Dismantling The Ancien Regime Flashcards
What happened in the estates general and the formation of the National Assembly
- forced to call the estates general who hadn’t been summoned by 1614 because of the calibre of the financial and political problems that Louis faced
- the paris parlements believed that the way of voting should be by estate or order but the third estate believed that voting should be done by head, which would give them a majority. this meant meeting together instead of meeting in separate rooms - which the nobility an clergy voted against
- before meeting, all estates wrote a cahiers d’olence. all estates were against absolute royal power and wanted an elected body to limit the king’s power
- the third estate insisted that the credentials of those elected should be verified in a common session and this created deadlock in the estates general. 10th June: the third estate began verifying deputies’ credentials without the 1st and 2nd estates
- 17th June the third estate began to refer to themselves as the national assembly and claimed they represented the nation and had the right to manage affairs and decide taxation. some historians see this as a key event of the whole revolution: the assembly claimed its authority because the people had chosen them
SOME HISTORIANS SEE THIS AS A KEY EEVNT OF THE REVOLUTION AS THE ASSEMBLY HAD CLAIMED AUTHORITY BECAUSE THE PEOPLE HAD CHOSEN THEM
CAHIERS DE OLENCE SHOWED THAT PEOPLE ALL WANTED AN ELECTED BODY THAT WOULD LIMIT THE KINGS POWER WHICH WAS QUITE REVOLUTIONARY
- THE THIRD ESTATE WAS FORCING THE FORST AND SECOND ESTATES TO RECOGNISE THEM AS EQUALS
What was the tennis court oath?
Louis was to hold a seance royale on the 23rd June 1789 which would be attended by all three estates
The preparation for this required the hall the deputies of the third estate met in to be closed on the 20th June 1789
They instead had to meet in a nearby indoor tennis court where they decided that they would not disperse until they had given France a constitution and that the king would not have the power to dissolve them.
Only one member voted against this
What was the kings response to the formation of the National Assembly?
- Necker advised the king to hold a seance royale on the 23rd June
- Louis declared the declaration of the third estate to call themselves teh National Assembly on the 17th June as null and void - he did not want the priveleges of the nobility and clergy to be discussed in common
Louis accepted restrictions on his own power:
- no taxes to be imposed without consent of the representatives of the nation
- lettres de chachet (sealed instructions from the crown allowed detention without trial of a named individual)
- freedom of the press
- internal customs barriers (gabielle and corvee) abolished
These measures did not go far enough. King ordered deputies to disperse.
- 24th June 151 clergy joined the National Assembly/ third estate
- 25th June 47 nobles joined the third estate, there were popular demonstrations in Paris in favour of the assembly
- 27th June, the king reversed his decision abd allowed the nobles and clergy to join the third estate and vote by head
What happened during the storming of the bastille?
- Louis wanted desperately to dissolve the National Assembly. He ordered troops to be ,paved to Paris and Versailles on 22 June and by late June nearly 4000 troops were stationed around Paris, this increased to over 20,000 in a week
- Louis therefore felt comfortable enough to dismiss necker, this inspired large popular demonstrationss against the king, people feared he would rise to power by force
- at the palais royal, speakers told them to take up arms. People began looting gunsmiths’ shops. Many of the garden- francaises, an elite infrantry regiment abandoned their posts and began to march to les invalides
- seized 28k muskets and 20 cannons. Marched to bastille for gunpowder.
- the soldiers could therefore no longer be trusted, so Louis had to remove them from the streets of Paris and send them to the fields of champ de mars.
- the governor denied them entry and declined to hand over any gunpowder. The troops guarding the fortress killed 98 protestors, the garden franciase members who had revolted seized cannons and attacked the defenders.
- the governor de launay was forced to surrender and he was decapitated
THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STORMING OF THE BASTILLE
THE SANS CULOTTES HAD SHOWN HOW DANGEROUS THEY WERE AND THE BOURGEOISE WANTED TO SET UP A CITIZENS MILITIA - BECAME THE NATIONAL GUARD RUN BY LAFEYETTE
THE KING HAD LOST CONTROL OF PARIS - IT WAS NPW RUN BY THE COMMUNE, A BODY OTEHR THAN THE KING
THE ASSEMLY WAS FREE TO DRAW UP A CONSTITUTION, NO LONGER UNDER THE THREAT OF THE KING - LOUIS COULD NO LONGER DICTATE TO THE ASSEMBLY EITHER, AS HE COULD NOT TRUST THE ARMY
LED TO EMIGRAION OF 20K NOBES, INCLUDING LOUIS BROTEHR
How was the commune of Paris established?
- middle class Parisians were worried about their safety and security of their property. 15 July the Paris electors set up the Paris commune to govern the city
- slyvian bailly elected as its leader
- 10th July, electors of Paris wanted to set up a citizens militia, preodminanty bourgeoisie and the sans culotte would be excluded from its ranks.
