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The French Revolution

The French Revolution. Chapter 18 Section 1 The French Revolution Begins. Revolution Threatens the French King. 1700’s France was the leading country of Europe. Was the center of the Enlightenment. The French Revolution established both a new political order and a new social order.

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The French Revolution

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  1. The French Revolution Chapter 18 Section 1 The French Revolution Begins

  2. Revolution Threatens the French King • 1700’s France was the leading country of Europe • Was the center of the Enlightenment • The French Revolution established both a new political order and a new social order. • For this reason, it is considered a turning point in European history.

  3. Three Estates of France • France was divided into three estates or social orders: • First Estate • Second Estate • Third Estate

  4. First Estate • Clergy • 130,000 out of a total of 27 million • Owned 10% of the land • Paid no taxes

  5. Second Estate • Nobility • 350,000 in population • Owned 25 – 30% of the land • Paid no taxes

  6. Third Estate • Commoners • Bourgeoisie (Middle class) – made up of merchants, bankers, and professional people (lawyers, doctors, writiers) • Workers, store owners, and craftsmen • Peasants • 98% of the population • Owned 60% of the land • Paid 100% of the taxes

  7. Factors Leading to Revolution • Enlightenment spread ideas that everyone should be equal. The powerless people in the 3rd estate liked that. • King Louis XVI was a weak leader.His wife Marie Antoinette was a big spender and disliked. • Near collapse of the French economy • Bad harvests in 1787 and 1788 • Slow down of manufacturing • Food shortages

  8. More Factors • Rising food prices • Unemployment • Huge debt due to helping the American colonist battle the British

  9. Ideas From the American Revolution • It is right to take up arms against tyranny • There should be no taxation without representation • All men should have liberal freedoms • A Republic is superior to a Monarchy.

  10. Revolution Dawns • 1789 France faces bankruptcy • King Louis XVI calls a meeting of the Estates-General (representatives of all three estates) to raise taxes. • Third Estate demands equal representation and breaks from the meeting. • June 1789 Third Estates delegates vote to rename themselves the National Assembly This is beginning of a representative government In France

  11. Tennis Anyone? • The third Estate was locked out of their meeting room. They met in an indoor tennis court and pledged to stay until a new constitution was drafted. Their pledge was called the “tennis court oath”

  12. The Storming of the Bastille • King Louis XVI planned to use force against the Third Estate • 900 Parisians gathered in the courtyard in front of an old fortress used as a prison andarmory called the Bastille. The mob was angry because the price of bread had reached record highs. • The mob attacked the Bastille thinking there were a lot of weapons stored there when actually there was very little.

  13. The storming of the Bastille marked the unofficial end of the French Monarchy

  14. Revolts and Rebellions • Revolts began to break out due to the hatreds of the landholding system with its fees and obligations • Unfair taxation • The Great Fear – the belief that foreign armies would try to stop the National Assembly

  15. End of the Old Regime • The National Assembly reacted to the news of revolts and possible foreign invasion by abolishing all legal privileges of the nobles and the clergy • Adopted the Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizens.

  16. Get a textbook and turn to page 581. Read about the Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizens. Write 5 informational bullets on it.

  17. New Constitution • King Louis XVI concedes to the demands of the National Assembly and returns to Paris where he becomes a virtual prisoner. • Limited monarchy • Legislative assembly would make laws • Only men over 25 who paid a certain amount of taxes could vote • People elected as deputies were all fairly wealthy • Did not have universal support

  18. War With Austria • Fear that revolutionary ideas would spread to other parts of Europe had Austria worried • Austria threatened to use force to restore King Louis XVI to power • Legislative Assembly struck first and declared war on Austria

  19. The Revolution Turns Radical • Radicals, called san-culottes, were still unhappy over food shortages and little change in France’s economy • Led to calls for new measures of change

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