Chapter 1 France, 1774–1814 1

Home , Estates General of 1789

Cambridge University Press 978-1-108-73392-2 — Cambridge International AS Level History Modern Europe, 1750–1921 Coursebook Graham Goodlad , Patrick Walsh-Atkins , Russell Williams , Edited by Patrick Walsh-Atkins Excerpt More Information

Learning objectives In this chapter you will:

■■ understand why the Ancien Régime in France was unable to deal with the problems facing it in the 1780s ■■ learn why the attempt to bring financial reform to France in 1789 developed into a radical revolution ■■ analyse the various factors which affected the course of the revolution and determined its outcome ■■ understand how and why this revolution came to an end under the leadership of Napoleon, and assess his impact on France. Timeline

Aug 1786 Finance Minister Dec 1804 Napoleon Calonne submits plan for July 1789 Storming Oct 1791 Legislative July 1794 Fall becomes Emperor major financial reforms of the Bastille Assembly meets of Robespierre of France

July 1790 Civil Oct 1799 Directory May 1789 Estates Constitution of Jan 1793 Execution overthrown by Napoleon General meets the Clergy of the king and Consulate established

June 1789 National June 1791 Royal Apr 1793 The Mar 1804 Civil Code Assembly is announced Flight to Varennes Terror starts published (later to become Code Napoléon)

Apr 1787 Calonne Aug 1789 Declaration Sept 1792 Overthrow Nov 1795 Directory 1814–15 Napoleon is dismissed and of the Rights of Man of the monarchy established defeated and forced financial crisis grows into exile; Bourbon monarchy restored

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Cambridge International AS Level History Modern Europe, 1750–1921

Before you start • Research the human and physical geography of France in the late 18th century. • Was it a rich or a poor country? • Why was France seen as the centre of European culture? • Look at the countries surrounding France in 1789. What sort of relationship did France have with them? Was it always peaceful?

1.1 What were the causes and local community – work they were not paid for. Landlords had the right to hunt on the peasants’ land. The peasants immediate outcomes of the 1789 were also forced to use their landlords’ wine presses and revolution? flour mills, at a high price. The Ancien Régime: problems and policies of There were only three good harvests between 1770 and Louis XVI 1789, and this resulted in rural poverty and hunger. The France in the late 18th century was ruled by an absolute economy was simply unable to provide an adequate living monarch, Louis XVI. It was, however, a difficult country to for those who lived in the countryside, so many peasants govern. It had a population of about 27 million. There was were forced to move to the towns. This growing urban significant regional difference across the country, along population, poor and unskilled, found there was little or with a strong tradition for each part of France to deal with no chance of quality employment. Unlike Britain, France local issues in its own way. There were also different legal had few factories making textiles, for example, to absorb systems, which dated back for centuries. The regions had this migration of workers. Meanwhile, the existing urban 2 different systems of taxation and there were also customs working class saw their wages decline as food prices rose. barriers between some parts of France, meaning that Bread usually formed about 75% of the French working- trade could not move freely around the country. These class diet. In normal times, a family would spend between conditions meant that, in practice, the king’s orders were 35 and 50% of its income on bread. After a bad harvest, often ignored or proved too difficult to carry out. when prices soared, fear of starvation took hold, and there was no money for heating and clothing. Increasing poverty, KEY TERMS worsened by a decline in real wages, led to growing urban unrest, including bread riots. The police force had only Ancien Régime: Literally ‘the old system of government’, limited numbers and found it difficult to maintain order. this describes how France was governed before 1789. It not only covers the government and administration, but also the A hungry, highly taxed lower class who were not structure of society and the role of the Church as well. represented by politicians, in both town and countryside, Absolute monarch: A king or queen who has complete power was an important factor in the events that followed. The in a state. They can make laws and there are no constitutional distance between the rich and the poor was growing. limits to their power. The poor saw those they paid taxes to – the aristocracy Real wages: Wages measured in terms of what they enable and the Church in particular – enjoying lives of luxury, but workers to buy, rather than the actual money received. peasants had no means of redressing their grievances. The legal system worked against them, and was, in fact, Social divisions in France another means of control. The vast majority – 80% – of the French population at In French towns, the middle class was growing. this time were poor peasants. Agriculture was not highly Increasingly, these people were well educated and rich. developed and was inefficient. Peasants farmed tiny plots By 1780, they owned around 20% of the land in France. of land and their main aim was to grow enough food to They were involved in either commerce or industry, or in survive. At the same time, they were heavily taxed by the professions such as law and medicine. The vast majority government, their landlords and the Church. In addition, of France’s future revolutionary leaders came from this they had to maintain the roads for their landlords and their middle class; many of them had been lawyers. Some

