Aim: Could the French Revolution have

been avoided?
Units 5 and 6: 1750 - 1900
1. According to the timeline, identify 5 countries that had revolutions or
wars of independence between 1775 and 1848.
2. Which was the first country to rebel in the “Age of Revolution?”
3. Based on the timeline, what earlier events may have caused the Age
of Revolution? Why do you think that was?
 I The Old Regime (Ancien Regime)
A) Socio-political system of pre revolutionary France
B) France’s social hierarchy was divided into 3 estates.
 The Old Regime (Ancien Regime)
1st Estate 2nd Estate 3rd Estate
Church owned 10% of France Less than 2% of the total 4/5 of the population.
population but they owned 20% Bourgeoisie (upper middle class
of the land. professionals, lawyers, doctors,
business owners, artisans
Sans culottes (urban workers)
Peasants (poor farmers)
Paid no direct taxes, but gave the Held high offices in the Army, Paid almost 50% in taxes and
government 2% as a “Free Gift”. government, and the courts feudal dues
Collected tithes (10 % of income; Paid the tithe to the Church but Had to pay a Corvee (work tax)
usually from the peasants crops) virtually no other taxes in which peasants will work for
the local government/noble
Priests were often as poor as the Most nobles were not wealthy.
peasants. They relied on feudal and
manorial dues owed to them by
the peasants.
 The 3rd Estate was Divided into 3 Groups
1. Bourgeoisie (upper middle
class professionals, lawyers,
doctors, business owners,
artisans
2. Sans culottes (urban
workers)
3. Peasants (poor farmers)
Unknown artist, “You Should
Hope this Game Will Be Over
Soon”, 1788

What is this political

cartoon trying to say
about the 3 Estates?
 II Causes of the French Revolution
Economic Reasons:
France’s economy was declining due More Problems with
to Taxes
The price of bread was skyrocketing. 1. The French were subject to a
The monarchy spent too much money on range of direct taxes (payable to
luxuries the royal government) and indirect
 After losing to the British in the 7 Years War, taxes (payable on items like salt,
France aided the American Revolution financially wine and tobacco) as well as feudal
against the British payments.
 3rd Estate paid the most taxes 2. Tax liabilities varied widely
across France. The gabelle (salt tax)
Social Reasons: Enlightenment was levied at much higher amounts
philosophes questioned the divine in and near Paris than in southern
right of monarchs. France. The nobility and clergy
were also exempt from some direct
Political Reasons: Influence of the taxes.
American Revolution!
 King Louis XVI

Louis was born at Versailles in 1754. In 1770 he married Marie Antoinette, daughter of
the emperor and empress of Austria, a match intended to consolidate an alliance
between France and Austria. In 1774, Louis succeeded his grandfather Louis XV as king
of France. Louis initially supported attempts by his advisors Jacques Turgot and later
Jacques Necker to relieve France's financial problems by cutting spending and raising
taxes on the 1st and 2nd Estates. However, France’s debts increased due to aiding the
American revolutionaries, and the clergy and nobles refused most reforms. This led to
Louis XVI calling a meeting of the Estates General.
 Marie Antoinette
Born in Vienna, Austria 1755 to Holy Roman Emperor
(and Hapsburg) Francis I and Maria Theresa, Marie
Antoinette married the future French king Louis XVI at
14 years old. She and her husband became symbols of
the ills of the French monarchy.

Was it fair to blame Marie Antoinette for France’s

problems?
When told that starving French peasants lacked any
bread to eat, the queen allegedly said “Let them eat
cake!”. There is NO evidence she said this. Marie did
indulge in luxuries including socializing at Versailles, and
elaborate hairdos (including a naval ship). However, she
established a home for unwed mothers, gave to charity,
adopted 4 orphans and supported others children
financially (in addition to her 4 own biological children).
 III The Estates General 1789
A) The Estates General was a representative assembly of the Ancien Régime. It did
not meet regularly; it was summoned by the king, usually in times of war or crisis. The
Estates General had no legislative power: its role was simply to advise the king. In
1789 the Estates-General had not met for 175 years! Louis XVI called the meeting to
raise necessary funds. The edict summoning the Estates-General stated that the
traditional procedures of meeting and voting by order were to be used. [Traditionally
the Estates General met as 3 separate estates. Voting was conducted by order; each of
the Estate deliberated on matters separately and cast one vote in unison. This meant
the 3rd was regularly outvoted by the 1st and 2nd Estates.]

B) This triggered outrage among the bourgeoisie. This gave rise to two slogans:
“voting by head” (a call for votes to be decided by the ballots of individual deputies)
and “doubling the Third” (a demand that representation for the 3rd Estate be
increased twofold).

C) December 27th the king, by way of compromise, agreed to double the number of
seats for deputies from the 3rd Estate. However, this did not change the fact that the
3rd estate could still be outvoted by the 1st and 2nd.
The Estates General 1789 Continued…
D) January 24th, 1789 Louis XVI issued another edict providing instructions for
electing deputies to the Estates-General.
For the 1st and 2nd Estate, each formed an electoral assembly to elect its deputies. All
nobles and clerics could participate.
The election of 3rd Estate deputies was more complex. In the countryside, male
taxpayers over the age of 25 were invited to participate in parish assemblies, which
elected representatives to assemblies. In towns and cities, guilds and corporations
sent representatives to a town assembly, which then chose representatives to attend
the assembly that would elect the deputies for the Estates-General.
This lengthy and indirect process was designed to limit radical voices. Also, deputies
needed to be wealthy enough to pay their own way to Versailles and remain there for
several weeks.

