France is a wealthy and
flourishing country in Europe.
One of the most known places
which people talk about
France is Paris and specifically
the Eiffel Tower here.
France has been occupied by
people since the Neolithic times.
France has a rich cultural heritage and
many historical palaces and buildings
which present the grandeur of the
country during the ancient times.
The once beautiful country France
also went through a time of war
and revolt before it could finally
settled down and flourished.
Like most revolutions, France too was
tired of the monarchy and the overly
rich aristocrats who took advantage of
the peasants and the working class.
There were other reasons too.
France had become one of the most
populated countries in the entire Europe.
More population mean more food
and goods for the consumers.
France had spent heavily on the
American Revolution and the ruling King
Louis XVI and his predecessor had
left the country almost bankrupt.
Besides the harvest
was poor, the cattle
suffered with disease,
assets of the royal house
were dwindling and the price of the bread was
too high to be afforded by the peasants.
Government imposed very
high taxes on the people to
recover the losses which
seemed to be unaffordable.
This angered the people more.
The people showed their
frustration towards the
government through
strikes, theft and riots.
The French Revolution had uprooted
the monarchy and feudal system.
People wanted sovereignty
and absolute rights.
Trail of Events in French Revolution
Historians have blamed
King Louis XVI to have
laid the groundwork of
the French Revolution.
The period of ‘Ancien Regime’
which began in Middle Ages and
lasted till 1792 was the time
of Kings and feudal lords,
this phase is considered as the time when
the framework of the revolution was built.
Besides the ‘Ancien Regime’,
there were other reasons too.
Ancien Regime
Monetary Crunch
When Louis XVI came to
the throne France was
already going through
monetary problems.
The nearing bankrupt situation
of country was because of its
involvement in the Seven Years War
and then the American Revolution.
Anne Robert Jacques Turgot who was the then
finance minister of France was dismissed
when he was unable to ratify restructurings
in the financial structure of France.
Jacques Necker was given the
position of Comptroller General
of Finance the following year
after Turgot’s dismissal.
Necker understood that the tax
system of the country was
too harsh and the lower classes
were unable to bear it.
The clergy and nobility however
enjoyed several exemptions.
He disputed the tax exemptions for the
clergy and nobility should be abridged.
He suggested that borrowing money would
solve the monetary problems of the country.
At an occasion he also said that the powers
of the ‘parlement’ should be restricted.
The king’s ministers did not
appreciate his actions.
Necker wanted to take the
position of a minister
but the king refused
and removed Necker.
The new Comptroller appointed was
Charles Alexandre de Calonne.
Calonne was not serious
about his work initially
but he soon understood
that the financial
position of the country
was in a bad state which
required immediate
action – a new tax code.
In the new proposal Calonne
added a steady land tax which
meant that the clergy and
aristocrats would have to pay tax.
Nobody was willing to agree to Calonne’s
proposal and there was much opposition.
Calonne called for the Assembly
of Notables who did not
approve his offer and instead
his position was at stake.
The King called for the
Estates General for May 1789.
The Estates General hadn’t
been called for since 1614.
Summoning the Estates
General signalled that
the Bourbon of Monarchy
was in trouble.
Estates General of 1789
The Estates General is a general assembly
which represents the French Estates
of Realm (a method of division of the
society from the Ancien Regime times).
There were three estates
which comprised of the
clergy, the nobility
and remaining France.
Elections were conducted in 1789.
All French born males of Third Estate with
a minimum age 25 who paid taxes and lived
in the place where the elections were
about to be held had the right to vote.
There were around 100,000 Catholic
clergy in the First Estate.
The Second Estate had 400,000 women
and men and most of them were nobles.
The Third Estate represented
local officers and lawyers, land
owners and some were in industry
or different types of trades.
Around 1201 representatives
came up which comprised of
291 nobles, 610 Third Estate
members and 303 clergy.
The ‘cahiers de doleances’ was compiled
which was the ‘Book of Grievances’ and the
book consisted of many thoughts which
were to support the monarch government.
In the beginning people thought the Estates
General would help in improving the taxes.
Verification of powers was the first
on the list of the Estates General.
But all the three estates failed to
have a successful discussion together.
