Versailles, 1789: the revolution begins. Over the next five years, it would bring great changes in French society, government and religion. Later, these changes would spread to other countries all over the world. People had strong feelings about the change which was brought abou by the revolution; many became keen revolutionaries who welcomed change, others hated it and did all they could to stop it.
Causes of the French Revolution
By the late eighteenth century, France was on the brink of revolution. The reasons had been building up over many years, and mainly concerned the great divide between the nobility and the clergy, and everyone else. The French population was divided into three estates:
- The First estate was made up of the clergy, numbering about 100,000 people.
- The Second estate was made up of the nobility, which numbered about 400,000 people.
- The Third estate was made up of the bourgeoisie, wage earners, and the peasantry. This estate made up the majoirty of the French population.
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More About:
THE FIRST AND SECOND ESTATE
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FRENCH KINGS
The Kings, through their ministers and local officials, RULED ABSOLUTELY. This meant that they had complete authority over France. The parliment'* (States General) had not been called since 1614. *a representative body having supreme legislative powers (the enactment of passing laws) within a state or country. |
THE THIRD ESTATE
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Feudalism An Overview
The social and economic system which characterised most European societies in the Middle Ages goes by the name of feudalism. The system, in its most basic essence (the granting of land in return for military service) has appeared all over the world in many different
kinds of society.
The centre of the feudal system in medieval Europe was the king, and a medieval king was, above everything else, a warrior. From the 9th to the 14th centuries-the heyday of feudalism-the most important element in making war was the armoured and mounted knight. To maintain a retinue of knights was, however, very expensive. In return for providing the king with warriors, tenants-in-chief were granted large holding of land. A grant of land was known as a "feud" or a "'fief“: hence the term “feudalism“.
The tenants-in-chief received their lands directly from the king and, in turn, leased parts of their estates to the knights, who in their turn gave leases to peasants.
Feudalism, by its very nature, gave rise to a hierarchy of rank, to a predominantly static social structure in which every man knew his place, according to whom it was that he owed service and from whom it was that he received his land. In order to preserve existing relationships in perpetuity (forever), rights of succession to land were strictly controlled by various laws that saw land passed to the eldest son.
Every man was the vassal, or servant, of his lord. He swore homage to him (a contract of service and loyalty), and in return the lord promised to give him protection and to see that
he received justice.
In theory, then, feudalism was the expression of a society in which every man was bound to every other by mutual ties of loyalty and service. In fact, feudal society was marked by a vast gulf between the very few, very rich, great landholders and the mass of the poor who worked for the profit of the nobility. The nobility included bishops, for the Church was one of the greatest of medieval landowners. At the bottom of the social pyramid were the
agricultural labourers, or peasants.
Customs varied, but it was common for a peasant to have a small plot, or to share a communal plot, on which to grow food for himself and his family and to be entitled to gather firewood from forest land for the hearth fire.
Feudalism evolved its own system of law and code of ethics for its members as it spread throughout Europe to assume a dominant role in the political and cultural history of the Middle Ages. All members, including the monarchs who headed the feudal system, enjoyed Specific rights but were also bound by feudal law to perform fixed obligations.
*put into document
The social and economic system which characterised most European societies in the Middle Ages goes by the name of feudalism. The system, in its most basic essence (the granting of land in return for military service) has appeared all over the world in many different
kinds of society.
The centre of the feudal system in medieval Europe was the king, and a medieval king was, above everything else, a warrior. From the 9th to the 14th centuries-the heyday of feudalism-the most important element in making war was the armoured and mounted knight. To maintain a retinue of knights was, however, very expensive. In return for providing the king with warriors, tenants-in-chief were granted large holding of land. A grant of land was known as a "feud" or a "'fief“: hence the term “feudalism“.
The tenants-in-chief received their lands directly from the king and, in turn, leased parts of their estates to the knights, who in their turn gave leases to peasants.
Feudalism, by its very nature, gave rise to a hierarchy of rank, to a predominantly static social structure in which every man knew his place, according to whom it was that he owed service and from whom it was that he received his land. In order to preserve existing relationships in perpetuity (forever), rights of succession to land were strictly controlled by various laws that saw land passed to the eldest son.
Every man was the vassal, or servant, of his lord. He swore homage to him (a contract of service and loyalty), and in return the lord promised to give him protection and to see that
he received justice.
In theory, then, feudalism was the expression of a society in which every man was bound to every other by mutual ties of loyalty and service. In fact, feudal society was marked by a vast gulf between the very few, very rich, great landholders and the mass of the poor who worked for the profit of the nobility. The nobility included bishops, for the Church was one of the greatest of medieval landowners. At the bottom of the social pyramid were the
agricultural labourers, or peasants.
Customs varied, but it was common for a peasant to have a small plot, or to share a communal plot, on which to grow food for himself and his family and to be entitled to gather firewood from forest land for the hearth fire.
Feudalism evolved its own system of law and code of ethics for its members as it spread throughout Europe to assume a dominant role in the political and cultural history of the Middle Ages. All members, including the monarchs who headed the feudal system, enjoyed Specific rights but were also bound by feudal law to perform fixed obligations.
*put into document
Source A. A cartoon from 1789.
The peasant, shown carrying the burden of maintianing the feudal lords and the clergy. The caption reads "One hopes this will end soon".
Source B. An Englishman's view of the French peasants, 1787 - 1790.
"I was joined by a poor woman who complained of the times. Her husband had only a morsel of land, one cow and a poor horse. But they had to pay 20kg of wheat and three chickens as feudal dues to one lord, and 60kg of oats, one chicken and five pence to another, along with very heavy taxes to the King's tac collectors: 'The taxes and feudal dues are crushing us'."
Travels in France - Arthur Young, 1792.
Source C. Yearly income comparison.
Archnishop of Paris...................50,000 livres
Marquis de Mainvillette..........20,000 livres (French writer and politician).
Prince de Conti............................14,000 livres (French noble).
A Paris Parish Priest..................10,000 livres
A typical Village Priest...................750 livres
A Master Carpenter........................200 livres
(The livre was replaced by the franc in 1795. In the 1780's, there were about 4 livres to 1 pound).
Source D. The People should have Power, 1787 - 1790.
Man is born free. No man has any natural authority over the others; force does not give anyone right. The power to make laws belongs to the people and only to the people.
A pamphlet, banned by the French government in 1775, Jean Jacques Rousseau.
*add task, extension 1 & 2
TASK - Document 1
1) Look back at the information on these sheets. List the reasons why many people in France were critical of a) the nobility; b) the King; c) the clergy.
2) What might a French peasant have grumbled about in 1789?
3) Look at Source A. Explain what point you think the cartoonist was making. Remember to explain the significance of the three characters, as well as the caption underneath.
4) How does the author of Source B describe the lives of French peasants? (Remember it is not enough to say 'good' or 'bad' - you need to give examples from the source).
5) Study Source A, B and C together. Do these sources explain why the poor people in France resented the rich? Explain your answer using the sources.
6) Rousseau (Source D) was an influential writer at the time. Along with other writers like Voltaire, he wanted France to have a more democratic form of government. Who would be most influenced by his words and why? Include extracts from the source in your answer.
7) The pamphlet which Source D came from was banned in 1775. Why do you think this was? Which members of French society would want it to be banned?
Extention 1.
An extended piece of writing titled 'What was wrong with French Society in 1789?' Refer to Sources A-D, using keywords and your own knowledge in your answer.
Extention 2.
Design a poster to encourage members of the Third estate to campaign for a fairer way. Include the reasons why people were resentful of the rich in your poster.
Causes of the French Revolution
The cartoon below was produced in the 1780's and is a comment on the social situation in France at that time. It can be used to help explain the causes of the French Revolution of 1789.
Use your knowledge and evidence from previous lessons on the causes of the French Revolution to help you complete the tasks.
1. Label the three figures in the cartoon by writing in the spaces provided.
2. Use your own knowledge to explain what society was like in pre-revoutionary France and describe the causes of the French Revolution.
In the Tennis Court
In a desperate attempt to collect more taxes, King Louis called a meeting of the Estates General in 1788. However, the people from the third estate used the meeting as a chance to tell the King what they thought was wrong with France and their lives, and demand improvements. When the King refused to listen, members of the Third estate went to a nearby Tennis Court and made an oath, saying they would not move until the King had made improvements. In the tennis court, several people made speeches.
Below are extracts or 'bits' of those speeches. In one colour, show what bits the peasants would have said. In another, show what bits the urban workers would have said, and in a third colour, show what the buisnessmen would have said. Use a forth colour if all three could have said it.
"I deserve better treatment than this. I have just written a letter to my local newspaper about how hard I work and how much money my factory makes, yet I have no say in how this country is run. Down with the King!"
"Conditions in the factory where I work are terrible. It would be something to have a warm home to go back to but I don't even have that. I don't even know if I will have a job tomorrow. Why doesn't the King pass laws to improve working conditions?"
"Our lives are hard enough without having to work on the local aristocrat's land at harvest time for nothing. France needs to change."
"The King does nothing to stop the local aristocrat's anmals wandering all over my land, ruining my crops. I am fed up."
"This latest poor harvest has been the ruin of me. How can I survive now that I have lost my job in the textile factory? My family and I will starve."
"Marie-Antionette is a disgrace. She spends money as if it were going out of fashion. The King just sits back and lets her. He is a disgrace to."
"The system of taxes in France is criminal. It should have been changed years ago. I find them difficult enough to pay and I have some wealth. I can't imagine how the others in the Third estate cope, What makes it worse is how those nobles and clergymen get away with it!"
The peasant, shown carrying the burden of maintianing the feudal lords and the clergy. The caption reads "One hopes this will end soon".
Source B. An Englishman's view of the French peasants, 1787 - 1790.
"I was joined by a poor woman who complained of the times. Her husband had only a morsel of land, one cow and a poor horse. But they had to pay 20kg of wheat and three chickens as feudal dues to one lord, and 60kg of oats, one chicken and five pence to another, along with very heavy taxes to the King's tac collectors: 'The taxes and feudal dues are crushing us'."
Travels in France - Arthur Young, 1792.
Source C. Yearly income comparison.
Archnishop of Paris...................50,000 livres
Marquis de Mainvillette..........20,000 livres (French writer and politician).
Prince de Conti............................14,000 livres (French noble).
