1789: the french revolution
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1789: The French Revolution. “…the aristocracy opened the way to the bourgeois revolution, then to the popular revolution of the peasants – and found itself buried under the ruins of the Old Regime.” – Georges Lafebvre, The Coming of the French Revolution. The French Monarchy: 1775 - 1793. - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
French Revolution --"Liberal" Phase
1789: The French Revolution
the aristocracy opened the way to the bourgeois revolution, then to
the popular revolution of the peasants and found itself buried
under the ruins of the Old Regime. Georges Lafebvre, The Coming of
the French Revolution
The French Monarchy: 1775 - 1793
Marie Antoinette & Louis XVI
Why is it important?
The Common Slogan, Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity, had and still
has major influence.Liberty: The revolution ended the ancien regime
(old order) - feudal order in France and all of the privileges that
went along with it.Equality The revolution sought to make all
French citizens and French regions equal before the law; after the
revolution some nations sought to create economic equality for all
(i.e. socialism and communism). Fraternity The revolution sought to
create a brotherhood among the French through language and culture.
A Rousseauist goal, this meant that all citizens, regardless of
social class, or region, shared a common fate in society and that
the nations well-being could override the interest of the
individual citizen. This was one of the greatest steps in the
development of nationalism.
The Three Estates
Clergy (First Estate)Privileges:Its own court of lawSubject to none
of the ordinary direct taxesMade donations to the king.Collected
tithes on its property about a tenth of the kingdom.Bishops and
abbots who were also lords of various villages also received
manorial dues.Closely connected to the monarchy whose divine right
was symbolized through a religious coronation ceremony.The Church
also possessed a monopoly in education and poor relief and shared
took part in all censorship of legally printed material.Frenchmen
were all considered to be Catholic, but there were some rebellious
sects.
The Three Estates
Nobility (Second Estate): 400,000 out of a population of
23,000,000Privileges:Honorific: Able to carry a swordUseful:
exemption from taxes like the taille (a tax on land ownership), and
from obligations for road service and quartering troopsNobles owned
about a fifth of the land of France and possessed the majority of
the manors and thus were able to receive feudal dues.
Nobility of the Blood These families claimed to trace their
heritage back through the dark ages to Germanic tribes who exerted
dominance over the weaker Gallo-Romans. While they were lords of
the land they were looked down upon if they got involved in a
business or profession. Thus many nobles families saw there wealth
slowly slip away. However, many, like the Marquis de La Fayette
were very rich earning 140,000 livres a year (a skilled workers
family may earn a 1,000 a year)
The Three Estates
Nobility of the Robe As the government fell into more and more
debt, French monarchs in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries
began selling titles of nobility along with government offices;
this was good at get a large lump-sum quickly, but with nobility
came the tax and other exemptions mentioned above causing financial
shortfall over generation. These offices were often purchased by an
increasingly well to do middleclass know as the
bourgeoisie.
The Three Estates
Third Estate They were the rest of the population about 99 percent
including all commoners from beggars and peasants to merchants and
financiers (the bourgeoisie mentioned above). Peasants made up
about 4/5 of the Third Estate and owned about owned about 2/5 of
the land. Struggling peasants tried to make up for their poverty
with extra work. This often came in the form of the putting out
system in which women of peasant households did spinning and
weaving which was sold off to be turned into finished goods.Only
poor and peasants paid the taille. Nobles and the clergy through
influence could also buy their way out of the income tax known as
the capitation.
Origins of the French Revolution
The Cultural ClimateThe EnlightenmentUndermined confidence in
tradition (especially divine right)Bad Press gossip sheets,
exposes, and pornographyPortrayed the monarchy as a decadent,
ridiculous despotism.
Origins of the French Revolution
Class Conflict?A growing middle class the bourgeoisie was becoming
the economic backbone of France (its bankers, lawyers, merchants,
artisans, and industrialists), yet they were being shut out of many
pursuits like military leadership and certain industries like
mining by nobles who had purchased privileges for themselves. In
other words the best and most qualified were not always able to go
as far as they might because the monarchy had put up roadblocks in
their way. However, many of the nobles who secured these jobs were
not paying many of the taxes that could have saved France from
economic ruin.Both the nobles and bourgeoisie began to demand more
of a say in governmental affairs, especially as economic troubles
worsened.
The Seven Years War and the American Revolution
To avenge his grandfathers loss to the British in the Seven Years
War, King Louis XVI provided financial and military aid to the
Americans. But neither of these wars helped the people of France.
Instead, they both lead to financial deficits. And the American
Revolution also created future French Revolutionaries like the
Marquis de Lafayette, a close friend of George
Washington.
Fiscal Crisis and Political Deadlock
Jacques Turgot, a financial minister (advisor), for Louis XVI tried
to turn France toward laissez-faire economics, reducing the
governments interference in the economy. This would include
eliminating many of the privileges for nobles and certain trade
guilds (trade organizations that limited entry and knowledge of a
profession to keep wages artificially high). He also sought to
limit the spending on the Louis court (spending at Versailles). He
also sought to lessen the burden on peasants by eliminating the
corvee (an obligation of peasants to spend time working on royal
roads). None of this set well with those who had benefited from
such privileges, so Louis took the easy way out and dismissed
Turgot.
Fiscal Crisis and Political Deadlock
Turgot was replaced by Jacques Necker, who approached the economic
crisis by taking out huge loans at large interest rates to finance
the government. This was only a short-term solution, however, as
interest payment amounted to half of the royal budgets by the
1780s.
Fiscal Crisis and Political Deadlock
Another advisor of Louis, Charles Calonne, warned in 1787 that this
was all leading to bankruptcy for the royal budget. Calonne wanted
to create a new tax, the territorial subvention, to be levied on
the production of all landed property. Callonne convinced the king
to convene the an Assembly of Notables, who he had hoped would
support this plan and give it added credibility with the people of
France, but to his surprise, the Assembly of Notables (nobility)
not only refused his request, they demanded that Louis convene the
Estates General for the first time since 1614. The nobility was
likely interested in gaining more political power for itself and
maintaining their privileges.
Estates General
Estates General a body representing the three estates.Though
reluctant at first, Louis was force by the economic crisis to
relent. The convening of the Estates General created a great deal
of public enthusiasm as well as debate. Though they were 99 percent
of the population, the third estate had traditionally only voted as
one of three orders. Emmanuel Sieyes wrote perhaps one of the most
important pamphlets focused on this topic, What is the Third
Estate? Backed by the Enlightenment and increased economic power
the Third Estate demanded more representation.
Commoners3rd Estate
Aristocracy2nd Estate
Clergy1st Estate
The Suggested Voting Pattern: Voting by Estates
1
1
1
Louis XIV insisted that the ancient distinction of the three orders
be conserved in its entirety.
Commoners3rd Estate
Aristocracy2nd Estate
Clergy1st Estate
The Number of Representatives in the Estates General: Vote by
Head!
300
300
648
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