The discussion diverted from taxes to
organizing a legislature separately.
A Catholic clergyman and
theorist, Abbe Sieyes said that
the Third Estate who were
now addressed as ‘Communes’
should continue with the verification and
ask the other two estates to take part too.
They should however not wait for them.
June 13, 1789 was the date selected
for the verification of the powers.
They invited the First two Estates.
The Three Estates could failed
to come together so the
Third Estate completed the
procedure of verification.
They proclaimed themselves as
National Assembly of the people.
The others were invited to join them and
they also made it quite clear that the
affairs of the state would be ran by them,
they could choose to stay or leave.
They slowly increased on
their count and now had
the power to dictate
any combined assembly.
The courtiers of the king suggested that he
take action against the National Assembly.
On June 20, 1789 the hall where
the National Assembly met was
closed, the participants moved
their gathering to a tennis court.
They took the ‘Tennis Court
Oath’ which they decided not to
separate till they had done
something about fall of France.
The tennis court was also closed
for them and they met in Church
of Saint Louis, several clergy
joined the National Assembly.
The Third Estate had
necessitated that all the
deputies should verify the
credentials of a deputy
instead of an estate examining
the credentials of their own
members, however the other
estates did not agree to this.
It was said by Necker that
the credentials should be
verified by self-estates and
the king should be the judge.
National Assembly
The National Assembly played an important
role in the French Revolution.
Formed by the Third Estates, the
Assembly was formed on June
13, 1789 and lasted less than
a month till July 9, 1789
and later on the Legislative
Assembly (National Constituent
Assembly) took its place
on September 30, 1791.
The King addressed all the representatives
of the three Estates on June 23, 1789.
The members chose not
to speak throughout the
speech of the king and when
he concluded and asked
them to leave all the
clergy and nobles left but
the deputies of the
common people did not go.
Honore Gabriel Riqueticomte
de Mirabeau said
that the assembly was
surrounded by a military
force (the armies
belonged to the king) and
questioned whether the
enemies were at the gate.
He necessitated that an investigation done.
He added that the king was
bound with an oath and
unless a constitution formed
the king couldn’t leave.
The deputies were fixed on their thoughts.
The assembly was joined by 47 more members
of the nobility along with Duke of Orleans.
The Estates General
was now the National
Assembly but the deputies
remained the same.
Versailles and Paris was
surrounded by the troops.
The National Constituent Assembly which
was the reconstituted from National
Assembly requested the king to remove the
troops which had surrounded the cities.
King Louis said that the troops were
for safety measures and he alone had
the authority to judge whether or not
troops were required in the city.
The people got angry because of the
presence of the armies in the cities
and triggered the Storming of Bastille
which marked French Revolution.
Constitutional Monarchy and the Revolution
Storming of Bastille
When the king suddenly
replaced Prime Minister
Jacques Necker with
Baron de Breteuil, the
National Assembly was alarmed and discussed
about creation of the ‘Bourgeois Guard’.
The National Assembly
declared on July 13, 1789
that a ‘Bourgeois
Militia’ would be formed.
The newly formed militia needed weapons who
then stormed the ‘Les Invalides’ which
is a compound of many buildings which are
related to military history of France.
Public displays of anger already
began on July 12, 1789.
The crowd of common
people came face to face
with the Royal German
Cavalry Regiment, another
group of soldiers was released on the crowd
by Prince de Lambesc at Place Louis XV.
The commander of the Royal troops
Baron de Besenval dreaded that his
people would massacre the crowd
who were not even armed properly.
He withdrew his cavalry and
led them towards Sevres.
The crowd grew crazier by the day
and began to bootee any place
where there were guns, food
or supplies were squirreled.
The Royal troops were silent when
there was bedlam in the society.
The militia then raged in Bastille which
is known as ‘Storming of Bastille’.
On July 14, 1789 the once empty prison
in Bastille was armed to face the crowd.
The people asked for the
prison to be surrendered
and the arms and gunpowder
in it given to them.
Two representatives were called
in the fortress to negotiate.
The negotiations were long and
the crowd was getting impatient.
In the afternoon at about 1:30 the
angry crowd rushed in the courtyard
while some of them climbed the
rook and freed the drawbridge.
