FRENCH REVOLUTION NOTES

The Estates
First Estate: Clergy
The clergy consisted of about 100 000 people, or 0.5% of the population of France.They
owned 10% of the land in France.
o
The Lower Clergy (94 000 people):

The priests of the country that did parish work. They were responsiblefor
collecting the tithe.
o
The Higher Clergy (6000 people):

They comprised of nobles that lived at Versailles and basically didnothing.
They earned all the money that was collected from the titheand weren’t very
religious.
o
Every 10 years the clergy would give a gift to the king by using 5% of thetithe. The
roles of the church included: parish work, maintaining the churchand
education.
Second Estate: Nobility
The nobles of France consisted of about 400 000, or 1.5% of the population of
France.They owned 25% of the land in France. They didn’t pay any taxes, but were
willing todo if they were given power. There were many types of nobility, those who
were borninto it and those who contributed to the army. The highest nobles
lived at Versaillesand could become officers in the army or attain judicial or
administrative posts. Theywere also exempted from the punishments given upon
breaking a law.
Third Estate: Bourgeoisie, Workers, Peasants [basically everyone else]
The third estate consisted of 98% of the population or about 27 million people.
Theyowned about 65% of the land.
o
Bourgeoisie

To be a member of the bourgeoisie one might be a very wealthyfinancier or a
shopkeeper, artisan, lawyer or bureaucrat. Many amongthe bourgeoisie aspired to
be nobility and some bought positions suchas membership in the parlements
that conferred noble status to thefamily. Enterprising businessmen desirous
of joining the nobilityinvested in land and bought offices that carried a title,
using theirmoney to advance their social position rather than to expand
theirbusiness.

They were implicated in finances, commerce and the professionalworld (law,
medicine etc). Between 1730 and 1770 they prosperedthrough commerce and
mercantilism. They were owners of slaves of which they sold and were used
to maintain their plantations of sugarsand tropical fruits. They were so rich
that they used to lend the kingmoney, however, they had no power. Their anger
came from the factthat they couldn’t accept their predicament and deemed it
unjust topay all their taxes. Since their idols were the philosophers of
theenlightenment, they started to criticize the monarchy and this then ledto
a rebellion.
o
Workers

650 000 people in Paris who were afraid of bread shortages. Therewere many riots in
1788 due to that cause. They lost trust in the kingbecause he would buy all the
bread and flour and then sell the breadwhen the prices increased. These
people were extremely volatileduring the revolution and formed many riots and
barricades.
o
Peasants

They were composed of at least 86% of the population. They paid a lotof taxes but
were still supportive of the monarchy and the church. Itwas only during
isolated instances such as the Great Fear that theyreally played a role during
the revolution. They were also involved inthe army.

They worked on the lands of nobles, and were basically treated asslaves. They
were anti-Versailles and pro-king. They were veryattached to their king, seeing him
as the intermediate between thepeople and God. However, they were not pleased
with the expense of Versailles. They were basically the source of revenue with
their manytaxes: la gabelle (salt tax), wine taxes, leather taxes. The tithe
(ladîme) is paid to the church in which they pay 10% of what they
makewithin a year. Also, they gave a percentage of their harvest to
theseigneurs which falls under the rights outlined in the feudal system.Last of all they
had obligations to the state, such as military servicesor the royal corvées
(chores) in which they constructed roads, etc.
Class System Analysis:

1. The peasants were the victims of a taxation system which

penalized the poor.

2. Although there were higher and lower classes between the clergy and the nobles,
this didn’t exist in the 3rd estate because they weren’t educated enough to know the
difference.

3. The 1st and 2nd estate left the peasants uneducated (didn’t intervene to
make things better) so that they could take advantage of them.

4. Due to the interdependence of the class system, if the 3rd estate didn’t exist,
France would fall apart.
5. Everyone had their own place in society and learned to accept it.

