eh 1 -4 lectures

• The storming of Bastille


  1789, July 14th
• Glorious Revolution (1688 – 1689, England)


  • Abdication of catholic king and replacement by protestant king
• The American Revolution (1755 – 2783)


  • American independence from Great Britain
• Impact of these revolutions

  • England: breach with tradition of "divine right to rule"
  • USA: rights of representation and revolt against "unjust" rule
• John Locke (1689)


  Two main premises: 1) No government can be justified by one's appeal to the divine right of kings, 2) Legitimate government needs to be founded on the consent of the governed
• Social contract theorist

  Justification for the "state": State of nature – rational man, Civil government founded on popular sovereignty (ideas of "popular sovereignty)
• Economics – financial bankruptcy

  • Louis XIV ("sun king") mass expenditures – the Palace of Versailles
  • French campaign in support of the American Revolution
  • Seven-year war (England/France): loss of many colonies
  • Poor harvests, famine, and already harsh taxes and income inequalities
• Politics: struggle with provincial "parlements"


  • Louis XIV: inherited struggle with provincial courts who held the right to appeal to the king's edicts
• The dismissal of Jacques Necker, controller-general of Finance


  • Necker was critical of tax exemptions for nobility and clergy
  • Published King's finances
  • Favours borrowing money abroad; rather than increasing (already high) taxes on commoners
• The gamble of Louis XIV (1787 – 1788)


  • Proposes a "land tax" on all land-holders (including nobility)
  • "Assembly of notables" rejects the king's proposal
  • King attempts to bypass them; by calling for a meeting of the estates-general
• Instigates discussions on institutional design… leading to French revolution
• Ancien regime – politics


  • King ruled by divine right
  • Some restrictions on the king's power via moral and divine laws, customs, principles of administration
  • Decision-making with King's council (consultative prerogatives)
  • Absolutist rule = absence of a constitution
  • Precise codes and rules varied across regional courts (legal pluralism)
  • An intendancy system: Great centralization pf power via a system of provincial intendants (non-hereditary) – appointed by the king, Supervision and enforcement of the King's will, Power over policing, financing, justice
• "Parlements" = source of resistance against absolutist rule


  • = Provincial courts of appeal (judiciary power)
  • Historical origin: King's council
  • "droit de remontrance": power to appeal to royal edicts
  • From the 15th century onwards: election of three deputies/town
  • 13 parlements, but very uneven districts
  • Paris court approx.. 1/3 of France + very critical of King's edicts
• Parlements: a growing challenge to the King's divine rights


  • 1667: Louis XIV weakens right to appeal; later bans all "unrespectful appeals"
  • 1766: Louis XV's "flagellation" speech in Paris Parliament: Reminds parlements of his divine right to rule, Reduces practice to a one time appeal + only short delay of royal edicts
  • 1771 "coup de majeste": reform of justice system; strictly defined systems of appeals
  • Louis XVI restores right to appeal – guest for popularity; but rising use challenges King's authority
• Estates-general: legislative body


  The three estates: 1) Prayer: first estate = Catholic clergy, 2) Military: second estate: nobility, 3) Work: third estate: commoners
• The three estates

  • All property (5%-10% of the land) was tax exempted; only marginal taxes in specific cases for the first estate
  • Sheer monopoly over higher administrative, military functions, higher church offices, etc. for the second estate
  • Great diversity: capitalist bourgeoisie (merchants, royal administration), skilled workers/craftsmen, city workers (servants, cooks, drivers, etc.), peasants (80% of the French population were farmers) for the third estate
  • Tax duties (but often, exemptions for the bourgeoisie) for the third estate
• The three estates – how is it different from a class system?

