Student Name: ______
Unit 4-C: Age of Revolutions (French Rev.)
Introduction
What is a revolution?
______
______
______
What is a war of independence?
______
______
______
What is a revolt/rebellion?
______
______
______
There are 2 kinds of revolutions.
(1)______
(2)______
Political targets ______.
Social targets ______.
Some revolutions are both.
Not all revolutions work.
Example of Political Revolutions
English Revolution (1640-60)
Glorious Revolution (1688-89)
American Revolution (1775-83)
French Revolution (1789-99)
Revolutions of 1848 (1848)
Irish Revolution (1916-23)
Russian Revolution (1917)
Example of Social Revolutions
Neolithic Revolution (8000s BC)
Renaissance & Reformation(1300-1600)
Industrial Revolution(1760-1914)
Russian Revolution (1917)
Sexual Revolution (1960s)
Negro Revolution (1955-Now)
Digital Revolution (1950-Now)
Revolutions to Be Studied
American Revolution (1775-83)
French Revolution (1789-99)
Latin American Revolutions (1807-24)
Revolutions of 1848 (1848)
Russian Revolution (1917)
All 5 revolutions share similarities and differences.
What causes a revolution?
High taxes (______!)…
Cruel / dumb ______…
______vs. Have ______…
______…
Lack of ______/ liberties…
______in war…
A desire for ______…
The French Revolution
Lasted from 1789-1799.
It saw a major ______& ______change inFrance (a true rev).
France went from a ______…
to a ______…
to a ______under Napoleon Bonaparte.
Background Information
There were 5 major causes…
(1) ______
Professional intellectuals called philosophes argued that allpeople had natural rights and that governments existed
to guarantee these rights (______).
(2) ______
Monarchy spent more $ than it made from taxes; debt grew
from foreign wars; many kings dropped big $ on palace
at Versailles; high cost of ______.
(3) ______
Made the existing system of government seem illegitimate; richwere still favored over poor every time in court cases.
(4) ______
He was inept and not bright; listened to others too often;attacked his allies because he was told to; attacked his wife’s home country; later beheaded.
(5) ______
Middle class (majority of society) was mad since it didn’t haveas much power/privilege as nobility and clergy. This kept them from moving up socially/politically.
Welcome back to the big show!
If you thought the American Revolution was entertaining, just you wait!
The French Revolution is up next – now THAT’S
a revolution…
x ______
Stuff gets outta hand something fierce at the Bastille.
x ______
France hauls off and beheads their king and queen.
x ______
France becomes ridunkculously paranoid – starts offin’ all y’all… before my man Napoleon takes over.
x ______
Louis XVI took over in 1774.
He found France deep in debt, heavily taxed, and with high bread costs.
So, Louis assembles the Estates General in 1789.
The Estates General was like Parliament/ Congress and had reps from 3 social classes.
The 3 class (estates) were:
1st Estate:______
2nd Estate:______
3rd Estate:______
The Estates General last met in 1614… 175 years ago; it’s not a permanent body.
Needless to say, new reps had to be chosen!
Both sides spend much of their time bickering over voting rights in the EG.
A month later, the 3 estates decide to form a single-chambered legislature and to write a new constitution.
On June 17, 1789, they declare themselves the
______.
When Louis finds out, he overreacts and locks the doors to the meeting places of the new Assembly.
No biggie - they meet at an indoor tennis court and swear not to disband until France had a constitution.
This becomes known as the
“______”.
Like that girlfriend you dump in college that turns into a psycho-stalker “why don’t you call me anymore?” chick, Louis flips out and surrounds different halls with troops – to prevent future meetings.
The commoners grow suspicious and begin roaming Paris looking for weapons to fend off this royal attack.
And where do they look?
The Bastille.
It was a large fortress turned military
______… and ______.
That’s right. They kept their weapons in the same place as their prisoners.
Weapons + prisoners = ?
On ______, the crowds attack the Bastille.
Their plan was simple…
…free the ______of prisoners, bust out the guns, and take Paris.