- the citizens militia existed to protect property against the sans culotte and the Roma troops
- on July 15th the citizens militia became the national guard and Lafayette was its commander
What happened in the rural revolt?
The peasants were politicised by the poor harvest of 1788
Many cities had followed the example of Paris and set up their own national guards. Intendants abandoned their posts- the king had already lost control of Paris and was beginning to lose control of the countryside.
- from January 1789 grain onvoys and premises of suspected grain hoarders were attacked.
- mainly grain stores were looted, chateaux’s were attacked and frequently burnt, terriers (documents which outlined the duty of peasants) were burnt
THE OUTCOME OF THE RURAL REVOLT WAS TO SHOW THE POWER AND UNREST OF THE PEASANTRY
THE STORMING OF THE BASTILLE SHOWED THAT THE ARMY COULD NO LONGER BE USED AGAINST THEM
THE CROWN ATTEMPTED PPEASEMNT WITH THE AUGIST DECREES
What happened in the great fear?
Rumours spread that brigands had been hired by the aristocracy and the emigres to take revenge and destroy the harvest. Peasants resorted to arming themselves and attacking chateaux’s
- some areas further away from France like Britanny were unaffected.
THIS SHOWED THAT THE PEASANTS WERE OUT OF LOUIS CONTROL AND THEY NEEDED APPEASEMENT, LAYING TEH GROUND FOR THE AUGUST DECREES
What were the august decrees?
- came about as an attempt to appease the peasants who had been revolting due to teh bad harvest of 1788 by attacking chateaux’s in the rural revolt and the great fear
- drawn up by the patriot party and supported by Vicomte de Noailles and Duc d’auguillon - the richest land owners in France
- obligations such as serfdom and the corvee should be abolished without compensation
- abolition of other rights such as champart and old set ventes
Other nobles began to support.
New decrees - tithes payable to the church were abolished
- venality abolished
- all financial and tax priveleges regarding land or persons were abolished
- all citizens taxed equally
- special privileges such as tax exceptions were abolished
- all citizens were eligible for offices
SIGNIFICANCE: AN IMPORTANT STEP IN DISMANTLING THE ANCIEN REGIME
MADE THE PEASANTS COMMITED TO THE REVOLUTION BECAUSE IT HAD ENDED FEUDALISM
CREATED TEH WAY FOR NATIONAL ADMINSTRATIONS THAT WERE UNIFORM RATHER THAN PROVINCIAL ESTATES
HOWEEVER, SOME THINGS, LIKE ALL CITIZENS ELIGIBLE FOR OFFICE WAS ONLY BENEFIVIAL TO THE BOURGEOISE
What were the declaration of the rights of man and citizen?
- before the august decrees, deputies drew up the declaration of the rights of man and citizen
It declared: - all men are free and equal in their rights
- the main rights of man are liberty, prosperity, security abd resistance to oppression
- sovereignty rests with the people
- freedom of worship
- freedom of worship
- freedom of expression
- freedom to own property
What was he impact of the nationalisation of church land?
- government had a serious financial crisis
On 2nd November 1789 it was agreed that all the property the church owned could be sold to the nation - the land was valued at 2000 Livres ] - the church was nationalised, this meant that th government took up the responsibility of paying the clergy and helping the poor
- bonds called assignats were issued to settle debts and could be used as currency
- this was anticipated to raise 400 million livres
- the National Assembly took this opportunity to grant Protestants religious freedom
- this undermined the dominant position of the church, as its policy was now being determined by representatives of the third estate
- ensured commitment to the revolution, those who had bought church land would not want to see it taken away.
What was the reaction of the king to the august decrees and the declaration of rights of man and citizen?
- the king would not consent to rules being made up about the clergy and the nobility by the third estate. He couldn’t use the army against them and so settled on a policy of non - cooperation.
- the National Assembly decided that Louis should have the power of a suspensive veto which would mean he could suspend or delay all laws other than financial ones for up to a year.
What happened in the October days?
- Louis decided to summon the flankers regiment to Versailles
- 1st October, during a banquet given by the king there were anti revolutionary demonstrations. They trampled on the tricolour cockade of the revolution and replaced it with the white cockade of the bourbons. News of this in Paris led to demands that the king should be brought back to the capital
- also there was a food shortage in Paris. A group of 7000 women marched to the commune demanding bread, they were told to go to Versailles. 20k national guards under the command of Lafayette also followed
- the king in response agreed to provide Paris with grain. Also agreed to approve the august decrees and the declaration of rights.
- 6th October the king and queen were met with protestors saying to Paris and then left
What was the impact of the October days?
- the king had been brought back to Paris by the mob, in Paris he was effectively their prisoner
- by bringing the king to Paris his freedom of action and polictical influence would be reduced
- the assembly had been ignored by the mobs and had to succumb to their will otherwise they may face another journee