6. The peasants were incapable of changing their situation.

7. The churches were run by the higher clergy who lived luxuriously without
working.

8. The less you work, the more you earn. Those who worked weren’t
awarded.

9. The church had more infl uence over the peasants than the
king.10.The nobles were too busy maintaining their place in
society.11.“Good things seem to come to those who work the least.”
Biographies of Important People:
•
Honoré Gabriel Riqueti comte de Mirabeau (1749–1791):
Revolutionary politician and orator, born in Bignon, C France. At 17 he
entered acavalry regiment, but was imprisoned on several occasions for his
disorderlybehaviour. While hiding in Amsterdam, having eloped with a young
married woman,he wrote the sensational
Essai sur le despotisme
(Essay on Despotism). Sentenced to death, he was imprisoned at Vincennes in 1777 for
over three years, where he wrotehis famous
Essai sur les lettres de cachet
(2 vols, 1782). Elected to the Estates General by the Third Estate of Marseille
(1780), his political acumen made him a force in the National Assembly,
while his audacity and eloquence endeared him to the people. He advocated
a constitutional monarchy on the English model, but failed to convince Louis
XVI. As the popular movement progressed, his views were also rejected by
the revolutionaries. He was nonetheless elected president of the Assembly in
1791, but died soon afterwards.

Maximilien François Marie Isidore de Robespierre (1758–1794):

French revolutionary leader, born in Arras, N France. He became a lawyer,
was elected to the States General (1789), became a prominent member of
the Jacobin Club, and emerged in the National Assembly as a popular radical,
and known as ‘the Incorruptible’. In 1791 he was public accuser, and in 1792
presented a petition to the Legislative Assembly for a Revolutionary Tribunal.
Elected first deputy for Paris in the National Convention, he emerged as leader of
the Mountain, strenuously opposed to the Girondins, whom he helped to destroy. In
1793 he became a member of the Committee of Public Safety, and for three
months dominated the country, introducing the Reign of Terror and the cult of the
Supreme Being. But as his ruthless exercise of power increased, his popularity
waned. He was attacked in the Convention, arrested, and guillotined on the
orders of the Revolutionary Tribunal.
 Georges (Jacques) Danton (1759–94):
French revolutionary politician, born in Arcis-sur-Aube, NEC France. He became a
lawyer, and was practicing in Paris at the outbreak of the Revolution. In 1790
heformed the Cordelier's Club, a rallying point for revolutionary extremists
and in 1792became minister of justice. He voted for the death of the king (1793), and
was one of the original members of the Committee of Public Safety. He tried to
abate the pitiless severity of his own Revolutionary Tribunal, but lost the
leadership to Robespierre. He was arrested, brought before the Tribunal, and
charged with conspiracy. Despite a heroic and eloquent defense, he was
guillotined.

Louis (Antoine Léon Florelle) de Saint-Just (1767–1794):

French revolutionary, born in Decize, C France. He studied at Soissons and
Reims, then studied law, and while in Paris began to write poetry and essays,
notably L'Esprit de la révolution
(1791, Spirit of the Revolution). He was elected to the National Convention
(1792), attracted notice by his fierce tirades against the king, and as a
devoted follower of Robespierre was sent on diplomatic and military
missions. He joined the Committee of Public Safety (1793), contributing to
the destruction of Danton and Hébert, became president of the Convention (1794),
and sponsored the radical Ventôse Laws, redistributing property to the poor. He
was guillotined with Robespierre in the Thermidorian Reaction.

Jacques René Hébert (1757–1794):

French revolutionary extremist who represented the aspirations of the sans-
culottes, born in Alençon, NE France. He became a popular political
journalist, assumed the pseudonym
le Père Duchesne after launching a satirical newspaper of that name(1790), and
joined both the Cordelier and Jacobin Clubs. He became a member of the
Revolutionary Council, playing a major part in the September Massacres and
the overthrow of the monarchy. After denouncing the Committee of Public Safety for
itsfailure to help the poor, he tried to incite a popular uprising, but having
incurred thesuspicion of Danton and Robespierre, he and 17 of his followers
(Hébertists) were guillotined.