A Paris Parish Priest..................10,000 livres
A typical Village Priest...................750 livres
A Master Carpenter........................200 livres
(The livre was replaced by the franc in 1795. In the 1780's, there were about 4 livres to 1 pound).
Source D. The People should have Power, 1787 - 1790.
Man is born free. No man has any natural authority over the others; force does not give anyone right. The power to make laws belongs to the people and only to the people.
A pamphlet, banned by the French government in 1775, Jean Jacques Rousseau.
*add task, extension 1 & 2
TASK - Document 1
1) Look back at the information on these sheets. List the reasons why many people in France were critical of a) the nobility; b) the King; c) the clergy.
2) What might a French peasant have grumbled about in 1789?
3) Look at Source A. Explain what point you think the cartoonist was making. Remember to explain the significance of the three characters, as well as the caption underneath.
4) How does the author of Source B describe the lives of French peasants? (Remember it is not enough to say 'good' or 'bad' - you need to give examples from the source).
5) Study Source A, B and C together. Do these sources explain why the poor people in France resented the rich? Explain your answer using the sources.
6) Rousseau (Source D) was an influential writer at the time. Along with other writers like Voltaire, he wanted France to have a more democratic form of government. Who would be most influenced by his words and why? Include extracts from the source in your answer.
7) The pamphlet which Source D came from was banned in 1775. Why do you think this was? Which members of French society would want it to be banned?
Extention 1.
An extended piece of writing titled 'What was wrong with French Society in 1789?' Refer to Sources A-D, using keywords and your own knowledge in your answer.
Extention 2.
Design a poster to encourage members of the Third estate to campaign for a fairer way. Include the reasons why people were resentful of the rich in your poster.
Causes of the French Revolution
The cartoon below was produced in the 1780's and is a comment on the social situation in France at that time. It can be used to help explain the causes of the French Revolution of 1789.
Use your knowledge and evidence from previous lessons on the causes of the French Revolution to help you complete the tasks.
1. Label the three figures in the cartoon by writing in the spaces provided.
2. Use your own knowledge to explain what society was like in pre-revoutionary France and describe the causes of the French Revolution.
In the Tennis Court
In a desperate attempt to collect more taxes, King Louis called a meeting of the Estates General in 1788. However, the people from the third estate used the meeting as a chance to tell the King what they thought was wrong with France and their lives, and demand improvements. When the King refused to listen, members of the Third estate went to a nearby Tennis Court and made an oath, saying they would not move until the King had made improvements. In the tennis court, several people made speeches.
Below are extracts or 'bits' of those speeches. In one colour, show what bits the peasants would have said. In another, show what bits the urban workers would have said, and in a third colour, show what the buisnessmen would have said. Use a forth colour if all three could have said it.
"I deserve better treatment than this. I have just written a letter to my local newspaper about how hard I work and how much money my factory makes, yet I have no say in how this country is run. Down with the King!"
"Conditions in the factory where I work are terrible. It would be something to have a warm home to go back to but I don't even have that. I don't even know if I will have a job tomorrow. Why doesn't the King pass laws to improve working conditions?"
"Our lives are hard enough without having to work on the local aristocrat's land at harvest time for nothing. France needs to change."
"The King does nothing to stop the local aristocrat's anmals wandering all over my land, ruining my crops. I am fed up."
"This latest poor harvest has been the ruin of me. How can I survive now that I have lost my job in the textile factory? My family and I will starve."
"Marie-Antionette is a disgrace. She spends money as if it were going out of fashion. The King just sits back and lets her. He is a disgrace to."
"The system of taxes in France is criminal. It should have been changed years ago. I find them difficult enough to pay and I have some wealth. I can't imagine how the others in the Third estate cope, What makes it worse is how those nobles and clergymen get away with it!"
Further Issues
As if the system of estates in France wasn't enough to cause resentment among the lower classes, towards the end of the 1700's, France was experiencing other problems:
1. Economical Issues
By 1787, the French government was bankrupt. It was 4000 million livres in debt. France had spent money on fighting costly wars, but had nothing to show for it. Many people accused the royals, especially that of Marie-Antoinette, of spending too much money on luxuries. Others said that the tax system was corrupt and that some tax-collectors did not hand all thier taxes over to the government.
In 1787, the King asked the nobility to help him reform the tax system. As we already know, members of the first and second estate did not have to pay some taxes. King Louis XVI wanted them to start paying some of them. It was not surprising that they refused to do so.
2. Bad Harvest
Most people in France depended heavily on agriculture and farming in the 1700's. In the years 1787- 1789, terrible weather, heavy rain, hard winters and hot summers led to three very bad harvests in France. This led to peasants and farmers having smaller incomes, while food prices rose sharply. The poor harvests also meant that many French farmers became unemployed. Many poorer people were starving, but could not afford food and could not find a job. Meanwhile, the nobility, clergy and King Louis and his family continued to live in the lap of luxury in their palaces and chataeaux.
3. King Louis calls upon the Estates General: May - June 1789
In August 1788, a year earlier, King Louis XVI called the Estates General (a gathering of representatives from all three estates) for the first time since 1614. The Estates General met at the palace of Versailles, just outside Paris, in May 1789. There were 1100 members, or deputies, divided into three orders: the nobles, the clergy and the third estate (which represented millions of ordinary French people, but only contained half the deputies of the other orders). The King hoped the Estates General would approve new taxes. The nobles and the clergy hoped they would control the affairs and continue thier privilaged lifestyles. The middle classes hoped for English-style democracy*. The peasants hoped for solutions to their problems and were asked by the their representatives to draw up a list of complaints (cahiers de doleances). The King summond the Estates General to Versailles, where he had a body of troops. Some saw this as an attempt to frighten the representatives. He did not present them with any proposals for discussion, so they were left to think up their own ideas. This meant that King Louis did not have control of the meeting.
*a system of government whereby its members are elected and represent the whole popultation.
4. The National Assembly: June 1789
The deputies of the third estate, having grown tired of the arguments over how each order should vote, declared themselves a 'National Assembly'. They represented 96% of the population and felt that they were the 'true' parliment. They wanted to draw up a constitution* showing how France was to be governed. On the June 20, the members of the National Assembly met at the royal tennis court. They pledged an oath - The Tennis Court Oath - not to leave until the King agreed to meet their demands. He gave way and the deputies of the First and Second Estates became part of the National Assembly.
* a nation or state's fundamental set of laws.
1. Economical Issues
By 1787, the French government was bankrupt. It was 4000 million livres in debt. France had spent money on fighting costly wars, but had nothing to show for it. Many people accused the royals, especially that of Marie-Antoinette, of spending too much money on luxuries. Others said that the tax system was corrupt and that some tax-collectors did not hand all thier taxes over to the government.
In 1787, the King asked the nobility to help him reform the tax system. As we already know, members of the first and second estate did not have to pay some taxes. King Louis XVI wanted them to start paying some of them. It was not surprising that they refused to do so.
2. Bad Harvest
Most people in France depended heavily on agriculture and farming in the 1700's. In the years 1787- 1789, terrible weather, heavy rain, hard winters and hot summers led to three very bad harvests in France. This led to peasants and farmers having smaller incomes, while food prices rose sharply. The poor harvests also meant that many French farmers became unemployed. Many poorer people were starving, but could not afford food and could not find a job. Meanwhile, the nobility, clergy and King Louis and his family continued to live in the lap of luxury in their palaces and chataeaux.
3. King Louis calls upon the Estates General: May - June 1789
In August 1788, a year earlier, King Louis XVI called the Estates General (a gathering of representatives from all three estates) for the first time since 1614. The Estates General met at the palace of Versailles, just outside Paris, in May 1789. There were 1100 members, or deputies, divided into three orders: the nobles, the clergy and the third estate (which represented millions of ordinary French people, but only contained half the deputies of the other orders). The King hoped the Estates General would approve new taxes. The nobles and the clergy hoped they would control the affairs and continue thier privilaged lifestyles. The middle classes hoped for English-style democracy*. The peasants hoped for solutions to their problems and were asked by the their representatives to draw up a list of complaints (cahiers de doleances). The King summond the Estates General to Versailles, where he had a body of troops. Some saw this as an attempt to frighten the representatives. He did not present them with any proposals for discussion, so they were left to think up their own ideas. This meant that King Louis did not have control of the meeting.
*a system of government whereby its members are elected and represent the whole popultation.
4. The National Assembly: June 1789
The deputies of the third estate, having grown tired of the arguments over how each order should vote, declared themselves a 'National Assembly'. They represented 96% of the population and felt that they were the 'true' parliment. They wanted to draw up a constitution* showing how France was to be governed. On the June 20, the members of the National Assembly met at the royal tennis court. They pledged an oath - The Tennis Court Oath - not to leave until the King agreed to meet their demands. He gave way and the deputies of the First and Second Estates became part of the National Assembly.
* a nation or state's fundamental set of laws.
Source A. Louis meets the States General at Versailles.
Source B. Members of the Third Estate swearing not to seperate until they have given France a constitution.
Source C. From the collection of Cahiers taken to the Estates General.
O rich citizens be so good as to leave for a time your chateaux and palaces and be good as to glance at those unfortunates whose muscles are so occupied in working for you. What do you see in our village? A few weakened men, faces withered by poverty and shame, and their wives having too many children, their children wearing rags...
...All the peasants in our neighbourhood - Brittany - are making ready to refuse the church tax-gatherers and state that nothing will be taken without bloodshed.
Source D. A modern view of the calling of the Estates General.
The King wanted to hear the voice of his people in order to right all wrongs. What a surprising development. The King was all-powerful: therefore, the people thought, the wrongs must be about to end. The peasants chewed over their suffering with growing bitterness now that they had been invited to speak. They dredged up from the depth of their minds memories from past sufferings.
The modern French Historian, Lefebvre, La Revolution Francaise, 1951.
add images (source A & B).
Source B. Members of the Third Estate swearing not to seperate until they have given France a constitution.
Source C. From the collection of Cahiers taken to the Estates General.
O rich citizens be so good as to leave for a time your chateaux and palaces and be good as to glance at those unfortunates whose muscles are so occupied in working for you. What do you see in our village? A few weakened men, faces withered by poverty and shame, and their wives having too many children, their children wearing rags...
...All the peasants in our neighbourhood - Brittany - are making ready to refuse the church tax-gatherers and state that nothing will be taken without bloodshed.