The soldiers in charge asked the people
to move back but there was a situation of
utter chaos and the warnings were misunderstood
as encouragement to enter the gates.
The soldiers started firing and
the mob became more violent
who thought they were being
drawn into some kind of trap.
The crowd didn’t pay any
heed to their deputies too.
The crowd were later on joined by the
French Guards who came with two cannons.
Although the Royal troops
were camped nearby,
they did not intervene
in the fight.
A cease fire was ordered at
5:00 pm by Governor de Launay
and he handed over a letter
which contained his terms.
The crowd refused but the governor
had to surrender because he
knew he wouldn’t stand a chance
with limited food and no water.
The gates of the inner
courtyard were opened and
the fortress of Bastille
was freed at 5:30 pm.
Governor Marquis de Launey was dragged
by the crowd and stabbed to death.
The French Guards did not
let the crowd harm the
regiment who were sent
back to their regiment.
Lieutenant Louis de Flue
gave a full account of what
happened in Bastille and the
entire culpability was put
on the 5000 Royal Troops who
were camping in Champs de
Mars and failed to take action
when Bastille was attacked.
Abolition of Feudalism and
Declaration of the Rights of Man
With so many revolts and
rebellions of the peasants,
feudalism was already about to end and
finally on August 4 and 11, 1789 the through
August Decrees National Constituent Assembly
eliminated feudalism and privileges.
Personal serfdom was finally gone, there
were other rights which only nobility had.
The tithe which the 10% tax
was gathered by the First
Estate in the name of
Church was also abolished.
Some towns, nobles, provinces,
cities and clergy lost
their special privileges
with the August Decrees.
Also the peasants were to pay to have
the seigneurial dues released and
more than one fourth of the farmlands
of France were affected by this.
A source of income for several
landowners – this was also abolished.
Some of the other proposals
included equality in
punishment, anyone could
go into public offices,
freedom of worship,
conversion of tithe into
payments subject to
recovery and many more.
The peasant’s lands were free and did
not have to pay compulsory taxes.
The decisions which were made
during August, 1789 endured and
were made a part of the books
of modern government of France.
The entire aristocratic
society was shattered.
They no longer had any privileges.
Individuals were free to do anything
which was not prohibited by the law.
The old system of law was structured on
13 regional parliaments was deferred in
the month of November, 1789 and by September
1790 it was abolished completely.
The pillars of the old government
were demolished overnight.
The Declaration of the
Rights of Man and of
the Citizen was published
on August 26, 1789
which consisted of a declaration of values
more than a constitution with lawful effect.
The National Constituent Assembly
was not only a legislature but
also performed the work of a body
that draft a new constitution.
The October March
Another important occurrence in the
French Revolution is the October
March or as it is commonly known as
The Women’s March on Versailles.
On October 5, 1789 several
French women were seen mutinying
over the increased prices and
shortage of bread in the market.
Their acts were entwined with the
undertakings of the revolutionaries
who were already looking for
political reforms in France.
Soon the small group of
women had become a crowd
of thousands and invigorated
by the revolutionary
protesters, they looted
the city armoury for
weapons and paraded to the
Palace of Versailles.
They surrounded the palace grounds
and in a vehement confrontation
they put forth their demands
in front of King Louis XVI.
The palace was raided and the king was
forced to go to Paris along with the mob.
The mob’s number had
increased to 60,000, the mob
was merry and they had a
nous of victory in them.
The mob arrived at the Tuileries Palace
which had been abandoned for a long time.
The women of Paris were
highly appreciated by
the people for the act
they had undertaken.
Mayor Jean Sylvian Baily officially
welcomed King Louis XVI to Paris.
There were many deputies of the monarch who
did go to Paris for they thought the mob
was too dangerous for them and some of
them went as far as fleeing the country.
Dechristianisation of the Church
The revolution initiated
a huge movement of power
from the Roman Catholic
Church to the state.
For centuries the Church had been
powerful and the largest single
landowner in France – 10% of
French lands were under them.
The Church did not have
to pay taxes but they
took tithe which is a
10% tax on income.
This is collected in form of
crops from the peasants and a
very small portion of this was
distributed among the needy.
