COLLAPSE OF THE ANCIEN REGIME THE FIRST PHASES OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION, THE KING S COFFERS. 81% = Unproductive!

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1 COLLAPSE OF THE ANCIEN REGIME THE FIRST PHASES OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION, THE KING S COFFERS 81% = Unproductive! Interest on DEBT Military Versailles Needs of the State Declare Bankruptcy?... Print money, create inflation?... Increase tax revenue? Clergy 100,000.5% 10% Gift every 5 years -- Reduced 75% Nobility 400,000 2% 25% (control another 35% with King s royal lands) Few taxes, Ability to tax peasants (privileges) Urban Rural Commoners Bourgeoisie/ Middle Class Urban Artisans Unskilled Laborers 2.3 million 8% 1.2 million 5% Peasants 21 million 84% 30% Some exceptions if employed by Govt. 95% of Tax Burden 1.Church tithe (10%) 2. Noble privilege 3. Govt tax

2 BREAKDOWN OF THE ANCIEN REGIME (OLD ORDER) Eastern Enlightened Despotism (18th C) Reform impulse (Theoretical Contract) Compare this to France after the setting of the Sun King - Differences? France, Serious Problems: Fiscal nightmare Louis XIV s Legacy 18th C warfare King has no absolute power BREAKDOWN OF THE ANCIEN REGIME (OLD ORDER) Problems with the Three Estates? Attempts at Reform Physiocrats Laissez-faire (Turgot) Cut court expenditures (Necker) 2 Problems to Reform (S. Lee): Stubborn conservatives (Parl. of Paris) Ineffective monarchs Louis XV indifferent (Voltaire) Louis XVI wants to be loved Ideas will fuel Revolutions in America & France Liberty, Equality, Fraternity Liberty Consists in being able to do anything that does not harm another person People = sovereign Equality/Fraternity All citizens have identical rights/liberties Areas NOT addressed: Equality for MEN NOT equal economically Classical Liberalism = Enlightenment s stress on human dignity, faith in science, rationality & progress (Locke, Montesquieu) Effects of American Revolution ( ) BACKGROUND TO THE REVOLUTIONARY PERIOD

3 ! Historical Interpretations, Long-Term Causes Traditional/Marxist Interp. = growing tensions b/t nobility and bourgeoisie Revisionist Interp. = both bourgeoisie and nobility highly fragmented, vacillating Long-Term Causes of Revolution in France Effects of Enlightenment & Classical Liberalism Fiscal Reform?? Bourbons themselves BACKGROUND TO THE REVOLUTIONARY PERIOD Short-Term Causes of Revolution in France Louis calls Estates General - 1st time since 1614 Spring bad harvests = prices= bad for urban poor King agrees to 1 vote per Estate!! Bread!and!the!Wage!Earner s!budget!! Average!Price!of!a!Hectoliter!(100!liters)!of!Wheat!in!France,!1726=1790! Problems in Estates General Cahiers Elections of reps Voting by Estate = social tensions Emmanuel Sieyes, What is the Third Estate? Everything. Tennis Court Oath, June 17, 1789 Formation of a National Assembly

4 Tensions mount in Paris Hopes for reform b/c of E.G., then N.A. Rising price of bread Aug 88-50% of urban budget July 89-80% Economic Depression 150,000 of 600,000 unemployed Fear of aristocratic plot 30,000 troops headed for Paris Storming of the Bastille, July 14, 1789 Effects of Bastille Day? Revolution in the Countryside The Great Fear (Aug 1789) Aug 4 - nobility surrenders traditional privileges Dec of Rights of Man and Citizen (Aug 26) REVOLUTIONARY CHANGES In your study groups, open the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen handout and the France Before the Revolution of 1789 handout Task 1: From the France handout, identify those aspects of eighteenth century France that demonstrate or imply a lack of human rights Task 2: From the DRMC handout, decide which of the abuses identified in Task 1 were addressed by the declaration How do you think each of the groups in France in 1789 would have reacted to the articles in the declaration? Which Enlightenment philosophes and ideas are represented in the declaration? (Be specific)

5 REVOLUTIONARY CHANGES Why did the Revolutionaries resort to violence in July 1789? Dec. of RMC: Equality-Liberty (Classical Liberalism) Representative Govt. Legal System in which all are equal Problems during formation of Const. unemployment & hunger Oct 5, Women March on Versailles REVOLUTIONARY CHANGES Changes by the National Assembly (Aug 89-Sept 91): Constitutional Monarchy Women s Rights Divorce, inherit property, financial assist. for illegitimate children Problems of Public Virtue Mary Wollstonecraft Vindication of the Rights of Women the two sexes mutually corrupt and improve each other Olympe de Gouges Nationalized Church Lands Est d National Church Oath of Allegiance Sept 1791, Louis XVI accepts Const. the revolution is over (Robespierre)