Causes of the French Revolution

Goal of Today• The goal of today will be to look at the structure of

French society prior to the Revolution and see how unbalanced it was. We will also look at the calling of the Estates General and the importance of the Tennis Court Oath.

• Things to know

• Makeup of French Society

• Tennis Court Oath

• Storming of the Bastille

• Estates General

The Old Regime (Ancien Regime)

• Old Regime – socio-political system which existed in most of Europe during the 18th century

• Countries were ruled by absolutism – the monarch had absolute control over the government

• Classes of people – privileged and unprivileged– Unprivileged people – paid taxes and treated badly

– Privileged people – did not pay taxes and treated well

The Three EstatesEstate Populatio

nPrivileges Exemption

sBurdens

First •Circa 130,000

•High-ranking clergy

•Collected the tithe•Censorship of the press•Control of education•Kept records of births, deaths, marriages, etc.•Catholic faith held honored position of being the state religion (practiced by monarch and nobility)•Owned 20% of the land

•Paid no taxes•Subject to Church law rather than civil law

•Moral obligation (rather than legal obligation) to assist the poor and needy•Support the monarchy and Old Regime

Second

•Circa 110,000

•Nobles

•Collected taxes in the form of feudal dues•Monopolized military and state appointments•Owned 20% of the land

•Paid no taxes •Support the monarchy and Old Regime

Third •Circa 25,000,000

•Everyone else: artisans, bourgeoisie, city workers, merchants, peasants, etc., along with many parish priests

•None •None •Paid all taxes•Tithe (Church tax)•Octrot (tax on goods brought into cities)•Corvée (forced road work)•Capitation (poll tax)•Vingtiéme (income tax)•Gabelle (salt tax)•Taille (land tax)•Feudal dues for use of local manor’s winepress, oven, etc.

Picture of the nobility

Clergy1st Estate

Aristocracy

2nd Estate

Commoners3rd Estate

In this French cartoon from the period, the Third Estate bears the full burden of taxation while the nobility, on the left leaning on the stone, and the clergy, on the right giving slight help, look on.

What does this contemporary political cartoon say about conditions in France under the Old Regime?

Economic Conditions under theOld Regime

• France’s economy was based primarily on agriculture

• Peasant farmers of France bore the burden of taxation

• Poor harvests meant that peasants had trouble paying their regular taxes– Certainly could not afford to have their taxes raised

• Bourgeoisie often managed to gather wealth– But were upset that they paid taxes while nobles did

not

Growing Discontent

• Money issues……. By 1786 France was in debt and banks refused to lend money to the government….

Why were they in debt?- France helped the American colonist fund the Revolutionary War. (May some of the ideals of the American Revolution rubbed off on the French people?)- Louis XIV Wars (again it dated back to his reign)- Versailles - Louis XV ‘s extravagant court.

Louis XIV

• Louis XVI was an awkward, clumsy man who had a good heart but was unable to relate to people on a personal level.

– He often appeared unfeeling and gruff. He often appeared unfeeling and gruff. – He was insecure and seems to have disliked He was insecure and seems to have disliked

being King of France.being King of France.

When one of his ministers resigned, he was When one of his ministers resigned, he was heard to remark, heard to remark, "Why can't I resign too?""Why can't I resign too?"

Extravagant Court

Marie Antoinette, the wife of Louis XVI, spend huge amounts of money on clothes and huge parties. She usually bought a new dress everyday.

This cartoon depicts the nobles and clergy sneaking out of the room with all of the tax money.

More Problems

• Crop and bread shortages in 1788 and 1789 led to more problems so Louis XVI summoned the Estates-General to Versailles in May 1789 to help solve the money problems.

What was the big deal?

Why is Louis XVI calling the Estates-General so important?

• When the Estates General met, each estate solemnly marched into the hall at Versailles. The third estate, dressed all in black,   the nobility dressed in all their finery and finally the clergy dressed in full regalia.

Make Up Of Estates General

• First time having met since 1614.

• King wanted to tax the First and Second Estate.

• Each Estate had one vote.

The Number of The Number of RepresentativesRepresentatives

in the Estates General: Vote in the Estates General: Vote by Head!by Head!Clergy

1st Estate

Aristocracy2nd Estate

300

300

648Commoners3rd Estate

Nobles Master Plan .

• Nobles do not want to be taxed and they thought they could gain an advantage if they joined forces with the First Estate

• Nobles wanted to protect their power, weaken royal power, and gain control of the government.

No Dice Says the Third Estate

• The Third Estate was not going to go along with the Nobles, they felt that they had more of a right to a vote than the nobles.

• Each delegate of the Estates-General should vote individually.

• Third Estate was as large as the First and Second Combined.

• Third Estate was calling for equal social rights.

King Says No Dice to the Third Estate • King wants all estates to meet separately.

• Third Estate refuses so the king locks them out of the Estates General.

• "What is the Third Estate?" wrote Abbe Sieyes. "Everything!" 

• This liberal clergyman rallied the the commoners of France to assert their power and take charge of the Estates General. Finally at his suggestion, they declared themselves the National Assembly and invited the other two orders to join them. The next day they found their meeting hall locked. At the suggestion of one of the delegates they moved to a nearby indoor tennis court

Fine we will create our own assembly

• Third Estate decide to call themselves the National Assembly.

• They travel to a nearby tennis court along with members of other estates who supported their cause.

• Take the Tennis Court Oath promising not to disband until they had written a constitution for France.

Tennis Court Oath- June 20th 1789• The National Assembly, considering that it has been

summoned to establish the constitution of the kingdom, to effect the regeneration of public order, and to maintain the true principles of monarchy; that nothing can prevent it from continuing its deliberations in whatever place it may be forced to established itself; and, finally, that wheresoever its members are assembled, there is the National Assembly; 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.

King Asks Third Estate to Disperse

• Hearing of the oath, the King called a meeting of all three orders.– At the end of the meeting he ordered the third estate to

disperse.

– They refused.

• One of the delegates declared that  "We are here at the will of the people, . . . and . . . shall not stir from our seats unless forced to do so by bayonets."

It Begins• Fearing the challenge to the old social order

Louis XVI orders troops to Paris and Versailles

• On July 14th, 1789 a huge mob surrounded and stormed the Bastille.

Why did they storm the Bastille?• To get weapons

to defend the National Assembly.

What happened?

• Armed with axes they freed 7 prisoners.

• But….. Soldiers opened fired on the mob and killed 98 of them.

• The commander of the Bastille and a few soldiers were killed.

Brick by Brick• The structure of the Bastille symbolized the old

order and the people who stormed it demolished it brick by brick.