

8. Reign of Terror: September 5, 1793-July 27, 1794
Convention continued to face problems domestically
Jacobin political party dominated French politics
Committee of Public Safety
Headed by Danton (and later Robespierre)
Those accused of treason were tried by the Committee’s Revolutionary Tribunal
Approximately 15,000 people died on the guillotine
Guillotine became known as the “National Razor”

9. Growing Coalition against the French
Draft  to defeat the foreign Coalition
people supported military operations  they did not want to be back under the Old Regime
Rouget de Lisle wrote the “Marseillaise”
French national anthem
Inspired troops as they were led into battle
After 2 years
Coalition was defeated
France had gained territory

10. Primary Source
“It is necessary to stifle the domestic and foreign enemies of the Republic perish with them….The first maxim of our politics ought to be to lead the people by means of reason and the enemies of the people by terror….If the basis of popular government in time of peace is virtue, the basis of popular government in time of revolution is both virtue and terror.”
- Mazimilien Robespierre, quoted in Pageant of Europe

11. Committee of Public Safety

12. End of the Reign of Terror
Members of Girondist political party tried to end ROT
This opposition caused many Girondists to be tried and executed for treason
Eventually, even Georges Danton wanted to end the executions
resulted in Danton being executed for treason
Robespierre leader of the Committee of Public Safety
continued the executions
Convention blamed Robespierre for the Reign of Terror
Thermidorean Reaction
July 27, 1794 – ended Reign of Terror
Robespierre & other members of the Committee of Public Safety to the guillotine
Robespierre was guillotined on July 28, 1794

13. Constitution #3 (1795) Revolution Enters Third Stage
Move away from the Convention
Form the DIRECTORY
With the foreign invaders vanquished & Reign of Terror over, the Convention was finally able to inaugurate its new constitution
Formed a two house legislature elected by male citizens of property
Middle class and professional people of the bourgeoisie were the dominant force of this stage

14. YouTube
french rev song gaga

15. Government under the Directory
5 directors appointed by the Legislature
Executive
Lower house (500 members) proposed laws
Upper house (250 members) voted on these laws
2/3 of the Legislature would initially be filled by members of the Convention
Legislature
Girondists (middle-class party) had defeated the Jacobins (working- and peasant-class party)
Girondists’ constitution stated that suffrage (the right to vote), as well as the right to hold office, were limited to property owners
Qualifications

16. Other Parting Reforms Passed by the Convention
Adopted the metric system
Dealt the final blow to feudalism by abolishing primogeniture (the system whereby the oldest son inherited all of his father’s estate)
Drew up a comprehensive system of laws
Ended debt imprisonment
Ended slavery in France’s colonies
Established a nationwide system of public education

17. Directory ( )
The Directory suffered from corruption and poor administration.
The people of France grew poorer and more frustrated with their government.
Despite, or perhaps because of, these struggles, the French developed a strong feeling of nationalism – they were proud of their country and devoted to it.
National pride was fueled by military successes.
It would be a military leader – Napoleon Bonaparte, coming to power through a coup d’état – who would end the ten-year period ( ) known as the French Revolution.

18. Review Questions
1. What changes occurred after the Reign of Terror came to an end
2. What human rights were established in France by the Declaration of the Rights of Man?
3. How did Olympe de Gouges fight for women’s rights?
4. What were émigrés, and why did French revolutionaries view them as a threat?
5. Name and describe the two political parties that competed for power in revolutionary France.
6. What was the Committee of Public Safety?
7. Describe the Reign of Terror and explain how it eventually came to an end.
8. Were the “excesses” of the French Revolution justified? Why or why not?
9. Looking back at the first half of 1789, could the French Revolution have been avoided? If so, how?