The French Revolution is an uprising in France against the monarchy from 1789 to 1799
which resulted in the establishment of France as a republic.
THE CAUSES
THE INFLUENCE OF
THE ENLIGHTENMENT
The Enlightenment was put into practice in the
American Revolution.
Revolutionaries demanded that all french subjects were free
and equal to the law.
POLITICAL
CRISIS
Estates general
Set out two problems:
Clergy and nobility had more power (2
votes) than the third estate (1 vote)
Estates general
couldn't limit the king's
power.
ECONOMIC
CRISIS
France is bankrupt due to:
France participated in
American War of
Independence.
Royal family spent large
amounts of money.
Louis XVI decided to increase taxes, even for the
privileged upper classes.
SOCIAL
CRISIS
All three estates were discontented
with the crown.
Clergy and nobility
Didn't want to pay taxes.
Middle classes and peasanty
Objected to the privileges enjoyed by the
clergy and nobility.
Angered by the luxurious lifestyle
of the crown and court.
MAJOR EVENTS
Increasing political and economic problems, Louis XVI decided to call
together the Estates General in 1789 in order to increase taxes.
This meeting marked the beginning of the French Revolution.
THE CONSTITUENT
ASSEMBLY
(1789-1791)
Anotações:
Also called the National Assembly.
Third Estate proposed new
voting system:
Each representative would have an
individual vote.
People from Paris stormed the Bastille. (14
July 1789)
Anotações:
Bastille: A famous political prison.
LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY
(1791-1792)
Confrontations between two political groups, Girondists and Jacobins.
GIRONDISTS
Believed in the Revolution.
Moderate political ideas.
Limited suffrage.
JACOBINS
Believed in the revolution.
They expanded suffrage.
Radical political ideas.
The war against Austria and Prussia.
CONVENTION
(1792-1795)
Absolution of the Monarchy and execution of Louis XVI.
War with the absolutists nations of Europe.
Robespierre eliminated any opposition by using terror
and guillotine.
DIRECTORY AND
CONSULATE
(1795-1799)
Executive power was held by a directory of five members.
Napoleon stood out in many military campaigns and became the first consul.
THE CONCEQUENCES
POLITICAL CHANGES
Caused end of absolute monarchy.
Constitutional monarchies and republics were formed.
New constitutions:
BASED ON:
Popular sovereignty
Separation of powers
ESTABLISHED:
Limited male suffrage
Civil rights
Elections led to the emergence of political groups.
ECONOMIC CHANGES
Legal changes ended the economic privileges that has characterized the Ancien Régime.
All citizens now had to pay tax and contribute to
the states expenses.
Anotações:
Including nobility and clergy.
New laws guaranteed private property rights.
Free trade was guaranteed in
benefited middle-class merchants.
SOCIAL CHANGES
Once the clergy and nobility had lost the privileges they had
enjoyed under the Ancien Régime, the Estates system
ceased to exit.
Main concequence
The crisis and ultimate disintegration
of the Ancien Régime.