Chapter 1: France, 1774–1814

were increasingly involved in aspects of local government They dominated all the key posts at court and in the and administration, but became frustrated by their government, the Church, the judiciary and the army. One powerlessness. In addition to having no political power, of the reasons why the French army often performed it was not possible for them to join the top levels of badly was because the officers were noblemen and government, the military and the judiciary system. Only the promotion came through noble rank rather than through higher nobility could expect to take up those jobs. While ability or experience. people in the middle class were not as heavily taxed as the French aristocrats tended to be hostile to those involved peasantry, they did pay some taxes, and naturally resented in trade and commerce. Unlike the British aristocracy a system where they had no say in how their money was during the same period, who were deeply involved spent. Many traditional middle-class career posts such in innovation in agriculture, industry and commerce, as judges and tax collectors, began to be passed from and who usually accepted their sons marrying the rich father to son, or could be bought for cash. Jobs were no daughters of middle-class industrialists, the French longer decided by ability. As a result, money influenced aristocracy tended to remain a group apart. Generally, local administration and the law. These educated and they did not wish to associate with the lower classes in increasingly angry members of the middle class were to such matters as industry and commerce. play a decisive role in the coming events. As in the clergy, there was a division between the ‘higher’ The Church and the aristocracy and ‘lower’ aristocracy. The highest levels of this social The Roman Catholic Church, with over 130 000 clergy, monks class lived at Versailles, the court of the king of France and nuns, was a very wealthy organisation. It owned 10% of near Paris. Here, in this vast and splendid palace, they the land across the country and paid no taxes. It controlled had access to power, influence, and the top jobs and most of the education in France and also approved (or not) pensions awarded by the king. They lived in an isolated all publications. The Church was determined to maintain its and privileged environment and were determined to keep it. A talent for court politics and intrigue was the control over as many aspects of French life as possible, and 3 to keep hold of its wealth and benefits. key to the top jobs, and administrative ability often had little to do with success. The ‘poorer’ or ‘lower’ nobility, The most senior posts in the Church invariably went to while anxious to retain their privileges, often resented members of the aristocracy, often totally inexperienced the power and wealth of the ‘higher’ nobility at Versailles. young men with little interest in performing their religious The lower nobility, like the case of the lower clergy, were duties. As a result, many of the ordinary clergy from the lower a reason why the nobility did not act together to defend classes – often hardworking and devout men determined their power during the years of the revolution. to help their parishioners – could not progress to senior roles where they would be able to direct the Church towards carrying out what they considered to be its proper KEY TERM duties. Although the Church did not pay taxes, it did pay a Conscription: Compulsory enrolment into the army as a contribution to the government. This contribution was paid, service to the state. Men had no choice in the matter and they however, by the lower clergy and not the wealthy bishops. had to be prepared to go and fight. These factors led to a growing division between rich and poor within the clergy, the aristocrat and the commoner. This was one of the reasons why the Church was not able to King Louis XVI and the parlements present a united front to the revolutionary forces that later set The king was at the top of the social hierarchy. Louis out to destroy it. XVI had been crowned in 1775, when he was young and The aristocracy dominated France. A tiny minority of inexperienced. He had a great sense of duty and many good the population owned around 30% of the land and intentions of ruling well. He inherited a system in which the most of the wealth. There were about 300 000 members king had absolute power, however, and he would have liked of this elite group. They paid virtually no taxes. They not just to keep, but to increase this power. His courtiers were also exempt from things like conscription for the and ministers (they were usually the same thing) tended to army and responsibility for road repairs. Instead, they be divided on the issue of the role of the monarch. Some enjoyed a range of benefits, often created centuries wished to create an even more absolute monarch, in control earlier, such as being able to hunt wherever they wished. of every part of French life, and to end the ability of local

Cambridge International AS Level History Modern Europe, 1750–1921

parlements to block orders from Versailles and any local ACTIVITY 1.1 autonomy. Traditionally, laws made by the king could not be carried out unless they were published by the parlements, Work with another student to identify the principal so these courts were in a position to delay or prevent the social, economic and political problems which faced implementation of royal wishes. Only lawyers of noble rank Louis XVI when he came to the throne. Copy and could be members, and they were usually more interested complete the table to help you categorise the problems in preserving their own privileges than anything else. you have identified. Social Economic Political KEY TERM