The Church was hated by all
and because of this its power
deteriorated in the opening of
Estates General in May 1789.
There were 130,000 members of
clergy in the First Estate.
August Decrees nullified the
Church’s power to impose tithe.
To deal with the financial crisis of
the nation on November 2, 1789, it was
declared that the entire property of the
church was at the nation’s disposal.
The property of the church was used to
support the new currency – assignats.
From making payments to the
clergy to looking after the sick,
poor and orphans everything was
taken care by the country.
The person who bid the most
could buy the land which
was being auctioned by the
Assembly in December 1789.
In a couple of years the value of
assignats had decreased by 25%.
Next the monastic vows and all
religious instructions were liquefied.
The nuns and monks were
encouraged to go back to their
normal lives and several
of them got married too.
On July 12, 1790, the Civil
Constitution of the Clergy was passed
which made what was left of the
clergy to employeed of the nation.
An election system was formed for
the parish priests and bishops
and a specific pay scale was
set for the entire clergy.
Catholics were against this
election system as it repudiated
the Pope’s power in Rome
on the Church of France.
A group of bishops got together
and wrote a declaration
which stated that they were
unwilling to accept the law.
After this act, the
National Assembly required
all the clergy to take
an oath of loyalty.
There were some who took the oath
while some of them preferred to
remain loyal to the Pope in Rome,
causing a rift in the Church.
Those who swore by the oath were
known as constitutional while those
who were against it were known as
refractory clergy or non-juring.
In areas such as Vendee,
Brittany and Normandy,
there were very few priests
who took the oath.
This act of the clergy made
the civilians furious.
With just 24% of clergy loyal to the
legislation, people went against the clergy
and forced them to exile and many were
called traitors and were executed.
This Civil Constitution was not
accepted by Pope Pius VI in
Rome which made the French
Church all the more isolated.
In 1793, a new Republican Calendar was
developed which had 10 weeks making it
extremely challenging for the Catholics
to remember Saint days and Sundays.
The holidays went down from 52 to 37 which
had the workers grumbling and annoyed.
Dechristianisation was at its peak during
the ‘Reign of Terror’ (there is no specific
date known of when the terror started but the
historians have marked 1794 as its end).
During this time there were
thousands of priests who were
arrested and thrown in prison
while several were killed.
Churches were trampled and
religious images were destroyed.
The revolution was such
that the people tried
to replace the Catholic
Church completely.
The local festivals were celebrated
instead of the religious ones.
Cult of Reason was established which was
most important step in dechristianisation.
The Cult of Reason was established
as an opposition to the Church.
Its main goal was perfection of
humanity through liberty and truth.
However this also led to counter
rebellions when the local people sometimes
counter attacked the revolutionists along
with the clergy who were being hunted.
There was chaos in the nation.
Ultimately the campaign had to be
abandoned and this was replaced
by Cult of the Supreme Being
which was also non-Christian.
In years to come Napoleon
Bonaparte when was to
rule he would have put a
stop to dechristianisation
and the relationship between
the French State and
Catholic Church of Rome would
have been re-established.
This would last till 1905 till the
Third Republic would have annulled it.
This harassment of the clergy and
the Church led to another rebellion
within the French Revolution which
is known as War in the Vendee.
This struggle began in the year
1793 in the region of Vendee.
The people of Vendee were not as
educated as the Parisians, they
looked forward to the ideals of the
church to lead their daily lives.
They were simple people, however
when Paris wanted to take away the
influence of the Church from the
lives of the people they revolted.
The Royal Army, Catholic Army and some
local people were supporting this
revolt and had to face the military of
Vendee and then the Republican armies.
There were several battles fought and
the Battle of Savenay was the last and
decisive where the Republicans won
defeating the Catholic and Royal Army.
There was a massacre with thousands
dead and thousands more executed.
No prisoners were kept,
each one of them were
killed, no women and
children were spared.
Monarchy was on its brink
of extinction and these
events assured that it
doesn’t come back anymore.
France was under a phase of
reformation and there would be a
new balance of powers which
would be for the common people.
Intrigues and Radicalism:
The groups in the National Assembly
began to look more distinguished.
