1. Moderate Phase - National Assembly
1.1. 1. Declaration of the Rights of Man
1.1.1. -Declared that all were free and equal before the law -A person can be an official only if he/she have talents and the ability -Freedom of speech and press -No group should be exempt from taxation
1.2. 2. The King Concedes
1.2.1. Women marched to Versailles and insisted that the Royal family return to Paris. They also forced Louis XVI to accept the National Assembly’s decrees.
1.3. 3. Church Reforms
1.3.1. The National Assembly increased the state’s revenues by seizing and selling Church lands. Bishops were elected while the church is controlled by the state.
1.4. 4. Rise of Paris Commune
1.4.1. Paris radicals forced the Legislative Assembly to suspend the monarchy and call for a National Convention as the ruling body of France.
2. Causes
2.1. Long term
2.1.1. 1. Fees & Obligation
2.1.1.1. Only the third estate is being taxed when it’s also the one who’s doing all of the work.
2.1.2. 2. Inequality
2.1.2.1. -People are not treated equally. Higher class have the power to tell the lower class to do all the work for them.
2.1.3. 3. Unequal Power & Privileges
2.1.3.1. Middle class was unhappy with the privileges held by nobles.
2.1.4. 4. Freedom of speech
2.1.4.1. People in the lower estates were not allowed to complain about the people in the upper classes.
2.2. Short term
2.2.1. 1. Near collapse of French budget
2.2.1.1. Bad harvest, slow down manufacturing, food shortage, rising prices for food, unemployment
2.2.2. 2. Arguments about voting
2.2.2.1. King favored a voting system that is always against the Third Estate.
2.2.3. 3. Unfair powers
2.2.3.1. People in 1st or 2nd Estate can easily lock innocent people up for random reasons.
2.2.4. 4. Ineffective government system
2.2.4.1. Privileges were based on old social order
3. Radical Phase - National Convention
3.1. 1. Radicalism -Many political clubs were formed.
3.1.1. National Convention
3.1.1.1. -Almost all distrusted the king. -Became the ruling body of France -Draft a new constitution
3.1.2. The Girondins
3.1.2.1. -Represents regions outside Paris -Feared of the radical mobs of Paris.
3.1.3. The Mountain
3.1.3.1. -Want the king to be executed -Convinced the Convention to beheaded the King on guillotine -Represented the of radicals in Paris
3.1.4. Commune
3.1.4.1. local government in Paris
3.2. 2. French Reign of Terror
3.2.1. -Persecute counterrevolutionaries and traitors. -Almost 40,000 are killed by the guillotine. -Brutal and merciless -Finally ended when Robespierre is put to death
3.3. 3. Republic of Virtue
3.3.1. -A democratic republic composed of good citizens -Formed by good education -Abolished slavery in French colonies -Caused high inflation
3.4. 4. De-Christianization
3.4.1. -The word “Saint” was removed from street names -Churches were closed -Priest were encouraged to marry -Adaptation of a new calendar (Years numberfoed from the first day of French Republic, Sep. 22, 1792.) -Three 10-days weeks a month
4. Directory
4.1. 1. Reign of Terror came to a halt
4.1.1. -Robespierre is dead -The Committee of Public Safety power is reduced by the National Convention. -New constitution was created
4.2. 2. New government system
4.2.1. -New constitution
4.2.2. -Two legislative Houses are set up
4.2.2.1. -lower house: drafted laws -upper house:accepted or rejected proposed laws.
4.2.3. -Members of both houses are chosen by only those who owned or rented property worth a certain amount
5. Napoleon
5.1. 1. Overthrew the Directory and set up a new government, the Consulate.
5.1.1. Emperor Napoleon I as the first consul
5.1.2. Centralized administrative bureaucracy of capable officials
5.2. 2. Established peace with the Catholic Church
5.2.1. Came to an agreement with the pope
5.2.1.1. He recognized Catholicism as the main religion of France
5.2.1.2. The pope would not ask for the return of the church lands seized in the revolution.
5.2.1.3. Catholic Church = No longer an enemy of the French government
5.3. 3. Codify the laws
5.3.1. Unified and made a single law code for the nation instead of almost 300 different legal systems