Parlements: Judicial courts of appeal. There were 13 local parlements in France at this time, of which the one in Paris was the most powerful. They were not elected or representative bodies. Which do you think were the most important? Why? What sort of strategy might he have adopted to deal with these Some wished to go back to a system in which the king problems? had to consult the aristocracy on matters of policy and administration, thus reducing his power. A few, influenced by the ideas of the Enlightenment (see Pressures for change (social, economic and ‘Pressures for change’) wanted to reform the whole system political, including the Enlightenment) and make it both more efficient and more inclusive, eliminating its most obvious failings. For example, the The Enlightenment king appointed intendants to administer the localities, In the 18th century France was home to some of the called departments, in France. The intendants were royal greatest thinkers and writers of the period. They became agents and their job was to carry out royal wishes in their part of an intellectual and philosophical movement known 4 departments. They were often hated by localparlements , as the ‘Enlightenment’, and they had a major influence on however, who did their best to ignore and resist them. the whole revolutionary process in France. It can be difficult The divisions at court and within the aristocracy and to assess the importance of abstract ideas on actual events, clergy were often reflected when it came to local but it is known that many of the later revolutionary leaders, administration. There were bitter local rivalries, which and Napoleon Bonaparte himself, were very well read and made France a very difficult country to govern, and were influenced by the ideas of these thinkers. obviously in need of reform. These fundamental Many of these writers did not just criticise what they differences in outlook among the king’s inner circle of saw happening in France; they also supported practical courtiers made it difficult to find common ground when improvements. Some of the most important figures of the major decisions needed to be taken. Enlightenment were: • Voltaire, who was very critical of the role, wealth and influence of the Church, and attacked religious King Louis XVI was intolerance. He was also critical of the entire French legal deeply religious and system and its frequent miscarriages of justice. was determined to rule well. He was, • Montesquieu, who was critical of despotism and autocratic power. He wanted a system of checks and LOUIS XVI (1754–93) however, weak and indecisive, balances, where one part of a system of government, for and reluctant to example an elected parliament, could check the actions accept the reality of ministers and the king. He was impressed by the British of the situation he system, where parliament controlled law-making and found himself in. His could check the government. Montesquieu advocated resistance to reform the rule of law: that everyone should be equal before the after 1789 and his obvious lack of sympathy for law and subject to the law of the land. the changes of 1789–90 ultimately led to his • Diderot, author of an encyclopaedia of ‘sciences, arts execution in 1793. and crafts’, who was determined to advance knowledge. He was a great advocate of independent thinking, and

Chapter 1: France, 1774–1814

was anxious to promote a critical and questioning form an alliance with the colonists in America who were attitude to everything. fighting for independence from Frances’s old enemy, • Rousseau, who argued for more education, was a great Britain. France declared war against Britain, determined thinker who wrote about power and liberty. He proposed to regain not only the colonies that it had lost to Britain in many ideas on how there could be both authority and 1763, such as Canada, but also the prestige lost as a result freedom for men in the same society. of the many military defeats it had suffered in the war. • Quesnay, who wrote on economics and argued against A-R-J Turgot, an admirer of François Quesnay, was the the constraints on the free production and movement of finance minister when Louis became king in 1775. He goods which existed at the time in France. warned against any more involvement in wars, arguing that ‘the first gunshot will drive the state to bankruptcy’, These men challenged established ideas, institutions but he was ignored. The king took advice instead from and social structures. They encouraged argument and the Comte de Vergennes, his foreign minister, who was debate on a wide range of major public issues. They interested in France’s (and his own) prestige, and did not argued that there could be improvement in all areas of worry about such matters as cost. The cautious Turgot public life. was dismissed in 1776. He predicted correctly that the war The writers wrote at a time when confidence in the would do little harm to Britain, and instead would prevent French government was low. There was often famine the vital financial reforms that France needed so badly, and this led to riots. France in 1763 had just been with the risk of national bankruptcy. humiliated in a major war with Britain and had lost In 1777, a new finance minister was appointed. This was most of its overseas empire, including Canada, to the Jacques Necker. He was an unusual choice, as he was victors. There was also little confidence in the young not a French aristocrat, but a middle-class banker of king crowned in 1775, and his Austrian wife, Marie Swiss origin and also a Protestant. Naturally, this meant Antoinette, was hated. Many of the future leaders who that many people at Louis’s court disliked him, notably 5 emerged during the revolution had read, thought the queen. The appointment of an outsider like Necker about and debated the ideas of these great writers indicates that there was a growing awareness that French of the Enlightenment. When the Ancien Régime state finances were in a dreadful state. collapsed after 1789, it was these thinkers who provided

