The French Revolution Unfolds

Ch. 3.2

Political Crisis Leads To Revolt The Great Fear

Grain prices soared (some spent 80% income on bread) Inflamed by famine and rumors

Ex: Attacks on villages, govt. troops seizing crops etc. Peasant fury unleashed on nobles

Set fire to manor records, stole grain etc.

Paris Commune comes to power Paris becomes the center of the Rev.

Factions (dissenting groups) compete to gain power Paris Commune mobilizes neighborhoods

Replaces royalist govt. of Paris

The National Assembly Acts

Special Privileges end Nobles vote to end their own

privileges Delegates abolish feudalism

Declaration of the Rights of Man & Citizen Modeled on the Amer.

Declaration of Independence All men “born and remain free

and equal in rights”

The National Assembly Acts cont. Declaration of the Rights of Man

cont. Enjoy natural rights to ”liberty,

property, security, and resistance to oppression”

All male citizens were equal before the law

Equal rights for women not granted Taxation based on the ability to pay Slogan: “Liberty, Equality & Fraternity”

Women march on Versailles Women march on

Versailles 6,000 women march 13

miles in the rain to Versailles Anger at Marie Antoinette's

extravagant lifestyle Parties held at the place

while commoners starved Demanded they would not

leave until the king returned to Paris

The National Assembly presses onward The church is placed under state control

Civil Constitution ends papal authority and dissolves convents and monasteries

Angry reaction by bishops, priests, pope, and French peasants

The Constitution of 1791 establishes a new government Replaces absolute monarchy with limited monarchy Reflects Enlightenment goals

The National Assembly presses onward cont.

Louis’s escape fails Royal family attempts

disguised escape across the border

Louis dressed as a servant, Antoinette a governess

Louis is recognized by his image on a piece of currency

Louis's escape attempt makes him a traitor to the revolution

Radicals Take Over Rulers fear spread of

revolution. European rulers increase

border patrols to stop “French plague”

Fears fueled by stories from émigrés

Nobles, clergy & others who fled France

Radicals Take Over cont. Threats come from

abroad King of Prussia and emperor

of Austria issue the Declaration of Pilnitz

Austria & Prussia threaten to intervene to protect the French monarchy

Revolutionaries in France prepare for war

Radicals Take Over cont. Radicals fight for power and

declare war. Newly elected Legislative

Assembly (survives less than a year)

Sans-culottes and Jacobins demand a republic

Sans-culottes-working class men & women who pushed the revolution into more radical action

Jacobins-Middle class lawyers or intellectuals. Used pamphlets to promote their republican cause

Radicals Take Over cont. National Assembly

declares war on tyranny Radicals gain upper

hand in Legislative Assembly

Legislative Assembly declares war on Austria and Prussia