LESSON 2: FRENCH REVOLUTION

Overview
1. Context of the French Revolution (1789-1815)
1.1- Ancien Régime system
1.2- Meeting of the Estates-General

2. A series of revolutions – three stages:

2.1- The moderate stage (1789-1792)
2.2- The radical stage (1793-1794)
2.3- The directory (1795-1799)
2.4- And… the age of Napoleon (1800-1815)

3. Legacy of the French Revolution

4. Interpreting the French Revolution: Censer (2003) text on Canvas

 Next week – see Conservative backlash

General context
Not the first revolution in its kind: two equally radical revolutions
 Glorious Revolution (1688-1689, England)
- Abdication of Catholic king and replacement by Protestant king. At the
time, these religious groups and families ruled over entire empires, so this
was a significant change.
 The American Revolution (1775-1783)
- American independence from Great-Britain.

Impact of these revolutions:

 England: breach with tradition of “divine right to rule”
- If no Roman Catholic could be king, then no kingship could be
unconditional. It is people who have the right to change the king, not a
supreme deity.
 USA: rights of representation and revolt against “unjust” rule
- The rights of the people for representation were reinstated or stated for
the very first time.
- Influenced the rest of the world.

John Locke (1689): Two treatises of government

Two main premises:
 No government can be justified by one’s appeal to the divine right of Kings: the
kind does not get its rights from a deity, is the people who should give that
right.
  Legitimate government needs to be founded on the consent of the governed.

Social contract theorist –justification for the “state”:

 There is a State of Nature but => rational man, people are rational beings so we
can find ways on how to govern and how to elect representatives, so there is
no need of a supreme authority to do that.
- Contradicts Thomas Hobbes thesis on the State of Nature, who said that
we need control because of the State of Nature, which is a result of
unrational people.
- Locke is inspired by Humanism, he is a liberal thinker so people are
rational beings that will agree in order to elect the best representatives.
 Civil government founded on popular sovereignty
- Ideas of ‘popular sovereignty’: representation comes directly from the
popular vote, the people.

1. Context of the French Revolution

Run-up to the French Revolution

1.Economics – Financial Bankruptcy
 Louis XIV (“Sun King”): he gave himself the right to carry out mass expenditures
– Palace of Versailles.
 French financial campaign in support of the American Revolution. Why would
France be interested in supporting this revolution amid financial bankruptcy?
Because the Americans were revolting against England, so they were interested
in weaking their enemy.
 In addition, because of colonial rivalries and power for dominance, France and
England engage in the Seven Year War: loss of many colonies (North America,
Louisiana, Caribbean Islands, trading posts Indian subcontinent, Senegal...).
 Poor harvests, famine, and already harsh taxes and income inequalities:
because money to financial resources was directly elsewhere, that lead to
worse conditions for French commoners. They were taxed more because the
ruling elites needed more money to finance these enterprises.
**Economic impoverishment becomes a very important drive for people to uprise
because it touches directly on their purchasing parity, on how much they can afford
goods, services, education, etc.

2. Politics: struggle with provincial “parlements”

 Louis XVI: inherited clash with provincial courts (parlements, not like
parliaments) who held the right to appeal to the King’s edicts.
- The king had supreme authority, but these courts would act as what today
we call “checks and balances” => they could appeal some of the decisions
of the king.
- From Louis XIV to Louis LVI these struggles were inherited.
- The provincial courts were using these appeals to get more power and to
challenge the king.
The dismissal of Jacques Necker, controller-general of Finance (what we would call
the finance minister)
 Necker was critical of tax exemptions for nobility and clergy , he publicly
published for the citizens the expenditures of the king => people were mad,
and the King too, so he dismissed him.
 Favours borrowing money abroad; rather than increasing (already high) taxes
on commoners => the King did not like that, as they would tie France to
economic dependency and that would weaken their power.

The gamble of Louis XVI (1787-88)

 Proposes a “land tax” on all land-holders (including nobility).
 “Assembly of Notables” rejects the King’s proposal, as they were not in favour
of the land tax for them.
 King attempts to bypass them; by calling for a meeting of the Estates-General
- Instigates discussions on institutional design, major clashes were brought
to the board, events that would lead to the French Revolution.