ideas that led the way forward for the new governors (1732–1804) NECKER JACQUES of France. Necker was born in Switzerland and ACTIVITY 1.2 trained as a banker, Either on your own or with another student, look at the and was finance thinkers and writers associated with the Enlightenment. minister three times: What aspects of French life before 1789 would they 1777–81, 1788–89 have thought needed to be changed? Then, working and 1789–90. Some with another student, consider the impact that historians argue that Enlightenment ideas might have had on contemporary in his first tenure society. To what extent can writers of abstract ideas he caused many of influence politicians or political events? the problems which faced France in later years. However, when he was recalled to office in 1788, he was seen as the man able to solve France’s The reaction of Louis XVI to attempts at reform economic problems. He was, however, unable to provide either an accurate picture of the royal Political and economic factors finances or solutions to the financial problems Social and ideological factors played a major part in the facing France. In 1789, he fatefully advised the king start of the revolution in 1789, but politics and economics to call the Estates General. also played a key role. In 1778, the decision was made to

Cambridge International AS Level History Modern Europe, 1750–1921

Necker promised to reform the financial system. Many In 1786, with the cost of servicing the state’s debts becoming people, unwisely as it turned out, had great confidence in too high, Calonne submitted a series of needed reforms to him. He investigated and analysed France’s finances, but the king. He made three main proposals: he did not deliver reform. He funded the expensive war • Reform the system of taxation by increasing taxes for the with Britain through borrowing at increasingly high interest wealthy. rates. In 1781, he published – for the first time in France – a public account of the royal finances. However, in this report • Stimulate the economy generally and encourage he claimed that these finances were in a good condition. commerce and industry. They were not. He also hid the huge cost of the war with • Create confidence in France and its economy so it could Britain. He was dismissed four months after the report was borrow more money at lower rates of interest. published. Government borrowing at high interest rates The king, prepared from time to time to take an continued to increase. interest in matters of finance, approved the plans. The war with Britain came to an end in 1783. The United The decision was taken, in the light of growing public States became independent, but France gained nothing concern and interest in the economy, to submit these from the war except deeper national debt. There was proposals to the Assembly of Notables in the hope of now, however, an opportunity for financial reform and gaining support for the measures. This body, made up stability. With growing concern about the state of royal of nobles and clergy (only 10 of the 144 members were finances, another new finance minister, Charles de not nobles) then met for the first time since 1626. Calonne, was appointed in 1783. Initially, he declined to cut royal spending and simply borrowed more money KEY TERM to keep the government running, but he did start to plan important changes. He was aware that without Assembly of Notables: A group of noblemen or senior change France would go bankrupt. members of the Church. The Assembly had been summoned by the king only four times in the past, to deal with 6 emergencies. The Assembly had no authority – it could only KEY TERM consult, but not actually do anything. Calonne hoped that it would help him to gain some support for much-needed National debt: The amount of money borrowed by a state or financial reform. country, often at very high rates of interest.

More money goes on paying the interest on the national debt. Interest rates increase. Rich do not pay taxes.

Increasing reluctance to lend the government money as it is incompetently administered. System of tax collection out of date and corrupt.

Huge national debt Government largely funded by borrowing Court is extravagant. money.

Taxes brought in do No incentives for not cover costs. productive industry.

Trade and commerce damaged by tariﬀs and internal customs barriers. Figure 1.1: France’s economic problems before the revolution

