French Society Before the Revolution
1774, King Louis XVI ascended the throne of France at the age of 20. He was
married to Marie Antoinette and led an extravagant life.
He decided to support the American War of Independence and hence increased
France’s debt to over 3 billion Livres.
The 18th century French society was divided into three estates.
The first estate consisted of the clergy.
The second estate comprised the nobility while the third estate, which
formed about 97% of the population, consisted of the merchants, officials,
peasants, artisans and servants.
The clergy and nobility did not have to pay any taxes. It was only the third
estate that paid taxes. A part of third class called the middle class was part
of the third estate. This group consisted of educated people such as teachers,
lawyers, artisans and merchants. They
started to question the privileges being enjoyed by the nobility.
In the midst these thoughts, the increase in the price of bread added to
the existing taxes, resulting in riots. King Louis decided to convene the
Estates General and put forth his proposal.
Outbreak of the Revolution
The financial condition in France was in a pitiable state.
Louis had almost bankrupted France with a 3 million livre debt. In order to
increase the taxes to offset this permission was needed from all three estates.
The Estates General was convened on 5th May 1789 at
Versailles comprising representatives from all three estates.
The members of the third estate gathered on 20th June, 1789
in Versailles and declared themselves as the National Assembly and decided to
draft a constitution that would limit the powers of the King.
Their key leaders were Mirabeau and Abbe Sieyes. On August
4th 1789 Louis recognized the National Assembly and agreed to abide by their
framework. The National Assembly abolished the feudal system of taxes, tithes
and the special privileges enjoyed by the clergy and nobles by birth.
France Becomes a Constitutional Monarchy
So the recognition of the National Assembly by King Louis
and him agreeing to their demands was a victory for the entire Third Estate.
In 1791, the National Assembly completed the draft of the
constitution. As per the new constitution, France became a constitutional
monarchy with the King, or the Executive, having to share power with the
legislature and the Judiciary.
Only men who were older than 25 years and who paid taxes
were allowed to vote. The constitution commenced with the Declaration of the
Rights of Man.
It stated that the right to life, to freedom of speech, to
freedom of opinion and to equality before the law were intrinsic to all human
beings.
Visual symbols were used to share the message to the
uneducated and illiterate people:
•
The broken chains stood for
freedom
•
The blue white and red symbolized
the national colours of France
•
The Red Phrygian cap was a sign
of freedom and was worn by slaves when they became free
•
The all seeing eye stood for
knowledge
•
The self devouring snake
indicated eternity
•
The bundle of rods of fasces
indicated strength in unity
•
The winged woman stood for the
law
•
The sceptre was a symbol of royal
power
•
The tablet also known as the law
tablet signified equality
All women and children, and men who did not fall into the
category of active citizens, were termed passive citizens, and were denied the
right to vote.
The preamble to the constitution of 1791 consisted of the Declaration of
the Rights of Man and Citizen. These rights included the rights to life, the
freedom of speech, the freedom of opinion and equality before the law.
France Becomes a Republic
The National Assembly succeeded in making France into a constitutional
monarchy. King Louis XVI deprived of all his powers conspired to dissolve the
National Assembly with the King of Prussia, Frederick William II.
The most successful political club was Jacobins, headed by
Maximilian Robespierre. Jacobins were also
called sansculottes which meant ‘those without knee breeches’. They wore
long striped trousers similar to dock workers and wore a red Phrygian cap that
symbolized liberty.
On August 10, 1792 people stormed the palace of the Tuileries where King
Louis and his family were hostage. On September 21, 1792 a new assembly called
the Convention was formed and France was declared a Republic.
The national committee put King Louis on trial and found him guilty. On
January 21, 1793, King Louis was beheaded while Queen Marie Antoinette was
guillotined on October 16th of the same year.
The Reign of Terror
King Louis was executed on 21st January 1793 at the Palace de la Concorde
followed by the execution of the queen. The year following the formation of the
French republic is referred to as the reign of terror.
Maximilian Robespierre suspended the Declaration of the Rights of Man.
Robespierre started executing people he suspected of counter-terrorist
activities.
Antoine Lavoisier, the father of modern Chemistry, famous for discovering
Oxygen and Hydrogen was executed.
Many rules were enforced on social and economic front. Camille Desmoulins,
a revolutionary journalist opposed the Reign of Terror but was eventually
executed.
In July 1794, Robespierre was charged with treason and sentenced to death.
With the death of Robespierre ended the reign of terror.
Did Women have a Revolution?
Women came into the
forefront on October 5, 1789, when they marched to Versailles and brought King
Louis the sixteenth back to Paris.
The Society of Revolutionary and Republican Women was formed
in 1793 to voice its opinion and grievances against the constitution of 1791
which denied them the right to vote.
The eminent writer
and political activist, Olympe de Gouges opposed the constitution and the
Declaration of Rights of Man and Citizen of 1791. She later drafted the
Declaration of Rights for Women and Citizen.
Olympe de Gouges was charged with treason and was
guillotined on November 2, 1793.
The revolution carried out by the women of France triggered
the international suffrage movement, for the next two centuries. As a result of
this movement, in 1946, the women of France won the right to exercise their
franchise and equal wages.
The Abolition of Slavery
Before the French Revolution in 1789, France had three
colonies of the Caribbean - Martinique, Guadeloupe and San Domingo under its
control. These places were major suppliers of sugar, coffee, indigo and
tobacco.
The triangular slave trade between Europe, Africa and
America began in the 17th century.
Merchants sailed from the French ports to the African coast
where they bought Negroes, who are natives of Africa, from the local
chieftains.
Port cities like Bordeaux and Nantes were flourishing
economically because of the slave trade.
The National Convention voted to abolish slavery in all the
French colonies on February 4, 1794.
Slavery was reintroduced in the French colonies by Napoleon
Bonaparte. Slavery was finally abolished in
1848 by the French Second Republic.
Revolution and Everyday Life
After 1789 there was a significant difference in the lives
of the French people, in the way they dressed, the language they spoke and the
books they read.
After the storming of the Bastille in July 1789, censorship
was abolished.
The government put into practice the ideologies of liberty,
equality and fraternity.
The Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen contained
in the Preamble of the Constitution of 1791 asserted that every citizen had the
right to freedom of speech and expression.
Written material such as newspapers, books, pamphlets and
pictures were spread throughout France.
Printed pictures and paintings were circulated, and
pamphlets and books were read aloud for the illiterate. Plays, songs and
processions made it easy for the common people to grasp the revolutionary
ideals of liberty, equality and justice.
Freedom of the press in the Declaration of 1791 supported
the right to oppose views of events. This paved way for political clubs to
convince the others of their position through the medium of print.
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