Source D. A modern view of the calling of the Estates General.
The King wanted to hear the voice of his people in order to right all wrongs. What a surprising development. The King was all-powerful: therefore, the people thought, the wrongs must be about to end. The peasants chewed over their suffering with growing bitterness now that they had been invited to speak. They dredged up from the depth of their minds memories from past sufferings.
The modern French Historian, Lefebvre, La Revolution Francaise, 1951.
add images (source A & B).
The Revolution Begins
Setting up the National Assembly was a great victory for the Third Estate, but it was a defeat for the King. Louis XVI had lost control of the Estates General. Riots in nearby Paris showed that he risked losing control of the captial too. Urged on by the queen and members of his court, Louis ordered 20,000 royal troops to move into the area around Paris. He said this was to keep order there, but most people suspected that the troops were going to break up the National Assembly. People in Paris started to feel afraid.
Thier fears grew on July 12. News came from Versailles that Louis had sacked the popular finance minister, Necker, and replaced him with a hard-liner who opposed the Third Estate. People assumed the Louis was about to crack down on the National Assembly. Angry and frightened crowds started looking for weapons to defend themselves against the king's troops. The search for weapons went on for two days. Crowds broke into arms stores and stole thousands of guns. On the morning of July 14, rumours went round that there were tonnes of gun powder in Bastille, an old fortress in the east end of Paris.
Thier fears grew on July 12. News came from Versailles that Louis had sacked the popular finance minister, Necker, and replaced him with a hard-liner who opposed the Third Estate. People assumed the Louis was about to crack down on the National Assembly. Angry and frightened crowds started looking for weapons to defend themselves against the king's troops. The search for weapons went on for two days. Crowds broke into arms stores and stole thousands of guns. On the morning of July 14, rumours went round that there were tonnes of gun powder in Bastille, an old fortress in the east end of Paris.
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The Storming of Bastille.
The Paris mob, hungry because of the lack of food from poor harvests, took the law into their own hands. On July 14, 1789, the mob rioted and attacked the royal fortress prison called Bastille. Parisians hated the Bastille. For hundreds of years it had been a prison where prisoners of the crown were sent by sealed letters. Everybody had heard stories of it: of dark, stinking dungeons, of torture chambers, and of masked prisoners chained to the walls for life. They saw Bastille as a symbol of everything that was wrong with France. It was a symbol of the power the King and his government had over Parisians and the Paris mob wanted it destroyed. They broke into the courtyard and threatened to blow down the gates with cannons. The governor of the prison, Marquis de Launay, gave into the angry crowd, but they would not accept surrender. They wanted to destroy this symbol of royal power. The mob killed Launay and the prison's other defenders. By evening they had control of the Bastille.
The fall of Bastille was one of the most famous events in the French Revolution. It was a symbol of victory of ordinary people over the power of their rulers. Their victory was recorded in many thousands of drawings and paintings.
Many of these showed dramatic events that led up to the capture of the Bastille.
This image shows the climax of events - the arrest of the prisoner governor. It was painted by a well-known artist of the time who specialised in painting historical scenes.
Some pictures, like this one, claimed to show what the attackers found inside the Bastille after they had captured it. Painted by another well-known artist of the time, it shows prisoners chained to the walls of a rat-infested dungeon, one of them wearing an iron mask. The ladder in the foreground suggests there may be more prisoners in another dungeon below. Copies of pictures like these appeared in the thousands. They were seen all over France, and they created images of the Bastille that everybody could recognise. Foreigners were facisnated by them.
Louis XVI has lost control of his army. He considered sending them into Paris to recapture the Bastille, but his war minister warned him that the soilders would most likely refuse to do so. He therefore had to give up control of Paris. To maintain some control over Paris, Louis allowed the people to set up thier own miltary force, the National Guard. To run the city, leading officials of the Third Estate formed a new local government, the Paris Commune. Towns and cities all over France followed the example of Paris. Rioting crowds attacked town halls, forced out the royal officials, and set up their own communes and National Guard units.
Feudal Documents Destroyed.
The violence spread to the country side, where unemployment was high and millions starved. Many people from the city wandered out to the countryside seeking or begging for work. Farmers lived in fear of gangs of wanders who stole food from their fields and damaged their farms.
Not long after, rumours spread that nobles were trying to starve the people, and were paying gangs to attack farms and terrorise the peasants. They responded by refusing to pay their feudal dues. In many places throughout France, peasants were loosing patience. They took part in widespread attacks on the chateaux and palaces of the lords. They broke into their lords’ homes and burned records of their dues. As the violence continued to spread, fears of gangs increased. Villagers rang the church bells to warn neighbouring vilages, sending panic around France. By late July, the whole country was gripped by a Great Fear.
The Declaration of the Rights of Man.
The deputies in the National Assembly were scared by the violence of the peasants and so, took drastic measures to end. On the night of August 4, noble deputies announced that their feudal rights and dues. Hunting rights, tithes, the corvee, and the rights of the mill and oven had all been abolished - feudalism was dead.
The National Assembly passed a law on August 4 1789, which abolished all feudal privileges and unjust taxation. There were to be no more church tithes (the church tax), no feudal dues and no more private companies keeping part of the taxation. Between the 12 - 26 August, the Assembly issued the Declaration of the Rights of Man'. It said man should have the power to speak and write freely. It changed the laws of arrest and imprisonment, and banned torture. Above all, it said that power in France belonged to the entire people, not just the King. However, there was nothing in the declaration about the rights of women, the position of slaves in France and the French Empire (some people, such as left winger Robespierre, campaigned for the abolition of slavery but were rejected by the assembly). There was also nothing in the declaration about who would impose theses new laws. (Today, we have the United Nations or the European Court). By September 1789, the Assembly, with the Kings approval appointed new middle class officials, elected by the people, to take charge of the government. They were called intendants, and they replaced the former agents of the King.
Women march to Versailles
Louis XVI disliked the decisions of the Assembly. Initially, he refused to sign them, which meant they could not become law. By October, he brought more soliders to Versailles to add to his body guard - again, it looked as though he was planning on breaking the Assembly up by armed force.
When this news reached Paris, crowds of market women gathered in the streets. Collecting weapons such as knives, sticks, rifles and cannons, they marched through the city to protest. Supported by the National Guardsmen, they complained to the king and the extra soldiers, and the high price of bread. The suggested he leave Versailles and live in Paris, where they could keep an eye on him. Unsurprisingly, Louis did not want to go. However, he changed his mind after a group of women smashed into his palace, killing two bodyguards and threatening to kill the Queen.
On October 6, Louis, Marie Antoinette and their oldest son travelled in a coach to Paris, surrounded by a crowd of 60,000 people. The Palace of Versailles was locked and boarded up. From then on, they lived in the Tuileries Palace in the centre of Paris.
The New Constitution: 1789 - 1791
Over the next two years, the members of the Three Estates of the National Assembly worked together to hammer out a new constitution for France. The main features of this New Constitution were:
Reform of the Church
Many welcomed the reforms, others didn't. One side of the argument claimed that the Church had too much power, too much land and too much money. They also accused the clergy to live unholy lives. This point is reinforced in the Source 1.
On the other hand, millions were God-fearing catholics, who never questioned the way the Church was run.
When the National Assembly began taking land and money from the Church, many Catholics protested. Their protests grew louder at the Assembly's law reducing the power of the Church, called the 'Civil Constitution of the Clergy', which stated that preists and bishops had to be elected like other public officials, and ordered them to take an oath of loyalty to the French nation and law.
Over half the clergy refused to take this oath. They claimed that the Assembly had no right to interfere in Church affairs. The Pope supported their protest by condemning the new law.
From then on a division remained between those who took the oath and supported the revolution, and those who refused and opposed the revolution.
However, Louis XVI was deeply unhappy with the Civil Constitution put forth by the National Assembly which targeted the Church. He sided with the priests who refused to take the oath. This hightened the King's image of opposing the revolution. Angry crowds gathered at the gates of his Tuileries Palace.
The Paris mob, hungry because of the lack of food from poor harvests, took the law into their own hands. On July 14, 1789, the mob rioted and attacked the royal fortress prison called Bastille. Parisians hated the Bastille. For hundreds of years it had been a prison where prisoners of the crown were sent by sealed letters. Everybody had heard stories of it: of dark, stinking dungeons, of torture chambers, and of masked prisoners chained to the walls for life. They saw Bastille as a symbol of everything that was wrong with France. It was a symbol of the power the King and his government had over Parisians and the Paris mob wanted it destroyed. They broke into the courtyard and threatened to blow down the gates with cannons. The governor of the prison, Marquis de Launay, gave into the angry crowd, but they would not accept surrender. They wanted to destroy this symbol of royal power. The mob killed Launay and the prison's other defenders. By evening they had control of the Bastille.
The fall of Bastille was one of the most famous events in the French Revolution. It was a symbol of victory of ordinary people over the power of their rulers. Their victory was recorded in many thousands of drawings and paintings.
Many of these showed dramatic events that led up to the capture of the Bastille.
This image shows the climax of events - the arrest of the prisoner governor. It was painted by a well-known artist of the time who specialised in painting historical scenes.
Some pictures, like this one, claimed to show what the attackers found inside the Bastille after they had captured it. Painted by another well-known artist of the time, it shows prisoners chained to the walls of a rat-infested dungeon, one of them wearing an iron mask. The ladder in the foreground suggests there may be more prisoners in another dungeon below. Copies of pictures like these appeared in the thousands. They were seen all over France, and they created images of the Bastille that everybody could recognise. Foreigners were facisnated by them.
Louis XVI has lost control of his army. He considered sending them into Paris to recapture the Bastille, but his war minister warned him that the soilders would most likely refuse to do so. He therefore had to give up control of Paris. To maintain some control over Paris, Louis allowed the people to set up thier own miltary force, the National Guard. To run the city, leading officials of the Third Estate formed a new local government, the Paris Commune. Towns and cities all over France followed the example of Paris. Rioting crowds attacked town halls, forced out the royal officials, and set up their own communes and National Guard units.
Feudal Documents Destroyed.
The violence spread to the country side, where unemployment was high and millions starved. Many people from the city wandered out to the countryside seeking or begging for work. Farmers lived in fear of gangs of wanders who stole food from their fields and damaged their farms.
