The French Revolution :-
On the eve of French Revolution, the society in France was under a system called the 'old regime' or the 'ancient regime'. Under the structure, everyone was the subject of the king of france, who had absolute power. Every one else was divided into one of three estates :-
First Estate - It consisted of the Clergy, who were derived from the Nobility or second estate. They were 1% of the population but controlled 10% of the land. They were indifferent to their church duties and conducted themselves as men of the world. They kept records of birth, death and marraiges. They had the right to levy tax called tithe (10% of the revenue).
Second Estate - It consisted of the Nobility. Though removed of the feudal duties they still enjoyed the feudal privileges. Making up about 2% of the French population but controlled a substantial part of land in the country and had hunting and forestry rights. They were exempt from the Taille of the property tax.
Third Estate - It consisted of everyone else, which made it a heterogeneous group. From the bourgeoise to the peasantry, it included people from all walks of life. Some of them were more educated and wealthy than the nobility and resented the special privileges enjoyed by the first two estates.
The preconditions for the french revolution :-
The war of american independence had seen the prime foe of France, the british loose its colonies in amerca but it had left left france bankrupt.
The burden to pull the nation of out economic hardship fell upon the third estate. However they were already under an enourmous pressure of taxation, paying tithe to the church, taxes to the king and and rents to the second estate. The first two estates that werent taxed and could have souldered the burden refused to do so.
The atmosphere was already charged and public was under the influence of philosophers like Voltaire, Montesque and Rousseau. They preached separation of powers, end of special privileges and limited monarchy.
To add to this increasing pressure, there were soldiers who had fought in the american war of independence. They had absorbed the ideals of equality, libery, fraternity and no taxation without representation. They believed that if they can get the colonies their independence then why not for their own mother nation.
There were deep economic problems too that acted as the trigger for the revolution. French population between 1700 and 1780 had increated from 17 million to 27 million, while the food production had remained the same. Three consecutive years of bad harvests had left the peasantly destitute and they had given in to a state of beg, borrow or steal to survive. this erupted in the form of a riot in April 1789 which acted as a source for the revolutionaries.
Cource of events -
Part 1-
King Louis XVI tried to fix the economic condition, but his indecision and inability to tax the frist two estates failed his attempts. As a last hour effort he called the State- General in May 1789. It was the general assembly of the three estates which acted as the advisory body to the king. It had been called after a period of two and a half centuries.
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There was a lockdown in the state- general between the different estates. While the first two estates wanted that votes of each state be counted separately so that they can outvote third estate 2-1. The third estate which wanted uniform taxation and that the votes be based on the head count. The first two estates refused these demands.
In the state general of 20th June 1789, the members of the third estate were locked out of the estate general. They gathered in a nearby tennis court and under the leadership of Mirabeau, took the solemn oath "not to separate, and to reassemble where circumstances require". They also declared themselves the National Assembly.
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This had surcharged the people and when rumours of royal troops nearing Paris spread through the streets, the mob decided to take Bastille for gunpowder and plunder the arsenal. It's fall on 14th July 1989 is considered the Declaration of Independence of French People.
The fall of Bastille had a huge psychological effect on the people. Peasants soon rose up and plundered the castles of nobility, destroying the records of feudal service. This startled the noblesmen and on 4th Aug 1789 in the National Assembly, they voluntarily surrendered their special privileges. All class distinctions of the society were abolished.
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Part 2-
The new constitution was adopted in 1891. Following were its salient features -
a) A constitutional monarchy was established and the sovernity resided with the people.
b) Declaration of rights was made an integral part; it stated that all men were free and equal in rights.
c) The Legislative and Executive powers were separated. While the King was made the head of the executive, the legislative powers were entrusted to the legislative assembly.
d) The Bishops and priests were made equivalent to state employees, to be elected by popular vote.
The Legislative assembly met for the first time in october 1791. However as a provision from the constituent assembly, none of its members could contest the elections for legislative assembly. This lead to a lot of new members being elected, some of whom had extremist tendencies.
The new members soon organised themselves into parties based on their common ideologies. Some of the major parties were-
1) Constitutionalists- They supported a constitutional monarchy with limited powers to the king.
2) Girondists- They were moderate republicans and had a theoretical outlook towards the state. They held reservations againt user of force to push their agenda.
3) The Jacobins- The extremist views of the legislative assembly, they were radical republicans. They wanted to establish a republic by any means necessary.
The fundamental rights mentioned in the french constitution were not only limited to french people were held to be applicable for all people. This caused worry in the other states of europe most of whom were absolute monarchies. The Austrian and Prussian kingdoms schemed to attack frane and re-establish the borbon kings.
The french suffered defeats at the hands of united armies of Prussia and Austria and this was blamed on the monarch by the revolutionary leaders.
