causes of the French Revolution Flashcards

Question

what were the key works of Montesquieu?

Answer 1

The Spirit of the Laws (1748)- inspiration for American revolutionary ideas Persian Letters (1721)- Enlightenment ideas

Answer 2

- Criticised the lack of religious tolerance - Loved the political and social structure of England, often aspiring to apply them to France. - Praised English men’s work ethic and their lack of care for status when it came to their job. - Believed that France should have a fair taxation system in that people pay taxes proportionate to how much revenue and estate they own. - “To stop criticism they say one must die” freedom of speech - Fair taxation system

Answer 3

Letters Concerning the English Nation 1733 Philosophical dictionary (1764) 

Answer 4

- Born in Geneva Switzerland - There is a contract “The Social Contract” between a ruler and his people - Once mutual agreement is broken the obligation of the people to their ruler ceases - King can lead the executive part of the govt, however it is up to the parliament to make meaningful laws - The king is not put on his throne by God, instead real sovereignty - The power to make laws should be in the hands of the people - France could not meet Rousseau’s criterion of an ideal state because it was too big

Answer 5

- Encyclopaedia team - The New Heloise (1761) natural family - Emile (1762) education of children - The social contract (1762) political writing and how society should be governed - The social contract had many misconceptions and caused controversy/ criticism

Answer 6

-One of the most radical enlightenment thinkers -Work attracted the attention of Empress Catherine the Great of Russia -Thoughts on biology and sexuality were challenging -No priests or gods -rejected tradition religious beliefs -thought that God was not necessary for humans to achieve our goals -need to use science and understand nature -Studied science had a rudimentary idea of genes and inheritance

Answer 7

- Edited the Encyclopedie - Philosophical Thoughts (1746) - A Letter on the Blind for the Use of Those who can See (1749) - Thoughts on the Interpretation of Nature (1754) - Supplement of the Voyage of Bougainville (1972) 

Answer 8

taught to question

Answer 9

Major meeting places were in ‘salons’ or formal discussion spaces in a wealthy noble or bourgeoisie woman’s home A major way the ideas spread

Answer 10

Gave people hope that things could change

Answer 11

- Philosophes criticised the church, especially upper clergy wealth and laziness - Also attacked the idleness of lower clergy (unfair as they helped- charity etc.) - Disagreed with original sin- believed how a person was treated determined their evilness or goodness, not born that way - Disagreed with religious orthodoxy - Criticised discrimination by religion (could not get a state job if not catholic)

Answer 12

Published 1751-72 Diderot and d’Alembert edited articles together that showed critical viewpoints Criticised church and monarchy, sympathised with peasants etc. Seditious: involving rebellion against a government or other authority King and church censored it Creased publication for some months in 1752 4000 sold first copy and 20000 second copy

Answer 13

all-powerful king is advised by intelligent people (philosophes preferably) all the philosophes, one thing they agreed on

Answer 14

- Many philosophes were conservative and did not suggest huge change - Timothy Blanning believed that the Enlightenment did not criticise the ancien régime, just its abuse - By 1780s many philosophes were dead and the others were safe in the ancien régime

Answer 15

- Readers of philosophes were a small elite | - Enlightenment ideas did not really reach peasants who made their own radical ideas without reading

Answer 16

- Transmitted Enlightenment ideas in a new form - Based on ideas of personal liberty and freedom from despotism - Written constitution enshrined ‘inalienable rights’ in law (bill of rights) - Limited government authority through separation of powers - Belief that when a government failed to protect rights of citizen then the people had the right to remove it and replace it (popular sovereignty) - America’s 1776 Declaration of Independence was translated into french and widely sold and discussed in Paris - Eight thousand French soldiers served in the American war including Marquis de Lafayette (key individual) - these soldiers saw personal liberty in America which was unachievable in society with absolute monarch, powerful Church and privileged aristocracy

Answer 17

- The new, radical political ideas of the Enlightenment were matched by equally fresh developments in economic thought. - The physiocrats were a group of French Enlightenment thinkers of the 1760s who were concerned with inefficiencies of the French economy - characterized chiefly by a belief that government policy should not interfere with the operation of natural economic laws and that land is the source of all wealth. It is generally regarded as the first scientific school of economics. - Believed that those things which interfered with the growth and trade of agriculture should be removed: the corvee, which took peasants away from their land; internal customs duties, like the octrois, on goods entering a city or passing down a river; the poor state of public works, guilds and corporations which had monopolies over grain purchasing, thus preventing farmers from selling to the highest bidder, and trading privileges granted to individuals - Slogan: ‘He governs best who governs least’

