I.
Review
– need $, Estates General, National Assembly, Tennis Court
II.
On
to the Bastille!
A.
Economic
hardships motivate – bread price, depression, unemployment, 1/8 pauper,
dismissal of moderate finance minister = fear, crowds!,
passion!, seize arms!, “Hey! There’s the Bastille!”
B.
July
14, 1789 – Bastille sacked; Marquis de LaFayette
named to head city army; this cut king’s army/authority
C.
Country
revolt spawned – violence, burning, feudal records, “Great Fear” makes nobles
give in an inch, peasants take a mile – never pay feudal dues henceforth!
III.
Political
Changes
A.
National
Assembly issues Declaration of the Rights of Man
1.
Natural
Rights – liberty, property, security, no oppression allowed, innocent ‘til…,
free speech and press
2.
Social
contract – right to participate in the “general will”
3.
Again,
theory is easy, practical nuts-n-bolts prove tough; namely, how much power
should king keep?
B.
7,000
women are mad as ____. (Somebody better get out the way.)
1.
Need
food, increasingly jobless, nobles had bugged out taking their market with them
2.
Women
march to Versailles looking for royal family
3.
“Agree”
to let the family return to Paris
4.
National
Assembly follows to Paris
a.
neutralized
nobility as legal order
b.
set
up constitutional monarchy where king stays but all legislative power was in
Assembly
c.
reforms
– SOME women’s rights, still no political participation, 83 departments, metric
system, economic liberalism (no monopolies, guilds, unions as they impede true
capitalism)
d.
religion
– religious freedom granted, Catholic church lands seized to be collateral for
paper money, loyalty oaths demanded of priests creates dissent; elite – yes to
oaths, commoners – keep as it is
IV.
World
War France
A.
Ideals
spread to Britain
1.
conservatives
worry – Edmund Burke – Reflections on the Revolution in France
– calls for retention of Parliamentary system; fear of chaos
2.
liberals
– Mary Wollstonecraft – A Vindication of
the Rights of Man/Woman – reflects French ideals; expands ideals of women
to understand that all humans are created equal and have natural rights
B.
Austria
and Prussia – Declaration of Pillnitz – try to scare
the French revolutionaries with the threat of intervention…it backfires!
C.
National
Assembly to Legislative Assembly
1.
LA
has no NA members; LA is younger and more aggressive in group called “Jacobins”
2.
Accept
foreign challenge and go on anti-tyranny crusade (declare war)
3.
Meanwhile,
royal rumors of treason…
4.
Royal
residence at Tuileres, king flees, captured,
suspended, imprisoned
D.
Legislative
Assembly becomes National Convention
1.
September
Massacre – rumors of aristocratic “actions” while in prison; folks break in and
kill 1/2
2.
Girondists and Mountain
a.
Girondists are somewhat
moderate
b.
Mountain
(Robespierre) are more radical
3.
Royalty
convicted and executed
4.
French
army killing feudalism in other countries; also creating enemies by living off
the land
5.
National
Convention declares war on Britain, Holland, Spain
6.
NC
division grows – both Girondists and Mountain fear
one another
a.
economics motivates again – sans culottes respond to inflation,
unemployment, food shortages…demand ACTION!
b.
Girondists and Mtn. Initially
no, then Mtn. Joins sans culottes;
arrest Girondists and take over the NC
c.
Committee
on Public Safety instituted (Robespierre)
d.
Revolt
erupts across France against these actions; Paris and the army now fought
French provincial “armies”