French revolution

• Political causes of the French Revolution

  1. France was an absolute monarchy
  2. The nobility were entitled and stole money for their own personal use
  3. the king was too weak to lead effectively and failed to implement any reforms
  4. Marie Antoinette controlled King Louis, however she did not care for the interest of the French population
  5. Louis lost control of the situation in France by promising solutions to people's problems
  6. MNEMONIC= MAMIS
• Social Causes of the French Revolution

  1. The Bourgeoisie were dissatisfied with their lack of power and influence, even though they were wealthy, successful landowners and professionals
  2. demand for social equality between the 3 estates - the 1st and 2nd estate had many special privileges, which resulted in the 3rd estate being oppressed and abused.
  3. lack of freedom in speech, press and religion
  4. the people wanted a say in the country's administration and jobs in leadership roles
  5. People wanted less restricted trade and better taxation laws
  6. MNEMONIC = BE FAT
• Economic causes of the French revolution

  1. Bankrupcy due to
  2. corrupted taxes
  3. trade restrictions
  4. involvement in wars
  5. expenditure of nobles

  MNEMONIC= TWET
• The 1st estate in France included the clergy, who were involved in the church
• Before the revolution, France was a Catholic state
• The clergy in France were a very privileged group, exempt from taxes and collected tithes (10% of income) from the people
• Tasks of the clergy included registering deaths, births, and marriages, censorship of books, moral policing, and teaching at schools
• The upper clergy consisted of archbishops and bishops of noble birth who lived at Versailles and were very wealthy
• The lower clergy were common-born priests who did most of the work for the church and were paid very little
• The Second Estate in France included nobles of the sword (nobles by birth) and nobles of the robe (nobles who bought their positions)
• They were exempt from military duty, taxes, death penalty, and corporal punishment
• The Second Estate collected rent, feudal dues, and forced peasants to do corvee
• The Third Estate was the majority population in France during the French Revolution
• The Third Estate was split into 3 groups:
• First group: Middle class - Bourgeoisie
• The Bourgeoisie consisted of wealthy landowners and professionals who were well educated
• They were angry because they could not have positions of power in the church, army, and government due to their non-noble status
• They were bitter about the high tax rates they had to pay and their lack of freedom to speak about their grievances
• The Bourgeoisie acted as leadership for the revolution
• Second group: Peasants
• Peasants made up 90% of the French population
• They paid gabelle (salt tax) and taille (property tax) to the state and feudal dues to nobles
• Peasants were also required to do corvee (unpaid labor) for the Second Estate
• Peasants hated the oppression and burdens they faced
• Third group: Sans Culottes
• Sans Culottes worked in industry jobs and were paid very little
• They were the most radical and violent group during the revolution
• Smallest group: Serfs
• Serfs were slaves born on noble property and owned by the nobles
• Napoleon's government reforms included an army of officials which spread into every village, town and city that linked together the country. He governed with the interests of the people but was an absolute ruler who didn't believe in political liberty.
• Napoleon's religious reforms included making Catholicism the favored religion in France, but other religions could be freely practiced.
• Napoleon's law reforms were called CODE NAPOLEON, which included

  • equality before law
  • careers open to anyone
  • freedom of religion
  • protection of private property
  • abolition of serfdom
• Napoleon's educational reforms favored a state system of public education that would be managed by the state and not the church. Education served as a way to provide him with a capable army and administers.
• Napoleon's economic policies included

  • tarrifs and loans
  • building more roads, bridges and canals
  • establishment of the bank of France
  • careers open to men of talent
  • low bread prices
  • no feudal rights
• Necker advised the king to host the estates general on the 1st of May 1789.
• The estates general was a meeting called by the King in which representatives from all 3 estate met to discuss issues in France
• revolution- complete and radical change in the way of life, especially in politics, society, or culture
• The cahiers (surveys) told representatives that the third estate wanted abolition of the lettres de cachet, equal legal practices, an Estates general meeting every 4 years, equal taxation and better representation in Parliament
• in the estates general, there were 300 from each Estate and 600 from the third Estate. The third estate was led by the bourgeoisie, who were unhappy with the voting methods so they separated to form the National Assembly. (17 June 1798)
• The National Assembly, led by Mirabeau went to the royal tennis court to and promised the tennis court oath (to promise to stay together until a new constitution was written)