Not long after, rumours spread that nobles were trying to starve the people, and were paying gangs to attack farms and terrorise the peasants. They responded by refusing to pay their feudal dues. In many places throughout France, peasants were loosing patience. They took part in widespread attacks on the chateaux and palaces of the lords. They broke into their lords’ homes and burned records of their dues. As the violence continued to spread, fears of gangs increased. Villagers rang the church bells to warn neighbouring vilages, sending panic around France. By late July, the whole country was gripped by a Great Fear.
The Declaration of the Rights of Man.
The deputies in the National Assembly were scared by the violence of the peasants and so, took drastic measures to end. On the night of August 4, noble deputies announced that their feudal rights and dues. Hunting rights, tithes, the corvee, and the rights of the mill and oven had all been abolished - feudalism was dead.
The National Assembly passed a law on August 4 1789, which abolished all feudal privileges and unjust taxation. There were to be no more church tithes (the church tax), no feudal dues and no more private companies keeping part of the taxation. Between the 12 - 26 August, the Assembly issued the Declaration of the Rights of Man'. It said man should have the power to speak and write freely. It changed the laws of arrest and imprisonment, and banned torture. Above all, it said that power in France belonged to the entire people, not just the King. However, there was nothing in the declaration about the rights of women, the position of slaves in France and the French Empire (some people, such as left winger Robespierre, campaigned for the abolition of slavery but were rejected by the assembly). There was also nothing in the declaration about who would impose theses new laws. (Today, we have the United Nations or the European Court). By September 1789, the Assembly, with the Kings approval appointed new middle class officials, elected by the people, to take charge of the government. They were called intendants, and they replaced the former agents of the King.
Women march to Versailles
Louis XVI disliked the decisions of the Assembly. Initially, he refused to sign them, which meant they could not become law. By October, he brought more soliders to Versailles to add to his body guard - again, it looked as though he was planning on breaking the Assembly up by armed force.
When this news reached Paris, crowds of market women gathered in the streets. Collecting weapons such as knives, sticks, rifles and cannons, they marched through the city to protest. Supported by the National Guardsmen, they complained to the king and the extra soldiers, and the high price of bread. The suggested he leave Versailles and live in Paris, where they could keep an eye on him. Unsurprisingly, Louis did not want to go. However, he changed his mind after a group of women smashed into his palace, killing two bodyguards and threatening to kill the Queen.
On October 6, Louis, Marie Antoinette and their oldest son travelled in a coach to Paris, surrounded by a crowd of 60,000 people. The Palace of Versailles was locked and boarded up. From then on, they lived in the Tuileries Palace in the centre of Paris.
The New Constitution: 1789 - 1791
Over the next two years, the members of the Three Estates of the National Assembly worked together to hammer out a new constitution for France. The main features of this New Constitution were:
- The Assembly was to be elected every two years, by men who paid a certain level of taxation. About two thirds of the male population that gained the vote would be called 'active citizens'.
- The Kings was to be called 'King of French', not 'King of France'.
- The King could delay the passing of a law for three years.
- 83 new departments were created to become centres for local government.
- Judges, deputies (MPs), tax-collectors and priests were to be elected by the 'active citizens'.
- A new taxation system, based on income and a new currency, the assignat, was created.
- Church lands were nationalised. Income from their sale would pay off the government debt.
- The church tax (tithe) was abolished.
- Marriages (previously, they only took place in a church) had to be celebrated as civil ceremonies in front of state officials. Divorce was introduced.
- Priests has to take an oath of loyaty to the state; some saw this as an attack on the power of bishops and on the Pope.
- Noble titles were abolished.
- A new system of law courts were created. Judges were to be elected by the people.
- Black people were given the same rights as white people in France.
- Slavery was abolished in France.
Reform of the Church
Many welcomed the reforms, others didn't. One side of the argument claimed that the Church had too much power, too much land and too much money. They also accused the clergy to live unholy lives. This point is reinforced in the Source 1.
On the other hand, millions were God-fearing catholics, who never questioned the way the Church was run.
When the National Assembly began taking land and money from the Church, many Catholics protested. Their protests grew louder at the Assembly's law reducing the power of the Church, called the 'Civil Constitution of the Clergy', which stated that preists and bishops had to be elected like other public officials, and ordered them to take an oath of loyalty to the French nation and law.
Over half the clergy refused to take this oath. They claimed that the Assembly had no right to interfere in Church affairs. The Pope supported their protest by condemning the new law.
From then on a division remained between those who took the oath and supported the revolution, and those who refused and opposed the revolution.
However, Louis XVI was deeply unhappy with the Civil Constitution put forth by the National Assembly which targeted the Church. He sided with the priests who refused to take the oath. This hightened the King's image of opposing the revolution. Angry crowds gathered at the gates of his Tuileries Palace.
Source A. The Storming of Bastille, July 14, 1789.
Source B. Arthur Young - an Eye Witness.
"The whole country is in the greatest agitation. Many chateaux have been burned and others plundered. The lords hunted down like beasts. Their feudal documents destoryed. Their property destroyed."
Travels in France - Arthur Young, 1792.
Source C. As the feudal lord leaves, his peasants burn down his chateaux and its contents.
Source D. The Declaration of the Rights of Man (extract).
"Men are born equal and remain free and equal in rights which are liberty, property, security and resistance to opression. Liberty is being able to do whatever does not harm others.
The law should express the will of the people. All citizens have a right to take part personally, or through their representatives, in the making of the law. Every citizen can talk, write and publish freely, unless the liberty is abused in a way which breaks the law."
August 1789.
Source E. A cartoon published in 1789. The members of the three estates working together to hammar out a new constitution.
add image (source A & C & E).
Source B. Arthur Young - an Eye Witness.
"The whole country is in the greatest agitation. Many chateaux have been burned and others plundered. The lords hunted down like beasts. Their feudal documents destoryed. Their property destroyed."
Travels in France - Arthur Young, 1792.
Source C. As the feudal lord leaves, his peasants burn down his chateaux and its contents.
Source D. The Declaration of the Rights of Man (extract).
"Men are born equal and remain free and equal in rights which are liberty, property, security and resistance to opression. Liberty is being able to do whatever does not harm others.
The law should express the will of the people. All citizens have a right to take part personally, or through their representatives, in the making of the law. Every citizen can talk, write and publish freely, unless the liberty is abused in a way which breaks the law."
August 1789.
Source E. A cartoon published in 1789. The members of the three estates working together to hammar out a new constitution.
add image (source A & C & E).
The King and the Revolution
About the King.
Louis XVI came to the throne in 1774. He was an absolute monarch, which meant that he was not bound by constitution, so had complete power. Like many other European monarchs, Louis believed his power had been given to him by God. Louis was a 'family-man'. Even during the Estates General meeting, Louis was more concerned with his son who was dying of tuberculosis than the political crisis he was facing. Louis was dominated by his wife, Marie-Antionette, whose brother was the Austrian Emperor. Marie-Antionette was the subject of many rumours about love affairs, expensive clothes and over spending. She was also critisied by many for the way she interfered with Louis's attempts to govern the counrty. |
Source A. King Louis XVI of France.
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The power to make laws belongs only to me |
Source B. Louis XVI (1774 - 1793).
Source C. Queen Marie-Antionette of France; wife of King Louis XVI.
Source D. Descriptions of Louis XVI and Marie-Antionette by American Ambassador in France.
On Louis:
"He is an honest man and wishes to do good, but he has no t either genius or education..."
On Marie-Antionette:
"Louis has a queen who controls his weak mind. Her ... extravagance has been a major cause of exhausting the government's finances."
How did Louis respond to the events of 1789 - 91?
It is possible that Louis did not fully understand the events of 1789 -1791. It is also possible that Louis had no idea how widespread the demand was for reform in France. When the Three Estates met in May 1789, Louis did not have any ideas to put to them. When the National Assembly was set up, Louis did not know what he should do. After the womens march to the King's palace in Versialles on October 5-6, 1789, the Paris mob had captured and imprisoned the royal familyin Tuilleries palace in Paris. Louis could have ordered his guards to fire on the mob, but refused to do so. Louis claimed that he was playing the role of an English style ‘constitutional monarch’. Between 1789-1791, Louis signed decrees from the Assembly so that they became law.
ln September l79l, when the constitution was finally proclaimed, Louis signed an oath of loyalty. Some believe that this was an act of good will from Louis. Others think that Louis took the oath because he had no other choice. What do YOU think? Read the information on Louis's behaviour between 1789 and 1791 before you make your decision:
How did Louis respond to the events of 1789 - 91?
It is possible that Louis did not fully understand the events of 1789 -1791. It is also possible that Louis had no idea how widespread the demand was for reform in France. When the Three Estates met in May 1789, Louis did not have any ideas to put to them. When the National Assembly was set up, Louis did not know what he should do. After the womens march to the King's palace in Versialles on October 5-6, 1789, the Paris mob had captured and imprisoned the royal familyin Tuilleries palace in Paris. Louis could have ordered his guards to fire on the mob, but refused to do so. Louis claimed that he was playing the role of an English style ‘constitutional monarch’. Between 1789-1791, Louis signed decrees from the Assembly so that they became law.
ln September l79l, when the constitution was finally proclaimed, Louis signed an oath of loyalty. Some believe that this was an act of good will from Louis. Others think that Louis took the oath because he had no other choice. What do YOU think? Read the information on Louis's behaviour between 1789 and 1791 before you make your decision:
Source E. Louis and family being brought back to Paris. The caption read, "The family of pigs being brought back to the pigsty".
*add image
*add image
Well, in the end, the Assembly decided to keep Louis as their constitutional monarch (a monarch who has to obey the rules of a constitution). On September 3, 1791, the constitution was proclaimed and Louis swore an oath of loyalty to it. On September 30, the National Assembly declared its work finished. It seemed revolution was over...
TASK - Document 2
1) Carefully look at Source A, B and D. What kind of person so you think Louis XVI was?
2) Now look at Sources C and D. How would you describe Marie-Antionette?3) Can you be sure that your descriptions of Louis and his queen are accurate? Explain your answer.
4) Find all the dates on this worksheet and write them in your margin. Next to each date, write down the event it relates to.
5) In what three ways did Louis behave badly in the years 1789-1791? EXPW“ each fully.
6) How did Louis show that he could not be trusted during this time?
7) What point was the cartoonist of source E trying to make? Explain your answer.
