Transformation of France: The French Revolution
1. The French Revolution (1789-1799)
In 1789, the French Revolution began, toppling the former regime and ushering in a new liberal society and new ways of thinking.
The Causes of the Revolution
Several factors contributed to the revolution:
- Economic prosperity for the bourgeoisie, yet regulations hindered free trade and production.
- Social stratification and privileges based on birth prevented access to political power.
- Enlightenment ideas promoted political change, challenging state interventionism, aristocratic privilege, and absolutism.
- Resistance from the powerful aristocracy to any change.
- A severe economic crisis caused by increased feudal burdens, bad harvests, rising agricultural prices, unemployment, strikes, and riots.
- Royal finances were in deficit due to the aristocracy’s exemption from taxes and France’s participation in the American Revolutionary War.
The Call of the Estates General
A minister of Louis XVI proposed taxing the nobility to alleviate the financial crisis. The nobility opposed this, claiming that only the Estates General (an assembly convened by the monarch, including representatives of the three estates) could approve new taxes. This led to a political crisis, and the king summoned the Estates General for May of the following year. The situation fueled discontent and political turmoil as representatives were elected and Cahiers de Doléances (grievance petitions) were prepared. These petitions highlighted grievances against the monarchy, including demands for the abolition of feudal rights and privileges, and revolutionary proposals such as national sovereignty and political freedoms.
The July Break 1789
The Estates General opened in Versailles on May 5, 1789. Meetings were held separately by estate (nobility, clergy, and Third Estate), with each estate having a single vote. The Third Estate demanded joint meetings and voting by individual. The king and privileged classes refused. On June 20, the Third Estate defied Louis XVI, met at the Jeu de Paume, constituted the National Assembly, and vowed to create a constitution. Joined by some clergy and nobility, they gained popular support, paving the way for revolution. The king yielded, and the Estates General became the National Constituent Assembly on July 9. The deputies called for mobilization, culminating in the storming of the Bastille on July 14. Revolutionary armed forces, the National Guard, were formed. These actions marked a break with absolutism.
The National Constituent Assembly (1789-1791)
The National Assembly abolished feudalism, including estates, personal servitude, tithes, rents, and manorial justice. They approved the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, granting the French natural, political, and property rights. They drafted a constitution, adopted in 1791, establishing a constitutional monarchy with a division of powers. The king retained veto power. Census suffrage limited active citizen participation. A new territorial division was established, internal customs were abolished, and free trade was established. Citizens were declared equal before taxes, and direct taxes were increased on wealth and property. Freedom of enterprise was guaranteed, but unions were banned. To address the financial deficit, church property was confiscated, and the state assumed responsibility for maintaining worship and the clergy. Church and state were separated, and divorce was authorized.
The Radicalization of the Revolution: The Fall of the Monarchy (1791-1792)
The revolution faced opposition from privileged classes. Nobles emigrated, and European powers sought to restore the Old Regime. The National Assembly divided. Monarchists and liberal bourgeoisie tried to stop absolutist conspiracies. In 1791, the royal family attempted to flee France, discrediting the monarchy and radicalizing revolutionaries. In October 1791, a new parliament, the Legislative Assembly, was elected. Radical groups demanded a republic. In 1792, war was declared on Austria. The threat of Austrian troops and the monarch’s complicity radicalized the people. On August 10, 1792, the Tuileries Palace was stormed, and the king was arrested. Elections by universal male suffrage were called.
The National Convention: A Democratic Republic (1792-1795)
The National Convention formed on September 20, 1792, abolished the monarchy, and proclaimed the republic.
A) The Gironde Convention: The Girondins, a moderate group, held power, but their policies angered the masses. They clashed with the more radical Jacobins. The Girondins hesitated to prosecute Louis XVI, fearing radicalization. Louis XVI’s execution intensified divisions and fueled the anti-revolutionary coalition. The Convention imposed compulsory levies. Peasant uprisings and a royalist army emerged. The sans-culottes demanded social and economic reforms, but the Girondins refused to act.
B) The Jacobin Convention and the Reign of Terror: The Jacobins arrested and executed Girondin leaders, ushering in the most radical phase of the revolution. They adopted a new constitution (1793) establishing popular sovereignty and universal male suffrage. A revolutionary government suspended constitutional guarantees and initiated the Reign of Terror. The Committee of Public Safety, led by Robespierre, held absolute power, implementing arrests, trials, and executions. The army was reorganized, and social reforms were introduced, including land redistribution, price controls, and minimum wages. Primary education became free and compulsory. De-Christianization began. By early 1794, the republic seemed secure, but internal divisions remained.
The Bourgeois Republic (1795-1799)
After the fall of the Jacobins start the third stage of the convention. It approved a new constitution (1795) that restored the census suffrage, defined a new executive, and established a legislative directory divided into two chambers, the Council of Elders and the Council of Five Hundred very conservative in nature. The repressed directory hardness popular revolts led by the sans-culottes and Jacobins, who advocated the continuation of the revolution. Became important to the Conspiracy of Equals. The board also had to deal with the reorganization of the royalist movement. The greatest success of this stage was foreign policy. The war on European coalitions was favorable to France. A young General Napoleon Bonaparte, staged a coup and took over, closing definitely the revolution and starting the consulate.