The Jacobins overthrew the municipal government of Paris and organised a new commune of City Council. Under the pressure of the commune, Monarchy was abolished and the republic was established. A mock trial was conducted by the Jacobins in which the King Louis XVI was sentenced to death on January 21 1793.
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This also implied that the revolution that was initially led by the middle class had slipped into the control of the lower classes led by the Jacobins.
As the head of the state under the last constitution had been publically humiliated and executed, a national convention was called to create a new constitution. However due to a stalemate between the Girondists and the Jacobins, it was delayed.
The Jacobins and the Paris commune had become too powerful in the meantime. There were two main threats to the revolution at the time. The first was from external forces marchin in on Paris. To tackle this Military service was made compulsary for the youth and the hastily trained youth were sent off to defend the nation. In 1793 the french army totalled 770000. They were able to blow a crushing defeat on the combined army of Austria and Prussia.
With the external threat mitigated, they turned their attention to the internal threat. The counter revolutionaries who wanted to reinstate monarchy. To tackle them a Committee on Public Saferty was created. Every person suspected to be in alliance with the counter revolutionaries was executed. The comittee under Robespierre had aroudn 17000 people executed during the 'Reign of Terror'.
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By 1794, it was realised that there was no need for reign of terror as the threat from foreign powers was defeated and the counter revolutionaries were supressed. Robespierre however refused. He wanted to concentrate all the power in his own hands. The reign ended with the execution of Robespierre and his close aides. The middle class had gained leadership of the Revolution once again.
Part 3
The national convention drafted a new constitution in 1795. It was realised that the concentration of power in a few hands could be dangerous. Thus a Committee of five directors was created. They were in power from 1795 to 1799. The rule of directory was unable to solve the problem of the people and people grew dissatisfied. Inflation was rampant and counter-revolutionaries raised their head once again. Partial bankruptcy was declared in 1997. There was a clear viod that needed to be filled.
Part 4
With rampany inflation and devaluation of french currency the general public was in huge stress. The weak foreign policy of the directorate sent bad signals and people had lost faith in the syste. The state was set for the rise of Napoleon. His miliraty victories had made him a military hero and people saw in him a savior. His ascendence to the monarchy fulfilled desires of many people; the monarchists, the middle class desparate for stability and the peasantry's desire to secure their harvests. He was crowned in 1804.
His rule lasted for 13 years during which he defeated and conquered a large part of europe. He was finally defeated in 1815 and sent off to st. Helena where he died.
On the eve of French Revolution, the society in France was under a system called the 'old regime' or the 'ancient regime'. Under the structure, everyone was the subject of the king of france, who had absolute power. Every one else was divided into one of three estates :-
First Estate - It consisted of the Clergy, who were derived from the Nobility or second estate. They were 1% of the population but controlled 10% of the land. They were indifferent to their church duties and conducted themselves as men of the world. They kept records of birth, death and marraiges. They had the right to levy tax called tithe (10% of the revenue).
Second Estate - It consisted of the Nobility. Though removed of the feudal duties they still enjoyed the feudal privileges. Making up about 2% of the French population but controlled a substantial part of land in the country and had hunting and forestry rights. They were exempt from the Taille of the property tax.
Third Estate - It consisted of everyone else, which made it a heterogeneous group. From the bourgeoise to the peasantry, it included people from all walks of life. Some of them were more educated and wealthy than the nobility and resented the special privileges enjoyed by the first two estates.
The preconditions for the french revolution :-
The war of american independence had seen the prime foe of France, the british loose its colonies in amerca but it had left left france bankrupt.
The burden to pull the nation of out economic hardship fell upon the third estate. However they were already under an enourmous pressure of taxation, paying tithe to the church, taxes to the king and and rents to the second estate. The first two estates that werent taxed and could have souldered the burden refused to do so.
The atmosphere was already charged and public was under the influence of philosophers like Voltaire, Montesque and Rousseau. They preached separation of powers, end of special privileges and limited monarchy.
To add to this increasing pressure, there were soldiers who had fought in the american war of independence. They had absorbed the ideals of equality, libery, fraternity and no taxation without representation. They believed that if they can get the colonies their independence then why not for their own mother nation.
There were deep economic problems too that acted as the trigger for the revolution. French population between 1700 and 1780 had increated from 17 million to 27 million, while the food production had remained the same. Three consecutive years of bad harvests had left the peasantly destitute and they had given in to a state of beg, borrow or steal to survive. this erupted in the form of a riot in April 1789 which acted as a source for the revolutionaries.
Cource of events -
Part 1-
King Louis XVI tried to fix the economic condition, but his indecision and inability to tax the frist two estates failed his attempts. As a last hour effort he called the State- General in May 1789. It was the general assembly of the three estates which acted as the advisory body to the king. It had been called after a period of two and a half centuries.