Chapter 1: France, 1774–1814

Calonne was in an impossible position. He was disliked Paris were so angry at the king’s action that both middle by the vast majority of the Notables. He had little serious and lower classes, and huge crowds took to the streets support from the king and the rest of the government. in protest. This was the first sign of a potential alliance Many of those in a position of influence chose to believe between the middle and lower classes against the king Necker’s earlier statement that all was well with the royal and the aristocracy. finances. In addition, the expensive war was over, so they The financial and political crisis continued throughout 1787 thought the crisis was also over. Calonne had no idea how and 1788. The king recalled the Paris parlement and met to manage the Notables, and, in fact, there was no clarity with it in November 1787. He totally mismanaged it, having on what the Notables’ role was. Was it just consultative? no grasp of why there was so much concern about the Was the Assembly there just to support changes? Did it have state’s finances. The king undermined the ministers who any authority? Most Notables recognised a need for some were trying to negotiate and manage the parlement and, reforms, but they wanted to make sure that they, and the when the parlement refused to support the new taxes, the class that they represented, did not suffer from those reforms. leaders of the ‘opposition’ were arrested and imprisoned The king was faced with an uncertain situation and tried in the Bastille, a royal fortress in Paris. The arrests resulted to solve the problem by sacking Calonne in April 1787. in countrywide protests, demonstrating the high level of Calonne was replaced by yet another finance minister, public interest and support for reform. Etienne Brienne, who, as president of the Assembly of Divisions were also emerging among the nobility and Notables was felt to have influence over its members. The clergy over whether to support any change to their king disliked and distrusted him, however, which meant privileged and untaxed status, and it was clear too that the that Brienne had limited royal support. When the Notables growing middle class was becoming increasingly alienated demanded an accurate account of the royal finances, the from the classes above. king refused and instead dismissed the Assembly. This caused great anxiety and protest among the educated The crisis worsened throughout 1788. There was public, and marked the start of the financial and political widespread anger at the king’s refusal to become involved 7 crisis that eventually led to the revolution itself. in a civil war in the Netherlands. (The French felt the area was very much their sphere of interest and there was a The meeting and dismissal of the Notables showed: risk of Austria increasing its power.) There was simply • just how deep France’s financial crisis was no money to pay for any intervention there. The lack • the many failings of the king and his court and of money, and the incompetence of the (noble) officer government corps, meant that the army was viewed as potentially • that the public had not been given a true picture of the unreliable, even though it was the only way of keeping state of the royal finances order in France. Thousands of pamphlets were by now being published throughout France, demanding social, • that there was real opposition in the country to the king economic and political change. The Paris parlement and his government demanded complete constitutional change and was • that the public demanded change and greater widely supported in this demand. By August 1788, it was involvement in government. clear that the state was virtually bankrupt and this was publicly admitted. However, Brienne, who was aware The beginnings of widespread revolt of the scale of the problem, and had some solutions, Brienne had to raise money so he increased taxes and was dismissed by the king. This further reduced any borrowed more, but found it very difficult to persuade confidence in the king and his court. bankers to lend to a state which many felt was near breakdown. The tension and unrest was made worse by a series of hailstorms that summer which destroyed much of the Attempts to gain support for increased taxes from the harvest. Everyone knew that this would lead to a shortage parlement of Paris – the most powerful of the country’s of bread and higher prices. It would be a hard winter. parlements – failed. The parlement refused to support tax increases until they were given an accurate picture of The king’s solution was to recall Necker as finance the royal accounts. The king refused again, seeing such minister. At his instigation, the decision was taken to demands as an attack on his royal powers, and banished summon the Estates General, which had not met since the parlement members to the provinces. The people of 1614, to solve France’s problems.

Cambridge International AS Level History Modern Europe, 1750–1921

• the system of compulsory work for a landlord be ended KEY TERM • the administration of justice be reformed Estates General: An assembly which represented the three • the gabelle (salt tax) be abolished social classes (Estates) of France under the Ancien Régime: the • the privilege of hunting be abolished nobility, the clergy and the Third Estate, who represented the majority of the French people. The Estates General of 1789 was • the many regulations restricting trade be abolished the first to be called since 1614. • there should be a school in every town • the Church be reformed • there should be local elections for local assemblies to Cahiers de doléances deal with local issues. Before the Estates General met, the districts of France were asked, as was customary, to put forward a list of issues they ACTIVITY 1.3 wanted the assembly to consider when it met. These lists were known as cahiers de doléances. In March 1789, the Work with another student to study the list of issues cahier from Dourdan, in northern France, contained the from the three Estates. Where do you see agreement? following, quite typical, demands. Where do you see evidence that the Third Estate wanted something very different from the other two Estates? In The clergy – the First Estate – asked: the context of France in 1789, do you think these are very • to retain all the rights and privileges of the Roman radical demands? Catholic Church • to ban the practice of any other religion • to give the Church complete control of all education ACTIVITY 1.4 • to ban all publications attacking the Church and give the a Either on your own or in a pair, examine the actions, Church full control over all publications and prepare a defence of, the finance ministers who 8 • to retain freedom from taxation unless it decided served Louis between 1774 and 1789. to contribute b Analyse the image below. To what extent do you • that there should be a reform of the local legal system to think this is an accurate representation of what was ensure fairer justice for all happening in France in 1789? • that care should be taken to ensure adequate food supplies for all • that landlords should be prevented from imposing high charges on peasants and hunting on their lands. The nobility – the Second Estate – asked that: • only the king should have power to make laws • there should be no change in the system of taxation without consent of the Estates General • the distinction between the three orders of the Estates General be strengthened • the system of voting by Estates should remain • care be taken to ensure the supply of grain • fewer restrictions be placed on agriculture and industry The three Estates weighed down by the National • there should be reform of the legal system. debt (France). 1789. The Third Estate – in theory the rest of the French people, but in practice the middle class – asked that: • the national debt be paid off • all taxes should be shared equally