Answer 18

Self worth was greater than the power they were given

Answer 19

bourgeoise: -Importance should not rely on birth but utility and merit Birth: status defined at birth utility: usefulness in terms of labour Merit: combination of a person’s abilities - Rejected prestige of noble birth - People in high office didn’t actually have qualifications or skills - Idea promoted by philosophes

Answer 20

Belief that a capitalist bourgeoisie frustrated by their exclusion from power would challenge the feudal system

Answer 21

-Marxist idea if an inevitable pattern has been replaced by the idea of historical accident. Historical accident: events happen by chance and there is no long term cause that makes them inevitable. - Revolution was a political crisis that got out of hand - Also challenges the idea of capitalist class. The ideas of the philosophes went to all people. Not bourgeoisie against noble but those for reform against those not for reform. - The more capitalist bourgeoisie were often the more hostile to the enlightenment and reform.

Answer 22

- The liberal nobles also were losing confidence in the ancien régime so many were for reform eg. Lafayette and Condorcet - Opposition came from aristocratic salons were nobles gathered to talk about the state of the nation. Lafayette went to help the colonialists - Opposition came from tensions within nobility- between court and provincial nobles - Salons became clubs eg. Breton Club

Answer 23

-39 provinces headed by a governor (honorary position) Intendant oversaw one of 36 generalities Generalities: region used for taxation - Ressort structure (parlements) mainly resolved disputes between provinces and generalities under their control - 18 provinces run by archbishops - 136 diocese ran by bishops - King passed a law, parlements, provinces and generalities interpreted and implemented it in areas - Varying laws and measurements Northern and central France had more tax - Customs barriers collected excises, tolls and tariffs at different rates

Answer 24

main income tax. On central provinces but not some outer ones

Answer 25

tax on salt. 6 different rates. Some places paid none

Answer 26

-The triangle (equilateral carving) represents the new found equality for the three estates. Balance and justice -The bundle of sticks (fasces) represents the strength of the people when they re together opposed to when they are alone and can easily ‘snap’. Unity -The red, white and blue (tricolour) represent the new order -The red cap (phrygian bonnet) is a representation of being freed from slavery -The tree of liberty- is a sign of new beginnings The cockerel represent pride, combated-ness and fearlessness -The light is the new beginning and better future of the revolution whilst the clouds it passes through are the old -Rousseau (philosophe) at the centre top guiding some change. -In place of the king or god (less important) -The all seeing eye of justice, bringing light and knowledge into the world -A lot of free mason imagery because they were important in the discussing of revolutionary ideas -Cornucopia (under fasces) filled with things like food and money. All the things you need -One flag says “French Republic” -Idea that from the enlightenment, all the ideas spread

Answer 27

-February 1781 Necker published first account of financial situation (Compte Rendu au Roi). Sold rapidly and was translated -Necker appointed 1776 because of banking skills- Swiss and a commoner and a protestant -Compte Rendu showed revenue exceeding expenditure by 10 million, even after war and no increased tax -Did not include the cost of the war If it had, he would not have gotten more loans from bankers

Answer 28

No central bank and inefficient tax collection

Answer 29

Royals spent too much Madame Deficit Royal court only spent 6% of budget Rumours were exaggerated by jealous nobles who had lost queen’s favour Parlous: dangerous or uncertain situation

Answer 30

- Daughter of Austrian emperor Francis I and Marie-Theresa of Austria - Married at 15 in 1770 as a peace treaty between France and Austria - 1774 spent so lavishly that mother warned her - Became deeply unpopular due to spending - Diamond Necklace Affair 1785 made her out to have ordered a really expensive necklace - She had little understanding of France or its people

Answer 31

-Jacques Turgot was Controller-general 1774-76 -“the first shot will drive the state to bankruptcy” -Believed that bankruptcy could be fixed with a decrease on royal spending “no new taxes, no new loans, no bankruptcy” -By 1776 economy strong enough for dutch bankers to give -Hoped to introduce a single tax on land instead of indirect taxes -Didn’t want costly involvement in the war of independence -His Six edicts 1776 suggested abolition of labour tax and other dues. Privileged at versailles dismissed him due to this

Answer 32

- October 1776-may 1781 - Jacques Necker - Protestant so couldn’t have the title of Comptroller - Swiss - Avoided new taxes (current ones were fine) but thought tax farming was wasteful. Tax farming: collection of royal taxes by individuals in behalf of the government - Borrowed 520 million for American war and listed the heavy interest as normal spending - His Compte Rendu suggested that they fought the war and they paid no new taxes but still were 10 million in credit - Steps towards creating a central treasury - Surveyed venal offices to determine number of them and how much the Crown received from them - Planned to replace venal offices by salaried offices (more accountable) - Created provincial assemblies of land-owners to offset influence of parlements