Jean Sifrein Maury and Jacques
Antoine Marie de Cazales were
to become the right wing who
were against the revolution.
People like Jean Joseph
Mounier, comte de Clermont
Tonnerre, Pierre VitorMalouet,
Comte de Lally Tollendal,
Comte de Virieualong with Necker
also wanted France to revolutionize
but they wanted to follow a
British form of constitution.
The National Party were the centre and
comprised of Bailly and Honore Mirabeau.
In the opposition were Adrien Duport
Barnave and Alexandre Lameth.
Proposing laws and changes was Maximilien
Robespierre Abbe Sieyes who was the
only one left and also the one who made
the agreement for centre and left.
Many committees became
independent and the National
Guards under Lafayette also
became an important power.
Although the members of the Estates General
are selected for a year, after the Tennis
Court Oath the members
assured to be together
till the French
Constitution was in place.
Although the member is
the right said that
there should be an
election, Mirabeau denied.
The French Army was in a complete mess.
It was getting difficult to
maintain harmony as many soldiers
revolted against the aristocratic
officers and killed them.
One of such rebellions was
suppressed by General Bouille but
he was accused for his act and
called an anti-revolutionary.
Many soldiers left the army and went
to other countries because of which
there were hardly any experienced
people left to control the army.
Many political clubs also
came up during this time.
One of the most important ones
was a 152 member Jacobin Club.
The society was formed mainly for
political debates on August 10, 1790.
People had different views
about the political
system and soon
differences crept in.
In no time there were groups who went
ahead and formed separate clubs.
There was a new judicial
structure formed wherein all the
magistrates were temporary and
were not responsible to the king.
All hereditary offices were abolished
and only the monarch was left.
People now had the freedom to
practise any trade after they
bought a valid license because
Strikes were now illicit.
King Louis XVI’s Attempt
to Flee the Country
Louis XVI was extremely troubled by the
course in which the revolution was going.
His brother and his wife said that they
should take refuge in other countries.
Although there was no
particular side that the
King wanted to take but
he was afraid for his
safety and therefore decided
to flee from the country
just like thousands of
aristocrats had done.
He planned on going to Austria.
General Bouille promised refuge to the King
and his family in his camp at Montmedy.
On June 20, 1791 the King and his
family dressed as servants while his
servants dressed as the royals and fled
from the Tuileries Palace at night.
The cover up did not last long and
they were caught at Varennes.
Louis XVI was suspended by
the Assembly temporarily
and both he and his queen
were now kept under guard.
This had a deep impact on
the common people who were
further aggravated against
the nobility and the clergy.
This was a mighty thrust towards building
the constitutional monarchy of France.
End of National Constituent Assembly and
Establishment of Legislative Assembly:
Most of the members of the
National Constituent Assembly
favoured a constitutional
monarchy over a republic one.
After reaching conciliation,
Louis XVI was forced to swear
loyalty to the constitution
along with an agreement
which said that on deferring oath to lead
the army against the nation or allow
someone to lead an army on his name would
lead him having to give up his position.
Most of the patriotic clubs
and important newspapers
were closed down as people
were being massacred.
Mere difference in thoughts created chaos.
Many went into hiding too.
In a situation of mayhem within
the nation there was another
threat and this time it was
outside the borders of France.
The brother in law of
Louis XVI – Holy Roman
Emperor Leopold II, Louis’
brother Comte d’Artois
Charles Phillipe along with
King Frederick William
II of Prussia issued the
Declaration of Pillnitz.
The declaration stated that they
would wage war on the country
if the French King was not given
back his righteous position.
Leopold had no intentions on war but
still went ahead with the declaration
to please Comte d’Artois, however, this
declaration raged the French people.
What little respect for
the foreign monarchs and
the threat just seemed
to fuel the fire within.
The members of the Assembly had initially
decided that when a new legislature
(Legislative Assembly) would be formed they
would refrain from being a part of it.
All the constitutional
laws which were passed
and put it together in
one constitution was
then submitted to Louis
XVI who after his
temporary dismissal was
restored to his position.
The King accepted it and
also gave in writing to
protect it from any types
of foreign attacks.
He also would have to execute
the written laws at all costs.
