The French revolution

• The city of Paris was in a state of turmoil

  14 July 1789
• The king had commanded troops to move into the city
• Rumours spread that the king would soon order the army to open fire upon the citizens
• Formation of a peoples' militia


  1. 7,000 men and women gathered in front of the town hall

  2. Decided to form a peoples' militia

  3. Broke into a number of government buildings in search of arms
• Storming of the Bastille


  1. A group of several hundred people marched towards the eastern part of the city

  2. Stormed the fortress-prison, the Bastille

  3. Hoped to find hoarded ammunition

  4. In the armed fight that followed, the commander of the Bastille was killed

  5. The prisoners were released, though there were only seven of them
• The Bastille was hated by all because it stood for the despotic power of the king
• The fortress was demolished and its stone fragments were sold in the markets to all those who wished to keep a souvenir of its destruction
• The days that followed saw more rioting both in Paris and the countryside
• Most people were protesting against the high price of bread
• When historians looked back upon this time, they saw it as the beginning of a chain of events that ultimately led to the execution of the king in France, though most people at the time did not anticipate this outcome
• Storming of the Bastille


  The event on 14 July 1789 where a mob stormed the Bastille prison, freeing the inmates and beheading the governor, Bernard de Launay, marking the beginning of the French Revolution.
• 14 July 1789


  The correct date of the Storming of the Bastille.
• Bastille


  A prison symbolizing the abuses of power by King Louis XVI and a key target of the French Revolution.
• National Constituent Assembly


  The assembly established on 17 June 1789 to create a new French constitution.
• The Great Fear


  A wave of panic and violence that occurred from 21 to 24 July 1789, preceding the Storming of the Bastille.
• Bernard de Launay


  The governor of the Bastille who was beheaded during the Storming of the Bastille.
• Bastille


  A prison in Paris, known for holding political prisoners without trial or charge, symbolizing the absolute power of the French monarchy.
• The nobleman is the spider, the peasant the fly
• Fig. 3- The Spider and the Fly. An anonymous etching.
• The Struggle to Survive

  The more the devil has, the
• The population of France rose from about 23 million in 1715 to 28 million in 1789
• This led to a rapid increase in the demand for foodgrains
• Production of grains could not keep pace with the demand
• So the price of bread which was the staple diet of the majority rose rapidly
• Most workers were employed as labourers in workshops whose owner fixed their wages
• But wages did not keep pace with the rise in prices
• So the gap between the poor and the rich widened
• Things became worse whenever drought or hail reduced the harvest
• This led to a subsistence crisis, something that occurred frequently in France during the Old Regime
• Influenced the concept of popular sovereignty, where power belongs to the people, not the monarch.
• Rousseau's ideas


  
  
• Voltaire's critique of absolute monarchy


  
  
• Criticized absolute power, leading to a growing belief among the common people that the monarchy was illegitimate.
• Contributed to the development of a more democratic system, separating powers into legislative, executive, and judicial branches.
• Montesquieu's separation of powers


  
  
• Spreading of ideas through literature


  
  
• Subsistence crisis


  A crisis caused by lack of food or other necessities for survival
• Course of a subsistence crisis

  1. Food riots

  2. Epidemics

  3. Weakening of bodies
• Middle class


  Social groups who earned their wealth through expanding overseas trade and manufacturing goods
• Professions of the middle class

  • Merchants
  • Manufacturers
  • Lawyers
  • Administrative officials