Jacques Necker (1732–1804):

Statesman and financier, born in Geneva, SW Switzerland. Initially a banker's
clerk, he moved to Paris (1762), founded a bank, and became a wealthy speculator. In
1776–7he was director of the French Treasury and director-general of
finances. He attempted some administrative reforms, but tried to finance
French involvement in the War of American Independence by heavy borrowing,
while concealing the large state deficit. He was dismissed in 1781, but recalled in
1788 to deal with the impending financial crisis. He summoned the States
General, but his proposals for social and constitutional change aroused royal
opposition, and he was dismissed. His dismissal helped to provoke the public
disorder that ended in the storming of the Bastille, and he was hastily
recalled in 1789, but resigned the following year.

Louis XVI (1754–1793):

King of France (1774–93), born in Versailles, NC France, the third son of the dauphin
Louis and Maria Josepha of Saxony, and the grandson of Louis XV, whom he succeeded
in 1774. He was married in 1770 to the Archduchess Marie Antoinette, daughter of the
Habsburg Empress Maria Theresa, to strengthen the Franco–Austrian alliance. He
failed to give consistent support to ministers who tried to reform the
outmoded financial and social structures of the country, such as Turgot (1774–6) and
Necker (1776–81). He allowed France to become involved in the War of American
Independence (1778–83), which exacerbated the national debt. Meanwhile,
Marie Antoinette's propensity for frivolous conduct and scandal helped to
discredit the monarchy. To avert the deepening social and economic crisis, he agreed
in 1789 to summon the States General. However, encouraged by the queen, he
resisted demands from the National Assembly for sweeping reforms, and in
October was brought with his family from Versailles to Paris as hostage to the
revolutionary movement. Their attempted flight to Varennes (Jun 1791)
branded the royal pair as traitors. Louis reluctantly approved the new
constitution (Sep 1791), but his moral authority had collapsed. In August
1792 an insurrection suspended Louis's constitutional position, and in
September the monarchy was abolished. He was tried before the National
Convention for conspiracy with foreign powers, and was guillotined in Paris.

Marie Joseph (Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier), marquis de Lafayette (1757–1834):
After 1782, Lafayette was absorbed with questions of reform in France. He was one
of the first to advocate a National Assembly, and worked toward the
establishment of a constitutional monarchy during the years leading up to
theFrench Revolution. These efforts cost him much of his support from the French
nobility. As commander of the French National Guard, Lafayette was compelled to use
force to put down crowdviolence. By 1791, he had lost most of his popularity
with the people. In 1792,Lafayette tried unsuccessfully to curb radicalism
against the monarchy. The King and
Queen
would not accept his assistance. The troops he tried to turn on the Paris
mobwould not follow his orders. Lafayette was denounced as a traitor and fled the
country.
Jean Paul Marat (1743–1793):
French revolutionary politician, born in Boudry, W Switzerland. He studied
medicine atBordeaux, and lived in Paris, Holland, Newcastle, and London. At
the Revolution hebecame a member of the Cordelier Club, and established
the radical paper
L'Ami du peuple
(The Friend of the People). His virulence provoked hatred, and he was severaltimes
forced into hiding. Elected to the National Convention, he became a leader of
theMountain, and advocated radical reforms. After the king's death he was
locked in astruggle with the Girondins, and was fatally stabbed in his bath by
a Girondinsupporter, Charlotte Corday; thereafter he was hailed as a martyr.
(Marie) Charlotte Corday (d'Armont) (1768–1793):
Noblewoman, born in St Saturnin, W France. She sympathized with the aims
of theRevolution, but was horrified by the acts of the Jacobins. She managed
to obtain anaudience with the revolutionary leader, Jean Paul Marat, while he
was in his bath, andstabbed him. She was guillotined four days later.
(Lucie Simplice) Camille (Benoist) Desmoulins (1760–1794):
French revolutionary and journalist, born in Guise, N France. He studied law in Paris,but
owing to a stutter never practised. He nonetheless was an effective crowd
orator,and played a dramatic part in the storming of the Bastille. He was also
an influentialpamphleteer. A member of the Cordeliers' Club from its
foundation, he was elected tothe National Convention and voted for the
death of the king. He actively attacked theGirondists, but by the end of 1793
argued for moderation, thus incurring the hostilityof Robespierre. He was arrested and
guillotined.
Emmanuel Joseph, comte de (Count of) Sieyès (1748–1836):
French political theorist and clergyman, born in Fréjus, SE France. His
pamphlet,
Qu'est-ce que le tiers-état?
(1789, What is the Third Estate?) stimulated bourgeoisawareness and won
him great popularity. He became a member of the NationalConvention, and
later served on the Committee of Public Safety (1795) and in theDirectory. In 1799, he
helped to organize the revolution of 18th Brumaire, becoming amember of the
Consulate. When Napoleon assumed supreme power, his authoritywaned,
and he withdrew to his estates. He was exiled at the Restoration (1815),
andlived in Brussels until 1830, returning after the July Revolution to Paris.

