Revolution Brings Reform

and TerrorKEY IDEA The revolutionary government of France made reforms but also used terror and violence to retain power.

                                         

   

The Assembly Reforms France

In August 1789, as a response to the peasant uprisings and unrest, the National Assembly took steps to change France.

A new document was created, The Declaration of the Rights of Man, that ended all the special rights that members of the First and Second Estates had enjoyed and all French men equal rights.

Women and Reform

Though women did not get these rights, it was a bold step.

Olympe de Gouges was a playwright and journalist whose feminist writings reached a large audience.

Olympe de Gouges

Olympe de Gouges was a strong supporter of democracy and demanded the same rights for women that the French men were demanding.

She wrote her own document called the Declaration of the Rights of Woman.

In this document she challenged the oppression of male authority and the notion of male-female inequality.

Her ideas were rejected and she eventually met her fate to the guillotine as an enemy of the Revolution.

Declaration of the Rights of Women

The State-Controlled Church

Other laws cut the power of the Catholic Church. The government took over church lands, hoping to sell them and raise money.

Plans for additional restrictions on the Church were abandoned as the delegates feared that they would lose support from the bourgeoisie.

The new laws about the church divided people who had backed the Revolution.

Catholic peasants remained loyal to the church. They were angry that the church would be part of the state. Thereafter, many of them opposed the Revolution’s reforms.

Louis Fears the People

In June 1791, he and his family tried to escape the country. They were caught near the French border and brought back to Paris. From that point on, they lived under guard. After this, the king and queen were even less popular.

A Limited Monarchy

In the fall of 1791, the assembly drew up a new constitution that gave the king very little power.

The assembly then handed over its power to a new assembly, the Legislative Assembly.

The king was stripped of much of his authority and the Legislative assembly became the lawmakers of the country.

A Divided Assembly

After the new assembly began to meet, it fell into divided groups.

The Legislative Assembly split into three separate factions:RadicalsModerates Conservatives

The Radicals

The Radical (left-wing) faction wanted sweeping changes in the government and proposed that common people have full power in a republic.

They also opposed the king and the idea of monarchy.

The sans-culottes were an extreme left-wing faction who wanted a greater voice in government, lower food prices and an end to food shortages.

The Moderates

The Moderate faction wanted some changes in the government, but not as many as the radicals.

They were willing to accept the monarchy as long as the kings power was limited.

The Conservatives

The Conservative (right-wing) faction wanted very few changes in the government.

They believed that the best government for France was a limited monarchy.

The Émigrés, a group of nobles and and others who had fled during the peasant uprising, were an ultra-right wing who were hoping to undo the Revolution and restore the Old Regime.

Europe’s Absolute Rulers React

At the same time, France faced serious trouble on its borders. Kings in other countries feared that the French Revolution would spread to their lands.

They wanted to use force to restore control of France to Louis XVI, as well as protect their own positions as monarchs.

Soon France found itself at war with Austria and Prussia- a war it quickly began to lose.

Prussian Soldiers Advance on Paris

Foreign soldiers were coming near to Paris. The commander of the Prussian army threatened to destroy Paris if the royal family was harmed in any way.

The Prussian concern for Louis and his family raised suspicions that the king and queen were ready to help the enemy.

Angry French citizens imprisoned the royal family in a stone tower. Many nobles were killed in other mob action.

The National Convention

The government took strong steps to meet thedanger from foreign troops. It took away the king’s powers.

In order to pacify the internal threat of radicals, the members of the Legislative Assembly gave up the idea of a a limited monarchy.

In 1792,the Constitution of 1791 was set aside, they declared the king deposed and dissolved the Legislative Assembly. After a new election, the National Convention (the new government) was formed.

Louis Loses His Head

A radical group, the Jacobins, began to demand the creation of a republic.

Under the leadership of many Jacobins, the National Convention declares Louis a common citizen and prisoner.

Louis Loses His Head

King Louis was tired for treason, convicted and sentenced to death. On January 21m 1793, Louis XVI was beheaded by the guillotine.

Louis’s Death Troubles European

Monarchs

Louis XVI was one of the first people to be executed with the newly invented guillotine.

The execution of the king was a victory foir the radicals in Paris, but it horrified other European monarchs and made their opposition to the French even stronger than ever.

The Guillotine- A Humane Execution

The guillotine was invented by Dr. Joseph Ignace Guillotine as an efficient, humane way to execute people that would cause its victims very little pain.

More than 40,000 French people were executed during the Reign of Terror.

The Guillotine- A Humane Execution

This pie graph shows the breakdowns of beheadings by

classBreakdown of Beheadings By Class

5%10%

85%

1st Estate

2nd Estate

3rd Estate

The Terror Grips France

Following the death of Louis XVI, Maximilien Robespierre, began to lead France.

He made many changes:He set out to build a “republic of virtue”. He and his party wanted to wipe out all memories of the royal family and nobility of France.

The Republic of Virtue

Robespierre ordered the following reforms:

1. The calendar was changed to be more scientific. The calendar was divided into 12 months of 30 days and renamed each month.

2. There were no Sundays in the new calendar because radicals considered religion to be too old fashioned and dangerous.

3. All churches in France were closed.

Maximillien Robespierre

Maximillien Robespierre believed passionately that only persons of absolute virtue should be political leaders. He believed in freedom for Jews and slaves, the abolition of the death penalty, and absolute loyalty to the state.

The Republic of Virtue

He was convinced that true patriots should devote themselves wholeheartedly to an existence of unselfish work and moral regularity.

He had no private life and very few friends

It is ironic that this believer in virtue presided over one of the most brutal periods in French history.

The Reign of Terror

Robespierre became the leader of the Committee of Public Safety. This committee was formed to investigate people who were believed to be a threat to the republic.

He ordered the death of as many as 40,000 people who did not agree with him.

His rule, which began in 1793, was called the Reign of Terror. It ended in July 1794, when Robespierre himself was put to death.

The Queen Meets the Guillotine

The Queen, Marie Antoinette, was sentenced to death by the Committee of Public Safety.

She met her death in a very dignified manner. It is rumored that she apologized to the executioner after accidentally stepping on his foot. Her last words were “Monsieur, I beg your pardon, I did not do it on purpose”.

Robespierre Turns on His Supporters

The “enemies of the republic” who troubled Robespierre the most were fellow revolutionaries who challenged his leadership.

He ordered the death of many of the leaders who helped him set up the republic.

By July of 1794, the National Convention realized that none of them were safe from Robespierre so in order to save their own lives, they turned on him.

Robespierre Meets The Guillotine

A group of conspirators demanded his arrest. By the next day, Robespierre was arrested, tried, convicted, sentenced to death and immediately executed by the guillotine.

The Directory

Tired of the killing and unrest, the French people wanted a return to order.

In 1795, the moderate leaders in the National Convention drafted a new plan for government.

The Directory

France got a new, but less revolutionary, plan of government - The Directory

The new constitution placed power in the hands of the upper middle class, a two house legislature, and an executive body of five men.

The five “directors were moderates, not revolutionary idealists. Although there was some corruption among the directors, France was finally enjoying a time of peace.

The Directory Gives Rise to Napoleon

The Directory found a young general from Corsica to lead the French Army. This very talented man was Napoleon Bonaparte.