The Assembly was addressed by the King
and was also applauded for his speech.
This was the last for the
National Constituent
Assembly and on September
30, 1791 it was suspended.
In a population of 25 million
people, about 4 million people
cast vote and thus the
Legislative Assembly was formed.
France would now function as
a constitutional monarchy.
The King’s powers were now shared with
the members of the Legislative Assembly.
He had the right to veto and also
the power to select the ministers.
He had used his veto power against
the law which was threatening
the emigres (people who fled
from France) with death.
The law had also proposed
that all non-juring clergy
should take the civic
oath within eight days.
The newly set Legislative
Assembly had much to witness.
There were some members
who had called for war
against Prussia and Austria
and were referred to
as the Girondins while those
who were against this
thought were known as
Jacobins or Montagnards.
This opposition in thoughts
would alienate the
members from each other
in the coming years.
Prussia and Austria had displayed their
thoughts on going to war with France
and leaders of the Assembly thought of
taking advantage of this situation.
They thought if they
would win the war they
would fortify the support
of the government.
On April 20, 1792 France
declared war on Austria.
By the end of April they
attacked and took over Austrian
Netherlands which is Luxembourg
and Belgium in the present day.
Constitutional Monarchy
Fails to Run France:
In their effort to administer the country,
the Assembly had failed miserably.
An unruly navy and army,
riots in the nations and
an empty treasury was the
proof of its failure.
They could not consolidate the achievements
of the Revolution because of some reasons.
They tried to over-rule
the Roman Catholic Church
by selling all its lands,
close down its operations
and monasteries and then try to
replace all this with a structure
which caused dismay among the
peasants and the religious people.
The King was not happy about the
limited powers that he was granted and
took help from his foreign monarch
allies to have this change altered.
These foreign allies when
threatened to overthrow France,
the people were aggravated and
responded with vehemence.
The peasants didn’t want to pay any land
taxes and their dues to the land owners.
The working section of
the cities especially
Paris were angry about
the fact that all the
professionals and property owners had
confiscated the spoils got from the Revolution.
The whole of Paris was against the King
and wanted the Assembly to overthrow
the king, however the Assembly was
diffident in taking such a drastic step.
On August 10, 1792 an angry mob of Parisians,
rebellions and hundreds of soldiers
from all the cities of France went to
residence of the King at the Tuileries Palace
and attacked the Swiss
Guards and killed them.
Louis XVI then left the palace along
with his family and went to the
Assembly who was gathered in the Salle
du Manego just opposite the palace.
They had now become
prisoners and in a session
held later during the
day the Legislative
Assembly suspended the monarchy, most
of the deputies present were Jacobins.
In response to this act the
Duke of Brunswick of Prussia
attacked France on August 19,
1792 and surrounded Longwy.
The Assembly sent away
many non-juring priests to
western parts of France as
they were danger to France.
The peasants got angry over
this act and took over Vendee.
The government was now dependant
on the rebellious communities.
The foreign armies were
advancing and the Assembly
was hunting for traitors
within the country.
The people of Paris were
furious on the Prussian army
attack and taking over of Verdun
and the peasant uprising.
Rumours were spread that the prisoners were
plotting with the enemies of the nation.
On September 2, 3 and 4,
1792 they ransacked the
prisons of Paris and killed
around 1500 prisoners.
Almost all of them were criminals
but many of them were priests too.
A revolutionist by the name Jean Paul
Marat sent across a letter to all the
cities of France stating they should
also follow the footsteps of Paris.
Almost all the cities killed
prisoners and non-juring priests.
The Assembly hardly seemed
to take any action.
There was a huge argument
within the Assembly, the people
who allowed the attacks were
labelled as terrorists.
There was a situation of pandemonium
in the nation where people were being
slaughtered like cattle and the government
was unable to handle the situation.
This continued to happen till the
National Convention was formed.
It was the third government
in the French Revolution who
was given the job to write the
new constitution of France.
When the team member met on September
20, 1792 they immediately abolished
monarchy and made France a republic
government on September 21, 1792.
September 22, 1792 has been
accepted as the start of
the first year of the
French Republican Calendar.
