Introduction

• On 14 July 1789, Paris was in a state of alarm as rumors spread that King Louis XVI had ordered troops to open fire on the citizens.
• Around 7,000 men and women gathered to form a people’s militia and searched government buildings for arms.
• A group marched to the Bastille, a fortress-prison seen as a symbol of royal tyranny, to find ammunition.
• After an armed fight, the commander of the Bastille was killed, and the seven prisoners were released. The Bastille was demolished, and its fragments were sold as souvenirs to mark the destruction of royal power.
• In the following days, rioting spread throughout Paris and the countryside, driven by anger over high bread prices.
• This event, later recognized by historians, marked the beginning of a series of events that led to the execution of the king. However, at the time, most people did not anticipate that this would be the final outcome.

French Society During the Late Eighteenth Century

• Louis XVI, from the Bourbon family, became king of France in 1774 at the age of 20 and was married to Marie Antoinette, an Austrian princess.
• Upon his ascension, the French treasury was empty due to the costs of long wars, including aiding the American colonies’ independence, which added more than 1 billion livres to the existing debt of over 2 billion livres.
• The government faced escalating debt and was forced to pay 10% interest on loans, consuming a significant portion of the state budget.
• To manage its expenses, including maintaining the army, court, and government functions, France increased taxes. However, these measures were insufficient.
• French society in the 18th century was divided into three estates:
  • The first estate: clergy (Church).
  • The second estate: nobility.
  • The third estate: common people, mainly peasants, who made up about 90% of the population.
• Members of the first two estates (clergy and nobility) enjoyed privileges, most notably exemption from taxes.
• The nobles also had feudal privileges, like collecting feudal dues from peasants, who were obligated to work on noble lands or serve in the army.
• The Church also collected tithes (taxes) from peasants, further burdening the third estate.
• The third estate alone was responsible for paying state taxes, including a direct tax (taille) and several indirect taxes on daily goods like salt and tobacco.
• The burden of taxation was thus carried solely by the third estate.

The Struggle to Survive

• The population of France increased from 23 million in 1715 to 28 million in 1789, driving a rise in demand for foodgrains.
• The production of grains couldn’t meet the growing demand, leading to a rapid rise in the price of bread, a staple for most people.
• Workers were employed in workshops where owners set wages, but wages did not keep up with rising prices, widening the gap between the rich and the poor.
• Droughts or hail that reduced harvests worsened the situation, leading to a subsistence crisis, which was a common occurrence during the Old Regime.

A Growing Middle Class Envisages an End to Privileges

• Peasants and workers had previously revolted against rising taxes and food scarcity, but lacked the means or plans for full-scale change in the social and economic order.
• The responsibility for change fell to the middle class, a group that became prosperous through overseas trade and the manufacture of goods like woollen and silk textiles.
• The middle class also included lawyers and administrative officials, all educated and believing that social position should depend on merit, not birth.
• These ideas, advocating for a society based on freedom, equal laws, and opportunity for all, were promoted by philosophers like John Locke and Jean-Jacques Rousseau.
  • Locke‘s Two Treatises of Government challenged the divine right of monarchs.
  • Rousseau proposed a social contract between the people and their representatives.
  • Montesquieu suggested a separation of powers (legislative, executive, and judiciary) in The Spirit of the Laws, a model later adopted by the USA.
• These philosophical ideas spread through salons, coffee-houses, and printed materials, with works often read aloud for those unable to read.
• Louis XVI‘s plan to impose more taxes to meet state expenses sparked widespread anger and protest against the system of privileges.