Answer 33

- Replaced Necker in 1781 - Raised 252 million in loans - Increased taxes

Answer 34

-1783-87 -Charles-Alexandre Calonne -Borrowed 653 million more much in short-term loans -Made peace with Britain -Over a billion on the War of Independence, not including debt from other wars -Vingtième (20th tex during wars) came to an end in 1786 -1786 bankruptcy -1775 deficit of 34.2 million, 37.5% of revenue was spent on debts -1786 deficit of 122 million (quarter of income) -Almost half of revenue for 1787 had been spent in 1786 -Did not limit royal spending because the appearance of wealth built public confidence- people now saw it as bad -‘Plan for the Improvement of the Finances’ August 1786 -Suggested uniform land tax to be paid by everyone to replace multiple income taxes -3 vingtiemes be removed -Tax privileges be abolished -Local assemblies in the provinces should collect tax rather than tax farmers (35 million more). Work with Intendants -Stamp tax on all documents extended -Corvée or forced labour be replaced with direct tax (encourages peasants to produce more) -Nobility except from capitation and taille -Stimulate economy by removing internal tax barriers and external tariffs and removing controls of grain trade (this would create a national market) -Wanted a new series of loans until revenues started -Appealed for the Assembly of Notables to convince bankers that laws would pass (opposition from nobles and clergy). This would encourage parlements to register laws as well -Handpicked nobility and princes unlikely to challenge king so laws should pass 144 notables (the third estate only had 30)

Answer 35

- Louis XIV distracted by illness of child - Calonne was ill - Notables did not have a compliant mood - Calonne had many enemies and people were suspicious of motives (overspending) - Blamed him for the 10 million surplus under Necker (fake) becoming a huge debt by 1787

Answer 36

- 1787-88 - Privileged orders resisted the government’s attempts at tax reform - Said they wanted taxation by representation Taxation by representation: taxes that have been discussed and approved by the elected representatives of the people who are going to pay the taxes -Government could make no more loans with no support from parlements or notables -Notables approved with some changes -Accepted local assemblies but fixed seats should go to clergy and nobility and intendants should not be able to overrule them -Thought removal of Corvee should be a public works tax and should be applied to all agreed to removal of internal customs barriers -Disagreement around removal of privileged taxes (clergy had to discuss with all clergy and magistrates with all magistrates) -Wanted a monetary tax rather than a tax in produce -Refused to new tax unless they were told of financial situation (first time the king was responsible to them, had to get consent) -Calonne tried to get public support with pamphlets in which he condemned the notables of their selfishness -Louis XIV dismissed Calonne

Answer 37

- Lomenie de Brienne, new finance minister 1787 proposed new plan - Retain land tax but modify other reforms - Notables were dissolved so took decrees to parlement of Paris for registration - Notables demanded a committee to audit royal spending, King refused - Notables refused to pass any more taxes, saying that the estates general must - Brienne closed the Assembly of Notables before there was too much concern - People saw that the monarchy was unable to cope People demanded no taxation without representation (estates general was needed)

Answer 38

- Parlements had the right to remonstrate or return an edict to the King for redrafting - Could delay edicts but did not have power to reject - Could get public support or go on strike or even mass resign to refuse passing edict - King could do a lit de justice or come to court, witness the reading and force the registration. Presence cancelled out all authority of magistrates - Could also lettres de cachet where the opposition may be sent to prison or dismissed - Parlements began changing their right to remonstrance into right to veto by arguing that the King held his throne by laws that were unchangeable but the parlements were there to protect people so should be able to scrutinise laws. However this was more theory than practice

Answer 39

- The parlements in 1787 (July) refused to register laws until it saw the royal accounts. They said only the estates general would pass laws - The king ordered the parlement of Paris to Versailles where he could force them to register. Crowds gathered at the Palace of Justice to support - King retired the Parlements to quite Paris and go to Troyes - Police were ordered to close political clubs, repress pamphlets, stop gatherings at the Palace of Justice and keep streets clear at night - Measures gave Brienne time to discuss with parlements. - Offered to abandon tax stamp and the provincial collection is they agreed to reform existing laws - They could examine royal accounts - Called a Royal Session of the parlement for November 1787 where the King would sit but would not force laws

Answer 40

- Brienne proposed reforms of tough economies on royal household, collection of taxes by royal officials, savings in the royal administration and armed forces - State would borrow another 420 million between 1788 and 1792, solving the crisis - Creates majority support for reforms but parlements still wanted estates general - King forced the passing of the laws (despite the fact Brienne was so close) and parlements passed them - When King left, parlements cancelled them