1.1- Ancien Régime Economics of France

Ancien Régime: the regime in which the king has a divine right.

Demographic growth
 1700: 20 million – 1780: approaching 25 to 28 million

An agricultural nation
 80% of the French people live on the countryside.
 20% live in urban areas, only eight cities with a population over 50.000 people.
 Paris: 650.000 people.
 Overall the population was agricultural based in rural areas.

Non-industrialised
 Agriculture was 75% of all production, but low in productivity (labour intensive,
out-dated methods) because it was not industrialized and developed enough.
 Small estates (inheritance laws).
 Only large-scale farming around Paris.
 Failed to keep up with demographic growth.

Geography
 A jigsaw of land; result of previous conquests. These needed to be taken into
account when devising institutional and political changes, which added an
additional burden to maintaining and managing the state.
- 1664: Saint-Domingue (today’s Haiti)
- 1770: Corsica
 Famine
- 1780s: Poor harvests
- 1788: harsh winter (57 straight days of frost in Paris); followed by floods
 - Food shortages in cities: due to poor environmental conditions, unskilled
labour and non-industrialized agricultural system
- Ban on food exports, import of 148,000 tonnes of cereal and grain
- Rising bread prices: 70-90% of the daily wage of an unskilled worker.
- This led to a major upheaval.

Agriculture
“The [French] country is a heap of ashes. Grass is scarcely to be seen and all sorts of
grain is short, thin, pale and feeble, while the flax is quite dead... I pity this people
from my soul... No green peas, no salad, no vegetables to be had upon the road, and
the sky is still as clear, dry and cold as ever. The flocks of sheep and herds of cattle
stalk about the fields like droves (herds) of walking skeletons.” – John Adams, US
diplomat*, 1775.
Describes: famine, economic impoverishment.

Politics
King ruled by divine right
 Some restrictions on King’s power via moral and divine laws, customs,
principles of administration, but vague and inconclusive.
 Decision-making with King’s council (consultative prerogatives)

Absolutist rule = absence of a constitution

 In the absence of a constitution the king had the right to govern by God
 Precise codes and rules varied across regional courts (a lot of legal pluralism),
not a legal uniformity across France.

An intendancy system
 Great centralisation of power via system of provincial intendants (non-
hereditary) – appointed by the King
 Supervision and enforcement of the King’s will => power over policing,
financing and justice.
 Power over policing, financing, justice => security, money and law.

-
“Parlements” = source of resistance against absolutist rule. It is not the same as the
Parliaments, this is still the absolutist era.
 Provincial courts of appeal (judiciary power): the only source of resistance
against the absolutist rule, they only ones that could challenge through appeals
the King’s decisions.
 Historical origin: King’s council
- “Droit de remontrance”: power to appeal to royal edicts (King’s decisions).
- From 15th century onwards: election of three deputies/town (a noble, an
ecclesiastic, a burgess)
- 13 parlements but they represented very uneven districts
- Only the Paris court was the most critical of King’s edicts and approx. 1/3
of France
Because of the context (economic hardship, financial bankruptcy, fight over colonies
overseas and the environmental conditions), the Parlements became more challenging
to the King’s rule:

“Parlements”: a growing challenge to the King’s divine rights

 1667: Louis XIV weakens right to appeal to the Parlements; later bans all
“unrespectful appeals”, after seeing that they are getting way too much power.
 1766: Louis XV “flagellation” speech* in Paris Parliament: (his authority is
continued being challenged)
- Reminds parliaments of his divine right to rule
- Reduces practice to a one-time appeal and an only short delay of royal
edicts
 1771 “coup de Majesté”: reform of justice system; strictly defined system of
appeals
 Louis XVI restores right to appeal – the quest for popularity (restoring that right
to appeal from the Parlements); but rising use challenges King’s authority.

