[25], In the 1789 elections, the First Estate returned 303 deputies, representing 100,000 Catholic clergy; nearly 10% of French lands were owned directly by individual bishops and monasteries, in addition to tithes paid by peasants. [232], The Revolution meant an end to arbitrary royal rule and held out the promise of rule by law under a constitutional order, but it did not rule out a monarch. Attack and take of the Crte--Pierrot (March 24, 1802) by Auguste Raffet. At the beginning of the revolution, they abolished the provinces, each of which had its own identity and which, for some of them, represented nations, establishing in their place the division into departments, which will be extended to the new conquests made during the revolutionary and Napoleonic eras. By April 1796, over 500,000 Parisians were reportedly in need of relief, resulting in the May insurrection known as the Conspiracy of the Equals. [257], French migration into the Canadas significantly declined during and after the Revolution, with only limited numbers of artisans, professionals, and religious emigres permitted to settle in that period. Emboldened by this success, in February 1793 France declared war on the Dutch Republic, Spain and Britain, beginning the War of the First Coalition. That evening he repeated these claims at the Jacobins club, where it was greeted with demands for execution of the 'traitors'. This is generally seen as marking the end of the Revolutionary period. Most importantly, Britain preferred peace, and as Emperor Leopold II stated after the Declaration of Pillnitz, "without England, there is no case". [269][270] Albert Soboul, also writing in the Marxist-Republican tradition, published a major study of the sans-culottes in 1958. One of the most significant was the Jacobin club; originally a forum for general debate, by August 1790 it had over 150 members, split into different factions. [c] Robespierre saw their dispute as de-stabilising the regime, and, as a deist, objected to the anti-religious policies advocated by the atheist Hbert, who was arrested and executed on 24 March with 19 of his colleagues, including Carrier. Unlike Britain, where Parliament determined both expenditures and taxes, in France the Crown controlled spending, but not revenue. The French Revolution literally redefined the word "revolution." After 1789, it meant the overthrow of a social and political order, and its replacement by something new. [125] Despite his links to Augustin Robespierre, military success in Italy meant Napoleon Bonaparte escaped censure. Terror was not confined to Paris; over 2,000 were killed after the recapture of Lyons. After the Convention passed the law in September 1793, the Revolutionary Republican Women demanded vigorous enforcement, but were countered by market women, former servants, and religious women who adamantly opposed price controls (which would drive them out of business) and resented attacks on the aristocracy and on religion. [51], On 5 October 1789, crowds of women assembled outside the Htel de Ville, urging action to reduce prices and improve bread supplies. Although the victors of Thermidor asserted control over the Commune by executing their leaders, some of those closely involved in the "Terror" retained their positions. Although Robespierre himself was one of those excluded, his support in the clubs gave him a political power base not available to Lafayette and Bailly, who resigned respectively as head of the National Guard and the Paris Commune. To win their support for fiscal reforms, the Minister of Finance, Brienne, sets May 5, 1789, for a meeting of . [141], Prior to 1797, three of the five Directors were firmly Republican; Barras, Rvellire-Lpeaux and Jean-Franois Rewbell, as were around 40% of the legislature. In August 1789, colonial slave owners and merchants formed the rival Club de Massiac to represent their interests. The Society of Revolutionary Republican Women, a militant group on the far left, demanded a law in 1793 that would compel all women to wear the tricolour cockade to demonstrate their loyalty to the Republic. [208] Under the Ancien Rgime, medical assistance for the rural poor was often provided by nuns, acting as nurses but also physicians, surgeons, and apothecaries; the Revolution abolished most of these orders without replacing organised nursing support. Du Pont tried becoming a printer, but it was hard to make money, so he left for America with his family. Since they were also subject to stringent property qualification, it guaranteed the return of conservative or moderate deputies. She focused on other aspects of the government, but was a feminist by virtue of the fact that she was a woman working to influence the world. When this resulted in escalating inflation, the response was to impose price controls and persecute private speculators and traders, creating a Black market. Led by the revolutionary Franois-Nol Babeuf, their demands included the implementation of the 1793 Constitution and a more equitable distribution of wealth. Recognizing other peoples would have meant having to recognize their own sovereignty and thus their right to independence. France permanently became a society of equals under the law. Black and coloured generals were effectively in control of large areas of Guadeloupe and Saint-Domingue, including Toussaint Louverture in the north of Saint-Domingue, and Andr Rigaud in the south. French interference with localism and traditions was deeply resented in Switzerland, although some reforms took hold and survived in the later period of restoration.[248][249]. "[217], Hanson suggests the French underwent a fundamental transformation in self-identity, evidenced by the elimination of privileges and their replacement by intrinsic human rights, as well as a decline in social deference that highlighted the principle of equality throughout the revolution. It contains 232,935 words in 357 pages and was last updated . [134], Deputies were chosen by indirect election, a total franchise of around 5million voting in primaries for 30,000 electors, or 0.6% of the population. The socio-economic analysis of the revolution and focus on the experiences or ordinary people dominated French studies of the revolution after World War II. The revolutionaries, however, had recognized the existence of only one people, the French people, while there were several nations in the empire. Although rumoured to hold many prisoners, the Bastille held only seven: four forgers, two noblemen held for "immoral behaviour", and a murder suspect. Compare the outcomes of the American Revolution with those of later Latin American revolutions. ", Hufton, Olwen. [275] He also stated that Jacobin-Marxist interpretations of the revolution harboured a totalitarian tendency,[276] but conceded that they had increased the understanding of the role of peasants and the urban masses in the revolution. In rural areas, wild rumours and paranoia resulted in the formation of militia and an agrarian insurrection known as la Grande Peur. [28], The Second Estate elected 291 deputies, representing about 400,000 men and women, who