The French Revolution – A Dream Unfulfilled…

Warm-Up Question

What were some of the causes of the French Revolution?

The French Revolution

Standard - 7-3.2

The French Revolution  Chapter 16 (pages 253-256)

Enlightenment Thinkers  Enlightenment thinkers like John Locke

spoke of ideas like human rights.  Their strongest idea was people’s right to rebel against the_______________.

American Revolution  American colonists challenged their home

country Great Britain.  They protested taxes!  1776 Declaration of Independence was sent to England.  France sent nobles then soldiers, sailors and weapons to help.

Declaration of Independence

 The Declaration of Independence was written

by_________________, and was issued by Congress on July 4, 1776

Boston Massacre

 At the Boston Massacre, _______________fired

into a crowd of protestors and killed 5 people.

Boston Tea Party

 At the Boston Tea Party, _____________ protested the

Tea Act by dumping British Tea into the Boston Harbor.

End of the War

 With French help, the Colonist defeated the

British at ___________in 1781.

Society under the Old Regime • In France, people were divided into three estates

– First Estate • High-ranking members of the Church • Privileged class – Second Estate • Nobility • Privileged class – Third Estate • Everyone else – from peasants in the countryside to wealthy bourgeoisie merchants in the cities • Unprivileged class

Journal Entry Question #1

How was the French Revolution a change brought about by the Enlightenment and the American Revolution?

Journal Entry Question #2

What is the purpose of a constitution?

The Causes  #1 Unfair Social Divisions – First Estate: Clergy, or church officials – Second Estate: Aristocracy (nobles) – Third Estate: Bourgeoisie and peasants  #2 Unequal Tax Burdens

– The third estate had no voice in government owned 10% of the land and paid 100% of the taxes

The Causes  #3 Government Debts

– Expensive wars – Royal spending out of control  #4 Financial Crisis

– Very High cost of living for the very poor

Louis XVI – the King at the outbreak of the French Revolution  Louis XVI loaned

money and ships to the Americans in their war for independence – not because he loved democracy but because he hated England  Louis XVI was incapable of managing his country in a crisis

The King’s family lived in luxury  Louis XVI was a good

husband and father but not a very good king  He and his family lived at Versailles and knew nothing of the suffering of the people  The King’s family spent millions on their lifestyle while peasants starved

The Palace of Versailles, home of the Ancien Regime and symbol of all that was wrong with France

The King didn’t listen  Famine and disease

were running rampant  The price of bread doubled and the women of Paris marched on Versailles  The Bread Riots and the Women’s March on Versailles got Louis’s attention

On October 4, 1789, a crowd of women and some men, marched toward Versailles, demanding to see "the Baker," "the Baker's wife," and "the Baker's boy". The King agreed to meet with some of the women and promised to distribute all the bread in Versailles to the crowd. The National Guard arrived on the scene to take the King back to Paris. This complicated matters. Some of the crowd got into the Queen's quarters and Marie Antoinette barely escaped by way of a secret passage to the King's room. He agreed to address the people from his balcony. "My friends," he said, "I will go to Paris with my wife and my children." This was a fatal mistake. It was the last time the King saw Versailles.

Calling the Estates General - May 5, 1789

When the Estates General met, each estate solemnly marched into the hall at Versailles. The third estate, dressed all in black, the nobility dressed in all their finery and finally the clergy dressed in full regalia. The delegates of the third estate insisted that the three orders meet together and that the vote be taken by head, rather than by order. (Since there were far more delegates from the third estate, this plan would give them a majority). The King refused to grant their request. The third estate refused to budge.

The Tennis Court Oath

"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

Storming the Bastille  The Bastille was a

prison that held many political prisoners.  The mob wanted to free the prisoners so they stormed the prison on July 14, 1789.  Blood was shed – there was no going back now.

A New Revolutionary Spirit…

The Marquis de Lafayette, commander of the new National Guard, combined the colors of the King (white) and the colors of Paris (blue and red) for his guardsmen's uniforms and from this came the Tricolor, the new French flag.

First a marching song – then a National Anthem – Le Marseillaise “Come children of the Motherland, the day of glory has arrived! Against us, the tyrant has raised his bloody banner, has raised his bloody banner! Don't you hear across our countryside the roar of his merciless soldiers? They are coming right into your arms to butcher your friends and family! Citizens, to arms! Let's march! March! So that our very fields shall wash with their evil blood!” The Marseillaise

The Movement needed a Slogan Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité: The French Revolution

Liberty - Freedom

Equality – No social classes Fraternity - Brotherhood

Death of a King  The King was beheaded January 21, 1793.

 The Queen was beheaded October 16, 1793.  The young heir who would have been Louis

XVII died shortly thereafter.

After the death of Louis XVI in 1793, the Reign of Terror began. The first victim was Marie Antoinette. She had been imprisoned with her children after she was separated from Louis. First they took her son Louis Charles from her (often called the lost dauphin, or Louis XVII). He disappeared under suspicious circumstances. Then she led off a parade of prominent and not-so-prominent citizens to their deaths. The guillotine, the new instrument of egalitarian justice, was put to work. Public executions were considered educational. Women were encouraged to sit and knit during trials and executions. The Revolutionary Tribunal ordered the execution of 2,400 people in Paris by July 1794. Across France 30,000 people lost their lives.

The Reign of Terror •The Reign of Terror began with the death of the Queen •Many were put in prison for later execution.

Maximilien Robespierre  Robespierre was named

the head of the Committee on Public Safety.  Their job was to round up and execute enemies of the Revolution – that meant anyone who disagreed with Robespierre.

The Directory  A new government was set in place

called the Directory which did not work.  The Directory was overthrown and replaced by a Consulate, headed by Two Consuls – one of whom was Napoleon Bonaparte.  Napoleon quickly brought about a coup d’etat and became the sole ruler.

Napoleon Bonaparte •Napoleon had made his name through the military. He was trained in the finest military school in Paris and went on to win many battles.

The Coronation of Napoleon by Jacques Louis David – notice that he has already crowned himself and now is crowning his wife, Josephine. The Pope has to sit and watch; symbolic of the kind of ruler Napoleon was to be.

The French Revolution ended in 1799 when Napoleon entered Paris and became First Consul at the age of 30. A brilliant politician and a military genius, he took the title of Emperor Napoleon I in 1804.

Napoleon’s Accomplishments  Created a new legal system, the Napoleonic

Code.  Set up schools  Ended the estate social class system  Created a bureaucracy based on merit not on birth.  Reduced the power of the Catholic Church  Required all citizens to pay taxes

Napoleon’s Downfall  When Napoleon attempted to invade Russia

in 1812 he failed BADLY!  After that Napoleon was captured and exiled to the island of Elba.  He escaped and Napoleon returned to Paris.  At a battle called Waterloo, Napoleon was finally defeated and sent to the Island of St. Helena were he died in 1821.

The Congress of Vienna  In 1814 European leaders met in Austria

before the French Revolution.  to return Europe to the way it was Their goal was to bring a balance of power that would prevent any single nation from controlling Europe.  European leaders were against individual rights and nationalism and brought back power to the royal families.