Thursday, April 4

4 Main Causes of the Revolution:

Debt:

The debt of the French government was around 8 to 12 billion livre (their currency)
Louis the 16^th spent a lot of money on very luxurious things instead of being financially responsible.
Also they still had war debts from the Seven Years war with England (1756-1763)
Much of their debt was compiled because they weren’t exploring like their rival, England.
England was able to use the colonies as a source of steady income.
France had not completely bought into Mercantilism either at this time like England had.

Taxation:

France, at this time, was heavily involved in trading. (good)
However, to be a great trading country you cannot have high tariffs so you need to tax heavily on your people (bad).
Masses of people of France not too thrilled with this idea. Also nobbles did not pay these taxes. They were taxing the people who couldn’t afford it and weren’t taxing the ones who could afford it.

Failure to Reform:

Some French economists stated that the nobles should be included in taxation.
This plan backfired as peasants had to pay even more than before.
France continued to stick with their economic plan even though they were continuing to fo deeper and deeper into debt.

Famine:

Crop failure in the 1780’s didn’t help much either.
Supply and demand occurs here with bread.
Got to the point where peasants thought the crown had wished for them to die. (conspiracy)

Guillotine:

A structure for death.
The condemned person is secured at the bottom of the frame with his or her head neck held directly below the blade.
However, it continued to be used long after the Revolution and remained France’s standard method of judicial execution until the abolition of capital punishment with the backing of President Francois Mitterrand in 1981 (a little more than 30 years ago.)

Marie Antoinette:

Napoleon:

Fun Fact: During the French Revolution, George Washington became the first President of the USA

Revolution: More Beginning

Started in 1789 and lasted until 1799
In 1700s, France and England were considered the most advanced countries in Europe and the world
It had a large population and a great (good and bad) foreign trade
However, much of the world did not know the extreme debt that France had occurred

Old Regime

In the 1700s, the social and political system of France was called the Old Regime
Under this Regime, there were 3 large social classes called estates

First Estate

Made up of clerdy of the Roman Catholic Church (priests, bishops, deacons, cardinals)
Had to pay 2 percent of their earnings to taxes
Owned 10 percent of the lands in France
Their jobs were to provide religion, education, abd relief services to the poor
Less than 1 percent of French populations were in this estate

Secone Estate

Third Estate

Included everyone that wasn't in the first two estates
Had no power to influence their government on France
Had to pay 50 percent of income/food to taxes
Resented the first two classes
Owned 70 percent of the lands in France and consisted of 97 percent of the populations

Enlightenment Ideals

Enlightenment is a complex with many influences, for this chapter we will focus on the influence from USA
The 3rd estate was becoming very tired of the Old Regime
They prompted the ideals of equality, liberity, and a democracy

Weak Leader

Louis XVI (Married to Marie Antoinette) was a weak leader
He was very indecisive and paid very little attention to his advisors
Maire didn't help much either with constantly expressing her opinion and the fact that she was from Austria
He finally wanted to tax the nobles, but they weren't there either so the Estates- General was called

Estates General

An assembly of representatives from all three estates
Their goals was to approve the new tax
The meeting was held on May 5, 1789, in Versallies
It was the first the assembly had meet in 175 years
In the past, the 3 estates would meet separately and there would only be one 1 vote per estate
This allowed for the 1st and 2nd estate to always beat the 3rd
The king sided with the nobles again and they were outvoted

Order of Events

July 14th 1789

Storming of the Bastille- see your research. Know that France lost their governor, secretary of state, and the "mayor" of Paris

July 17th 1789

The Great Fear- The peasantry revolt against feudalism and a number of urban disturbances and revolts. Many members of the aristocracy flee Paris to become emigres.
Emigres- someone who has migrated out of an area (Emigrant)

August 26th 1789

Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen is adopted by the assembly
Is a fundamental document of the French Revolution and in the history of human rights, defining the individual and collective rights of all the estates of the realm as universal
Is it like the Bill of Rights however the Bill of Rights is based on the whole USA and not into estates

Legislative Assembly

Late 1789
Emigres are required to return back to Paris with the threat of death if they didn't return
King is still scared to return so he removes the idea that they have to come back
This allows for new blood (3rd estate) to become part of the legislative assembly

Women's March on Versailles

Also known as The October March, The October Days, or The March on Versailles, was one of the earliest and most significant events of the Frence Revolution
The march began among women in the marketplaces of Paris who, on the morning of October 5th 1789, were near rioting over the high price and scarcity of bread
The market women and their allies grew into a mob of thousand and thousands, encouraged by revolutionary agitators, they ransacked the city armory for weapons and marched to the Palace of Versailles
The next day, the crowd compelled the king, his family, and most of the French Assembly to return with them to Paris
These events effectively ended the independent authority of the king

Blogs