French Revolution Grade 10 Term 2 Study Notes

The French Revolution was a period of far-reaching social and political upheaval in France and its colonies beginning in 1789. The Revolution overthrew the monarchy, established a republic, catalyzed violent periods of political turmoil, and finally culminated in a dictatorship under Napoleon who brought many of its principles to areas he conquered in Western Europe and beyond. Inspired by liberal and radical ideas, the Revolution made a profound impression on the course of modern history, triggering the global decline of absolute monarchies while replacing them with republics and liberal democracies. Through the Revolutionary Wars, it unleashed a wave of global conflicts that extended from the Caribbean to the Middle East. Historians widely regard the Revolution as one of the most important events in human history.

France was a monarchy ruled by the king. The king had total power over the government and the people. The people of France were divided into three social classes called "estates." The First Estate was the clergy, the Second Estate was the nobles, and the Third Estate was the commoners. Most French citizens belonged to the Third Estate. The French Revolution began on July 14th, 1789 when the people of France stormed the Bastille in Paris. It was a time of political and social rebellion in France that began because of the inequalities that existed between the rich and poor. A number of factors came together to cause the revolt of the people against the king.

© e-classroom www.e-classroom.co.za Ancien Régime • The Ancien Régime (Old order) was the social and political system established in the Kingdom of France before the French Revolution. • French society in the Ancien Regime was divided into a hierarchy of several distinct social classes. • The top rung was the king and he stood outside of the system of estates. All the people of France were his subjects, and he held divine rights. • The First Estate was the clergy of the Catholic church, divided into “higher” (nobility) and “lower” (non-noble) clergy. The higher clergy were often advisers to the king and held political power. Lower clergy were more involved in the lives of the common people, and they could better identify with their sufferings. • The Second Estate was the French nobility and royalty, other than the monarch himself. Traditionally divided into “nobility of the sword” and “nobility of the robe”. The Second Estate constituted about 1.5% of France’s population. • The Third Estate - common people. This class made up about 96% of the population. It was also divided. The bourgeoisie were the wealthier commoners, who were involved in business. They could sometimes purchase a noble rank or a governmental office. They resented higher classes, especially the taxation put on them. • Lowest rung - peasants. They worked on the nobles’ land or lived in crowded cities as labourers or beggars. Too poor to buy even basics, like food and clothing, but were heavily taxed. © e-classroom www.e-classroom.co.za Significant events during the Revolution

• THE TENNIS COURT OATH – JUNE 20, 1789 • The Third Estate - 98% of French citizens were overruled by the other 2 Estates in all decisions, including voting for equal representation. So, 3rd Estate formed their own Assembly. Moved from Estate Rooms to an indoor tennis court and pledged to not separate till France had a constitution. It is known as the Tennis Court Oath. • STORMING OF THE BASTILLE – JULY 14, 1789 • Jacques Necker, the finance minister who was sympathetic to the commoners’, was dismissed by the King. Parisians thought this was an attempt to shut down their Assembly, so they stormed the Bastille fortress to obtain gunpowder and weapons. The troops at Bastille resisted then surrendered to the mob. This event is thought to be the start of the French Revolution as The Bastille was a powerful symbol of the King’s rule. The King withdrew royal troops from Paris as a result of the protest and recalled Jacques Necker. • ABOLITION OF FEUDALISM – AUGUST 4, 1789 • The Constituent Assembly (3rd estate members) abolished the entire feudal system. It abolished both Manorialism of the Second Estate, which made peasants dependent on their land and lord, and Tithes gathered by the First Estate and more. © e-classroom www.e-classroom.co.za Significant events during the Revolution • DECLARATION OF THE RIGHTS OF MAN AND OF THE CITIZEN – AUGUST 26, 1789 • The Assembly published the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, a charter of human liberties. Basic principle - “all men are born and remain free and equal in rights”. It came into effect in 1791. France proclaimed a constitutional monarchy and the National Assembly was replaced by the Legislative Assembly. King Louis XVI became a mere figurehead. • WOMEN’S MARCH ON VERSAILLES – OCTOBER 5, 1789 • Bad harvests caused the price of flour to increase hugely, which raised bread prices. Bread was the staple food of most citizens. Large crowds of hungry, restless Parisians, mostly women protestors, gathered in markets. They didn’t get the answers they needed from city officials, so they marched from Paris to the Palace of Versailles. They wanted to show the King how ordinary citizens lived. They stormed the palace, killing several guards and demanded the king to “live among the people”. He conceded eventually and agreed to go to Paris with the mob. The royal family in Paris was placed under the “protection” of the National Guards, thus fully legitimizing the National Assembly. • ROYAL FLIGHT TO VARENNES – JUNE 20, 1791 • Fearing for his family’s lives, The King sought refuge in Austria and hoped to be reinstated on the throne in the future. During the night of 20th June, the royal family fled the Tuileries Palace dressed as servants and their servants dressed as nobles. It took one day for him to be recognized and he and his family were arrested at Varennes and returned to Paris. The Assembly provisionally suspended him and held him under guard © e-classroom www.e-classroom.co.za Significant events during the Revolution