So they bust the gates…
Kick down the doors..
And free…
______prisoners.
Yep. There weren’t thousands of prisoners in the Bastille.
There were 7.
SEVEN!!!
So what would you do to make this look better?
Behead the governor of Paris?
BINGO.
The crowd takes the Bastille and beheads the governor.
You can only imagine their conversations the next day…
When word gets to Louis, he asks an aid, “Is this a revolt?”
The answer is quick:
“No, sire. It is a ______.”
The French Revolutioncontinued…
The National Assembly jumped on the Bastille incident and took
the chance to change the ______nature of France.
They did this by adopting the ______
______on August 26, 1789.
This was inspired by the U.S.Declaration of Independence andthe Age of Enlightenment.
The document listed a number of rights with which “all men”were endowed and that were described as
______.
It nullified the idea of “Divine Right” of kings to rule andincluded the following rights:
(1)Participation in the making of laws through
______.
(2) Equality of all people (except ______) beforethe law.
(3) ______.
(4) Protection against the loss of property(like our 5th
Amendment’s ______).
(5) Freedom of ______, ______, and
the ______(huge deal).
(6) Protection against random arrests and punishment
(______).
The Assembly also changed the ______nature ofFrance by:
(1) Eliminating the ______as a legally defined class.
(2) Granting the same ______to all citizens.
(3) Eliminating guilds (______).
(4) Extending more rights to ______in France and
______in France’s Caribbean colonies
(but didn’t abolish slavery).
(5) Giving civil rights to religious minorities (______
______).
(6) Incorporating Catholic Church ______state; took awayits property and special rights. Priests had to swear loyalty to the state… or be dismissed.
The Assembly forced Louis and his family (in Versailles) to return to
______and share the same palace as them.
A new ______, waswritten; set up limited monarchy with new Legislative Assembly to make laws.
H-BOMB – Topic: Americans are the only perverts out there.
FALSE!
We owe our perverted nature to none other than the FRENCH!
While pornography and depictions of sex date back to the Ancient Chinese, the French found a way to use sexually explicit images to take their revolution to the common man.
The Declaration freed the presses in 1789, and politically motivated pornography took off. The prime targets were the aristocracy, the clergy, and Queen Marie Antoinette.
Pamphlets questioning the paternity of her children, her wild orgies, and her presumed lesbian activities circulated among the bourgeoisie and lower classes.
The purpose for these attacks was to undermine royal authority and centered on the underlying anxiety about the role of women and the issue of clear gender boundaries.
Degrading the queen had a kind of leveling, democratizing effect, particularly when she was depicted having sex with members of the lower classes.
Her body, especially when portrayed as a prostitute, made her seem “available” to every man. These attacks continued until she was beheaded in 1793.
After the Revolution, pornography lost its political overtones and was replaced by material that pushed the “norms” of society.
The French Revolution continued…
The Legislative Assembly had been divided from the start.
There was conservative ______(limited change) and
radical ______(major social/political reforms).
The Assembly, therefore, lacked a ______.
In June 1791, Louis and his family fled Paris in ______.
They were captured when Louis used coins at a store… that
had ______picture on them.
They were captured and returned under heavy guard.
As a result of this fiasco, there was open talk about replacing
the monarchy with a ______.
Alarmed by the radical direction of the revolution, the nobles
began to leave (called ______) to
conspire abroad.
Pressured by these émigrés, the Austrian Emperor and Prussian
King issued a declaration that they would intervene
______on behalf of King Louis… which
quickly provoked fears of an invasion.
Radicals like ______(who wanted Louis to be removed) exaggerated the threat of an Austrian invasion.
Poor Louis was confused. Why would he want to attack thevery country that pledged military aid to save him?
Louis listens and declares war on Austria and Prussia.
Austria was also where his wife ______was from!
This starts the ______(1792-1797).
SHOCKINGLY… France has ______successes on the battlefield.
Soon, a mob angry over the war stormed Louis’ palace in
Paris… and hacked to death some ______Swiss guards.