*Louis XV Flagellation speech to Parliament of Paris (1766)

"In my person alone lies that sovereign power whose very nature is the spirit of
counsel, justice, and reason. From me alone the courts receive their existence and
their authority. The fullness of this authority, which they exercise in my name only,
remains permanently vested in me, and its use can never be turned against me.
Legislative power is mine alone, without subordination or division. It is by my sole
authority that the officers of my courts effect, not the creation of the law, but its
registration, promulgation and execution, and that they have the right of
remonstrance, as is the duty of good and faithful counsellors. Public order in its
entirety emanates from me. I am its supreme guardian. My people are one with me,
and the rights and interests of the nation -- which some dare to make into a body
separate from the monarch -- are of necessity united with my own and rest entirely
in my hands." – as cited in François Furet, Revolutionary France, 1770-1880 (Oxford:
Blackwell, 1992), 4-6.

Flagellation = whipping, lashing

These challenges coming from the Parlements, the King was trying to pitch them as an
attempt to separate the monarch from the people (although he was very separated
from them).

Estates-General: Legislative Body

The three estates:
 PRAYER: First estate = Catholic clergy
- All property (5-10% of the land) was tax exempted
 MILITARY: Second estate = Nobility
- They provide security, protect the borders inside and the name of France
outside.
 - Sheer monopoly over higher administrative, military functions, higher
church offices, etc.
- Exempted from most taxes: they did pay something but it was barely
significant to make a difference in the treasury and the budget.
 WORK: Third estate = Commoners
- Great diversity: capitalist bourgeoisie (merchants, royal administration),
skilled workers/craftsmen, city workers (servants, cooks, drivers, etc.),
peasants
- However, 80% of the French population were farmers (primarily
agricultural society).
- Tax duties (but often, exemptions for bourgeoisie)
o The state maintains itself by the taxes of these people
o Financial bankruptcy, environmental issues (problems with crops
and harvest=> affect their finances).
Key difference: who pays the taxes

Legislative body:
 The legislative or consultative assembly of the three estates.
 Advisory body to the King; it would present petitions (“cahiers”) from the three
estates (especially on fiscal policies).
 Late 15th Century: elective character (third estate) incompatible with the divine
right of kings.
 Met only intermittently and very rarely, and only on the King’s initiative
 Last meeting = 1614... and then, in 1789

The events leading to the French Revolution also start with this request for an
authority to challenge and limit the King’s initiatives.
The poorest is the one who provides the most taxes for the state:

The estate system is not exactly a “class system”

1. The three estates were rather fixed social, economic and political structures in
the Ancien Regime, however they cannot be equated to distinct social
economic groups –> they did not align with classes.
- Some bourgeoisie were wealthier that some nobility in the second estate.
- Some nobles were also capitalist, traders, commerce people.
A LOT OF CROSSOVER: you cannot point one estate to one class.
 2. Inside the three estates there were opportunities for social mobility
- Nobility titles were up for purchase.
- Some bourgeoisie could buy more land and qualify for a noble status.
- Marriages between classes were very common.
- Major grey area between the bourgeoisie and the aristocracy.
o The bourgeoisie lacked a class consciousness and wished to
become nobles –> go up in the scale rather than overthrow the
system.

1.2- 1789 Meeting of the Estates-general

First meeting of the Estates-General since 1614: provides opportunities for:
 Widespread political participation: all male tax-payers (who had a job) over 25
years are invited to elect their deputies
 Representation: deputies present Cahiers de doléances (lists of grievances)

The majority of the people is in favour of the King, surprisingly.

Yet, the debate quickly turns to organisation of the estates-general... and, in its
wake, the source of sovereign power. Tension:
 Sovereignty from “above”: King’s divine right to rule
 Sovereignty from “below”: popular sovereignty

Discussion on fair representation within the estates-general:

1. Parliament of Paris decision: same organisation and proceedings as in 1614:
vote by estate (not by numerical strength): 2 to 1 logic. If the votes are
counted by the estate it usually means that you would always have a 2 to 1
logic = clergy and nobility vote the same against the commoners.
2. “Doubling of the Third Estate” as counterbalance (80% of the overall
population). Proposal coming from numerical strength.
- 610 deputies for Third Estate
- 303 deputies for the First Estate; 291 deputies for the Second Estate: They
would vote alike because they have similar interests, so still 2 to 1 logic.
3. Continued critique by the Third Estate
- 1st and 2nd estates want to convene in three separate meetings (no
accepted by the 3rd estate).
- 3rd estate does not accept ”vote by estate” and wants a collective
deliberation (a “people’s assembly”).