Marie Antoinette (Josèphe Jeanne) (1755–1793):

Queen of France, born in Vienna, Austria, the daughter of
Maria Theresa
and FrancisI. She was married to the Dauphin, afterwards
Louis XVI
(1770), to strengthen theFranco-Austrian alliance, and exerted a growing
influence over him. Capricious andfrivolous, she aroused criticism by her
extravagance, disregard for conventions,devotion to the interests of Austria,
and opposition to reform. From the outbreak of the French Revolution, she
resisted the advice of constitutional monarchists(eg
Mirabeau
), and helped to alienate the monarchy from the people. However, thefamous
solution to the bread famine, ‘let them eat cake’, is unjustly attributed to
her.In 1791 she and Louis tried to escape from the Tuileries to her native Austria,
butwere seized at Varennes and imprisoned in Paris. After the king's execution, she
wasarraigned before the Tribunal and guillotined.
Financial Crisis
•
¼ of the revenues- army
•
½ of the revenues- national debt
•
Financing the American War of Independence of 1776
•
The extravagances of Marie Antoinette
•
Harvest failure of 1788
•
Maintenance of Versailles
Necker
•
Fired in 1781
•
Hired in 1788 because of the financial crisis
•
Reform Possibilities Suggested by Necker:
o
Tax the nobles
o
Eliminate tariffs
o
Expropriate religious lands
o
Have provincial assemblies with reps from all estates
•
Nobles said they wanted to consult the Estates Generals.
•
Fired on July 11, 1789, which enraged the Paris mob and was the triggering effect
•
Hired again on July 16, 1789
Abbé Sièyes
1 . Q u ’ e s t - c e q u e l e Ti e r s - E t a t s ? To u t . 2.Qu’a-t-il été jusqu’à
present dans l’ordre politique? Rien.3.Que demande-t-il? A y devenir
quelque choses.
The Estates General [May 5, 1789]:
•
Last time they were called it was in 1614.
•
Decided to meet in May 1789
•
“With this act, the aristocracy unwittingly signed it’s own death warrant,”
•
Each of the estates sits separately and votes by block.
•
Necker was popular with bourgeoisie and got the king to agree to double
therepresentation of the third estate.
•
The words of Abbé Sièyes in January 1789 “became the battle cry of the bougeoisie,”
•
The reps of the Third Estate were mostly composed of those who had more liberalideas
rather than conservative ideas like the peasants.
•
Cahiers des Doléances
[indicate their concerns and requests for change]
o
Development of a constitution
o
Equality of taxation
o
Evidence of the difference in 3
rd
estate in rural and urban areasi.Concerns of nobles’ hunting rights and the
use of pigeon hutches- rurali i . I n d i v i d u a l r i g h t s - u r b a n
National Assembly [June 17, 1789]:
•
On May 5, the king asked the estates to meet separately and vote as a block.