Answer 41

- Arrested and exiled three judges - Prevented other parlement members from sitting - Parlements refused to pass any laws and published many remonstrances - Accused king of despotism - Judges suggested that they had the right to grant taxes through the estates general - The king arrested the two who suggested this - Parlements had their power to registration and remonstrance removed and they were closed

Answer 42

- Many parlements reconvened - The judges were popular heroes - Army offices hesitated to fire into the revolting crowds - Day of Tiles - Brienne called the Estates General for 1 May 1789

Answer 43

- Calling the Estates General required the making of Books of Grievances and electing deputies - Not demands but respectful statements that the king could respond to - The three orders stated their concerns - Created new expectations among social groups, especially the working class Books of Grievances (Cahiers de doléances): lists of concerns drawn up by local meetings of the Three Estates across France before meeting of the estates general (May 1789) -The process under which they were written is most important -Appeared fair Composed by meetings of people voted on -Meetings of clergy were open to all Catholic clergy -Meetings of nobility were open to all nobility over 25 -The third estate meetings was open to all who were over 25, paid some tax. Poor were excluded -Nobility had a one-stage affair: elected deputies and wrote grievances (few minor or liberal nobility) -Clergy had a simple two-stage process -Higher clergy defended privileges -Lower clergy were more liberal

Answer 44

- Illiterate majority relied on bourgeoisie to write for them - Grievances got filtered out of summarised dossiers - No peasant or artisan got past the first round of choosing delegates - Peasant feudal issues were overlooked for financial issues - Louis would never hear the grievances of peasants

Answer 45

- attack on absolute royal power - Agreement across orders - Should be a national representative assembly that makes laws - King should participate and be head of the executive gov - Some called for the Estates General to meet regularly

Answer 46

- Wanted provincial assemblies to supervise tax collection and spending of revenue on community projects - Wanted venal public office abolished (50 000 people who were accountable to no one) - Recommended public servants be paid by the government and be accountable to the public

Answer 47

- uniform, fair justice system - Streamline many courts - Law should act with more humanity and respect for rights - Some wanted basic rights such as inviolability of property and freedom of speech - Remove lettres de cachet was unanimous

Answer 48

- Strong agreement - Fairer taxes - Have taxes voted on with a representative body - Wanted national control of spending - Agreed to Remove corvee - Agreed to remove internal tax barriers and gabelle

Answer 49

-Liberal noble, cousin of King Louis XVI, prince and head of the d’Orleans family -Owner of Palais-Royal -Elected a second estate deputy for estates general -among the nobles who joined the Third Estate after the declaration of the National Assembly -Lost favour because he was refused appointment as admiral and then turned against the monarchy -Joined Society of Thirty (constitutionalists) which made pamphlets on political reform -Had support of Orleans faction Some thought he would take throne -Opened his buildings of Palais-royal to radical speakers (could not get arrested) -Caused scandal by trying to march with the third estate at the estates general

Answer 50

-13 July 1788 a storm devastated wheat crops -Price of grain increased over 1789 -Urban families spend 30-60% of income on bread but now 65-90% -Demand for goods went down so economy slowed -Peasants convinced that King and nobility made a plot to hoard grain so that prices would increase and peasants would be politically controlled -Backward agriculture systems unlike English so could not deal. Nobility were not interested in change but population was increasing and self-sufficiency was not enough -Rents were rising -Failure in grape harvest in 1788 was a disaster -Nobles had difficulty maintaining income from rent as did some bourgeoisie -Massive unemployment especially rurally -In November-feb 1788 and 1789 people starved and froze

Answer 51

- April 1789 - Food prices had risen causing further resentment - 3000 attacked manufacturer Reveillon after he argued for deregulation of bread prices - Rumour he would cut wages at his wallpaper factory - Fake guillotine and placard saying “death to rich” - 300 people injured (exaggerated from 25) by Gardes Françaises (elite royal household troops) putting down riots - Rumours spread of a grain plot - If King couldn’t get money from EG, he would fix financial problems by selling grain - Propertied classes formed militia to stop crowd if they rose up again

Answer 52

The provincial assembly was another voting method used in many provinces 1778-87

Answer 53

-Third estate was doubled -Voting by head Provincial assembly of -Vizille suggested this be used by Estates-General -Brienne approved but lost power soon after Pamphlets supported this -Nobles demanded voting by order -Judges of parlements also supported voting by order- lost popularity -Pamphleteers said that voting by order was a plot by privileged orders to keep third estate under control -Non-privileged public agreed with alternate method

