InNo+caroline.norgreen+09.02.10

The Revolution and Terror & the King and the Assembly
Bastille - depicts the commoners invading the fortress in search of gunpowder


 * Notes - Revolution and Terror & The King and the Assembly **


 * Revolution and Terror, 1789 – 1794 **


 * Revolution began in Versailles – quickly spread, in 1789
 * Next 5 years – big change in society, government and religion
 * People either love or hated it

Revolution, 1789


 * National Assembly
 * Great accomplishment for Estate Three
 * Great defeat for Louis XVI - Lost control of General Estates
 * Started losing control of the Capital
 * King ordered 20,000 royal troops to Paris to keep order
 * People thought it was really to break up the National Assembly
 * Peoples fear grew
 * July 12
 * Sacked finance minister – Necker – replaced by someone who apposed the third estate
 * Feared Louis would crack down on National Assembly
 * Crowds started loosing for weapons to defend themselves
 * Broke into arm stores – stole thousands of guns
 * July 14
 * Rumor had it there was tones of gunpowder in Bastille (old fortress – east end of Paris)

The Storming of Bastille


 * Hated Bastille – was rumors of dark stinking dungeons – torture chambers – masked prisoners chained to walls
 * Bastille was symbol of everything they hated about king’s power
 * Broke into the courtyard – threatened to blow up the gates
 * Would hear of no surrender
 * Wanted to destroy the symbol of royal power
 * Killed its defenders
 * Had control of it by evening

Images of Bastille


 * Most famous event in the French Revolution
 * Commoners being victorious over their own rulers
 * Well-known artists painted historical scenes, for example
 * The capture of Marquis de Launay
 * Scenes of what the commoners found in the dungeons
 * Copies of these images where all over France
 * Was the image of Bastille – everyone could recognize
 * Foreigners made their own version of these
 * ** Inaccurate ** image of Bastille – there were only seven captives at the time
 * Either there because of madness & request by the family
 * The prisoners were treated well at Bastille – not hungry & had access to good resources

The King Loses Control


 * King considers sending army into Paris to recapture Bastille
 * War minister says not to – army may refuse
 * He ordered army back to its barracks
 * Allowed people to sent up their own military
 * National Guard
 * Used to run the city
 * Officials of the Third Estate form new government
 * Paris Commune
 * Cities and towns across France did the same
 * Riots & attacks on town halls
 * Drove royal officials out
 * Set up their own communes and National Guard units

The Great Fear


 * Violence spread – unemployment was high – millions were hungry
 * Farmers lived in fear of gangs of wanderers who would steal food & damage their farms
 * Harvest time – rumors that nobles were:
 * Starving people by hoarding grain
 * Paying the wanderers to raid farms
 * Paying wanderers to terrorize peasants
 * Peasants respond by refusing to pay feudal rights and dues
 * Broke into lords’ homes and burned records of their dues
 * As violence spread --> fear of gangs increased
 * Villagers would ring church bells if they saw gangs
 * Would warn neighboring towns
 * Panic also spread
 * Soon the “Great Fear” gripped most of France

The Assembly Begins its Work


 * Deputies were terrified
 * August 4th – one by one, announced that they would give up their feudal right and dues
 * Next morning feudalism was dead
 * Three weeks later issued “Declaration of the Rights of Men and the Citizen”
 * Stated all men where free and equal in rights
 * People had to right to speak and write freely
 * Changed law of arrest and imprisonment
 * Banned torture
 * Power of France belonged to the People, not just the king

The Women March to Versailles


 * Louis XVI disliked these decisions – refused to make them laws
 * Early October brought more soldiers to Versailles + to his bodyguard
 * Looked like he was going to break up National Assembly
 * New reached Paris, market women gathered & collected weapons while marching though Paris is protest
 * Supported by National Guardsmen
 * Complained to king about high-priced bread & extra soldiers in Versailles
 * Asked him to move to Paris – so they could keep an eye on him
 * He refused – until a group of women smashed into the palace
 * Killed two bodyguards and threatened to kill the queen
 * October 6th, Louis XVI, Marie Antoinette and their oldest son moved to Paris
 * Travelled in a coach & were surrounded by 60,000 people
 * From then on they lived in the center of Paris
 * Tuileries Palace


 * The King and the Assembly, 1789 – 1792 **

Reforms of the National Assembly


 * Over the next two years National Assembly made great changes in France
 * Male taxpayers over 25 were given the right to vote
 * Church land was sold to pay for debt
 * Local government was re-organized & local council elected
 * Jews & Protestants had same voting right as Catholics
 * Etc.