The Outbreak of the Revolution

• Louis XVI needed to increase taxes but couldn’t impose them unilaterally. He had to summon the Estates General, a political body with representatives from the three estates.
• The Estates General had not met since 1614, and when it was called on 5 May 1789, the first and second estates sent 300 representatives each, while the third estate (largely the prosperous and educated) sent 600 representatives who were seated at the back.
• Peasants, artisans, and women were excluded from direct participation, though their grievances were conveyed through 40,000 letters.
• Historically, voting was by estate (each estate had one vote). The third estate demanded voting by head (each representative should have a vote), as advocated by Rousseau. When this was rejected by the king, the third estate members walked out and declared themselves the National Assembly on 20 June.
• The National Assembly swore to stay until they had drafted a constitution to limit the king’s powers, led by Mirabeau and Abbé Sieyès.
• Meanwhile, economic hardship (bad harvests, rising bread prices, and exploitation by bakers) and royal military presence led to protests, with women leading the charge to the bakeries.
• On 14 July, an angry crowd stormed the Bastille, symbolizing the revolt.
• In the countryside, rumors about lords hiring brigands led peasants to attack chateaux, seize grain, and destroy records of manorial dues.
• Faced with growing unrest, Louis XVI recognized the National Assembly and accepted that his powers would be checked by a constitution.
• On the night of 4 August 1789, the Assembly abolished feudal obligations and taxes, and clergy privileges were revoked. The Church’s lands were confiscated, providing the government with 2 billion livres in assets.

France Becomes a Constitutional Monarchy

• The Constitution of 1791 aimed to limit the monarch’s powers by dividing authority among three institutions: the legislature, executive, and judiciary, establishing France as a constitutional monarchy.
• The National Assembly was granted the power to make laws. It was indirectly elected: citizens voted for electors, who then chose the Assembly.
• Voting rights were limited to active citizens, defined as men above 25 who paid taxes equal to at least 3 days of a labourer’s wage. Others, including women, were considered passive citizens.
• To be eligible to elect or become a member of the Assembly, a man had to be among the highest taxpayers.
• The Constitution began with the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen, establishing natural and inalienable rights such as life, freedom of speech, equality before the law, and freedom of opinion, which the state was obligated to protect.

France Abolishes Monarchy and Becomes a Republic

• Louis XVI’s secret negotiations with Prussia and other neighboring rulers raised fears of external intervention, prompting the National Assembly to declare war on Prussia and Austria in April 1792.
• Thousands of volunteers joined the army, seeing it as a people’s war against kings and aristocracies across Europe. The Marseillaise, written by Roget de L’Isle, became the anthem of the revolution.
• The revolutionary wars brought hardship, particularly for women, who had to manage both earning a living and caring for families while men fought.
• The Constitution of 1791 was seen as insufficient by many, as it only granted political rights to the wealthier classes, prompting calls for further revolutionary action.
• Political clubs, especially the Jacobin Club, became rallying points for action. The Jacobins, led by Maximilian Robespierre, included less prosperous people like small shopkeepers and artisans. They adopted the sans-culottes identity by wearing long trousers, distinct from the knee breeches worn by aristocrats.
• In August 1792, the Jacobins led an insurrection in Paris, storming the Palace of the Tuileries, massacring the king’s guards, and imprisoning the royal family.
• Elections were held, granting universal male suffrage. The Convention was elected and on 21 September 1792, it abolished the monarchy and declared France a republic.
• Louis XVI was tried for treason and executed on 21 January 1793 at Place de la Concorde, followed by Marie Antoinette.

The Reign of Terror

• The period from 1793 to 1794 is known as the Reign of Terror, marked by Robespierre’s severe policies of control and punishment.
• Enemies of the republic, including ex-nobles, clergy, political rivals, and even fellow revolutionaries, were arrested, tried, and often executed by guillotine.
• The guillotine, invented by Dr. Guillotin, became the symbol of this period, used to behead those found guilty by revolutionary tribunals.
• Robespierre’s government rationed food, imposed a maximum ceiling on wages and prices, and mandated the use of wholewheat bread (pain d’égalité) to promote equality.
• Peasants were forced to transport grain to cities and sell it at government-fixed prices.
• Robespierre enforced uniformity in speech and address, replacing Monsieur and Madame with Citoyen and Citoyenne (Citizen).
• Churches were closed, and many buildings were repurposed for government use.
• Robespierre’s relentless policies led even his supporters to demand moderation. In July 1794, he was arrested and executed by guillotine.

A Directory Rules France

• The fall of the Jacobin government led to the rise of the wealthier middle classes who seized power.
• A new constitution was introduced that denied voting rights to non-property owners and established two elected legislative councils.
• These councils appointed a Directory, an executive of five members, intended to prevent the concentration of power in a single leader.
• However, the Directors often clashed with the legislative councils, leading to political instability.
• This instability paved the way for the rise of Napoleon Bonaparte, who would become a military dictator.
• Despite these political changes, the ideals of freedom, equality before the law, and fraternity continued to inspire political movements in France and across Europe throughout the next century.