Pamphlets: What is the third estate? (feb 1789)

Abbé Sieyès (Emmanuel Joseph Sieyès): What is the Third Estate?
 A plea for a numerical count: majority decision rule.
 Conception of popular sovereignty (Rousseau): Third estate is “the people” (=
community of equals).
 Equality: clergy/nobility can only join the nation when abandoning their
privileges.
Abbé Sieyès was a clergy man elected by the third estate as a representative. In his
letter he asked these questions to the decision makers:
1. What is the Third Estate? EVERYTHING.
- He answers himself = the third estate is everything because it is the
overwhelmingly majority of the population, the backbone of the State as it
pays the taxes.
2. What has it hitherto meant in the political order? NOTHING
- If the third estate pays everything where does it mean in the political
order = NOTHING because of the weak political power it had and that they
were overburdened with duty to maintain the state
3. What are its demands? To become SOMETHING.
- Seeking for the notion of the quality between the state. The clergy and the
nobility could only be part of the society when abandoning their
privileges.

Tennis Court Oath (20-06-1789)

3rd Estate declares itself the Nationalist Assembly of People (17.06.1789): neither the
clergy nor the nobility were willing to let go from their power. They could only get
what they wanted by revolution.

Tennis Courth Oath: 3rd Estate members constitute themselves as a legitimate

authority equal to that of the King. They vow:
 "not to separate, and to reassemble wherever circumstances require, until the
constitution of a new parliament is established”
 “we are here by the will of the people and we shall leave only by the force of
the bayonnets”

27.06.1789: support across the country for this movement, royal party gives in.
9.07.1789: reconstitution as the National Constituent Assembly.

From elites to the masses

Storming of the Bastille (14 July 1789): in the prison were political prisoners who
opposed the king were held, also it symbolized the power of the king. This storming
symbolized the establishment of new rules.
 Political unrest (placement of troops outside Versailles)
 Mobs, riots, support of French Guard
 Rise of republican, anti-royal sentiment
 Peasant revolt (inequality)
 4 August: National Assembly = “abolition of feudalism” (property rights, end to
servitude)
 26 August: The Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen

Declaration of the rights of man and the citizen (1789)

 Equality before the law.
 Freedom from arbitrary imprisonment.
 Fiscal equality (shared equally based on ability to pay).
  Freedom of thought, opinion and religion.
 The people = the source of sovereignty
- Enfranchisement of “active citizens” (15% of the population)
- King’s powers reduced to a suspensive veto over legislation

From elites to masses: Women’s March on Versailles (5/10/1789)

Market place riots over the price/scarcity of bread
 Women are joined by constitutional reformers, frustrated by King’s refusal to
accepts early reforms.
 March to Versailles assisted by French guard themselves; invasion of the
palace; King is forced to return to Paris.

Weakened position of the King: not a superhuman in a grandiose palace anymore.

 King accepts August decrees and the declaration of the rights of man and the
citizen.
- Still clashes in between the commoners, the monarchy and the anti-
royalists.
o Power struggle among those who are trying to fill this vacuum of
power.
 Break-up “monarchist” and “anti-royalist” revolutionaries: monarchists refuse
to join the national assembly in Paris, showing there is no unity among this.
- Everyone wanted to grab a piece of power.
- The power vacuum needs to be filled by someone.

2. Three phases of the revolution

2.1- The moderate stage

Main events:
 1791 Constitution of France: “King of the French” (as opposed to King of
France): the king is the representative of the French people, the people of
France are symbolically the kings of France.
 1791 first gathering of the National Assembly: discussions about
representation.

