Week 13- Developments, the Great Fear and the October Days Flashcards
What happened to the old municipal town councils?
They were replaced.
National Guard units were set up to maintain citizen’s authority.
How did the conflict in Paris impact the peasants in the provinces?
They believed that changes in the capital would mean the end of their burdens and bring them wealth and status.
They refused to pay taxes and attacked landowners’ chateaux.
When was the Great Fear?
July and August 1789
What was the Great Fear?
Peasants spread rumours about roving bands of brigands, possibly paid by royalists, rampaging through the countryside, raiding villages and stealing grain.
Many peasants engaged in revolutionary violence, looting the châteaux of landed aristocrats and destroying feudal contracts.
How did the assembly respond to the Great Fear?
Deputies from the Breton Club (the forerunner to the Jacobins) believed the peasants could only be calmed by a grand gesture from the Assembly.
On 4th August 1789, they released the August Decrees.
This abolished feudal rights in an attempt to appease the peasants and prevent further disorder.
What did the August decrees entail?
All feudal dues were abolished without compensation to landowners, all seigneurial courts were abolished, all tithes and fees were abolished, no more venality, no more payments to priests, all citizens would pay the same taxes on everything.
19 decrees in total were passed.
What was the ‘Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen’?
Produced by the assembly to provide a framework for a new constitution.
It was derived from Enlightenment principles (particularly Montesquieu’s ‘separation of powers’ and Rousseau’s ‘social contract’).
When was the ‘Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen’ passed?
26th August 1789
What was the significance of the ‘Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen’?
The Declaration became a cornerstone document of the revolution. It served as a preamble to national constitutions and an inspiration to various political clubs and societies.
What was the October days?
On the 5th October 1789, 6000-7000 Parisians, many of them women, along with the National Guard marched to Versailles.
What were the reasons for the October days?
Some hoped to petition the king to alleviate bread shortages in Paris, some were seeking retribution against the king’s soldiers or his wife Marie Antoinette, Others wanted the king to return to Paris, where he would be away from the corrupting influences of the aristocracy.
What did the march on Versailles result in?
Louis was forced to accept the August Decrees and ‘The Declaration of Rights of Man and Citizen’.
The royal family was escorted back to Paris on 6th October.
Where were the Royal family held in Paris?
The Tuileries Palace, but they were treated more like prisoners.
They were followed by the assembly who moved to Paris two weeks later.
What was the significance of the October days?
Direct action by the Parisian crowds had overcome the frustrations and hesitance of the king.
Furthermore, both the king and politicians were now subject to the constant scrutiny of Parisians.
What were the main causes of The Great Fear?
The hunger of 1789, France endured its worst food crisis in years.
In mid-July, news reached the provinces that the king had mobilised his troops and sacked Jacques Necker.
This sparked rumours and conspiracy theories about a royalist or aristocratic counter-revolution.
e.g. bands of foreign troops or brigands were being sent to march into the provinces.