Did Women have a Revolution?

• Women were active participants from the beginning of the French Revolution, hoping to pressure the government for reforms that would improve their lives.
• Most women from the third estate worked as seamstresses, laundresses, or in markets and domestic service. They had lower wages than men and lacked access to education or job training, with only daughters of nobles having educational opportunities.
• Women began forming political clubs and newspapers to discuss their interests, with about sixty women’s clubs emerging, including the famous Society of Revolutionary and Republican Women.
• Their primary demand was political equality, particularly the right to vote and hold office. They were disappointed by the Constitution of 1791, which limited them to passive citizenship.
• Early revolutionary laws brought some improvements for women, such as compulsory education for girls, the ability to choose marriage freely, the legalization of divorce, and the chance for women to train for jobs, become artists, or run businesses.
• However, during the Reign of Terror, the government closed women’s clubs and banned their political activities, arresting and executing several prominent women.
• The fight for equal political rights continued for two centuries, with an international suffrage movement gaining momentum in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
• Women in France finally gained the right to vote in 1946, marking the culmination of a long struggle inspired by the revolutionary years.

The Abolition of Slavery

• One of the most revolutionary social reforms of the Jacobin regime was the abolition of slavery in French colonies.
• The Caribbean colonies, such as Martinique, Guadeloupe, and San Domingo, were crucial suppliers of tobacco, sugar, indigo, and coffee.
• Labour shortages on plantations were addressed by the triangular slave trade between Europe, Africa, and the Americas, starting in the 17th century.
• French merchants from Bordeaux and Nantes purchased slaves from African chieftains, who were then transported across the Atlantic to the Caribbean, where they were sold to plantation owners.
• Slave labour was integral to meeting the European demand for sugar, coffee, and indigo, and cities like Bordeaux and Nantes thrived economically due to the slave trade.
• Despite some debates in the National Assembly about extending the rights of man to French subjects in the colonies, no laws were passed due to pressure from businessmen benefiting from the slave trade.
• It was the Convention in 1794 that legislated the freedom of slaves in French overseas possessions, but this was a short-term measure.
• Napoleon reintroduced slavery ten years later, with plantation owners asserting that their economic interests required enslaving African people.
• Slavery was finally abolished in French colonies in 1848.

The Revolution and Everyday Life

• Politics can indeed influence clothes, language, and literature, as seen in the changes following the French Revolution in 1789.
• The revolutionary governments passed laws to implement the ideals of liberty and equality in daily life.
• One significant law was the abolition of censorship, which ended the old regime’s control over publications like books, newspapers, and plays.
• Prior to this, all written materials had to be approved by royal censors; after 1789, the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen established freedom of speech and expression as natural rights.
• This led to an explosion of printed material—newspapers, pamphlets, books, and illustrations—that spread rapidly across France, reaching both towns and the countryside.
• Freedom of the press allowed for the expression of opposing viewpoints on political events, with each side using print to persuade the other.
• Plays, songs, and festivals became popular ways for the public to connect with political ideas such as liberty and justice, which were previously discussed in intellectual texts inaccessible to most people.

Conclusion

• In 1804, Napoleon Bonaparte crowned himself Emperor of France and set out to conquer neighboring European countries, replacing monarchies with kingdoms led by his family members.
• Napoleon saw himself as a modernizer of Europe, introducing significant reforms such as laws protecting private property and a uniform system of weights and measures, based on the decimal system.
• Initially, many viewed Napoleon as a liberator who would bring freedom to the people. However, his armies eventually became seen as an invading force across Europe.
• Napoleon was defeated at Waterloo in 1815, but many of his revolutionary reforms continued to influence Europe long after his fall.
• The ideas of liberty and democratic rights were the most significant legacy of the French Revolution. These ideas spread throughout Europe in the 19th century, contributing to the abolition of feudal systems.
• Colonized peoples also adapted these ideas of freedom and self-determination into their own struggles to create sovereign nation-states.
• Tipu Sultan and Rammohan Roy are examples of individuals who were influenced by the revolutionary ideas emerging from France.