French Revolution Flashcards
Three estates
Clergy- 1%-10% of land, collected tithe
Nobles-2%-25% of land, got tax exemptions
Third-97%-65% of land, greatly varied (serfs to wealthy merchants)
Bourgeoisie and esp petty bourgeoisie (sans-culotte) are jelly of the nobles and are hit hardest by economy-liberals
Peasants were conservatives, but wanted to be free of feudal system
Political causes
Clash between nobility and monarchy
Louis xvi reinstalls parlement of Paris
Everyone kinda hated Louis xvi and MA
Letters de cachet=king can arrest whoever they want
Intellectual causes
Enlight did NOT directly cause frev, but it helped discontent crystallize into criticism of old regime and make people more aware
Economic causes
1714-89? Economy x10! But it’s unequal distribution
Tax system? Sucks! Rich people don’t get as much and farmers general take$
Arev only makes the debt worse
Louis tries to tax nobles, but they get mad and wouldn’t do it
1787? Bankruptcy! 87-89? Famine!
Cahiers de doléances
At start of estates general, louis told people to write their grievances down in these
2 issues of estates general
- Should 3rd estate get twice the votes?
2. Should we vote by person or by estate?
Committee of thirty
Group of liberal nobles, wanted more rights for 3rd estate
What is the third estate? By abbé sieyès
Pamphlet
3rd estate is the will of the nation, nobles are useless!
National Assembly
What the estate general calls itself after June 17,1789
Tennis court oath
June 20, 1789
NA is locked out, so they meet at a tennis court and pledge to write a new constitution
King raises army and dismisses finance minister
Storming of the Bastille
July 14, 1789
Crowds march to Bastille (prison) and form national guard, appointing marquis de Lafayette as head
Great fear
June-August 1789
Peasants attack courts and manors, angry at the feudal system
August 4? NA dismantles entire feudal system!
Declaration of rights of man and citizen
August 26, 1789
Expresses enlightenment principles like equality and freedom
October days
1789
Angry over bread prices, Women of Paris March on Versailles, killing guards and bringing the royal family to Paris
What are parlements, estates, provincial law codes, and tariffs replaced by?
83 equal departments, subdivided into cantons and communes
NA attacks Catholic Church
Nov 1789- July 1790
NA confiscates all Catholic Church land
Church is controlled by state, priests have to swear loyalty to Revolution (civil constitution of the clergy)
Constitution of 1791
June
Conservative, single legislative body with a constitutional monarch
Those who own property are “active” citizens
King tries to flee to varennes, is brought back to Tuileries
Champs de Mars massacre
Crowd gathers to demand republic, NA kills 50
Leads to more radical opinion and distrust of the monarchy
Jacobins club
Produces many revolutionary leaders
Edmund Burke
Conservative, condemns French Revolution and predicts it will cause violence and a military dictatorship
Why did the frev get radical?
- Economic problems- inflation and Laissez-faire stuff angered workers
- Royal family- people are suspicious
- Counterrevolution -other provinces, some clergy, religious peasants
- War- causes more violence and radicalism
When was the liberal phase?
1789-91
When was the radical phase?
1792-94
Declaration of pillnitz
August 1791
Austrian and Prussian rulers promise to restore order in france if other nations will help
Girodins think we need to go to war
France declares war on Austria
April 20, 1792
Louis supports bc he things France will lose