InNo+annielo822+09.08.10

=Revolution and Terror, 1789-1794 = ** p. 37-47 ** September 8, 2010

 The Awesome Part




** War **
** - Began on April 20 1792 ** ** - France declared war on Austria ** ** - Hoping for quick win, French armies attacked Austrian bases across frontier in Belgium ** ** - Austrians were better organized, equipped, and led ** ** - Easily beat off French attack ** ** - Paris, people blamed French defeat on traitors ** ** - Rumors that there was an “Austrian Committee” in the Tuileries Palace, passing France’s military secrets to the Austrians ** ** - People were afraid, and increased when Prussian joined Austria in May ** ** - Assembly took emergency measures to deal with the threat ** ** - Ordered every soldier in Paris to the frontier, put a watch on all foreigners ** ** - Decided priests who refused to take oath of loyalty should be expelled ** ** - 11 July, declared The Fatherlands is in Danger, appealed to citizens to volunteer for army ** ** - Such measures put Louis in difficult position ** ** - Disagreed with actions against priests ** ** - 20 June, 20,000 opponents broke into Tuileries, shouted abuse at him ** ** - Louis’ position became more difficult in July ** ** - Enemy commander, Duke of Brunswick, issued statement called Brunswick Manifesto ** ** - Threatened people of Paris with punishments if Louis was harmed ** ** - Brunswick Manifesto put them in great danger ** ** - News reached Paris, Assembly ordered all citizens to have weapons ** ** - With weapons, people could do whatever they want ** ** - People wanted to get rid of monarchy ** ** - Wanted to set up an assembly where they had power **

** The storming of the Tuileries **
** - 10 August 1792, 20,000 armed men & women marched to Tuileries, wanted to de-throne Louis XVI ** ** - Broke into palace grounds with help of National Guards (blue) ** ** - Swiss guards (red) defended king ** ** - Tried to fight off National Guards but were outnumbered- Swiss retreated, but attackers caught up, slaughtered 600 **

** The overthrow of the monarchy **
** - Attack on Tuileries led quickly to end of monarchy ** ** - Louis suspended from office, imprisoned with family ** ** - New assembly called Convention, country’s new law-making body ** ** - 21 September 1792, first action, de-throne Louis and declare France was a Republic ** ** - Two months later, put him on trial for high treason ** ** - Found guilty, sentenced to death, beheaded in public 21 January 1793 **

** The // sans culottes // **
** // - People who overthrew king called themselves // ** //sans culottes// - Working people of craftsmen - Varied in work and money earned, but had similar ideas and behavior - Hated nobles - Men wore trousers instead of knee breeches (culottes) that nobles wore - Refused to use any word with noble connections - Called each other “Citizen” or “Comrade” rather than // monsieur // or // madame // // - Republicans, hated monarchy and thought power should belong to ordinary people like them // // - Many re-named themselves or called children after famous Republicans // // - Believed strongly everyone should have equal rights, equal to vote // // - To show nobody was superior to anyone else, used familiar ‘tu’ for ‘you’ instead of ‘vous’, usual way for addressing people outside the family // // - Claimed right to carry weapons and use them against their opponents // // - September 1792, broke into prison in Paris and murdered 1400 prisoners they suspected of supporting Austrians // // - Readiness to use violence horrified foreigners //

** The war spreads **
** - Execution of Louis XVI shocked millions all over Europe ** ** - Louis’ fellow monarchs were outraged ** ** - First months of 1793, each joined forces with Austria and Prussia in war against France ** ** -Aim of the coalition or alliance was to destroy the new French Republic ** ** - Made the revolutionaries more war-like than before ** ** - Wanted to fight the ‘tyrants’ as they called all kings ** ** - Wanted to spread revolution all over Europe ** ** - Didn’t wait for attack, for declared war upon latest three members: Britain, Holland, and Spain ** ** - France was at war with most of Europe ** ** - Disaster immediately struck French armies ** ** - Austrian forces beat them in a series of battles in Netherlands ** ** - French Commander, General Dumouriez, abandoned them and went to Austrian side ** ** - France seemed on the verge of defeat **

** Inflation and shortages **
** - War was one of many difficulties facing the gov’t ** ** - Major problem was high price of food ** ** - Price rising because gov’t printed huge amounts of paper money to pay for war ** ** - These were called // assignats // ** ** // - More bank notes printed = less worth = currency suffering from inflation // ** ** // - By February 1793, bank note was worth half the amount printed on it // ** ** // - Bread was scarce – farmers didn’t want to sell their bread for bank notes that were losing value // ** ** // - Hungry // sans culottes //began raiding shops for food they couldn’t buy// **