Answer 54

- Debate from sep until dec 1788 - Necker decided to double third estate but not allow voting by head - Suggest that Estates-General could decide what to do when it met and hoped they would deliberate in common - 1789 Abbé Sieyès’ What is the Third Estate? - Claimed that the Third Estate was so large and economically important that it was not just part of the nation but the nation. - Switched definition of third estate from everyone who isn’t privileged and made the privileged everyone who isn’t useful - There is no reason for the estates-general - Third estate should meet independently as an assembly of the nation (parliament)

Answer 55

- Ordained in 1773 - Became chancellor of the Diocese of Chartres but went no further (due to common status) - No democrat - Frosty with lower status people and women - By 1788 he concluded that the King would never stop being selfish - Made three pamphlets - Last was famous and made him a revolutionary - Born to a middle-class family in southern France, not far from Cannes, - Entered the priesthood in 1773. He became aware of the venality in the church; it was almost impossible for commoners like Sieyès to enter the higher clergy. - These grievances fuelled his political radicalism and his sympathies for the Third Estate. - More than 30,000 copies of ‘What is the Third Estate?’ and four different editions appeared between January and May 1789 - made Sieyès a popular figure and earned him a place at the Estates General. - Raised the motion forming the National Assembly, led the drafting of the Tennis Court Oath and contributed to the formulation of the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen. Sieyès re-entered politics in 1792, sitting in the National Convention as a moderate. The rising Jacobin radicalism of 1793 prompted his resignation; he barely survived the Reign of Terror by renouncing his own Catholicism. - Famous quote: When asked what he had done during the Terror he declared ‘I survived’.

Answer 56

- The goal of the Society of Thirty was to design a new constitution for France based on principles of the Enlightenment. This group later became the Constitutional Club. - Met twice weekly at the house of the parlementaire Adrian Duport to debate the nature of representation to the Estates-General - Membership grew but only five were commoners - Famous members included Marquis de Lafayette, The Duke de Noailles, the Duke de la Rouchefoucauld (also returned from American War), the Marquis de Condorcet (philosophe and mathematician), Comte de Mirabeau (soon to be hailed as ‘the voice of the revolution’), Bishop Talleyrand, Abbe Sieyes, Pastor Rabaut Saint-Etienne. - Schama says that they were ‘courtiers against the court, aristocrats against privilege, officers who wanted to replace dynastic with national patriotism.’ - most were deputies for third estate

Answer 57

- Louis received the delegates - Clergy had first private audience with doors closed - Nobility had doors partially closed - Three hours of waiting then Third Estate had an audience in another salon - Third estate had to file past the King single file

Answer 58

- Procession to Church of St. Louis - Third Estate after guard in black clothes - Nobility in colourful satin suits - clergy in regalia - The Queen was no welcomed

Answer 59

- Met at Hotel des Menus Plaisirs - King and Queen were dressed expensively - Louis put on hat, privileged orders allowed to copy but Third Estate also did so - Louis took off hat and put it back on again - Unsure if Third Estate didn’t know or were rebelling - In speech Louis referred to ‘much exaggerated desire for innovations’ and hoped everyone would work together - Keeper of seals called them ‘dangerous innovations’ - Necker gave a three hour ling speech on finances - No plans or policies were made

Answer 60

- Deputies met seperate estates to verify credentials - Question of voting not settled - Third Estate called for all to be present for the credentials - Refused to undergo verification until this was done - For three weeks third estate debated but did not accept status or organise themselves, elect leaders etc. - Did elect Jean-Sylvain Bailly to control debates (popular)

Answer 61

- 12 June Commons began verification but verified as representatives of the nation (not order) - 13 June three clergymen joined them - More joined on 14th - On 17th the Commons declared themselves the Nation Assembly of France - Beginning of the revolution - Indecision of Louis was mainly to blame - Did not decide to vote by head or order in dec 1788 - Didn’t decide on common verification - Distracted by death of eldest son - Indecision of King made Commons harden position - Commons were urged on by the public - 19 June clergy voted to join the national assembly - 20 June National Assembly arrived at Salle des Menus Plaisirs to begun discussions but door was locked - Summoned to a Séance Royal 23 June where National Assembly would be made illegal

Answer 62

- Lead by Dr. Joseph Guillotin - Indoor tennis court - No chairs - crowds at doors - Jean-Joseph Mounier got 600 deputies to swear oath not to separate until a constitution was reached - Individually in front of Jean-sylvain bailly - Arms raised in roman salute - “summoned to establish the constitution of the Kingdom” - “nothing can prevent it from continuing its deliberations” - One opposing - First formal act of disobedience - Lafayette absent - 20 June 1789

Answer 63

- Adopt a conciliatory approach as Necker advised - Follow the advice of younger brother the Comte d’Artois and his wife and disband the National Assembly, by force if necessary. The Minister of War (Comte de Puysegur had reinforced the garrisons around Paris on his own initiative already). - Tell the deputies what he would or would not accept. - Louis chose the third option, trying to steer a course in between options 1 and 2.