Chapter 1: France, 1774–1814

Figure 1.2: The opening assembly of the Estates General in Versailles, engraved by Isidore Stanislas Helman after a drawing by Charles Monnet, painter to Louis XVI. Published as part of a series of 1790 engravings titled: “Description abrégée des quinze estampes sur les principales journées de la Révolution” (Short description of fifteen prints on the main days of the 9 Revolution). The engravings were republished as a single collection of 12 images in 1798.

The meeting of the Estates General The opening meetings did not go well either for the On 5 May 1789, for the first time since 1614, members of king or for those who desired reform. The king’s main the Estates General of France gathered at the royal palace concern was to find a solution to his financial problems. of Versailles. There was a background of large-scale and Some of the educated middle class wanted a more widespread social, economic and political unrest, as well extensive overhaul of government, politics, society as the prospect of national bankruptcy. and the economy. Some clergy and noblemen were prepared to accept a few of these major changes. The Estates General was the nearest thing that France Many more, unrepresented, people just wanted basic had to a national law-making and representative improvements to their lives, such as lower taxes, rents body, although its precise role had never been clearly and bread prices. determined. Louis XVI’s immediate predecessors had not called it to meet as they saw it as a threat to their absolute The first two Estates refused to support any of the power. Great hopes rested on the outcomes of this demands for reform made by the Third Estate. They were meeting, both on the part of the monarch and court on one more concerned with protecting their privileges than in side, and by the mass of the French people on the other. dealing with the real problems the country was facing. There had been immense interest in choosing its members, There was also the further complication that the First particularly from the middle class. Problems were to arise, and Second Estates were divided among themselves however, as many of the aims were very conflicting. over whether or not to cooperate with the Third Estate. Some clergy and noblemen were aware that, unless there The three Estates – the clergy, the nobility and the was reform, the anger boiling up from below might have commoners – met in different parts of the palace, but dangerous consequences. There was no clear leadership each had an equal vote when it came to making decisions. from the court and king on any issue. The king and his ministers expected the First and Second Estates to support them if the Third Estate tried to make On 17 June 1789, the Third Estate, tired of royal indecision any radical changes. and the selfish attitude of the other two Estates, made a

Cambridge International AS Level History Modern Europe, 1750–1921

Figure 1.3: ‘The Oath of the Tennis Court’, ink drawing by Jacques-Louis David, 1790. David was a friend of Robespierre and was asked by the Society of Friends of the Constitution (later known as the Jacobin Club) to commemorate the Tennis Court Oath in a large painting. David became a deputy in the National Convention in 1793.

decisive move. The members agreed to change their name to ACTIVITY 1.5 the ‘National Assembly’. By this action, they were saying that sovereignty, the supreme or final power within France, now Look at Figures 1.2 and 1.3. How accurately do you think lay with the people of France, represented by this Assembly. the artists conveyed the two events? How might the Sovereign power was no longer with the monarchy. The seating arrangements seen in Figure 1.2 explain why Assembly was, in effect, announcing that it was now in the Estates General failed? Why do you think the charge of France. It assumed control of the system of national Figure 1.3 artist put the two clergymen at the very front taxation as an example of this newly acquired power. When of his painting? What value, if any, do you think images the king tried to stop the Assembly by closing its meeting such as these have for a historian? room, its members simply gathered in a nearby building, a covered tennis court. There, in what became known as the ‘Tennis Court Oath’, they decided to continue meeting until they had established a new, reformed constitution that would resolve their grievances. This was to be the first, critical, step on the road to revolution.