** Rebellion **
** - ­Third major problem hit when gov’t ordered extra 300,000 men to join army to defend country ** ** - Order was deeply unpopular ** ** - Many people were royalists in western France, and thousands of peasants joined in an armed rebellion against the gov’t ** ** - Paris, war led to conflict between 2 political groups in the Convention ** o Girondins, held most important posts in the gov’t o Jacobins, supported by the // sans coluttes // // - Jacobins blamed Girondins for France’s defeat on battlefield and allowing food prices to rise // // - 2 June, angry // sans coluttes //broke into the Convention and expelled leading Girondins// // - Triggered off revolts in provinces that supported the Girondins // // - Summer 1793, 60 our of 83 departments joined rebellion against gov’t //

** __The Reign of Terror__ **
** - Convention set up emergency group called Committee of Public Safety ** ** - Its 12 members had power to do anything they thought necessary to save France ** ** - Next 12 months, used this power to run France strictly and impose harsh punishments on opponents ** ** - It was so harsh that it was known as the ‘Reign of Terror’ **

** The Law of Suspects **
** - September 1793, Terror began with ‘Law of Suspects’ ** ** - Groups of citizens every town drew up lists of people they suspected of opposing the gov’t ** ** - Almost anyone could fall under suspicion ** ** - Law said that suspects were people who ‘by their behavior, their contacts, their words or writings, show themselves to be… enemies of Liberty.’ ** ** - In year that followed, over a quarter of a million suspects were arrested and put in prison ** ** - Many suspects sent to Paris for trial by the Revolutionary Tribunal ** ** - Special court set up to deal with political offenses ** ** - Judges could impose sentences of imprisonment, deportation or death ** ** - Half the sentences they passed were death sentences **

** The guillotine **
** - Death sentences carried out by beheading prisoners ** ** - The guillotine, suggest by Doctor Guillotin, meant to be quicker and less painful than methods of execution before ** ** - How it worked: ** o Tied to plank of wood o Cords around arms, body, legs o Lies on belly, inserts head in the board, shuts the board o Pulls string fastened to a peg at top of machine, lifts up catch o Axe falls down, head and body fall in baskets read for the purpose

** Terror in the provinces **
** - ­Committee of Public Safety took strong measures to crush revolts in countryside ** ** - Over 100 Representatives were sent to provinces with instruction to do anything necessary to restore order ** ** - In the Vendee, where biggest revolt was taking place, Representative on Mission was Jean-Baptiste Carrier ** ** - Guillotine was too slow to execute captured rebels, so he drowned them in boat-loads in River Loire ** ** - At least 2000 died in drownings at Nantes ** ** - To speed up executions, prisoners lined up in front of open gates and blasted into them with cannon fire **

** Terror in the armies **
** - August 1793, Convention ordered a ‘Mass Levy’ of French people ** ** - Meant every citizen had to take an active part in war effort ** ** - Unmarried men had to join armies to fight ** ** - Married men made weapons for them ** ** - Women made tents and served in hospitals ** ** <span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana; mso-fareast-font-family: Verdana; mso-fareast-language: ZH-CN;">- Children made bandages and gunpowder ** ** <span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana; mso-fareast-font-family: Verdana; mso-fareast-language: ZH-CN;">- Mass Levy increased French armies to 800,000 men, nearly 3x size of Coalition armies ** ** <span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana; mso-fareast-font-family: Verdana; mso-fareast-language: ZH-CN;">- Representatives made sure strict discipline was kept ** ** <span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana; mso-fareast-font-family: Verdana; mso-fareast-language: ZH-CN;">- Generals who didn’t win battles were replaced by younger officers who proved their ability in action **

** Economic Terror **
** - September 1793 Committee tried to halt rise in food prices with Law of Maximum ** ** - Said prices of forty goods (e.g. corn, flour, oil) must stay at fixed prices until further notice, as well as people’s wages ** ** - Breaking the Maximum carried the death penalty **