8) Mini-essay (at least one page of your exercise book) How did Louis deal with the difficulties he faced in the years 1789 ~1791? Use the
information and sources on this sheet, as well as your previous work.
Extention: Write a newspaper report for 'Le News' on Louis' attempted escape. You will need a headline, a picture, and as many details of the event as you can find!
TASK
LOUIS XVI
1. Louis was a large man with a big appetite. For breakfast he would eat 4 chops, a fat chicken, six poached eggs and a slice of ham. This was washed down with a bottle and a half of champagne.
2. Louis was kind to his family, but was also a ditherer. He found it difficult to make decisions. He liked to tinker with his collection of clocks rather than run the country.
Source 1: Louis was not the right man to rule the country. He was shy and had no confidence. Other people would sway his decisions. View of the French noblemen.
Source 2: Louis does have some common sense. He has simple tastes. He is honest. But he cannot make up his mind and is weak willed.
Written by a French monk in 1775.
Fill in the table below with Louis' good and bad qualities.
Do you think Louis XVI was a strong king? Why?
1) Carefully look at Source A, B and D. What kind of person so you think Louis XVI was?
2) Now look at Sources C and D. How would you describe Marie-Antionette?3) Can you be sure that your descriptions of Louis and his queen are accurate? Explain your answer.
4) Find all the dates on this worksheet and write them in your margin. Next to each date, write down the event it relates to.
5) In what three ways did Louis behave badly in the years 1789-1791? EXPW“ each fully.
6) How did Louis show that he could not be trusted during this time?
7) What point was the cartoonist of source E trying to make? Explain your answer.
8) Mini-essay (at least one page of your exercise book) How did Louis deal with the difficulties he faced in the years 1789 ~1791? Use the
information and sources on this sheet, as well as your previous work.
Extention: Write a newspaper report for 'Le News' on Louis' attempted escape. You will need a headline, a picture, and as many details of the event as you can find!
TASK
LOUIS XVI
1. Louis was a large man with a big appetite. For breakfast he would eat 4 chops, a fat chicken, six poached eggs and a slice of ham. This was washed down with a bottle and a half of champagne.
2. Louis was kind to his family, but was also a ditherer. He found it difficult to make decisions. He liked to tinker with his collection of clocks rather than run the country.
Source 1: Louis was not the right man to rule the country. He was shy and had no confidence. Other people would sway his decisions. View of the French noblemen.
Source 2: Louis does have some common sense. He has simple tastes. He is honest. But he cannot make up his mind and is weak willed.
Written by a French monk in 1775.
Fill in the table below with Louis' good and bad qualities.
Do you think Louis XVI was a strong king? Why?
The Flight to Varennes
Urged on by his wife and court members, Louis decided to flee France. Their aim was to seek help from French princes who had already left France and built up armies just across the frontier (see Source 2). They also sort assisstance from Marie-Antionette's brother Leopold, the Emperor of Austria. With their help, they would then be able to invade France, rid it of the Assembly and take back the power they had lost.
However, leaving France was far from easy. The Assembly suspected Louis would attempt to escape, so they placed guards at every door of the Palace. Louis and his family therefore had to make a secret escape. Close to midnight on June 21, 1791, Louis, Antoinette and their children crept out of the palace, all in disguise, through a temporarily unguarded door. A waiting carriage then took them eastwards towards Montmédy, closer to the frontier 250 km away.They were still 50km from the frontier when they were recognised. News of their escape was sent ahead to local authorities, who were waiting for them in the little town of Varennes. They were arrested and sent back to Paris the next day. As they went, crowds shouted insults and spat at the windows.
However, leaving France was far from easy. The Assembly suspected Louis would attempt to escape, so they placed guards at every door of the Palace. Louis and his family therefore had to make a secret escape. Close to midnight on June 21, 1791, Louis, Antoinette and their children crept out of the palace, all in disguise, through a temporarily unguarded door. A waiting carriage then took them eastwards towards Montmédy, closer to the frontier 250 km away.They were still 50km from the frontier when they were recognised. News of their escape was sent ahead to local authorities, who were waiting for them in the little town of Varennes. They were arrested and sent back to Paris the next day. As they went, crowds shouted insults and spat at the windows.
The Road to War
The flight to Varennes was the first step on a road to war. Believing that Louis and Antoinette were now in danger, Emperor Leopold issued a statement promising to help them regain their liberty and their power. Alongside the King of Prussia, he called on all European kings to take action to help Louis. Leopold privately had no intention of attacking France, his statement was just a show of support for a fellow monarch and for his sister. But nobody in France knew that. Rumour spread that foreign armies, along with the armies formed on the frontiers by the French princes, would soon invade. Before long, most people were convinced that war was inevitable. Far from fearing war, many French people wanted it.
Louis and his supporters wanted war because they expected the French armies to lose it, then Louis could be restored to power. People who opposed Louis wanted war because they thought it would force him to show exactly whose side he was on. If he took the side of the invaders, they would then be able to de-throne him and make France a Republic - a country in which the people hold power through an assembly and a president who they elect.
Louis and his supporters wanted war because they expected the French armies to lose it, then Louis could be restored to power. People who opposed Louis wanted war because they thought it would force him to show exactly whose side he was on. If he took the side of the invaders, they would then be able to de-throne him and make France a Republic - a country in which the people hold power through an assembly and a president who they elect.
War
War began on April 20, 1792, when France declared war on Austria. Hoping for a quick win, the French armies attacked Austrian bases across the frontier in Belgium. But the Austrians were better organised, better equipped and better led. They easily beat off the French attack.
In Paris, people blamed the French defeat on traitors. Rumours flew around that there was an 'Austrian Committee’ in the Tuileries Palace, passing France’s military secrets to the the Austrians. People grew afraid. Their fears increased when Prussia joined forces with Austria in May. The Assembly took emergency measures to deal with this threat. It ordered every soldier in Paris to the frontier. It put a watch on all foreigners. It decided that priests who still refused to take an oath of loyalty should be expelled from the country. On July 11, the National Assembly declared "The Fatherland [was] in Danger" and appealed to all citizens to volunteer for the army. Source 3 shows just one of the volunteers who answered the Assembly's appeal.
Such measures put Louis into a difficult position. He disagreed, especially with the measure against priests. This angered his opponents. 20,000 of them showed their anger by breaking into the Tuileries on June 20, and shouting abuse at him.
Yet Louis’ position became more difficult in July. The enemy commander, the Duke of Brunswick, issued a statement known as the Brunswick Manifesto. It threatened the people of Paris with terrible punishments if Louis was harmed in any way.
Far from protecting Louis and his family, the Brunswick Manifesto put them in great danger. When news of it reached Paris, the Assembly ordered weapons to be given to all citizens so that they could defend themselves. But now that they had weapons, the people of Paris could do whatever they wanted. Above all, they wanted to get rid of the monarchy and to set up a new kind of assembly in which they had power.
In Paris, people blamed the French defeat on traitors. Rumours flew around that there was an 'Austrian Committee’ in the Tuileries Palace, passing France’s military secrets to the the Austrians. People grew afraid. Their fears increased when Prussia joined forces with Austria in May. The Assembly took emergency measures to deal with this threat. It ordered every soldier in Paris to the frontier. It put a watch on all foreigners. It decided that priests who still refused to take an oath of loyalty should be expelled from the country. On July 11, the National Assembly declared "The Fatherland [was] in Danger" and appealed to all citizens to volunteer for the army. Source 3 shows just one of the volunteers who answered the Assembly's appeal.
Such measures put Louis into a difficult position. He disagreed, especially with the measure against priests. This angered his opponents. 20,000 of them showed their anger by breaking into the Tuileries on June 20, and shouting abuse at him.
Yet Louis’ position became more difficult in July. The enemy commander, the Duke of Brunswick, issued a statement known as the Brunswick Manifesto. It threatened the people of Paris with terrible punishments if Louis was harmed in any way.
Far from protecting Louis and his family, the Brunswick Manifesto put them in great danger. When news of it reached Paris, the Assembly ordered weapons to be given to all citizens so that they could defend themselves. But now that they had weapons, the people of Paris could do whatever they wanted. Above all, they wanted to get rid of the monarchy and to set up a new kind of assembly in which they had power.
The Storming of Tuileries
On August 10, 1792, 20,000 armed men and women marched to the Tuileries, determined to de-throne Louis XVI. Source 4 shows some of the things that happened when they got there. Helped by National Guards (wearing blue uniforms) they broke into the palace grounds. The red-uniformed Swiss Guards, defending the king, tried to light them off, but were outnumbered. They retreated, but the attackers caught up with them. Using knives, pikes and axes they slaughtered 600 of the Swiss Guards. Many of the attackers mutilated the dead bodies. Later, as Source 4 shows, they ransacked the palace.
Overthrow of the Monarchy
The attack on the Tuileries quickly led to the end of the monarchy. Louis was suspended from office and, with his family, was imprisoned. A new assembly was formed as the country's new law-making body, called the Convention. On September 21, 1792, their fist action was to de-throne the Louis XVI and declare France a Republic. Two months later, the Convention put him on trial for high treason.
The Sans Culottes
The people who overthrew the king called themselves sans culottes. They were the working people of Paris, ranging from craftsmen to laundry women, clerks to porters, fishwives to labourers. Although they varied in the work they did and the money they earned, they had many ideas in common and behaved in similar ways. Sans culottes hated nobles. The men wore trousers rather than the knee breeches (culottes) that nobles wore. Thus, sans culottes translates to 'without knee breeches'. They refused to use any word that had noble connections. So, instead of calling each other monsieur (literally, 'my lord') or madame ('my lady'), they addressed each other as 'Citizen’ or 'Comrade’.
The sans culottes were Republicans, meaning they were against the monarchy (which they renamed the Ancien Regime - Ancient Regime) and believed that power should be held by ordinary people like themselves. Many named themselves or their children after famous Republicans of the past. They believed very strongly that everyone should have equal rights, such as the right to vote. To show that nobody was greater than anybody else, they used the familiar tu for 'you' when they spoke to people rather than rous, which the general, formal way of addressing people.
Sans culottes claimed the right to carry weapons and to use them against their opponents. In September 1792, for example, they broke into the prisons of Paris and murdered around 1,400 prisoners whom they suspected of supporting the Austrians. Their readiness to use violence horrified foreigners. Source 5, by British cartoonist James Gillray, shows what many British people thought of the sans culottes. Compare it to Source 6, by a French painter.