• EXECUTION OF KING LOUIS XVI – JANUARY 21, 1793 • In August 1792, 20,000 Parisians attacked King Louis’s official home. The Legislative Assembly placed the King and the Queen under arrest as they feared more violence would erupt. During his incarceration, the monarchy was abolished and France declared a Republic. King Louis was charged with treason, found guilty and on January 21, he was guillotined. His wife, Queen Marie Antoinette was executed soon after him. • THE REIGN OF TERROR – SEPTEMBER 5, 1793 TO JULY 28, 1794 • Before King Louis XVI was executed, the Legislative Assembly had replaced itself with a new political body, the National Convention. They created the Committee of Public Safety; to protect the newly established republic against foreign attacks and internal rebellion. There were 12 members - most prominent was Maximilien Robespierre. This committee became the de facto executive government in France and their reign was known as, the Reign of Terror. Total death toll during this time was around 40,000, as they supposedly rid the nation of enemies of the Revolution. Robespierre became a target of conspiracies. He was arrested and executed on 28th July 1794 bringing an end to the Reign of Terror.

• COUP OF 18TH BRUMAIRE – NOVEMBER 9-10, 1799 • The Coup of 18th Brumaire is thought to be the end of the French Revolution. The National Convention approved the new “Constitution of the Year III”, which created the Directory, a group of five executive members with a five-year mandate. They soon became involved in corruption, political conflict and financial problems and relied heavily on the Army in these matters. In a coup d’état, the five directors were ousted and replaced by three “consuls”: the famous military leader Napoleon Bonaparte; director Emmanuel Joseph Sieyès; and politician Roger Ducos. • FRENCH REVOLUTIONARY WARS – APRIL 20, 1792 TO MARCH 25, 1802 • European monarchies feared the danger Revolutionary France represented in the region. This led to the French Revolutionary Wars, a series of military conflicts lasting from 1792 until 1802. The French Republic fought Great Britain, Austria and under the leadership of Napoleon Bonaparte, France was able to conquer many differing territories; from the Italian Peninsula and the Low Countries in Europe to the Louisiana Territory in North America. © e-classroom www.e-classroom.co.za The Role of Ordinary People

• The ordinary people of the French Revolution were mostly commoners of the Third Estate, nicknamed the “Paris Crowd”. • Their major role was to revolt against the King because of the inequality between the rich and poor, in wealth as well as voting power. They revolted against him by rioting over many different wrongs; unequal taxation, lack of food and defending the national Assembly. • They were overruled by the other 2 Estates in voting for equal representation, so 3rd Estate formed their own Assembly, pledging not to separate till France had a constitution. • Ordinary people stormed the Bastille fortress to secure gunpowder and weapons, in response to a suspected move by the King to shut down their National Assembly. The troops at Bastille resisted for a few hours before they surrendered to the mob. • After getting disappointing support from city officials over bread and flour prices, a huge crowd of ordinary market women marched from Paris to the Palace of Versailles to protest. • The Assembly that the commoners formed, published the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, a charter of human liberties. • 20,000 ordinary Parisians laid siege on the King’s official home and this led to his execution. • Later, some of these commoners got involved at a much higher level in politics.

