Chapter 1: Political Devolpments At The Beginning Of The Revolution, 1787-89 Flashcards
Assembly of Notables
- proposed by Calonne in 1787, last called in 1626, 144 members ( 7 Princes of the Blood presided over 7 committees, membership comprised of 7 archbishops, 7 hereditary dukes, higher Nobels & the President of the parlements = a higher authority than the parlements)
- Calonne new the parlements would not register his reforms, if the Assembly also refused them, it would show the king was acting against selfish privilege if he simply put through the measures
- 112 million livres deficit in the year of 1787, substantial debt repayments due in 1788 = something needed to be done = on leading Nobel commented that by summoning the Assembly “the King has resigned”, handing responsibility over to others
- Assembly was more radical than expected, not always defending privilege, but demanding change HOWEVER they expected something in return for accepting new taxation = representation (demands for expanding local assemblies & for calling ESTATES GENERAL) because the aristocrats (enlightened thinking) often saw themselves as defenders of liberty against the tyranny of ministers
- ended in STALEMATE, Calonne dismissed in April 1787
Why were the Estates General Called? How did it Happen?
- Loménie de Brienne, introduced Calonne’s reforms in a modified form, despite critiquing his predecessor’s measures - changes did not receive approval of Assembly of Notables (insisted only an Estates General could make them lawful) SO DISSOLVED on 25 May 1787 = 2 Choices: push reforms through with royal authority & opposition of parlements OR estates general!
- PARLEMENTS said reforms increased royal power too much = became popular heroes = King exiled Paris magistrates to provincial town of Troyes in Aug 1787 & Palais de Justice closed = showed Louis could have ruled as absolute monarch BUT needed to be seen as financially creditworthy = ended exile & in Nov 1787 Parlements met King in special meeting = SÉANCE ROYALE = King lost patience & registered reforms = King’s brother Duke of Orléans objected & was arrested
- govt announced plans to strip parlements of its right to register edicts & leading magistrates arrested = STORM OF RESISTANCE = ‘Day of Tiles’ 7th June 1788 following the exile of the Parlement of Grenoble was the most famous = authorities couldn’t contain rioting & call for national parliament grew
- 8 AUGUST 1788 it was announced that the ESTATES GENERAL would be summoned (seen as a surrender) = Brienne forced to reign 26 August 1788 when govt could not borrow enough money to maintain day-to-day spending (at the same time as high bread prices fuelled urban unrest & attacks in countryside)
Return of Necker
Returned as Controller General & member of the Council of State to restore confidence (popularity) & persuaded King to bring forward Estates General to MAY 1789
Parlements wanted traditional 1614 set up (dominated by two privileged orders) = Storm of protest = King & Necker doubled representation of Third Estate
Initial assembled voted for other assemblies who voted for the deputies & any man over 25 who was on tax rolls but not a servant/actor/bankrupt could take part in preliminary meetings BUT CRUCIAL QUESTION of how Estates General was to vote was not answered
The cahiers
24 JAN 1789, Louis requested to hear the ‘wishes and grievances of our people’ = 3 estates met separately in each constituency = drew up ‘ cahiers de doléances’ = FIRST TIME millions of people were able to participate in a political process (adult, male taxpayers in 3rd estate, tho in urban areas, the poorest didn’t qualify)
CONTENT:
- Wisdom of King in calling estates general and desire for its permanent.
- Kings ministers blamed for financial crisis and new taxes needed.
- Aristocrats wanted nobility to take leading part in reforming abuses.
- Clergy saw the need for a new age of spiritual reform, but not ending privileges or dues.
- Peasants referred to unfair payments, taxes and use.
- Content of grievances varied by location considerably, but not revolutionary/no calls for ending of the monarchy.
- Evident social divides = urban and middle class resentment at exclusion and lack of opportunity because of class privilege.
- Exposed voting issue: by head or by individual estate?
- Expectation of change & reform that it was unlikely a weak king like Louis XVI would enact.
Meeting of the Estates General
OPENED 4TH MAY 1789 with only 800 of 12,000 deputies present (poorly managed elections)
- 604 deputies for 3rd Estate (mainly comfortable, well-educated lawyers, but also 60 Nobels & 2 peasants from Brittany) - order to wear drab black compared to privileged Estates’ finery
- 278 deputies fro 2nd Estate (many military officers)
- 330 clergy for 1st Estate (75% lower clergy as govt had restricted representation of wealthier clergy in hope of getting tax reforms passed so only 46 of 176 bishops attended)
ORDER OF EVENTS:
- King ordered estates to proceed to separate halls to verify credentials (pressured by 1st & 2nd) = unrest = politically experienced 3rd Estate deputies REFUSED
- 17th JUNE: self-proclaimed National Assembly
- Few members of lower clergy who broke deadlock by forcing 1st & 3rd to join on 19th JUNE
- 20th JUNE: NA were locked out of meeting hall… TCO!!!