The sans culottes were Republicans, meaning they were against the monarchy (which they renamed the Ancien Regime - Ancient Regime) and believed that power should be held by ordinary people like themselves. Many named themselves or their children after famous Republicans of the past. They believed very strongly that everyone should have equal rights, such as the right to vote. To show that nobody was greater than anybody else, they used the familiar tu for 'you' when they spoke to people rather than rous, which the general, formal way of addressing people.
Sans culottes claimed the right to carry weapons and to use them against their opponents. In September 1792, for example, they broke into the prisons of Paris and murdered around 1,400 prisoners whom they suspected of supporting the Austrians. Their readiness to use violence horrified foreigners. Source 5, by British cartoonist James Gillray, shows what many British people thought of the sans culottes. Compare it to Source 6, by a French painter.
The Trial of the King
Key words:
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Facts about the Trial:
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The charges: Louis faced a total of 33 charges when he was put on trial in December 1792. They included: bankrupting the nation, plotting against the revolution, trying to flee, accepting a constitution he despised and helping the Austrian invasion of France. In short, he was accused of being a traitor.
Case for the Prosectution
The following sources highlight the case for prosecution. Read them carefully.
Source 1. Speech by a radical deputy, Goupilleau.
"Citizens, let me repeat his infamous words: 'In my heart I cannot approve the Revolution and the detestable constitution'."
Source 2. Speech by Saint-Just, the youngest deputy.
"He oppressed a free nation; he declared himself its enemy; he abused its laws; he must die to ensure the peacefulness of the people, since to assure his own intended that the people be crushed.
Monarchy is an outrage. No man can reign innocently. Louis is an alien amoung us and not a citizen. He must die".
Source 3. Speech from Mailhe, a deputy from Toulouse.
"After having accepted the 1791 constitution, Louis declared he was a prisoner. That was a signal for foreign powers to come to his aid. Instead of resisting the Prussian and Austrian invasions, he organised treason in all boarder towns.
He continued to support the emigres with money, and paralysed the actions of the government. His acceptance of the constitution was just a trick to keep him on the throne while he waited for the foreign armies to re-establish his rule on the ruins of the constitution."
Source 1. Speech by a radical deputy, Goupilleau.
"Citizens, let me repeat his infamous words: 'In my heart I cannot approve the Revolution and the detestable constitution'."
Source 2. Speech by Saint-Just, the youngest deputy.
"He oppressed a free nation; he declared himself its enemy; he abused its laws; he must die to ensure the peacefulness of the people, since to assure his own intended that the people be crushed.
Monarchy is an outrage. No man can reign innocently. Louis is an alien amoung us and not a citizen. He must die".
Source 3. Speech from Mailhe, a deputy from Toulouse.
"After having accepted the 1791 constitution, Louis declared he was a prisoner. That was a signal for foreign powers to come to his aid. Instead of resisting the Prussian and Austrian invasions, he organised treason in all boarder towns.
He continued to support the emigres with money, and paralysed the actions of the government. His acceptance of the constitution was just a trick to keep him on the throne while he waited for the foreign armies to re-establish his rule on the ruins of the constitution."
Case for the Defence
These sources were presented as Louis' defence. Read them carefully.
Source 4. Speech by De Seze, one of Louis' defence lawyers.
"Louis was the first king to voluntarily give up some of his power for the good of the people. You called him the 'restorer of French liberty'."
Source 5. Speech by Malesherbes, one of Louis' defence lawyers.
"On 6 October, 1789, at Versailles, he ordered his armed guards not to defend him.
At Varennes he preferred to be brought back rather than cause the death of a single man.
You blame him for the blood that has been shed, but on 10 August 1792, he came to the Assembly to prevent it being shed."
Source 6. Speech by Louis in his own defence.
"I have not broken the law since the constitution was introduced. I will defend each of my actions as morally correct and faithful to the letter of the law. I have done nothing except for the good of the people. I will argue for my life but not beg for it."
Source 7. Louis' response when questioned about hidden documents which showed him trying to encourage foreign armies to invade France, and trying to bribe deputies.
"I have no knowledge of it. It is not my handwriting."
Source 8. Louis' response to the charge of disorganising the army.
"Never did the idea of counter revolution enter my head. There is not one word of truth in this accusation."
Source 4. Speech by De Seze, one of Louis' defence lawyers.
"Louis was the first king to voluntarily give up some of his power for the good of the people. You called him the 'restorer of French liberty'."
Source 5. Speech by Malesherbes, one of Louis' defence lawyers.
"On 6 October, 1789, at Versailles, he ordered his armed guards not to defend him.
At Varennes he preferred to be brought back rather than cause the death of a single man.
You blame him for the blood that has been shed, but on 10 August 1792, he came to the Assembly to prevent it being shed."
Source 6. Speech by Louis in his own defence.
"I have not broken the law since the constitution was introduced. I will defend each of my actions as morally correct and faithful to the letter of the law. I have done nothing except for the good of the people. I will argue for my life but not beg for it."
Source 7. Louis' response when questioned about hidden documents which showed him trying to encourage foreign armies to invade France, and trying to bribe deputies.
"I have no knowledge of it. It is not my handwriting."
Source 8. Louis' response to the charge of disorganising the army.
"Never did the idea of counter revolution enter my head. There is not one word of truth in this accusation."
TASK
1) Read Source 4 and 5. What defence does each source offer on behalf of Louis?
2) What opinion do you have of Louis reading Sources 4 and 5? Why?
3) Read Source 6, 7 and 8. What opinion of Louis do these sources give you? Explain how?
4) Read Louis' answers to the charges against him in Source 7 and 8 again. Do you believe him? Explain your answer.
1) Read Source 4 and 5. What defence does each source offer on behalf of Louis?
2) What opinion do you have of Louis reading Sources 4 and 5? Why?
3) Read Source 6, 7 and 8. What opinion of Louis do these sources give you? Explain how?
4) Read Louis' answers to the charges against him in Source 7 and 8 again. Do you believe him? Explain your answer.
The Execution of the King
Key words:
- Referendum: a way of deciding a political question by having the public vote for or against it.
- Exile: banishment from country.
- Guillotine: French invention to chop off heads!
- Legend: stories and myths which build up around a certain person or event, usually to paint a positive or heroic picture of them.
- Liberty: freedom of oppression.
The Verdict
The outcome of Louis' trial was decided by a vote. The Jury of deputies had to answer three questions. Firstly, they had to decide whether or not Louis was guilty - all 693 deputies answered 'Yes'. Secondly, they had to decide whether there should he a referendum to decide his fate - 284 deputies said ‘Yes', the rest said ‘No'. Finally, the deputies were asked what the punishment should be - 321 said ‘prison or exile', whilst 374 said the punishment should be 'death'.
January 21, 1793: The Day of the Execution
Preparations are made. The Convention needed to make sure that Louis' execution went smoothly. Troops were stationed at the entrances to the city to prevent crowds from entering or leaving. 200 Mounted guards and 1200 foot soldiers were to surround Louis' coach. There were around 80,000 armed men in Paris to ensure that problems did not arise. Louis' own preparations included having a final meeting with his family (Source A), attending mass at 6 o'clock in the morning, and passing on instructions to Clery, his servant (Source B).
January 21, 1793: The Day of the Execution
Preparations are made. The Convention needed to make sure that Louis' execution went smoothly. Troops were stationed at the entrances to the city to prevent crowds from entering or leaving. 200 Mounted guards and 1200 foot soldiers were to surround Louis' coach. There were around 80,000 armed men in Paris to ensure that problems did not arise. Louis' own preparations included having a final meeting with his family (Source A), attending mass at 6 o'clock in the morning, and passing on instructions to Clery, his servant (Source B).
Source A. Louis meets with his family for the last time.
Source B. Louis' instructions to Clery.
"Will you give this seal to my son...the wedding ring to the Queen. Tell her that I leave her with a great deal of pain.
This little package contains locks of hair of all my family. Give it to her too. Tell the Queen, tell my my dear children, that I had promised to see them this morning, but that I had wanted to spare them the pain of such a cruel seperation."
Source B. Louis' instructions to Clery.
"Will you give this seal to my son...the wedding ring to the Queen. Tell her that I leave her with a great deal of pain.
This little package contains locks of hair of all my family. Give it to her too. Tell the Queen, tell my my dear children, that I had promised to see them this morning, but that I had wanted to spare them the pain of such a cruel seperation."
The Execution
At around 10 o'clock, Louis arrived at the guillotine. At 10:22, he was dead (Source C and D). As soon as the head came off, there were shouts from the crowd (Source E). Louis' body was quickly taken to a cemetery in a wicker basket. He was the placed in a wooden coffin and buried in a mass grave. The Convention made every attempt to surpress any details of Louis' last few days, in case legend built up around his memory.
At around 10 o'clock, Louis arrived at the guillotine. At 10:22, he was dead (Source C and D). As soon as the head came off, there were shouts from the crowd (Source E). Louis' body was quickly taken to a cemetery in a wicker basket. He was the placed in a wooden coffin and buried in a mass grave. The Convention made every attempt to surpress any details of Louis' last few days, in case legend built up around his memory.
The following sources give two accounts of the execution of Louis:
Source C. A description of the execution by Mercier, a deputy to the Convention.
"His blood flows: cries of joy from 80,000 armed men rend the air. His blood flows and there are people who dip a fingertip, a quill, a scrap of paper in it. One tastes it: 'It is vilely salt!'. An executioner at the scaffold side sells small bundles of his hair; people buy the ribbon that tied it. Everyone carries off a small bundle of his clothing or some other blood-stained remnent. The whole populace go by, arm in arm, laughing and talking as if from festivity. The taverns on the bloody square had thier wine bottles emptied as usual. They sold cakes and patties around the beheaded body, which was put in the wicker basket of a common criminal."
Source D. A description of the execution by Bernard, a supporter of Louis.
"Louis XVI lost his life on Monday at half past ten in the morning, and to the very last he maintained the greatest courage.
He wished to speak to the people from the scaffold, but was seized by the executioners, who were following their orders, and who pushed him straight under the fatal blade. He was able to speak only these words: 'I forgive my enemies; I trust that my death will be for the happiness of my people, but I grieve for my France and I fear that she may suffer the anger of the Lord.'