** Terror and the Church **
** - Terror led to disappearance of Christian religion in many parts of France ** ** - // Sans cullotes // claimed Christianity was just ‘superstition’ and closed Churches, robbed bells and silver, and sacked priests ** ** - In many towns, a ‘Cult of Reason’ based on revolutionary ideas such as Liberty, replaced Christianity ** ** - Part of campaign against Christianity, Convention introduced new calendar ** ** - Years didn’t count from birth of Christ, counted from September 1792 when Republic was founded ** ** - 1792-3 renamed Year One, Terror took place in Year Two ** ** - Each year was divided into twelve 30-day months with names describing its weather or growing seasons ** ** - Months were divided into three ten-day weeks ** ** - Sunday was abolished **

** Result of the Terror **
** - Committee of Public Safety achieved what it set out to do ** ** - Saved France from collapse ** ** - By mid 1794, French armies had driven enemies out of France, occupied Austrian Netherlands ** ** - Representatives on Mission crushed all revolts in Provinces ** ** - Prices were still rising, but Committee avoided famine ** ** - Price of success was high ** ** - Between 35,000 – 40,000 people were executed or died in prison ** ** - Rights and freedoms had been severely limited ** ** - Committee had become a kind of twelve-man dictatorship **

** The coup of Thermidor **
** - ­Summer 1974, Committee was very unpopular ** ** - Many deputies in Convention disliked it because ** o they thought it was too powerful o feared ending up in guillotine o could not see any need of it now that revolts were over and France was winning the war - Even // san culottes //, strongest supporters, were unhappy about limited wages while prices were still rising - 27 July 1794-9 Thermidor, Year Two in new calendar – Convention decided to get rid of Committee’s leading member, Robespierre, along with supporters - 21 were arrested and guillotined following day - 96 were executed a day after - Robespierre dead, Convention reduced power of Committee, freed hundreds of suspects, abolished the Maximum, and got rid of Revolutionary Tribunal - Terror ended.

<span style="font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 5px;">Questions

 * 1) Why would the enemy commander, Duke of Brunswick, issue the statement threatening people punishments if Louis was harmed?
 * 2) Why did the people who overthrew the king call themselves //sans culottes//?

<span style="font-size: 17px; font-weight: 800; line-height: 25px; margin: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 5px;">Summary
This section of the chapter starts off about the war. France declared war on Austria, but the Austrians beat off the French, then Prussia joined Austria. The Fatherlands is in Danger appealed to citizens to volunteer for the army. An enemy general issued a statement that threatened people of Paris with punishments if Louis was harmed. This put them in great danger. News reached the Assembly, so they ordered everyone to have weapons, and with weapons, they could do whatever they wanted, and they wanted to set up an assembly where they had power. 10 August, 1792, armed men & women stormed into Tuileries and wanted to de-throne Louis. With the help of the National Guards, they broke into the palace and slaughtered 600 of the Swiss Guards who tried defending Louis. This attack quickly led to the end of monarchy, and Louis was suspended from office and imprisoned with his family. A new assembly called the Convention was the new law-making body. Their first action was to dethrone Louis XVI and declare France a Republic. Louis put on trial for high treason two months later, found guilty, and beheaded in public. The people who overthrew the king called themselves //sans culottes//, they varied in work but had similar ideas and behavior. They hated the nobles, the monarchy, and they thought the power belonged to ordinary people like them. They claimed rights to use weapons against opponents, and their readiness to use violence horrified foreigners. The execution of Louis XVI shocked Europe, and angered fellow monarchs. Each joined forces with Austria and Prussia, their aim being to destroy the new French Republic. The revolutionaries were more war-like, and they declared war on Britain, Holland, and Spain. France was at war with most of Europe, and disaster immediately struck. They seemed to be on the verge of defeat. There was also inflation and rebellions. An emergency group called Committee of Public Safety was set up with twelve members, and they had the power to do anything necessary to save France. They used this power to run France strictly and was so harsh that it was known as the 'Reign of Terror'. The guillotine was invented as an execution device, and people who were suspected to oppose the government were executed. Representatives were sent to provinces to crush revolts. The Convention ordered everyone to take an active part in war effort, increasing the army size. They tried to halt food price rising, and set a fixed amount for certain goods and people's wages. They introduced a new calendar starting from 1792 when the Republic was founded rather than the birth of Christ. The Committee did save France from collapse, but the price was high. Summer of 1974, the Committee was very unpopular. The Convention got rid of one of the Committee's leading members and his supporters, and reduced the power of the Committee. The Terror had ended.