There was a lockdown in the state- general between the different estates. While the first two estates wanted that votes of each state be counted separately so that they can outvote third estate 2-1. The third estate which wanted uniform taxation and that the votes be based on the head count. The first two estates refused these demands.
In the state general of 20th June 1789, the members of the third estate were locked out of the estate general. They gathered in a nearby tennis court and under the leadership of Mirabeau, took the solemn oath "not to separate, and to reassemble where circumstances require". They also declared themselves the National Assembly.
This had surcharged the people and when rumours of royal troops nearing Paris spread through the streets, the mob decided to take Bastille for gunpowder and plunder the arsenal. It's fall on 14th July 1989 is considered the Declaration of Independence of French People.
The fall of Bastille had a huge psychological effect on the people. Peasants soon rose up and plundered the castles of nobility, destroying the records of feudal service. This startled the noblesmen and on 4th Aug 1789 in the National Assembly, they voluntarily surrendered their special privileges. All class distinctions of the society were abolished.
Part 2-
The new constitution was adopted in 1891. Following were its salient features -
a) A constitutional monarchy was established and the sovernity resided with the people.
b) Declaration of rights was made an integral part; it stated that all men were free and equal in rights.
c) The Legislative and Executive powers were separated. While the King was made the head of the executive, the legislative powers were entrusted to the legislative assembly.
d) The Bishops and priests were made equivalent to state employees, to be elected by popular vote.
The Legislative assembly met for the first time in october 1791. However as a provision from the constituent assembly, none of its members could contest the elections for legislative assembly. This lead to a lot of new members being elected, some of whom had extremist tendencies.
The new members soon organised themselves into parties based on their common ideologies. Some of the major parties were-
1) Constitutionalists- They supported a constitutional monarchy with limited powers to the king.
2) Girondists- They were moderate republicans and had a theoretical outlook towards the state. They held reservations againt user of force to push their agenda.
3) The Jacobins- The extremist views of the legislative assembly, they were radical republicans. They wanted to establish a republic by any means necessary.
The fundamental rights mentioned in the french constitution were not only limited to french people were held to be applicable for all people. This caused worry in the other states of europe most of whom were absolute monarchies. The Austrian and Prussian kingdoms schemed to attack frane and re-establish the borbon kings.
The french suffered defeats at the hands of united armies of Prussia and Austria and this was blamed on the monarch by the revolutionary leaders.
The Jacobins overthrew the municipal government of Paris and organised a new commune of City Council. Under the pressure of the commune, Monarchy was abolished and the republic was established. A mock trial was conducted by the Jacobins in which the King Louis XVI was sentenced to death on January 21 1793.
This also implied that the revolution that was initially led by the middle class had slipped into the control of the lower classes led by the Jacobins.
As the head of the state under the last constitution had been publically humiliated and executed, a national convention was called to create a new constitution. However due to a stalemate between the Girondists and the Jacobins, it was delayed.
The Jacobins and the Paris commune had become too powerful in the meantime. There were two main threats to the revolution at the time. The first was from external forces marchin in on Paris. To tackle this Military service was made compulsary for the youth and the hastily trained youth were sent off to defend the nation. In 1793 the french army totalled 770000. They were able to blow a crushing defeat on the combined army of Austria and Prussia.
With the external threat mitigated, they turned their attention to the internal threat. The counter revolutionaries who wanted to reinstate monarchy. To tackle them a Committee on Public Saferty was created. Every person suspected to be in alliance with the counter revolutionaries was executed. The comittee under Robespierre had aroudn 17000 people executed during the 'Reign of Terror'.
By 1794, it was realised that there was no need for reign of terror as the threat from foreign powers was defeated and the counter revolutionaries were supressed. Robespierre however refused. He wanted to concentrate all the power in his own hands. The reign ended with the execution of Robespierre and his close aides. The middle class had gained leadership of the Revolution once again.
Part 3
The national convention drafted a new constitution in 1795. It was realised that the concentration of power in a few hands could be dangerous. Thus a Committee of five directors was created. They were in power from 1795 to 1799. The rule of directory was unable to solve the problem of the people and people grew dissatisfied. Inflation was rampant and counter-revolutionaries raised their head once again. Partial bankruptcy was declared in 1997. There was a clear viod that needed to be filled.
Part 4
With rampany inflation and devaluation of french currency the general public was in huge stress. The weak foreign policy of the directorate sent bad signals and people had lost faith in the syste. The state was set for the rise of Napoleon. His miliraty victories had made him a military hero and people saw in him a savior. His ascendence to the monarchy fulfilled desires of many people; the monarchists, the middle class desparate for stability and the peasantry's desire to secure their harvests. He was crowned in 1804.
His rule lasted for 13 years during which he defeated and conquered a large part of europe. He was finally defeated in 1815 and sent off to st. Helena where he died.
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