They wanted the monarchy to be utterly razed and replaced by a republican form of government. However, this centrist position inflamed the more radical Jacobins who rejected the constitution entirely. It reflected the more moderate views of the Girondists faction of the National Assembly, calling for a constitutional monarchy in which the King would retain veto powers and be able to appoint ministers. In September 1791, France’s first written constitution was adopted. During this tumultuous time, the riots in Paris and the countryside continued, and the King made an unsuccessful attempt to flee to Austria. They approved the text of the Declaration of the Rights Of Man and of the Citizen as a statement of principle, nationalized all Church property, suppressed all religious orders, nullified nobility and titles, and abolished slavery in France (but not in French colonies). Over the next two years, the National Assembly reorganized governmental policies and structures. In August, 1789, the National Assembly moved to equalize taxation and end feudalism entirely, demolishing the system that had undergirded France’s political system for centuries. During this agrarian insurrection, known as the Great Fear, nobles fled and sought asylum in neighboring countries. Desperate, poor, and furious, the peasants revolted against years of exploitation and maltreatment, looting and burning the homes of tax collectors, nobles, landlords, and anyone seen as elite. The revolutionary spirit swept across the French countryside. Insurgents stormed the Bastille fortress to take gunpowder and weapons to defend against the King’s army, an act that is celebrated as the beginning of the French Revolution. There were rumors that the military would be sent to quell the popular insurgency in Paris, and on June 14th the people rioted. While the National Assembly was meeting in Versailles, Paris was rocked by violence. In a political cartoon of the day, clergy and nobility ride on the backs of the commoners. Begrudgingly, the King and other Estates were compelled to participate. They renamed the convening as the National Assembly, and vowed not to disband until a new constitution had been drafted.
Finding themselves in the vast majority, the Third Estate representatives mobilized to demand a new constitution that would guarantee equal representation (voting by head rather than by status) and eliminate the royal veto. He summoned the Estates-General, a national convening of representatives of the Three Estates (nobles, clergy, and commoners), which had last occurred in 1614. This brought on a near-revolt by the aristocrats, and Louis was facing demands from all segments of the population. In 1786, Louis XVI’s financial minister proposed a universal land tax to which the privileged classes would no longer be exempt. Inspired by Enlightenment ideals, his early years were marked by attempts to improve the government however, the nobility and Church strongly resisted these reforms-resulting in steadily worsening conditions for the commoners. Louis XVI, who was married to Marie Antoinette, ascended to the throne in 1774 at the age of twenty. Desperation and resentment ignited riots, looting, and striking throughout France. This great swath of the population- known as the Third Estate-lived in wretched destitution, their every action taxed to support the luxury and privilege of the nobility and the Church. Additionally, two decades of poor harvests, cattle disease, and constantly rising bread prices spread deep misery throughout 98% of the population that was neither noble nor clergy.
Financial management by the government was chaotic at best, and by 1788 the kingdom’s wealth had disappeared almost entirely.
#FRENCH REVOLUTIONARY CALENDAR 2019 SERIES#
Through the second half of the 18th century, France was involved in a series of ruinously expensive wars including the French and Indian War, the Seven Years War, and the American Revolution. In just over ten years, the people of France destroyed and redesigned the country’s political structure, eliminating the absolute monarchy and feudal system that had dominated the population for centuries.Īlthough 1789 is recognized as the beginning of the Revolution, the causes reach back many decades. The French Revolution was one of the greatest upheavals in European history.
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