Before the Revolution

Transcription

1 Before the Revolution Growing Financial Crisis 1763 End of the Seven Years War 1780s Aid to the American Revolution 1788 Call for the Estates General when King wants to tax nobles Desperate times in the French Countryside 1780s Food prices rose to nearly half a weekly wage Crops failed due to extremely cold winters Bread Riots Starvation among the very poor New ideas and Other Revolutions Enlightenment questioned why life had to be so hard for so many The idea of reforms based on reason gave hope of progress for mankind American Revolution made progress seem attainable

2 The Old Regime Strict hierarchy with the King on top C état, c ést moi I am the State Three estates defined by law: 1 st Clergy 2 nd Nobility 3 rd the people (96%)

3 People under the Old Regime

4 1 st Estate - Clergy Powerful and privileged Upper level clergy could only come from noble families Collect own taxes Ran schools Censored written material Paid no taxes Not all clergy were wealthy or powerful

5 2 nd Estate - Nobility Powerful and privileged, status through birth Highest positions in Church, military and government only open to nobility Collected taxes from tenant farmers Did not pay taxes to the state

6 3 rd Estate the People Few privileges, little power Three main groups make up the 3 rd Estate: 1.Bourgeoisie (middle class) 2. San Culottes (working class) 3. Peasants (rural poor and laborers)

7 Bourgeoisie Growing, wealthy middle class Owned 20% of land Excluded by birth from best positions Want to replace aristocracy with meritocracy Sympathetic to Enlightenment ideas Paid taxes to the Church and the King

8 San Culottes Urban laborers, skilled and unskilled Burdened by taxes to Church and King Limited education Participated in the Storming of the Bastille Make-up the bulk of the National Guard Want to decrease the gap between rich and poor

9 Peasantry 21 million in France in a population of 26 million Owned or rented farm land Faced increasing taxes on the land, food and service through the Taille: land tax Gabelle: salt tax Corvée: work on state roads without pay

10 Why 1789? These problems were not new High taxes High food prices Few freedoms Why a revolution in 1789?

11 "The National Assembly, considering that it has been summoned to establish the constitution of the kingdom... decrees that all members of this assembly shall immediately take a solemn oath not to separate... until the constitution of the kingdom is established on firm foundations..." June 20, 1789

12 Fall of the Bastille, Independence Day July 14, 1789

13 "National Assembly Relinquishes All Its Privileges 1789

14 The Joyous Accord

15 Followed by the Great Fear

16 Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen End special privileges Humane treatment of prisoners Religious toleration End of Church domination Constitutional monarchy Male suffrage Set the criteria for freedom and would be forced to recognize the problems of exclusion

17 Declaration of the rights of Woman and Citizen Written by Olympe de Gouge in 1791 Demanded women be considered citizens Argued that women should have the right to: Own property Vote Have equality in marriage Have equality in education

18 The radical stage: Why did the Revolution become radical? Girondins take control of National Assembly Declare war on Prussia and Austria

19 A New Stage: Popular Revolution The French Republic The end of the French monarchy France declared a republic (September 21, 1792) Louis placed on trial (December 1792) Louis executed (January 23, 1793)

20 A Sans-Culotte by Louis-Léopold Boilly, 1792

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22 A New Stage: Popular Revolution The French Republic The National Convention and domestic reforms Abolition of slavery in French colonies Repeal of primogeniture Confiscated property of enemies of the Revolution Set maximum prices for grain The revolutionary calendar

23 A New Stage: Popular Revolution The Reign of Terror Committee faced sabotage from the political left and right Need for absolute control The Mountain allies with Parisian artisans Rebellions: Lyons, Bordeaux, and Marseilles CPS rounds up suspects in the countryside

24 A New Stage: Popular Revolution The Reign of Terror September 1793 July 1794: executions as high as twenty-five to thirty thousand Five hundred thousand incarcerated between March 1793 and August 1794

25 Robespierre Guillotining the Executioner y

26 A family of Sans-Culotts [Sic] Refreshing after the Fatigues of the Day. (British Satirical Cartoon by James Gilray, 1793)

27 "The Welcoming of a Marquis in Hell"

28 Madame Tussaud s Death Masks

29 A New Stage: Popular Revolution The legacy of the second French Revolution The sans-culottes Workers trousers replaced breeches The red cap of liberty Citizen and citizeness Festivals

30 A New Stage: Popular Revolution The legacy of the second French Revolution The erosion of traditional institutions Church, guild, and parish Replaced with patriotic organizations Mobilization for revolution Middle Class fear of politicizing the working class