Answer 64

- 23 June 1789 - National Assembly annulled, estates must meet separately - Louis offered equal tax, new taxes levied by EG, privileged tax status sacrificed voluntarily, extend provincial assemblies to nation, abolish censorship of press, end lettres de cachet - Nobility and majority of clergy did not challenge - Rest remained seated - Sieyes: “the assembled nation cannot be given orders” - 493 deputies vowed to stay - 24 June soldiers sent to split them but they joined the NA - 25 June 47 liberal nobles including King’s cousin joined - King ordered EG to meet in common and vote by head - Rest joined the rebels - Necker sacked using armed force - 26 June 6 regiments sent to versailles - 1 July 10 regiments sent to Paris

Answer 65

-From a wealthy commercial family -Father believed in importance of agriculture and landed nobility -In military for a bit -Involved in scandals with women and gambling -23 married and fled to Switzerland with another women with no money (gambling) -Disowned by father -Was put in jail -He wrote in jail the Erotic Bible -Released in 1782 and began writing politically -1789 he was appointed as a deputy of Aix-la-Chapelle for EG- a prominent leader -His speaking ability set him apart at EG -Supported British political system -Wanted a constitutional monarchy -Absented himself from the final vote with the national assembly, fearing upsetting the king -But he returned saying “twe are here by the will of the people and we are only to be driven out by the bayonet” -July 13th 1789 he was given his father’s title and visited the ruins of the Bastille. He was showered in flowers -Felt political reform was better than violence -Critical of abolishing feudalisms as it might make society unstable -Between 1789-90 he tried to set up a constitution and make alliances with popular figures -President of the National Constituent Assembly but in 1790 he lost confidence from the royal court January 1791 he realised the competing interests of the court made a constitutional monarchy impossible -Died in April 1791- mourning across France -Mourning lasted until the opening of the iron chest In 1792 -This showed he had received 6000 livres from the King every month to advise the king- his body was then placed in a lead coffin and put in a common cemetery

Answer 66

- July 1789, Paris was in a ferment and a mere spark could have ignited the situation. - King prepared for military intervention. - Troop numbers rise to 20,000 in Paris – most foreign mercenaries - 8th July, Mirabeau demanded that the troops be withdrawn, but the King refused, saying that they were necessary to `keep order‘ - A second element in this volatile situation was that the radical bourgeoisie realised that the popular agitation could serve their cause. BUT they were also fearful that it might escalate into crowd violence against all people of property. (As they had seen so frighteningly rehearsed in the recent Reveillon riots.‘) - The people are learning how powerful they are! - Louis fans the flames of discontent when he dismisses Necker. This aggravates the people further because Necker favoured control of grain production, as well as government subsidies for bread in times of crisis (made him popular). - The people begin to arm themselves and creating militia (fighting force made up of non-professional soldiers). - Response: the Committee of Electors form the National Guard, made up of reliable bourgeois citizens to protect private property. - The crowds of citizens are prepared to battle, and search for food and weapons - they find grain at the Abbey of Saint Lazare and conclude that the grain crisis had been created artificially by the rich hoarding food. - For all of their moral force, the deputies of the Estates-General utterly lacked material force to counter the king’s obvious intentions. The assembly was saved from likely dissolution only by a massive popular mobilization. - During the momentous political events of 1788–89, much of the country lay in the grip of a classic subsistence crisis. - During the winter and spring of 1789, urban consumers and peasants rioted at bakeries and markets and attacked millers and grain convoys. Then, in July, this anxiety merged with the looming political crisis at Versailles. Parisians believed that food shortages and royal troops would be used in tandem to starve the people and overwhelm them into submission. They feared an “aristocratic plot” to throttle the patriot cause- going to want to get rid of the people who make these ‘plots’

Answer 67

An aristocrat: “the defection of the Army was not one of the causes of the Revolution, it was the Revolution itself.” 14th July 30 000 people attacked Les Invalides, a military hospital Commander doubted whether his troops would obey a command to fire on the crowds The crowd looted 12 cannons and 40 000 muskets and took them to the town hall