296 First Estate deputies were dominated by parish priests

282 Second Estate deputies by military nobles
610 Third Estate deputies by lawyers and bourgeois interests.
 Estates General 1789 Continued…
E) May 4, 1789
King Louis XVI opened the meeting by declaring
himself “the people’s greatest friend”. Jacques
Necker, the Minister of Finances, explained the
financial situation (the deficit was 56 Million)
and argued for new taxes.
Jacques Necker 1732 - 1804
1. The Estates-General reached an impasse over how to
carry out the voting of the meeting.
2. The 3rd Estate reacted by calling itself a National
Assembly and decided to draft a constitution with or
without members of the other estates.
3. King Louis XVI locked the 3rd Estate out of the meeting
hall. The 3rd Estate was joined by ‘liberal’ members of the
other 2 Estates and moved to a nearby tennis court.
 IV The Tennis Court Oath
3 days after the National Assembly was locked out of the Estates
General, they met in a nearby indoor tennis court and took the Tennis
Court Oath, vowing not to leave until constitutional reform had been
achieved. On June 23, 1789, Louis XVI relented. He ordered the 3
estates to meet together as the National Assembly and vote by
population, on a constitution for France.

“The National Assembly, considering that it has been summoned to

establish the constitution of the kingdom, to effect the
regeneration of the public order, and to maintain the true
principles of monarchy… Decrees that all members of this Assembly
shall immediately take a solemn oath not to separate, and to
reassemble wherever circumstances require, until the constitution
of the kingdom is established and consolidated upon firm
foundations; and that, the said oath taken, all members and each
one of them individually shall ratify this steadfast resolution by
signature.”
Painting by David, Le Serment du Jeu de paume
 V The Storming of the Bastille and Great Fear
A) Initially seeming to support the National Assembly by declaring it legal, Louis had
Versailles surrounded with troops and dismissed Jacques Necker (the financial
minister who had supported reforms).
B) On July 14th rioters stormed the Bastille fortress in an attempt to secure weapons.
The 7 prisoners of the Bastille were freed. (*The majority of the prisoners had been
moved.) The capture of the Bastille symbolized the end of the ancien regime
C) Spurred by rumors of roving brigades of royalists, peasants looted and burned the
homes of nobles (The Great Fear)  inspired the National Assembly to abolish
feudalism on August 4, 1789.
D) France in 1789 endured its worst food crisis in years.

“Unemployed workers, displaced by the crisis in industry,

were everywhere in search of jobs… Vagrants and beggars,
always a source of concern to the small rural proprietor,
choked the roads and threatened reprisals against
householders who refused to give them shelter or a crust of
bread. Hungry men and women invaded forests and fields and
stripped them of firewood or grain, before the harvest was ripe
to the gathered.” John Albert White
 A Paris newspaper reported on the storming of the
Bastille on July 14th 1789:
“First, the people tried to enter this fortress by the Rue St.-Antoine, this fortress, which no one
has ever penetrated against the wishes of this frightful despotism and where the monster still
resided. The treacherous governor had put out a flag of peace. So a confident advance was
made; a detachment of French Guards, with perhaps 5,000 – 6,000 armed bourgeois penetrated
the Bastille’s outer courtyards, but as soon as some 600 persons had passed over the first
drawbridge, the bridge was raised and artillery fire mowed down several French Guards and
some soldiers; the cannon fired on the town, and the people took fright… It was a terrible
scene… The fighting grew steadily more intense…and so the Bastille fell and the governor, De
Launey, was captured... Serene and blessed liberty, for the first time, has at last been introduced
into this abode of horrors, this frightful refuge of monstrous despotism and its crimes.
Meanwhile, they get ready to march; they leave amidst an enormous crowd; the applause, the
outbursts of joy, the insults, the oaths hurled at the treacherous prisoners of war; everything is
confused; cries of vengeance and of pleasure issue from every heart; the conquerors, glorious
and covered in honour, carry their arms and the spoils of the conquered, the flags of victory, the
militia mingling with the soldiers of the fatherland… all this created a frightening and splendid
spectacle. On arriving at the square, the people, anxious to avenge themselves, allowed neither
De Launey nor the other officers to reach the place of trial; they seized them from the hands of
their conquerors and trampled them underfoot one after the other. De Launey was struck by a
thousand blows, his head was cut off and hoisted on the end of a pike with blood streaming
down all sides… This glorious day must amaze our enemies, and finally usher in for us the
triumph of justice and liberty. In the evening, there were celebrations.”
Symbols of the French Revolution

The Tricolor Flag

The WHITE of the Bourbons,
the RED & BLUE of Paris.
Bastille Day July 14th, Paris
 Summary Questions
1. What were the long term causes of the French Revolution?
2. Why did Louis XVI call for a meeting of the Estates General?
3. What was the National Assembly and why did they go to a nearby
tennis court?
4. What was the purpose of the Tennis Court Oath? What is its
significance? (Use evidence from the primary source)
5. Why was the Bastille stormed? What was the outcome? Was the
actions of the rebels justified? (Use evidence from the primary
source)
6. Do you think it is fair that Marie Antoinette and Louis XVI were
blamed for France’s problems? Why or why not?
 Key Vocabulary
1st Estate
2nd Estate
3rd Estate
Ancien Regime
Bastille
Bourgeoise
Estates-General
French Revolution
Jacques Necker
King Louis XVI
Queen Marie Antoinette
Sans-Culottes
Tennis Court Oath