  Rigid socio-economic and political structures but: Estates cannot be equated to distinct socio-economic groups, Opportunities for social mobility, Inter-marriage between classes, Frey area between bourgeois and aristocracy: bourgeois lacked a shared class consciousness; wished to become nobles (rather than overthrow the system)
• 1789 meeting of the Estates-general

  • Widespread political participation: all male tax-payers over 25 years are invited to elect their deputies
  • 1 vote per estate
  • Representation: deputies present cashiers de doléances (list of grievances)
  • The majority of the people are in favor of the king
  • Yet, the debate quickly turns to the organization of the estates-general… and, in its wake the source of the sovereign power: sovereignty from above (king's divine right to rule) vs sovereignty from below (popular sovereignty)
  • Discussion on fair representation within the estates-general: 1) Parliament of Paris decision: same organization and proceedings as in 1614: vote by the estate (not by numerical strength): 2:1 logic, 2) Doubling of the third estate as a counterbalance, 3) Continued critique by the third estate
• Pamphlets: what is the third estate

  Abbé Sieyès (Emmanuel Joseph Sieyès): What is the Third Estate? A plea for a numerical count: majority decision rule, Conception of popular sovereignty (Rousseau): The third estate is "the people" (= community of equals), Equality: clergy/nobility can only join the nation when abandoning their privileges
• Tennis court oath (20-06-1789)


  • 3rd Estate declares itself the Nationalist Assembly of People (17.06.1789)
  • Tennis Court Oath: 3rd Estate members constitute a legitimate authority equal to the King's. 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 bayonets"
  • 27-06-1789: support across the country, royal party gives in
  • 9-07-1789: reconstitution as the National Constituent Assembly
• From elites to the masses

  • Storming of the Bastille (14th of July, 1789): Political unrest (placement of troops outside Versailles), Mobs, riots, support of the French guard, Rise of republican, anti-royal sentiment, Peasant revolt (inequality)
  • 4th of August: National assembly = "abolition of feudalism" (property rights, end to servitude)
  • 26th of 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 were reduced to a suspensive veto over legislation
• From elites to masses: Women's March on Versailles (5-10-1789)


  • Marketplace riots over the price/scarcity of bread, Women are joined by constitutional reformers; frustrated by King's refusal to accept early reforms, March to Versailles assisted by French guard; invasion of the palace; king is forced to return to Paris
• Weakened position of the king
• Three phases of the revolution

  • The moderate stage (1789 – 1792), The radical stage (1793 – 1794), The directory (1795 – 1799), The age of napoleon (1800 – 1815)
• The moderate stage (1789 – 1792)


  • 1791 Constitution of France: "King of the French" (as opposed to France)
  • 1791 first gathering of the National Assembly: Restructuring state-church relations, Sale of church lands to pay off state debt + government officials, members of the assembly, and administration are paid in paper bills (assignats) to be used in public auctions, Limitation of the authority of the roman catholic church
• A growing conflict among revolutionaries

  • Girondins (region "Gironde"): moderate political group, Favoured stabilization after the revolution; economic liberation, Favoured a popular vote (referendum) to overturn legislation
  • Montagnard's ("the mountain"): radical political group, Favoured continued socio-economic and political reform; as their success greatly depended on "sans-culottes", Against "popular vote" (would Favor rural interests over those of Paris)
  • Conflict intensifies: growing fear of counter-revolution, 1791: "flight to Varennes": king makes a failed attempt to flee
  • Radicalisation: 20th of April, 1792: declaration of war from France on Austria and Prussia, August 1972: Paris commune, Creation of the republic
• The radical stage (1793 – 1794)

  • By 1793, France is in military conflict with all of its neighbours, Expansionist politics fuel tensions with neighbouring countries, Warfare (rising prizes) provokes protest among peasants and urban poor, Tensions 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 "royalists", 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, Introduction of the revolutionary calendar
• The National Assembly proclaim a Republic
• Louis XVI is tried for treason & executed in January 1793
• By 1793, France is in military conflict with all of its neighbours
• Expansionist politics fuel tensions with neighbouring countries
• Reasons for growing popular support for war among European countries

  • Fear of regicide and export of the revolution
  • Creation of international coalitions against France
• Warfare (rising prizes) provokes protest among peasants and urban poor
• Tensions 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 "royalists"
• 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
  • Introduction of the revolutionary calendar (12 months, each of 3 weeks of ten days)
• 16.594 official death sentences in France; no right to a defence
• Maximilien Robespierre (1794, speech): 'If the basis of popular government in peacetime is a 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].'