Execution of Louis XVI
Followed by Reign of Terror
The Prussian and Imperial Armies warned
France to wage war if they did not reinstate
monarchy and among all this confusion Louis
XVI was thought to be the conspirator.
January 17, 1793 Louis XVI
was sentenced to death
for conspiring against
public safety and liberty.
This sentence was given to him
by a closed group of Convention.
Louis XVI was simply addressed
as Citoyen (citizen) Louis Capet
and was to be executed by
guillotine on January 21, 1793.
Monarchies and conservatives
were dumb-struck when they heard
about the execution and called
in for war against France.
The nation was drowning
in wars giving an
opportunity to the Jacobins
to come back to power.
However famine and shortage of
food throughout the country had
made the air of France so bad that
no power seemed to control it.
Maximilien Robespierre the leader of the
Jacobins also had to face the guillotine.
In the Reign of Terror there were
thousands who were killed in the
guillotine some faced trial but
thousands lost lives without one.
French Constitution of 1793 was
adopted by the Convention on June
24, 1793 – this was the first
Republican constitution of France.
The Jacobins were stronger in power now.
The Republican Army began
to suppress the revolts.
Goods were sequestered from the people
who were exiled or were those who
opposed the Revolution and this was
then distributed among the needy.
The situation was slowly
bought under control.
After Louis XVI’s execution his Queen
too followed the guillotine soon.
There were many more people such as
Brissot, Bailly, Madame Roland etc.
who were executed – they were Girondins.
In the Reign of Terror
although there were many
people who died because
of their political
actions or thinking most
of them were dead just
because people suspected
them for treachery.
None were spared! If
they did not face the
guillotine they were beaten
to death by the crowd.
The Girondins took control of the
French government from July 1794.
They began their revenge for all the
deaths that Jacobin had caused.
Their Jacobin Club was shut down and
their revenge is known as White Terror.
The Republican Calendar was changed
back to the normal seven day weeks.
Freedom of religion was granted
in one of the laws passed
on February 21, 1795 but there
were some limitations to it.
No religious signs should be
displayed outside churches
or homes and the bells were
not supposed to be rung.
By the October of the same year the people
became overly enthused about going to
church so the government once again like
1790 had to ask the priests to take oaths.
In the end of 1794 and beginning
of 1795 people once again came
to roads especially women when
there was shortage of bread.
Just like the March on
Versailles they went
to the Convention who
turned the crowd back.
This happened once again in the later
in May when a crowd pounced on the
Convention and killed one deputy in
thoughts that they would be heard,
but the Convention paid no
heed to what they had to say.
The angry Convention banned all the
women from partaking in any political
events and all the deputies who had
supported this act were executed.
Street fighting was tolerated no more!
France had now made peace with
both Spain and Prussia and earlier
in 1794 had conquered Belgium
and the Dutch Republic in 1795.
The Directory and Coup
The Constitution of the Year III
was passed by the Convention
on August 25, 1795 and took
effect on September 27, 1795.
There were two Chambers one
was the ‘Council of 500’ who
made the laws and the other
was ‘Council of Elders’
who studied and passed the
laws, one-third of the
Chambers would have to
be renewed every year.
There were five directors
had the executive power.
They tried to pull back the
nation together but the situation
was extremely bad although
some effects did take place.
In one of the coups on November 9 and 10,
1799 the five directors of the Convention
were replaced by three Consuls which comprised
of – Sieyes, Napoleon and Roger Ducos.
In the name of French
Revolution more than half
of the Italy was conquered
by Napoleon by 1799.
France now had many satellites
who had to pay huge subsidies.
The governmental and political
systems were modernized
and Piedmont and Belgium were
important parts of France.
In the coming years the Bourbons
were restored to the throne
and the brother of Louis XVI –
Louis XVIII was made the King.
France is now a Republic
form of government.
The Prime Minister is the head
of government and along with his
group of ministers, he sees to
the affairs of the government.
The appointment is done by
the President of the nation.
Although there were many evils of the
society which came to an end in the
Revolution there were thousands of lives
that were taken in this Revolution.
The Revolution of France
is a perfect example
where the power of
common man is witnessed.
Besides France, there
were more countries who
benefitted out of this
revolt especially Italy.
It was a Revolution of mortality.