Reforms of the Church


 * People were divided on the issue of the Church
 * Some thought it had too much power, land, and money & clergy lived unholy lives
 * Others God-fearing Catholics couldn’t see a reason to change it
 * Many Catholics protested when the Assembly took land and money from the Church
 * Protests increased in 1790 when Assembly drew up a law reducing the Church’s power
 * **Civil Constitution of the Clergy**
 * Ordered priests and bishops to be elected
 * All clergy must take an oath of loyalty to the Nation and the Law
 * Soon nation was divided between
 * Those who supported the oath and favored the revolution
 * Those who refused the oath and against the revolution

The Fight to Varennes


 * Dislike the Civil Constitution
 * Sided with the priests
 * People rebelled because it seemed like he was against the revolution
 * Urged by Marie and members of his court to leave France
 * French Princes had already built up military forces across the boarder
 * Hoped to receive assistance from Marie’s brother, emperor of the Austrian empire
 * Would then after invade France and take back the power they had lost and abolish the Assembly
 * Louis, Marie, and their children took flight June 21st, 1791
 * New was sent ahead that the family had taken flight, and they were caught it Varennes
 * Going back to Paris, crowds shouted insults and spat at the windows

The Road to War


 * First step was Louis trying to flee
 * Next step included:
 * Leopold issued a statement promising to help them regain liberty & power
 * He had no intension to invade France, just wanted to show support
 * King of Prussia called on all European leaders to help Louis
 * Rumors had it that foreign armies and the French Princes’ armies would soon invade
 * Most at this point thought that war was inevitable
 * Many French wanted the war
 * Louis and his supporters wanted it because they were sure that France would lose and he would be restored to power
 * Those who opposed Louis wanted war because it would show everyone whose side he was on – he would be dethroned
 * Wanted to make France a republic where people would hold power through the Assembly and the President (who they would elect)


 * Summary - **

This chapter explained a major part of the revolution. It shows how the third estate slowly gains more power. The reading also describes how the commoners storm Bastille, which at this time is the symbol of royal power. Even though there weren’t many prisoners there and they were all treated really well the French depicted Bastille as a place where rats infested the chambers and people where strung to the walls. During this time King Louis XVI starts to lose all his power, Paris is the first to create their own National Guard and commune, and other cities and towns of France start to do the same. As the violence starts to spread, and the employment rate increases, more and more people get hungry. This is when the “Great Fear” grips most of France. Farmers get scared that the gang of wanderers will come and steal all food, destroying the farm. As rumors spread about nobles taking all food, leaving none for everyone else, peasants stop paying their feudal rights and dues. This is where the National Assembly comes into play. The deputies of the first and second estates, one by one give up their feudal rights, and feudalism comes to an end. The National Assembly also writes out a “Declaration of the Rights of Men and the Citizen”. When the king refuses to accept these, and also brings more soldiers to Versailles, women in Paris march to Versailles, and demand the King moves to Paris so they can keep an eye on him. As the Assembly continues to make great changes in France the nation begins to divide again, because of the Civil Constitution of the Clergy. Either people supported the oath and the revolution or they didn’t. When the king also dislike the oath, many thought it was because he was against the revolution. His wife among others urged him to flee from France and get support from neighboring nations and from French Princes who has already built up armies outside France. On June 21st, 1789 they royal family left the palace in Paris but got caught and arrested in Varennes. As the empires of Europe all agreed to want to help Louis, the people of France thought that a war was inevitable. Even though there was so much disagreement in France they all wanted a war to occur. Both sides thought it would do the country good to get a war, each side for its own reasons.


 * Questions - **

Was it necessary to flee France? Why was Bastille such a huge sign of royal power when it really wasn't bad at all? How could they arrest King Louis - what did they arrest him for?

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