HI 112Raffael ScheckColby College

A Survey of Modern Europe

2

The Origins of the French Revolution

Absolutism in Crisis

The impact of the American Revolution

– No taxation without representation

– Success: government without kings and nobles is possible

Problems of the “Enlightened Despots”

– Critique of their militarism– Contempt for the people

(“the voice of the people is the voice of the cattle”)

Catherine II

The Crisis in France

Enlightened despotism was inconsistent and disappointing; Louis XVI

Half-hearted repression (lettres de cachet) - easy target for enlightenment critique

Very dynamic, assertive society

Rich country with a bankrupt government

The Financial Crisis of France

Reasons:– Wasteful court management– Foreign war– Antiquated trade structure– Narrow tax base (near

exemption for the clergy and nobility)

Hence: a “new deal” is unavoidable - but dangerous

Three Layers of Social Tensions

1. Monarchy versus aristocracy

2. Privileged wealth versus unprivileged wealth

3. The poor versus the rich

1. Monarchy against Aristocracy

Aristocracy wants to go back to pre-absolutist times but justifies its demand in enlightenment terms (balance of power; rational government; social contract - but according to Locke, not Rousseau)

Aristocrats demand a parliament, the Estates General (not convened since 1614). Votes by estate. Therefore: secure majority for clergy and aristocracy

2. Privileged Wealth versus Unprivileged Wealth The Three Estates The aristocracy enjoys

privileges (tax exemption; careers; legal advantages)

The wealthy members of the Third Estate resent these privileges (businessmen, merchants, artisans, bankers)

An example: the Noailles Affair

3. The Poor Versus the Rich

Commercial downturn and bad harvests: 1787-89 Enlightenment ideas (Rousseau) among the lower

classes: "we, the people, deserve better than being poor, unrepresented, and exploited”

New mindset: instead of “we want bread” - “we want the GOVERNMENT to provide bread!”

Peasants resent feudal contracts and aristocratic arbitrariness

Hence: as France is approaching a major crisis of government, many hungry, even starving people are waiting in the wings, particularly in the cities

The Start of the Revolution

Aristocratic rebellion, 1787-89. Demand for Estates General. Tax strike

Rebellion of the Third Estate: wants doublement du tiers and voting by head, not by estate

Abbé Siéyès: the third estate is the nation!

Louis XVI concedes the demands of the Third Estate

The French Revolution

1. Phase: Toward a Constitutional Monarchy and Abolition of Privilege Third Estate with allies

declares itself the National Assembly. Promise to write a constitution

“Great Fear” Popular rebellion in Paris:

storm on the Bastille (July 1789); later abduction of the royal couple from Versailles to Paris

Constitution and Declaration of Rights of Man - 1791

Balance Sheet for the 1st Phase

Establishment of a constitutional monarchy and declaration of rights of men, but not of women

Merit trumps privilege in careers, but voting is still restricted by income; no democracy

Abolition of feudalism through the “Great Fear” Centralization, rationalization, standardization of weights

and measures Problems:

– Louis XVI remains unwilling to work within the new constitutional framework (“monsieur véto”; flight to Varennes)

– Civil Constitution of the Clergy and confiscation of church lands (financial measure) splits the countryside and leads to massive unrest

2nd Phase: Constitution of a Republic; Civil and Foreign War Legislative Assembly

declares war on Austria As the war turns to the

worse, the Assembly calls for a democratic constitution and universal manhood suffrage

Deposition of the king Random massacres of

aristocrats and priests Decision to execute the

king

Balance Sheet of the 2nd Phase

Commitment to democracy and a republic

Huge mobilization of revolutionary fanatics

Problems: – Radicalism of Paris crowds is

out of the step with much of the country at large. Declaration of the Republic is preceded by violence

– Economic crisis; inflation. Exacerbated by war

– Church policy ignites civil war in the countryside

3rd Phase: Reign of Terror and Mobilization of the Nation The assembly, renamed as

“Convention,” sets up two emergency committees

These committees establish a dictatorship (Robespierre)

Democratic constitution, to be implemented after the war

Levée en masse Cultural Revolution Civil War (Vendée)

Balance Sheet of the 3rd Phase:

Commitment to democracy, but at the same time terror in the name of the people

Cultural Revolution with absurdities of “political correctness”

Repression of counter-revolution and turn of the war in France’s favor

But the terror seems increasingly absurd and uncontrolled

4th Phase: Thermidorian Reaction and Directorate Attempt to stabilize the

revolution against both the left and the right

Republic of property owners, ruled by 5 directors

Bi-cameral parliament with lower house elected along property suffrage lines

Export of the Revolution through foreign war: Sister republics

Balance Sheet of the 4th Phase

Precarious stability, built on a thin political base

White terror against revolutionaries; continued uprisings from the poor

Growing dependency on foreign war and victories - hence on the army and its most prestigeous generals

General Napoléon Bonaparte is invited to perform a coup d’état (brumaire 1799)

Napoleonic Europe

Napoleon in France

His recipe: universal manhood suffrage but powerless parliament; plebiscites (Bonapartism)

Concordat (1801) First Consul for life (1802) Code Napoléon (1804) Emperor (1804) Dependent on military

glory. Increasing popular resentment at endless wars

Napoleon in Europe

Conqueror and military genius

Great victories in land battles (Austerlitz, 1805), but loss of sea power (Trafalgar, 1805)

Continental System From liberator to oppressor Downfall (Spanish

uprising, Russia) Short comeback in 1815

Balance Sheet: Napoleon

Conserves revolutionary ideas in France

But he also subverts the revolution (new nobility; nepotism; powerless parliament; repression of women and workers)

Brings ideas of the Revolution to much of Europe (weights and measures; rights of man; nationalism)

Romantic hero