© e-classroom www.e-classroom.co.za Role of women in the French Revolution • WOMEN had many roles in The French Revolution; as political leaders, activists, and intellectuals. There was a huge rise in feminist militant activism during this period. • 60 000 women unhappy over the price and scarcity of bread marched to Versailles, forcing the king to submit to the will of the people and proving that the royals were not invulnerable. • After October 1793, all women’s organisations were permanently shut down. Women's breasts were seen as a natural sign that women should be barred from citizenship and political power. Most of these outwardly activist women were severely punished for their militancy. • PROMINENT WOMEN – • Marie Antoinette: her marriage to King Louis XVI was a political alliance and she had a reputation for extravagance. Historians believe that this, her unpopularity and her support for resisting reforms partly caused the fall of the monarchy in 1792. • Elizabeth Vigee Lebrun - official painter of Marie Antoinette, painted informal portraits of the queen and family, as unrest increased, to enhance queen’s image as devoted mother with a middle-class lifestyle. © e-classroom www.e-classroom.co.za Role of women in the French Revolution

• Germaine de Staël (Necker) - an intellectual figure; writer and salon holder at beginning of The Revolution. Outspoken supporter of the Revolution, she fled to Switzerland during the September Massacres, where she continued her salons, drawing French emigrants. • Pauline Léon - and her Society of Revolutionary Republican Women supported radical Jacobins, staged demonstrations in the National Assembly and took part in riots, often using armed force. They were at the forefront of the bread riots. • Charlotte Corday - supported the Revolution and the Republican party, the Girondists during the conflict. When the radical Jacobins turned on the Girondists, Corday murdered Jean-Paul Marat, the journalist who called for the death of the Girondists, by stabbing him in his bathtub. She was guillotined after a trial. • Olympe de Gouges - a playwright in France before the Revolution. She wanted to remedy the absolute exclusion of women in the document The National Assembly issued in 1789, “Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen”. So in 1791 she wrote and published the "Declaration of the Rights of Woman and of the Citizen”. In it she asserted that women had the right to free speech • Mary Wollstonecraft - a British writer/citizen was highly influenced by French Revolution in her work. She wrote "A Vindication of the Rights of Woman" (1792) and an "A Vindication of the Rights of Man" (1790).

• COUNTER-REVOLUTIONARY WOMEN: • The dechristianization movement was a major aspect of the Revolution. Many rural commoners, especially women, did not agree with the terms of this oppression of the Catholic faith. From this there grew a counter-revolutionary movement, particularly amongst women. So they took it upon themselves to protect the Church. • Economically, many peasant women refused to sell their goods if paid for in unstable currency that was backed by the sale of confiscated Church property. • In response to the enforcement of The Civil Constitution of the Clergy in 1790, women began circulating anti-oath pamphlets and refused to attend masses held by priests who swore oaths to the Republic. • These women helped to re-establish the Church and traditional family life and social stability.

© e-classroom www.e-classroom.co.za The reasons for international opposition to the revolutionaries in France • In the beginning of the revolution, from 1789–1791, England, USA, Austria, Prussia and other parts of Europe were optimistic in their reactions. It was a sign that France was growing weak and they could possibly profit from that weakness. • Eventually, many western European nations were unhappy and their monarchs feared that revolutionary ideas would spread to their nations, causing the same kind of chaos. They saw the Revolution as a threat because it questioned their divine rights, especially when King Louis XVI was executed. French nobles abroad warned other countries that the Revolution would probably spread beyond France’s borders. In response, European nations formed coalitions to intervene in the Revolution and later to defeat Napoleon. • “Reflections on the Revolution in France” was a political pamphlet written by Irish statesman Edmund Burke, published in 1790. It became a founding document of political conservatism, his main goal was opposing the influence of the French Revolution on England. • In USA– They were mostly enthusiastic about it at first, for various Franco-American alliance reasons against aristocratic and monarchical Britain. Then the political instability, violence, and calls for radical social change in France turned most Americans. © e-classroom www.e-classroom.co.za The reasons for international opposition to the revolutionaries in France

• The Pope/Catholic Church - The reforms of the French Revolution involved moves to secular government and ending Church corruption. To the Pope, this was interference by the state, so he denounced the Revolution. • As the French became more radical, introducing wealth redistribution, end of funereal dues and clampdown of religion openly, it started to inspire radical movements in England and USA. • England’s opposition grew because the Revolution began to create a stronger France and with a stronger France, England now had trade competition. • The reason for continued opposition and distaste from the international community towards France even after it became a Republic, was for an aggressive invasive nation that was destabilizing the global system for ridiculous ideas of “spreading the Revolution”.