Answer 68

-Prison which was a symbol of royal absolutism and authority -Where lettres de cachet went -Went there as a source of weapons -Raised flag of truce and demanded from governor Launay that he give them arms and ammunition -He refused but said he wouldn’t use the cannon unless directly attacked -Delegates agreed to this compromise -The crowd feared that the delegates were captured and entered, shots were fired and many civilians died and some soldiers -The Grades Françaises joined -The crowds positioned guns at the front gate Launay threatened to blow up the fortress rather than give it up -Surrendered -A delegation from the town hall said to stop firing -Launay was taken prisoner with some guards -He was murdered on the way and mutilated by crowds who put his head on a spike -The people were fairly common -One woman -They were given a place of honour by the National Assembly -This was the first time the people did something and felt they were helping the NA -They came to expect something from the revolution

Answer 69

- The King had lost control of Paris, were the electors set up a Commune to run the city. - Lafayette was appointed commander of the predominantly bourgeois National Guard - The Assembly prepared to draw up a constitution, no longer under threat of being dissolved by the King (people have proven their power) - Real power had passed from the King to the elected representatives of the people. Louis now had to share his power with the National Assembly. - Louis was no longer in a position to dictate to the Assembly, because he could not rely upon the army. - News of the fall of the Bastille spread through France and intensified activity among the peasantry. - The revolt led to the emigration of some nobles, led by the King’s brother the Comte d’Artois: 20,000 emigres fled abroad in two months.

Answer 70

- Inspired by philosophes to hate organised religion and criticise the monarchy - Lawyer - Practice failed due to his stutter - He wrote pamphlets during 1787-89 and attempted to be a delegate - He lead the capture of the Bastille - Wanted a republic and felt some revolutionary violence was needed - Campaigned for the abdication of the king - Blamed for the Champ de Mars massacre - Went into hiding - Key role in organising the second revolution - Used pamphlets to propose and end to the Terror - Associated with Danton’s indulgent party criticising the terror and demanding Tribunal of Clemency - Despite friendship with Robespierre he guillotined in 1794 - Argued for king to return to Paris in oct 1789 - Called “to arms, to arms”- provides mobs with a unified goal and direction. Them becomes hard to restrict them

Answer 71

On July 17 the king traveled to Paris, where he publicly donned a cockade bearing a new combination of colours: white for the Bourbons and blue and red for the city of Paris. This tricolour was to become the new national flag.

Answer 72

- The National Guard was an organised militia, intended to defend Paris from external military threats while functioning as a local garrison and maintaining order in the city. - It was officially formed on July 13th 1789 by Parisian delegates to the National Assembly, who were concerned about the presence of royalist troops outside Paris and growing disorder in the city. - The first commander of the National Guard was the Marquis de Lafayette, a nobleman and political liberal, famous for his military leadership in the American Revolution. - Under Lafayette’s command, the National Guard became a noticeably bourgeois institution, its officer corps filled with middle-class businessmen and property owners. - The growing radicalism of the revolution in 1791 pushed Lafayette and the National Guard into difficult situations, such as the ‘Day of Daggers’ and the Champ de Mars massacre.

Answer 73

- Hero of the American War of Independence - Liberal noble elected a Second Estate deputy for the Estates-General - A ‘man of 1789’ who was influential during the early years of the revolution - First commander of the newly-formed National Guard in July 1789.

Answer 74

The crowd usually was not made up if the desperately poor | The crowd is made of a large range of people

Answer 75

Protesting was not new | People started to have an idea about politics and could take over cities with their unity

Answer 76

Camille Desmoulins called the crowd to arms Suggests revolutionary leaders are important Duke d’Orleans also lead people The crowd did have some agency though

Answer 77

Violence as the language of the crowd people began hanging and executing without much question of their guilt What was the role of the political club? The club provided a place fir people to discuss political ideas and thus find unity How did the popular movement express its new sense of identity? Changes political systems Change how people view themselves- pride, self-awareness, identity Killed the culture of deference Developed an egalitarian society and later hatred for the rich

Answer 78

23 July 1789 Bastille was being demolished but violence did not end Sauvigny intendant of Paris caught when trying to emigrate Foulon was blamed for famine plot and hoarding food Both murdered and heads piked Foulon had grass stuffed in his mouth- people could eat hay Deputies horrified- realised they needed some reforms and laws etc. Lafayette offered to resign feeling like a failure Some deputies thought this was necessary

Answer 79

1) The creation of the National Assembly - showed the deputies could create a parliament. 2) The capture of the Bastille showed that the Parisian crowd could take powerful action to defend the Assembly against the King. BUT this did not mean, however the revolution was safe. DOUBTS rose about the loyalty of the King to the revolution. Up to now, the Revolution of 1789 reflected the qualities of the people guiding it - most deputies belonged to the urban middle classes & had little idea of peasant grievances. July-August 1789, peasants across France expressed grievances in a rural rebellion which created `the Great Fear'. THIS rebellion caused the Assembly to hastily decree abolition of the feudal system in the August Decrees. These were later modified to ensure peasants bought their way out of their feudal land dues (many of whom could not) DIRECT ACTION In October revolutionaries marched to Versailles and brought the King and the royal family to Paris where they would be under the direct control of the revolutionaries.

