(1789-1815)

On the Eve of the Revolution

What was the social structure of the old regime?

Why did France face economic troubles in 1789?

Why did Louis XVI call the Estates General?

Why did a Paris crowd storm the Bastille?

1

Copy the following into your notebooks and leave space for the answers.

Causes of the French RevolutionCivil Unrest:

Bad harvest – crop failuresHigh prices (bread) – nearly doublesHigh taxes Questions raised by the philosophers

Social UnrestThe Old Regime – social and political system of

FranceEstates – the social classes of the Old Regime

American Revolution provided inspiration to the Third Estate

Louis XVIExtravagant lifestyle“Madame Deficit”

“Let them eat cake”Doubles nation’s debt

Banks refuse to lend more money

Poor decisionsIndecisiveLittle patience

Wants to tax the Second EstateCalls Estates-General into

session

The National AssemblyEstates General

Each social group has one vote

Third Estate wants a votes based on delegates per person; King says NO

Third Estate sets up National Assembly – to make new reforms

Tennis Court Oath

The National Assembly passed the Declaration of the Rights of Man a document that limited the French monarchy and declared all citizens equal before the law

Storming the Bastille

ReviewWhich class made up 98 percent of the population of France in

1789?a) the First Estateb) the Second Estatec) the Third Estated) the First and Second estates combined

Which of the following was not a cause of France’s economic troubles?

a) deficit spendingb) bad harvestsc) overspending by Louis XIVd) increased wages for peasant workers

ReviewWhich class made up 98 percent of the population of

France in 1789?a) the First Estateb) the Second Estatec) the Third Estated) the First and Second estates combined

Which of the following was not a cause of France’s economic troubles?

a) deficit spendingb) bad harvestsc) overspending by Louis XIVd) increased wages for peasant workers

National Assembly grows…Noblemen motivated by fear help the

National Assembly take away the privileges of the First & Second Estates.

Seize church land to pay debt.Peasants oppose

“Liberty, Equality, Fraternity”LibertyPropertySecurityResistance to

oppressionEqual justiceFreedom of SpeechFreedom of Religion

Divisions Develop1791 National Assembly finishes a new

constitution Creates a limited Constitutional MonarchyTakes away kings authority

Legislative Assembly created to pass laws

Problems with food and debt remain

The Assembly Hall Divides…

Emigres Sans-culottes

Nobles who had fled France

Want to restore the Old Regime

“those w/o knee britches”

Parisian workers and shop keepers

Jacobins Jean-Paul Marat“death to all those

who support the king”

Louis XVI is tried as a common citizen and prisoner

Convicted for treason and was sentenced to death

Louis XVI’s Death

• Dr. Joseph Guillotin• Efficient• Humane• Democratic

•Some spectators complained that it was too quick.

Terror in FranceCommittee for Public

Safety40,000 die

85% lower or middle class

Enemies are tried in the morning and guillotined in the afternoon.

End of TerrorNational Convention

turns on RobespierreShift away from

radical ways of thinking

New Constitution2 House legislatureFive man directoryNapoleon Bonaparte

commander of army