owned about 25% of the land and collected seigneurial dues and rents from their tenants. [33], The Estates-General convened in the Menus-Plaisirs du Roi on 5 May 1789, near the Palace of Versailles rather than in Paris; the choice of location was interpreted as an attempt to control their debates. However, there were no efforts by the Bourbons, Vichy or anyone else to restore the privileges that had been stripped away from the nobility in 1789. For the next seven years, the hostilities known as the French Revolutionary wars continue between France and various European powers. Using troops from Bonaparte's Army of Italy under Pierre Augereau, the Council of 500 was forced to approve the arrest of Barthlemy, Pichegru and Carnot. [239]" Yet in Britain the majority, especially among the aristocracy, strongly opposed the French Revolution. Others like Throigne de Mricourt, Pauline Lon and the Society of Revolutionary Republican Women supported the Jacobins, staged demonstrations in the National Assembly and took part in the October 1789 March to Versailles. Nevertheless, as a potent symbol of the Ancien Rgime, its destruction was viewed as a triumph and Bastille Day is still celebrated every year. [13], Although willing to consider reforms, Louis XVI often backed down when faced with opposition from conservative elements within the nobility. The sentence was carried out on 21 January on the Place de la Rvolution, now the Place de la Concorde. [146] The architect of its end was Sieys, who when asked what he had done during the Terror allegedly answered "I survived". [119], Robespierre responded by not attending sessions, allowing his opponents to build a coalition against him. Despite limited support from sections of the military, it was easily crushed, with Babeuf and other leaders executed. "La Marseillaise" (French pronunciation:[la masjz]) became the national anthem of France. Ultimately these attempts not only failed but aroused a furious reaction among the pious; opposition to these changes was a key factor behind the revolt in the Vende. Brown and Timothy Tackett, eds. Many feared their own survival depended on Robespierre's removal; during a meeting on 29 June, three members of the Committee of Public Safety called him a dictator in his face. These included exclusion of poorer citizens from the National Guard, limits on use of petitions and posters, and the June 1791 Le Chapelier Law suppressing trade guilds and any form of worker organisation. However, the two entered negotiations over the Louisiana Territory and agreed to the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, an acquisition that substantially increased the size of the United States. [177], In republican controlled areas from 1793-99, freed slaves were required to work on their former plantations or for their former masters if they were in domestic service. "Interpreting the French Revolution,", Censer, Jack R. "Amalgamating the Social in the French Revolution. [66], When clergy were required to swear loyalty to the Civil Constitution in November 1790, it split the church between the 24% who complied, and the majority who refused. Best Known For: Louis XVI was the last king of France (1774-92) in the line of Bourbon monarchs preceding the French Revolution of 1789. The economy was bad and the socialist elements that controlled the government made life difficult for ex-nobles. ", Desan, Suzanne. The French Revolution As French soldiers returned home from the Seven Years' War, they came home to a nearly bankrupt monarchical regime. [39], On the 14th, many of these soldiers joined the mob in attacking the Bastille, a royal fortress with large stores of arms and ammunition. [230], Economic historians dispute the impact on income per capita caused by the emigration of more than 100,000 individuals during the Revolution, the vast majority of whom were supporters of the old regime. His fall in first 1814 and then 1815 saw the return of the French monarchy, clearly a national return to pre-revolutionary times, even if France could not return to that era. Attempts to eliminate his opponents sparked the Reign of Terror, with an estimated 16,000 killed by the time it ended in July 1794. "[120], After the Convention authorised his arrest, he and his supporters took refuge in the Hotel de Ville, which was defended by elements of the National Guard. The nobility and clergy blocked King Louis XVI's attempts to raise taxes. Its governor, Bernard-Ren de Launay, surrendered after several hours of fighting that cost the lives of 83 attackers. By the time peace finally came in 1815, the conflict had involved every major European power as well as the United States, redrawn the map of Europe and expanded into the Americas, the Middle East, and the Indian Ocean. He and Jean-Paul Marat gained increasing support for opposing the criteria for 'active citizens', which had disenfranchised much of the Parisian proletariat. [245], In Ireland, the effect was to transform what had been an attempt by Protestant settlers to gain some autonomy into a mass movement led by the Society of United Irishmen involving Catholics and Protestants. Fearing the consequences if they did not act first, his opponents attacked Robespierre and his allies in the Convention next day. There were about 700,000 slaves in the colonies, of which about 500,000 were in Saint-Domingue. In response to protests by the Commune, the Commission warned "if by your incessant rebellions something befalls the representatives of the nation,Paris will be obliterated". "[229], In the cities, entrepreneurship on a small scale flourished, as restrictive monopolies, privileges, barriers, rules, taxes and guilds gave way. [224], The church was a primary target during the Terror, due to its association with "counter-revolutionary" elements, resulting in the persecution of priests and destruction of churches and religious images throughout France. Led by Bertrand Barre, Pierre Joseph Cambon and Lazare Carnot, as before this central faction acted as a swing vote. As she was led to the scaffold, Madame Roland shouted "O liberty! [108], Fixed prices, death for 'hoarders' or 'profiteers', and confiscation of grain stocks by groups of armed workers meant that by early September, Paris was suffering acute food shortages. Belgian men were drafted into the French wars and heavily taxed. The first concerned migrs; between October and November, the Assembly approved measures confiscating their property and threatening them with the death penalty. [182], To illustrate the differences between the new Republic and the old regime, the leaders needed to implement a new set of symbols to be celebrated instead of the old religious and monarchical symbols. The resulting impasse in the face of widespread economic distress led to the calling of the Estates-General, which became radicalised by the struggle for control of public finances. After Brissot's fall, the new constitution of June 1793 included a new Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen, but excluded the colonies from its provisions.
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