Chapter 19 The French Revolution and Napoleon

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Chapter 19 The French Revolution and Napoleon

• Section 1 On the Eve of Revolution

"Liberty leading the People" by Eugène Delacroix
(1830)
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• Setting the Scene
• On April 28,1789, unrest exploded at a Paris
  wallpaper factory. A rumor had spread that the
  factory owner was planning to cut wages even
  though bread prices were soaring. Enraged workers
  vandalized the owner's home. Later, they stopped
  some nobles returning from an afternoon at the
  racetrack. They forced the nobles to shout "Long
  live the Third Estate!"
• Riots like these did not worry most nobles. They
  knew that France faced a severe economic crisis
  but thought that financial reforms would ease the
  problem. Then, rioters would be hanged, as they
  deserved.
• The nobles were wrong. The crisis went deeper
  than government finances. Reform would not be
  enough. By July, the hungry, unemployed, and
  poorly paid people of Paris had taken up arms.
  Their actions would push events further and
  faster than anyone could have foreseen.

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I. The Old Regime

• Under the ancien regime (old order) everyone in
  France belonged to one of three classes

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I. The Old Regime

• The First Estate
• the clergy
• The Second Estate the nobility
• The Third Estate everyone else

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A. The Clergy

• The French higher clergy enjoyed wealth,
  privilege, and power and paid no taxes

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A. The Clergy

• The Church provided some social service, but many
  condemned the Enlightenment

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B. The Nobles

• Nobles held top positions in the government,
  army, courts and Church but also paid no taxes

Nobles living the good life
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C. The Third Estate

• The Third Estate numbered about 27 Million, or
  98 of the population

Population by Estate
Land Owned by Estate
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C. The Third Estate

• At the top were the Bourgeoisie the bankers,
  merchants, manufacturers, and professionals

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C. The Third Estate

• 9 out of 10 French were rural peasants. The
  poorest were urban workers, many who were
  unemployed

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D. Discontent

• The Third Estate resented their social betters
  and Enlightenment ideas caused them to question
  the inequalities

A contemporary French cartoon the Third Estate
(workers) is shown bearing the full burden of
taxation.The nobility (left) leans unhelpfully
on his labor the clergy (right) gives token help.
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II. Economic Troubles

• One cause of the financial crisis was due to the
  governments deficit spending

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II. Economic Troubles

• Louis XIV left France in debt and his heirs were
  unable to solve the economic problems

Louis XV
Louis XVI
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II. Economic Troubles

• The nobility and clergy did not pay taxes - the
  burden of paying would fall on the Third Estate

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II. Economic Troubles

• By the end of 1788 France faced bankruptcy, bread
  riots, and unrest by the nobility

Bread Riots
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III. The Estates General

• Discontent resulted in the Estates General
  meeting for the first time in 175 years

The Estates-General was called by King Louis XVI
in 1789 in an attempt to avoid civil unrest. They
voted to make a permanent National Assembly.
Louis XVI efforts to repress the new assembly
caused widespread rioting and ushered in the
French Revolution.
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III. The Estates General

• Louis XVI had all three estates prepare cahiers
  listing their grievances

Presenting the Cahiers De Doleances
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III. The Estates General

• Delegates to the Estates General were elected,
  but conflict arose over voting procedures

The Third Estate Awakens (1789)
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III. The Estates General

• The Third Estate declared themselves the National
  Assembly, inviting the clergy and nobility to
  join and write a constitution

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III. The Estates General

• Locked out of their meeting hall, the Assembly
  took the Tennis Court Oath

June 20, 1789  During a meeting of the Estates
General, a problem arose about the voting
procedure.  Angered by the disagreement, Louis
XVI locked the 3rd Estate out of the meeting
during which time they reconvened in the tennis
courts at Versailles.  This is where they took
the Tennis Court Oath not to leave until a
constitution was created.  This started the
beginning of the political French Revolution.
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IV. Storming the Bastille

• July 14, 1789 - a crowd gathered outside the
  Bastille prison in Paris demanding weapons and
  gunpowder

Storming the Bastille
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IV. Storming the Bastille

• When the Bastilles commander opened fire, the
  crowd broke through the gates - the French
  Revolution had begun