- 23rd JUNE: King insisted on 3 separate meetings = protest by 3rd Estate = Louis announced reform agenda & new and fairer taxation system BUT the debate had moved on
- 47 liberal Nobels joined others, Louis ordered all nobility to join other 2 estates = TOOK SIX WEEKS just to meet together = lost control of NA and public enthusiasm / political pamphlets
Tennis Court Oath
20th JUNE 1789
- 1st & 2nd Estate locked out of meeting hall = went to a Tennis Court
- Swore not to disperse until they had given France, a new constitution, saying the Estates General was a ‘national assembly’ and ‘nothing can stop it continuing in its deliberations’
CONSEQUENCES…
- Committed the National Assembly to making its constitution.
- Showed determination to make permanent change.
- Captured the public imagination = painted by revolutionary artist, David.
- Led to King giving way and permitting three states to meet together = created 2 authorities, one led by a divinely appointed Monarch and one claiming authority from the popular vote.
- BUT they had already declared themselves NA on 17th JUNE = King didn’t see significance = ‘it’s only a name’???
Storming of the Bastille
14th JULY 1789
- Ended any hopes of re-imposition of authority by force.
- 11th July, Louis dismissed Necker
- Restless crowds (hard winter) = more public meetings & pamphlets = rumours of royal coup to end the Assembly= rapid succession of developments once necker’s dismissal was known
- Agitators urged people to arm themselves = mobs attacked the hated customs gates.
- 400 Paris electors formed a city council to maintain order (origin of the Paris commune).
- City’s middle-class formed an armed force to protect property (origin of the National Guard).
- The GARDES FRANÇAISES joined protesters rather than suppressing the disturbances = crowds, joined by troops, raided the Invalides then the Bastille in search of arms
Significance of 14th July 1789
- First bloodshed = mob, killed the governor De Launay and carried severed heads on polls
- The Bastille had 7 prisoners, and was not a major military base BUT symbolic of royal power
- MAIN significance was King’s decision to act without making proper preparations, and his caving into pressure without waiting for loyal troops = told he could not count on his troops so entered Assembly to say he would recall troops on the way to Paris and reinstate Necker.
- 17th July: King recognised new Paris city council, and National Guard, commanded by the liberal Noble, Lafayette.
- The king placed on his head the new revolutionary colours in a cockade = red and blue for Paris and white for the monarchy.
- The Bastille showed the power of the Paris crowds, and the unreliability of the King’s armed forces.
- Showed national assembly would accept horrifying violence and popular action = set a precedent for the influence in the mob and such “journées” / days of revolutionary action.
- Showed many aristocrats there is now a true revolution and led to many of them fleeing France.
The Great Fear
- News of breakdown of authority in Paris provoked widespread series of attacks on tax record offices and Noble châteaux throughout the France in the summer of 1789
- Called ‘the Great Fear’ because rumours that nobles had employed mercenaries and brigands to go round countryside to kill reformers and burn crops in order to enforce discipline, when in fact they had mostly fled by 20th July
- attacks on Nobels went on until 6 August = grain stores raided, records of taxes & dues destroyed, armed peasants roamed the countryside
SIGNIFICANCE:
- Significant seen in it as an attack on traditional authority, specifically most resented part = taxes and dues.
- The assembly responded to the wave of violent attacks by holding a fevered discussion 4th August 1789 = Nobels renounced feudalism.
- “Great Fear” showed revolutionary change had spread through Paris.
- Marked the breakdown of government in many areas BUT it was a symptom of the breakdown of authority at the top and it did not mean the peasants were anxious for political change (i.e. time of shortages & high prices, peasants had taken action, not necessarily wanting a regime change) THUS NOT a very revolutionary act
- paris govt declared martial law in September 1789
The Abolition of Feudalism
- debate on 4TH August 1789, to deal with the crisis of violence in the countryside, turned unexpectedly into a renunciation by aristocrats themselves of their feudal rights
- laws 5-11 August confirmed end of feudalism (privileges like due paid seigneurs, tithes, sales of offices, etc SWEPT AWAY)
- Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen 26TH AUGUST 1789 signalled end to Ancien Régime & its inherent privileges
BUT did not include women or 700,000 slaves in French overseas colonies & drew a distinction between ‘active’ and ‘passive’ citizens in accordance to the idea stated that ‘property was a scared right’ = didn’t lead to democracy - March 1790, lawyers made some distinctions: DUES were ended BUT contractual dues were NOT, thus sharecropping continued & Nobels allowed to compensate for loss of some rights by increasing rents = NO QUESTION of abolishing property rights or making everyone equal
The October Days
King had summoned loyal Flanders regiment Versailles = some troops had trampled underfoot the red, white & blue cockades of the revolution = crowds gathered in protest, led by market woman protesting about food prices, joined by members of the National Guard = marched on Versailles on 5TH OCTOBER 1789 = bloodshed, severe heads of Royal Guard & weak response to violence (like Bastille)
6TH OCTOBER 1789 Royal Family forced to leave Versailles to live in Paris = HIGHLY SIGNIFICANT = everything moved to centre of Paris where it was subject to the influence of the Paris crowds.
- Members of the royal family were virtually prisoners in Tuileries.
- National Assembly visibly independent of crown and subject to pressure of mobs.
- King hadn’t seen Bastille as significant, couldn’t ignore this.
- King offered no resistance.
- BUT didn’t end monarchy = arguably stronger position as Assembly responsible for finances and aristocratic critics weekend.
- Taxation reformation and centralised authority more easily achieved now by Monarchy, but radicalisation didn’t bode well for future….