The King took off his coat himself at the foot of the scaffold, and when someone sought to help him he said cheerfully, 'I do not need any help.' He also refused help to limb onto the scaffold, and went up with a firm, brisk step.
After his death, his body and head were immediatley taken to the parish cemetery and thrown into a pit fifteen feet deep, where they were consumed by quicklime. And so there remains nothing of this unhappy prince except the memory of his virtues and his misfortunes."
Saucy Source Words
Sometimes written sources use descriptive words to emphasis a partiuclar point or to encourage the reader to feel a particular way. It is important to read written sources very carefully, and to use a dictionary for any tricky words. Someone who did not support the King wrote Source C. The words and phrases he uses, like 'vilely', meaning horrible and 'wicker basket of a common criminal' are there to subtly put down Louis XVI. Source D was written by a supporter of Louis and so is much less jolly. It has a more reverent feel to it with phrases like: 'lost his life' and 'virtues', meaning morals. The writers description of Louis' speech lets the reader feel that Louis has martyred himself by giving his life for France. Some of the other words in both sources have been underlined to help you answer some questions later on, but first, find out what they mean.
Sometimes written sources use descriptive words to emphasis a partiuclar point or to encourage the reader to feel a particular way. It is important to read written sources very carefully, and to use a dictionary for any tricky words. Someone who did not support the King wrote Source C. The words and phrases he uses, like 'vilely', meaning horrible and 'wicker basket of a common criminal' are there to subtly put down Louis XVI. Source D was written by a supporter of Louis and so is much less jolly. It has a more reverent feel to it with phrases like: 'lost his life' and 'virtues', meaning morals. The writers description of Louis' speech lets the reader feel that Louis has martyred himself by giving his life for France. Some of the other words in both sources have been underlined to help you answer some questions later on, but first, find out what they mean.
Source E. The crowd's cheers as Louis' head is severed from his body.
"Long live the Republic! Long live liberty! Long live equality".
Source F. A sketch of Louis' Execution, January 1793.
*add image (source F)
Source G. Extracts from a modern historian's account of the execution,
"He [Louis] pronounced these unforgettable words: 'I die innocent of all the crimes with which I am charged. I forgive those that are guilty of my death, and I pray God that the blood you are about to shed will never be required of France...' The King's last words were drowned out by the drummers..."
"Long live the Republic! Long live liberty! Long live equality".
Source F. A sketch of Louis' Execution, January 1793.
*add image (source F)
Source G. Extracts from a modern historian's account of the execution,
"He [Louis] pronounced these unforgettable words: 'I die innocent of all the crimes with which I am charged. I forgive those that are guilty of my death, and I pray God that the blood you are about to shed will never be required of France...' The King's last words were drowned out by the drummers..."
TASK Document 3
Answer in full, detailed sentences. Explain each of your answers.
1) Look back at the verdict given by the Convention. How was Louis's fate decided? And by how many deputies?
2) How many deputies voted that there should NOT be a referendum?
3) Do you think Louis should have been sentenced to death? Explain your answer, remembering your previous work on Louis and his character and behaviour.
4) How did the following prepare for Louis's executiont a) The Government? b) Louis?
5) Why do you think so many armed guards were needed on the day of the execution?
6) Copy out the keywords and their meanings.
Source Work
Use information from Sources A -G. Where necessary, quote from the sources. Use them to support your ideas. Try and link information from different sources together.
l) Using Sources A and B, what kind of relationship did Louis have with his family? Explain how you reached your answer.
2) Read Source C carefully. What words or phrases does the writer use to give an atmosphere of fun and festivity to Louis's execution?
3) How does the writer of Source C present Louis in a negative way?
4) Why might the writer have produced such an account?
5) Read Source D carefully. How does this writer present Louis in a more positive way?
6) Why might the writer have produced an account like this?
7) How could an historian find out which of Source C and D is more reliable?
8) Look at source E. What does this source suggest about the feeling of the people towards Louis?
9) Look at Source F. This is a sketch produced shortly after Louis’s execution. Describe the sketch in detail.
10) Do you think a supporter of Louis produced Source F? Explain your answer.
11) Read Source G. How might someone in the crowd feel about Louis's execution after hearing these words?
12) Use Sources C, D, E and F. Imagine you were a spectator at Louis's execution. Write a diary extract to explain the event. Mention things like; the atmosphere at the scaffold, whether you managed to get a souvenir, the sights and sounds at the event, your hopes for France now that the King is dead.
Bonus Task
Use all of your work on the trial and execution of King Louis XVI. Write a newspaper report following his execution, remembering to mention the trial as well.
Answer in full, detailed sentences. Explain each of your answers.
1) Look back at the verdict given by the Convention. How was Louis's fate decided? And by how many deputies?
2) How many deputies voted that there should NOT be a referendum?
3) Do you think Louis should have been sentenced to death? Explain your answer, remembering your previous work on Louis and his character and behaviour.
4) How did the following prepare for Louis's executiont a) The Government? b) Louis?
5) Why do you think so many armed guards were needed on the day of the execution?
6) Copy out the keywords and their meanings.
Source Work
Use information from Sources A -G. Where necessary, quote from the sources. Use them to support your ideas. Try and link information from different sources together.
l) Using Sources A and B, what kind of relationship did Louis have with his family? Explain how you reached your answer.
2) Read Source C carefully. What words or phrases does the writer use to give an atmosphere of fun and festivity to Louis's execution?
3) How does the writer of Source C present Louis in a negative way?
4) Why might the writer have produced such an account?
5) Read Source D carefully. How does this writer present Louis in a more positive way?
6) Why might the writer have produced an account like this?
7) How could an historian find out which of Source C and D is more reliable?
8) Look at source E. What does this source suggest about the feeling of the people towards Louis?
9) Look at Source F. This is a sketch produced shortly after Louis’s execution. Describe the sketch in detail.
10) Do you think a supporter of Louis produced Source F? Explain your answer.
11) Read Source G. How might someone in the crowd feel about Louis's execution after hearing these words?
12) Use Sources C, D, E and F. Imagine you were a spectator at Louis's execution. Write a diary extract to explain the event. Mention things like; the atmosphere at the scaffold, whether you managed to get a souvenir, the sights and sounds at the event, your hopes for France now that the King is dead.
Bonus Task
Use all of your work on the trial and execution of King Louis XVI. Write a newspaper report following his execution, remembering to mention the trial as well.
The Execution of Louix XVI and Marie Antionette
Write the following events in chronological order - the order in which they happened. Look at the dates to help you.
Write the following events in chronological order - the order in which they happened. Look at the dates to help you.
- In December 1792, Louis XVI the king, was put on trial. He was accused of being a traitor to France by plotting with Austria.
- In the Spring of 1792 the Austrians invaded France and threatened to destroy Paris if the royal family were hurt.
- On October 16, 1793, Marie Antoinette, the Queen, was executed.
- On June 20, 1791, Louis XVI tried to escape from Paris with his family.
- On January 21, 1793, the King was executed in Paris - at the Place de la Revolution
- 10th August 10, 1792, the King's palace was attacked
- 0n September 21, l792, a new parliament was set up. It voted for a Republic -a country without a monarch.
The War Spreads
The execution of King Louis XVI shocked millions of people all over Europe. Louis' fellow monarchs were outraged, joining forces with Austria and Prussia in their war against France. The aim of this alliance was to destroy the new Republic. However, this made the Republican more war-like than ever. They wanted to fight the French tyrants (as they called all Kings), and spread the revolution to the rest of Europe. They took action, declaring war on the alliance's three newest members: Britain, Holland and Spain. France was now at war with most of Europe.
Disaster hit France immediately. Austrian forces beat them, with a French commander abandoning his men and joining the Austria's side. France seemed on the verge of defeat.
Inflation and Shortages
War was only one of the many difficulties facing the new government. Food prices skyrocketed. This was due to the government printing off huge amounts of assignats (French currency) to pay for the war. But the more the bank printed, the less the money was worth: the currency was suffering from inflation. By February 1793, a bank note was worth only half the amount printed on it.
In addition to being expensive, bread was also scarce as farmers did not want to sell their grain for worthless money. Hungry sans culottes began raiding shops and food stores to take food they could not afford.
Disaster hit France immediately. Austrian forces beat them, with a French commander abandoning his men and joining the Austria's side. France seemed on the verge of defeat.
Inflation and Shortages
War was only one of the many difficulties facing the new government. Food prices skyrocketed. This was due to the government printing off huge amounts of assignats (French currency) to pay for the war. But the more the bank printed, the less the money was worth: the currency was suffering from inflation. By February 1793, a bank note was worth only half the amount printed on it.
In addition to being expensive, bread was also scarce as farmers did not want to sell their grain for worthless money. Hungry sans culottes began raiding shops and food stores to take food they could not afford.
Rebellion
A third major problem facing the Republic occured in their attempt to defend the country. They ordered 300,000 men to join the armies, however, this order was deeply unpopular. In the Vendée in Western France, where many people were royalists, thousands of peasants joined in an armed rebellion against the government.
In Paris, the war led to a conflict between two groups of politicians in the Convention: the Girdoins, who held most of the posts in the government, and the Jacobins, who were supported by the sans culottes. The Jacobins blamed the Girondins for France’ s defeats on the battlefield, and for allowing food prices to rise. On June 2, an angry crowd of sans culottes broke into the Convention and expelled the leading Girondins. This triggered off a string of revolts in the provinces which supported the Girondins. By summer 1793, sixty out of the eighty-three departments had joined the rebellion against the government.
In Paris, the war led to a conflict between two groups of politicians in the Convention: the Girdoins, who held most of the posts in the government, and the Jacobins, who were supported by the sans culottes. The Jacobins blamed the Girondins for France’ s defeats on the battlefield, and for allowing food prices to rise. On June 2, an angry crowd of sans culottes broke into the Convention and expelled the leading Girondins. This triggered off a string of revolts in the provinces which supported the Girondins. By summer 1793, sixty out of the eighty-three departments had joined the rebellion against the government.
The Reign of Terror
Faced with all these disasters, the Convention set up an emergency group called the Committee of Public Safety. Its twelve members had the power to do anything they thought necessary to save France. For the next twelve months, they used this power to run France very strictly and to impose harsh punishments on opponents. So harsh was the Committee’s rule that it was known as the Reign of Terror.