• ROLE OF NAPOLEON BONAPARTE(1769 – 1821) DURING THE FRENCH REVOLUTION: • The Revolution was widespread by 1793, France was at civil war and also engaged with other countries, who wanted to take advantage of the political scenario. • The Siege of Toulon, an important French naval base, was won through the cunning manoeuvres of a young 24 year old Napoleon who had stepped in after the current Revolutionary army’s commander was injured. This remarkable victory against a British naval assault caused Napoleon to be promoted to the rank of Brigadier General. • On 5th October 1795, Royalist supporters raised an armed rebellion against the National Convention, leading to the Battle of 13 Vendémiaire between the Royalists forces and the Revolutionary Government. Even though the revolutionaries were outnumbered, Napoleon took command and defeated the royalist insurrection. It ended the threat to the Convention and made Napoleon a household name in France. He was promoted to Major General and Commander-in-Chief of the Army of the Interior. © e-classroom www.e-classroom.co.za Napoleon Bonaparte

• The Italian Campaign -Revolutionary France was feared by other European monarchies, leading to the French Revolutionary Wars. This series of military conflicts lasted from 1792-1802. The First Coalition was established against France in 1792 and under Napoleon’s command, France won the War of the First Coalition and Bonaparte became increasingly influential in French politics. • The French Directory, which had become involved in corruption, political conflict and financial problems was overthrown by Napoleon. This coup took place on 9 November 1799 and is called The Coup of 18th Brumaire. In the wake of the coup, Napoleon was made “first consul” for ten years. This Coup is regarded as the end of the French Revolution. • The Revisionists involved in the coup were aiming for something different to what Napoleon wanted, which turned out to be a concentration of power, in the form of a personal dictatorship and he turned into an authoritarian leader, in direct opposition to the democratic regime that the people had worked so hard for.

• Napoleon carried out many influential reforms including the implementation of Napoleonic Code, a legal code which would serve as a model for many other different countries. These reforms formed much of the modernisation of France. The code seemed to roll back the Revolution’s extremely liberal legislation on everything from divorce, individualism to religion. • His victory in the French Revolutionary Wars allowed the spread of revolutionary principles to areas he conquered in Western Europe and beyond. Although his rule ended up as a dictatorship, he built France into the dominant power in Europe till his defeat at the Battle of Waterloo. • Although the French Revolution eventually went out of control and the Reign of Terror descended and Napoleon became a dictator, its initial ideals were democratic, including secularism, the rights of women, the right to freedoms of speech, religion, and assembly, abolition of hereditary privileges, and redistribution of property. These ideals did end up being used by the democratic government of France in the second half of the nineteenth century and are central to French society today. © e-classroom www.e-classroom.co.za The impact of the revolutionary ideas on the rest of the world

• The French Revolution did not achieve all of its goals and did become very violent, but it played an important role in shaping modern nations by showing the world the power inherent in the will of the people. • The French Revolution had a huge, far-reaching effect that transformed the world more than any other revolution before or since. • Its impact includes- • Lessening the importance of religion in many nations; • The rise of Modern Nationalism, which is an ideology emphasising loyalty or allegiance to a nation and places these obligations above other individual or group interests. • The spread of Liberalism which is a political and moral philosophy based on liberty and equality. During the French Revolution, hereditary aristocracy was overthrown with the slogan “liberty, equality, fraternity” and France became the first state in history to grant universal male suffrage.” © e-classroom www.e-classroom.co.za The impact of the revolutionary ideas on the rest of the world

• Igniting the Age of Revolutions in many European countries and the Americas who were gripped by their own social conflicts. • The French Revolution provided an environment in which the ideologies of Socialism and communism could come to the fore. • The Revolution destroyed the power of oligarchies that opposed economic change. • The French Revolution inspired the slaves in Saint Domingue (Haiti), a French colony, to revolt against their French leaders and bring independence to their land. • Most importantly the Revolution altered the course of modern history, triggering the global decline of absolute monarchies and replacing them with republics and liberal democracies.

• A legacy is the long-term effect of something; a person, an event or a piece of writing from the past can how people live today. • The long-term impact and legacy left on France was profound; shaping politics, society, religion and ideas, and polarizing politics for more than a century. • The Declaration of the Rights of Man was one of the legacies of the revolution. It became part of French law in 1789. It promised freedom to the people of France and it has had an impact on people all over the world. Key principles were: • equality of the law • freedom of expression and religion • all people are presumed innocent until proven guilty • Another legacy is the inspiration of other Political revolutions in Europe, paving the way to democracy. • The French Revolution resulted in many important legacies; the abolishment of feudalism and the taxes placed on the common people within that system; the abolishment of the monarchy and the changing of form of government from a monarchy to a republic; forming a constitution based on the principle of equality and freedom; and becoming the first state to grant universal male suffrage. • The loss of power and wealth of the French Catholic Church.