Main impact: restructuring State-Church Relations

 Sale of Church lands to pay off state debt and government officials, members of
the assembly and administration are paid in paper bills (assignats) to be used in
public auctions.
Separation: What is religious? What is secular? What is a matter of the State?
What is a matter of the Church?
 Limitation of the authority of the Roman Catholic Church
- A civil constitution for clergy-members (1790), paid state salaries.
- Oath of loyalty to the Civil Constitution = Recognition of a civil moral
authority over God.
 - Tension with Roman Catholic Church (pope).

A growing conflict among revolutionaries:

 Girondins (region “Gironde): moderate political group
- Middle-class representatives; with greater ties to the provinces and city
centres.
- Favoured stabilisation and security after revolution; economic liberalism =
NOT REVOLUTION.
- Favoured a popular vote (“referendum”) to overturn legislation.
 Montagnards (“the mountain”): radical political group
- Middle class representatives of Parisian constituencies; close relations to
Parisian movement (“les sans-culottes”); in favour of maximum prizes
(food/rent).
- Favoured continued socio-economic and political reform; as their success
greatly depended on “sans-culottes”. Much more revolutionary in nature.
- Against “popular vote” (would favour rural interests over those of Paris)

The conflict intensifies and there is a growing fear of a counter revolution

 Thus, in 1791 happened the Flight to Varennes: the King attempted to flee
 1792 declaration of War on Austria and Prussia: some friendly royals helped
political refugees (also the Pope)
 August 1792: the storming of the Royal Palace in Paris and the imprisonment of
the royal family.
- The attempt of the king to flee caused a further radicalisation and also
weakened the belief in the new state
- This caused a call for early elections (restructuring the new state of order)
and for a new republican constitution.
 Louis the XVI is accused of treason and in January 1793 he is executed

By 1793 France was in military conflict with all of its neighbours:

  “The limits of France are marked out by Nation”: at the time the borders of
France were not exact, and they wanted to expand the territory. The fear from
this growing want of expansion led to a growing support of war among the
European countries:
- Creation of international coalitions against France.
 At the time, as we can see in the map, there is a lot of territorial reshuffling
going on.
 France had invested a lot in its military.

2.2- The radical stage (1793-1794)

Tensions between the groups culminate in a state of siege: Reign of Terror
 Girondins are purged from the Convention and government; expulsed or
prosecuted
 Execution of Queen Marie Antoinette and all the “royalists”
- Robespierre: main figure
 Implementation of popular demands
- Prize control on goods and rent (maximum prizes)
- Levée en masse (mass conscription) : creation of revolutionary armies (to
stop counter-revolution).
 Campaign for de-Christianisation of the society: removal of the religion and the
Church from the daily life of the Frenchmen.
 Introduction of revolutionary calendar (12 months, each of 3 weeks of then
days): 1793 year 1.

The Reign of Terror (1793-1794)

16.594 official death sentences in France, no right to a defence. If you were not with
them you were against them and if you were against them you had to be eliminated.

On the necessity of terror, Maximilien Robespierre (1794, speech): Terror was a

necessity for order.
 “If the basis of popular government in peacetime is virtue, the basis of popular
government during a revolution is both virtue and terror; virtue, without
which terror is baneful (destructive); terror, without which virtue is
powerless. Terror is nothing more than speedy, severe and inflexible justice; it
is thus an emanation of virtue; it is less a principle in itself, than a consequence
of the general principle of democracy, applied to the most pressing needs of
the patrie (homeland, fatherland)”.

2.3- The directory (1795-1799)

The Directory Stage
 Starts with the Thermidorian Reaction: new group taking over
- Robespierre was denounced as a tyrant and killed by another group who
took over
- Implemented a new calendar
  Massacre of supporters of Robespierre
 Associated with tension to retain legitimacy and with a constant balance to
negotiate between principles of sovereignty and the control of the masses

Institutional design for stabilisation:

 Voter requirements restricting number of people who could vote
 Two legislative councils (Council of 500 and the Council of Ancients with veto
power): Similar to the Parliament and the Senate.
 Legislative terms of three years; every year, 1/3 of parliamentary seat are up
for election
 5-member executive “The Directory” (5 years – replaced every year)
 Separation of powers: directory has no say in legislation; highly dependent on
parliament for budgets

Ineffective, corrupt government: 1799: Coup de Brumaire (18-19 Brumaire XIII : 9-10
novembre 1799):
 Strengthening of executive: government of 3 consuls (among which Napoleon
Bonaparte).