What is Terror?
Massacres by conquering armies was not new at all the the French, nor was mob violence. This type of spontaneous and uncontrolled violence is not what terror refers to. Terror refers to the systematic, organised state employing the use of violence against the population it governs. The Committee of Public Safety used cold and harsh legal and judicial processes (arrest, detention, investigation, trial and punishment).
What is Terror?
Massacres by conquering armies was not new at all the the French, nor was mob violence. This type of spontaneous and uncontrolled violence is not what terror refers to. Terror refers to the systematic, organised state employing the use of violence against the population it governs. The Committee of Public Safety used cold and harsh legal and judicial processes (arrest, detention, investigation, trial and punishment).
Maximiliem Robespierre
The Law of Suspects
The Terror began with a ‘Law of Suspects’ in September 1793. Groups of citizens in every town were orded to draw up lists of people they suspected of opposing the government. Almost anyone could fall under suspicion. The Law said that suspects were people who ‘by their behaviour, their contacts, their words or their writings, showed themselves to be . . . enemies of Liberty.’ In the year that followed, over a quarter of a million suspects were arrested and put in prison. Many suspects were sent to Paris for trial by the Revolutionary Tribunal. This was a special court set up to deal with political offences. Its judges could impose sentences of imprisonment, deportation or death. Around half the sentences they passed were death sentences.
The Terror began with a ‘Law of Suspects’ in September 1793. Groups of citizens in every town were orded to draw up lists of people they suspected of opposing the government. Almost anyone could fall under suspicion. The Law said that suspects were people who ‘by their behaviour, their contacts, their words or their writings, showed themselves to be . . . enemies of Liberty.’ In the year that followed, over a quarter of a million suspects were arrested and put in prison. Many suspects were sent to Paris for trial by the Revolutionary Tribunal. This was a special court set up to deal with political offences. Its judges could impose sentences of imprisonment, deportation or death. Around half the sentences they passed were death sentences.
The Guillotine
Death sentences were carried out by beheading prisoners with a recently invented machine. Known as a guillotine, after the person who first proposed the the French government use a more humane method of execution, Doctor Guillotin. The contraption was meant offer a quicker and less painful death, as opposed to the methods of execution used before the Revolution.
An English journalist described how it worked:
"He [the prisoner] is first tied to a plank of wood of about eighteen inches [450m] broad, and an inch [2.5cm] thick, with cords about the arms, body and legs; this plank is about four feet [1.2m] long, and comes almost up to the chin; the executioner then lays him on his belly on the bench, lifts up the upper part of the board which receives his neck, inserts his head, then shuts the board and pulls the string fastened to a peg at the top of the machine, which lifts up a catch. The axe falls down, and the head, which is off in an instant, is received in a basket ready for that purpose, as is the body in another basket."
From an anonymous broadsheet, Massacre of the French King, 1793.
Around 17,000 suspects were executed by guillotine during the Terror. One of the first to die was Marie Antoinette, executed in October 1793 for treason.
An English journalist described how it worked:
"He [the prisoner] is first tied to a plank of wood of about eighteen inches [450m] broad, and an inch [2.5cm] thick, with cords about the arms, body and legs; this plank is about four feet [1.2m] long, and comes almost up to the chin; the executioner then lays him on his belly on the bench, lifts up the upper part of the board which receives his neck, inserts his head, then shuts the board and pulls the string fastened to a peg at the top of the machine, which lifts up a catch. The axe falls down, and the head, which is off in an instant, is received in a basket ready for that purpose, as is the body in another basket."
From an anonymous broadsheet, Massacre of the French King, 1793.
Around 17,000 suspects were executed by guillotine during the Terror. One of the first to die was Marie Antoinette, executed in October 1793 for treason.
The Spread of Terror
Terror in the Provinces
The Committee of Public Safety took very strong measures to crush the revolts in the countryside. Over a hundred Representatives of the Convention were sent to the provinces with instructions to do anything necessary to restore order. In the Vendée, where the biggest revolt was taking place, the Representative on Mission was Jean-Baptiste Carrier. When the guillotine proved too slow to execute captured rebels, he had them drowned in boat-loads in the River Loire. At least 2,000 died in these drownings at Nantes. In Lyons, nearly 2,000 rebels were executed. To speed up the executions, prisoners were lined up in front of open graves and blasted into them with cannon fire.
Terror in the Armies
In August 1793, the Convention ordered a Mass Levy of the French people, meaning every citizen had to play an active part in the war effort. Unmarried men had to join the armies to fight, married men were to make thier weapons. Women were to make tents and serve in hospitals. Children were to make bandages and gunpowder.
The Mass Levy increaed French armies to 800,000. men, nearly three times the size of the Coalition’s (enemy's) armies. The Representatives of the Convention ensured that strict discipline was kept.
Economic Terror
The Comittee tried to stop the rise of food prices by introducing the Law of the Maximum in September 1793. This stated that the prices of of forty goods (such as corn, flour, firewood and oil) must stay fixed until further notice. So too did the people's wages. Breaking this law carried the death penalty.
Terror and the Church
The spread of Terror led to the disappearence of the Christian religion in many parts of France. Claiming that Christianity was no more than superstition, sans culottes closed down churchs, robbed them of their bells and silver, and sacked their priests. In many towns, the Church was replaced by the Cult of Reasons, which was based on revolutionary ideas such as liberty.
As part of the campaign against Christianity, the Convention introduced a new calendar. Years were no longer counted from the birth of Christ but from September 1792, when the Republic was founded. 1792 was re-named Year One.
Results of the Terror
The Committee of Public Safety achieved what it set out to do - it saved France from collapse. By mid-1794, the French armies had driven their enemies right out of France and had occupied the Austrian Netherlands. The Representatives on mission had crushed all the revolts in the provinces. And although prices were still rising, the Committee had managed to avoid a famine.
However, the price of success had been high. Between 35,000 and 40,000 people had been executed or had died in filthy, overcrowded prisons. Everybody’s rights and freedoms had in fact, been severely limited. Prices were still rising. And the Committee had became a kind of twelve-man dictatorship.
The coup of Thermidor
By the summer of 1794, the Committee had become very unpopular. Many deputies in the Convention disliked it because they thought it was too powerful. Some disliked it because they feared ending up under the guillotine. Others disliked it because they could not see any need for the Terror now that the revolts were over and France was winning the war. Even the sans culottes, its strongest supporters, were unhappy, because their wages were held down by the Maximum Law, while food prices were still rising.
On July 27, 1794 through to 1799, the Convention decided to get rid of the Committee’s leading member, Robespierre, along with his supporters. Twenty-one were arrested and guillotined the following day. A further ninety-six were executed the day after.
With Robespierre dead, the Convention reduced the power of the Committee, freed hundreds of suspects, abolished the Maximum Law and got rid of the Revolutionary Tribunal. The Terror thus came to an end.
The Committee of Public Safety took very strong measures to crush the revolts in the countryside. Over a hundred Representatives of the Convention were sent to the provinces with instructions to do anything necessary to restore order. In the Vendée, where the biggest revolt was taking place, the Representative on Mission was Jean-Baptiste Carrier. When the guillotine proved too slow to execute captured rebels, he had them drowned in boat-loads in the River Loire. At least 2,000 died in these drownings at Nantes. In Lyons, nearly 2,000 rebels were executed. To speed up the executions, prisoners were lined up in front of open graves and blasted into them with cannon fire.
Terror in the Armies
In August 1793, the Convention ordered a Mass Levy of the French people, meaning every citizen had to play an active part in the war effort. Unmarried men had to join the armies to fight, married men were to make thier weapons. Women were to make tents and serve in hospitals. Children were to make bandages and gunpowder.
The Mass Levy increaed French armies to 800,000. men, nearly three times the size of the Coalition’s (enemy's) armies. The Representatives of the Convention ensured that strict discipline was kept.
Economic Terror
The Comittee tried to stop the rise of food prices by introducing the Law of the Maximum in September 1793. This stated that the prices of of forty goods (such as corn, flour, firewood and oil) must stay fixed until further notice. So too did the people's wages. Breaking this law carried the death penalty.
Terror and the Church
The spread of Terror led to the disappearence of the Christian religion in many parts of France. Claiming that Christianity was no more than superstition, sans culottes closed down churchs, robbed them of their bells and silver, and sacked their priests. In many towns, the Church was replaced by the Cult of Reasons, which was based on revolutionary ideas such as liberty.
As part of the campaign against Christianity, the Convention introduced a new calendar. Years were no longer counted from the birth of Christ but from September 1792, when the Republic was founded. 1792 was re-named Year One.
Results of the Terror
The Committee of Public Safety achieved what it set out to do - it saved France from collapse. By mid-1794, the French armies had driven their enemies right out of France and had occupied the Austrian Netherlands. The Representatives on mission had crushed all the revolts in the provinces. And although prices were still rising, the Committee had managed to avoid a famine.
However, the price of success had been high. Between 35,000 and 40,000 people had been executed or had died in filthy, overcrowded prisons. Everybody’s rights and freedoms had in fact, been severely limited. Prices were still rising. And the Committee had became a kind of twelve-man dictatorship.
The coup of Thermidor
By the summer of 1794, the Committee had become very unpopular. Many deputies in the Convention disliked it because they thought it was too powerful. Some disliked it because they feared ending up under the guillotine. Others disliked it because they could not see any need for the Terror now that the revolts were over and France was winning the war. Even the sans culottes, its strongest supporters, were unhappy, because their wages were held down by the Maximum Law, while food prices were still rising.
On July 27, 1794 through to 1799, the Convention decided to get rid of the Committee’s leading member, Robespierre, along with his supporters. Twenty-one were arrested and guillotined the following day. A further ninety-six were executed the day after.
With Robespierre dead, the Convention reduced the power of the Committee, freed hundreds of suspects, abolished the Maximum Law and got rid of the Revolutionary Tribunal. The Terror thus came to an end.
References
www.SchoolHistory.co.uk, from the works of Miss Lavelle.
Unknown Textbook: Chapter 2: Revolution and Terror, 1789 - 1794. Pages 29 - 51.
www.SchoolHistory.co.uk, from the works of Miss Lavelle.
Unknown Textbook: Chapter 2: Revolution and Terror, 1789 - 1794. Pages 29 - 51.