Answer 80

-As a result of revolt in Paris, King’s power had collapsed in most towns -Followed the National Constituent Assembly -Bourgeoisie played a leading role in these municipal revolts Broadened membership of councils -Electors of third estate seized control (Bordeaux) -Municipal corporations overthrown by force -Former councils allowed to stay in office but integrated into a committee as a minority -Formation of citizens’ militias -In nearly every town a National Guard was formed, as in Paris, designed to control popular violence and prevent counter-revolution. -Nearly all intendants abandoned posts -Rural areas watched Paris and followed suit -Protests sent to royal authorities- wanted movement of troops, angry about attempts to dismiss EG -Discontent against royal authorities due to raised prices -Invaded tax offices, seized armouries, seized royal citadels -Formed local committees and national guards -Aristocrats had to give up posts -Attacks on grain stores and grain dealers -Refused taxes -Troops were sympathetic and the King lost control

Answer 81

- French seigneurialism benefited landowners at the expense of peasants. - Peasants were required to show deference to seigneurs (lords) and pay them feudal dues such as the champart (offering of grain or produce) and contribute unpaid labour. - Peasants could not hunt or collect wood on land of lords, and could be legally tried by the seigneur (a form of serfdom) - Grievances over seigneurialism caused widespread non-compliance with the system and triggered the Great Fear; this in turn led to the Night of Patriotic Delirium (4 August 1789), during which the privileged voluntarily gave up their rights (later formalised in the August Decrees).

Answer 82

1) revolt of the nobles (Assembly) of Notables) 2) revolt of the bourgeoisie (Tennis Court Oath) 3) revolt of the popular movement (capture of the Bastille) 4) peasant revolution in the countryside (Great Fear)

Answer 83

- March and April 1789 - Against privilege - Refused tax - The great fear was the belief that the nobility were plotting to destroy the revolution. Rumoured that the nobles would have them killed - Feared troops would come so they armed themselves - Peasants also attacked the nobility - Nobles raised pigeons and rabbits that destroyed fields and the peasants couldn’t touch them but they began killing them - Angry about corvee that took men away from crops so couldn’t protect them - Game, wine presses and ovens destroyed - Angry about flogging, branding and banishment- man taken away, family dies - Destroyed records of manorial rolls hoping to not have to pay taxes in future - Anger at system not anger at master- few casualties - Pressured the nobility to reform

Answer 84

Assembly needed to stop the peasants and couldn’t get King’s troops to stop them or peasants may turn on assembly Had to give them some of what they wanted

Answer 85

Session of the National Constituent assembly During the Great Fear Brenton Club liberals proposed reforms to stop the peasants Noble deputies began voluntarily giving up privileges Established equal responsibility of taxation Abolished venal offices Negotiated an end to feudal dues

Answer 86

Formalised abolition of seigneurial feudalism and noble privilege Peasants were temporarily pacified Many feudal rights could only be abolished if the owner was compensated, the peasants could not deliver this

Answer 87

Started the process of dismantling the ancien regime - marked the end of noble power and the privilege of birth by establishing a society based on civil equality. Note: equality in theory different from equality in practice - opportunity for bourgeoise greater than that for peasantry Committed peasants to the new regime - many feared that if they did not support changes then aristocratic privilege and the tithe would return and they would lose all they had gained Provincial estates swept away allowing for national uniform system of administration

Answer 88

The August Decrees prepared the ground for the creation of a constitution. Before this, the deputies drew up the principles on which this should be based - the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen. Rude: “...it sounded the death-knell of the ancien regime, while preparing the public for the constructive legislation that was to follow.” The Declaration was accepted by the Assembly on 26 August 1789.

Answer 89

``` Personal freedoms: Man in born free with equal rights Can do anything that does not harm others employment, honours etc. are based on skill not birth Free to have opinion Freedom of speech, writing and printing Can see the accounts Everyone has right to property ``` Method of government: To conserve the equal rights of people No one individual can wield all power Legal aspects: Law forbids actions that harm people The same for all Can only be arrested if the law is broken Penalties must be suitable Innocent until proven guilty Public force is used to maintain laws but cannot be used privately Financial aspects: Tax will be on all based on what they can pay Taxes will be agreed upon by all