2.4- The age of Napoleon (1800-1815)

First Consulate (1799-1805)
 Plebiscitary dictatorship: universal male suffrage but limited impact due to
indirect voting (4 tier system): you would elect a representative and based on
that representative they would choose someone else.
 Control executive over Legislative chambers: appointed Senators, repressed
opposition, legislation was initiative by Consulate.
 Expansion and growing centralisation of public administration.
 Control over workers: workers’ passport/employment record: a document that
showed your employment record.
 Public education (literacy, control over future political elites).

French empire (1805-1815): Napoleon appointed, by referendum, as hereditary

Emperor (May 1804)
 Treaty of Amiens (1802) brought peace but Napoleon failed to meet the
provisions (i.e. withdrawal from territories beyond the Alpine frontiers) –
Napoleonic wars (1802-1814).
 Coalition of allied forces against France (“the enemy of my enemy is my
friend”)
- Invasion of Russia in 1812 (retreat: 20.000 surviving soldiers of 375.000
army).
- Cost of Napoleonic wars: 7 million dead.
3. Legacy of the French Revolution
Legacy:
 From Ancien Régime “absolute monarchy” to…
 … Napoleonic empire/dictatorship
 What is the legacy of the French Revolution?

Economics:
 Private land ownership was facilitated by sale of Church lands
 10% of land changed hands; but bourgeoisie profited most
 Nobility still owned 20% of land (25% in 1789)
 Liberalisation of market (custom barriers and guilds were abolished)
 Yet, French economy remained largely pre-industrial
- Revolutionary wars slowed down industrialisation
- Continued to rely on labour-intensive methods of farming

Politics
1. Popular sovereignty
 No longer divine justification of rule; but reason and justification
 Popular sovereignty: government on a permanent quest for legitimacy
“The elections of 1789 were the most democratic spectacle ever seen in
the history of Europe, and nothing comparable occurred again until far
into the next century” – William Doyle (historian, 1942).
2. Creation of a public sphere
 Public education and growing literacy levels; creation of political
organisations and clubs; rise of the press.
 Enlightenment ideals (liberty, equality, meritocracy, sovereignty) are
circulated to broader, non-elite audiences.
 Political mobilisation of the working population
3. Secularisation: process of separating church and government
  Autonomy of the Church in religious matters, loyalty to the state in
worldly matters (oath of clergy).
 Limitation of Church’s worldly powers; state subsidy.
4. Nationalism
 La Marseilleise (“Chant de Guerre pour l’Armée du Rhin », 1792) ; the
tricolour «cockade».
 Louis XIV : no longer « King of France” but “King of the French”.
 Napoleonic wars and boundary re-making in Europe.
5. Inequality
 Disenfranchisement of poorest men (not paying taxes) and women
- Women were granted important civil rights (right to inheritance);
yet restoration of patriarchal authority under Napoleon and
women’s clubs banned
- Olympe de Gouges: “Declaration of the Rights of Woman and the
Female Citizen” (1791)
“Man, are you capable of being fair? A woman is asking: at least you will
allow her that right. Tell me? What gave you the sovereign right to
oppress my sex?”
“Woman, wake up; the tocsin (the bell) of reason is resounding
throughout the universe: acknowledge your rights.”
 Race/ethnicity:
- Enlightenment ideals vs. racism.
- Restoration of slavery under Napoleon – hopes to upturn colonial
commerce.
- Example: Haitian Slave Revolution (1791-1802) – an unthinkable
story.

Questions to help you study

Questions:
 Who were the ”three estates”? And, what was their mutual relation prior to
and after the French Revolution?
 What were the different phases of the revolution?
 What was the role of the French provincial parlements?
 Was the revolution an anti-royalist movement?
 What are the main legacies of the French revolution?
 …