The radicals’ plan to undermine Louis worked… the king is
suspended from his duties and ______.
The Legislative Assembly meets to write a ______constitution… and decide Louis’ fate.
And this is where le French poo-poo hits le fan…
As support of the revolution grows, the more radical
______usurps power anddecides to “run” the revolution.
This is ______for Louis.
The Paris Commune was dominated by the
______(French for “without breeches”) to show they were ordinary patriots without fine clothes.
They make our Sons of Liberty look lame.
______(who organizedmassacre of 600 Swiss guards), becomes “Sam Adams on Steroids”.
Danton encouraged fears that counter-revolutionary forcesloyal to Louis were undermining the revolution.
Journalist ______convincedsans-culotte mobs that counter-revolutionary prisoners were going to break out and attack.
To prevent this, these mobs ransacked jails in Paris; killed ______inmates.
National Convention meets on September 20, 1792 to decide
Louis’ fate and establish ______FrenchRepublic.
Another radical group, the ______, soondominates Convention and join forces with the sans culottes.
Jacobins were led by Georges Danton and ______
______.
They wanted Louis ______.
Convention voted republic.
Also voted to ______Louis.
Louis was beheaded on January 21, 1793.
The ______was used.
The Guillotine
The Guillotine was named after a French physician Joseph
Ignace Guillotin who ______its use (but
didn’t invent it).
Guillotin only advocated the use of the machine as a way toswiftly end someone’s life.
The guillotine consisted of two 12-foot tall upright posts grooved
with ______(to prevent warping) on the inside
and connected by a cross-beam.
It sported a sharp, ______(angled) blade, placed7’4” above the victim.
A 22-lb. blade (88-lbs. if you count the mouton that held it in
place) traveled 21-feet per second… it took ______of
a second for the mouton/blade to slice through your
neck.
Power at impact was ______-lb. per square inch.
Guillotine Fun Facts!
Fun Fact #1:Contrary to popular belief, Dr. Guillotin was not guillotined himself. He died of an infection from a carbuncle (a multiple-headed boil) on his left shoulder in 1814.
Fun Fact #2:The association with the “machine of death” so embarrassed Dr. Guillotin’s family that they begged the French Government to rename it. When the government refused, the Guillotins changed their family name.
Fun Fact #3:Anywhere from 13,800-17,000 people were guillotined during the Reign of Terror… including Maximilien Robespierre (who started the Reign).
Fun Fact #4:Once severed from the body, it takes a human head between 15-20 seconds before it loses conciseness. In this time, the eyes can blink, the mouth can open and shut, and facial expressions can be discerned.
Fun Fact #5:A scientist condemned to die during the French Revolution told his assistant to watch his eyes after his death because he would attempt to blink as many times as he could. The assistant counted 15-20 blinks after the head was severed… the blinks coming at intervals of about 1 second.
Fun Fact #6:After Charlotte Corday d'Armont was guillotined in 1793 for murdering Jean-Paul Marat, the executioner slapped her cheek while holding up her severed head. The cheeks reddened and the face grew angry. (And the executioner was sentenced to 3 months in prison for violating “scaffold etiquette”.)
Fun Fact #7:According to another tale, when the heads of 2 rivals in the National Assembly were placed in a bag following their execution, one bit the other so hard that the 2 heads couldn’t be separated.
Fun Fact #8:In 1880, a doctor pumped blood from a living dog into the head of the murderer Louis Menesclou 3 hours after his execution. The lips trembled, the eyelids twitched, and it tried to speak, although no words emerged.
Fun Fact #9:In 1905, another doctor claimed that when he called the name of the murderer Henri Languille just after decapitation, the head opened its eyes and focused on him. The doctor wrote:
“I waited for several seconds. The spasmodic movements ceased. The face relaxed, the lids half closed on the eyeballs… It was then that I called in a strong, sharp voice: ‘Languille!’ I saw the eyelids slowly lift up, such as happens in everyday life when people are awakened or torn from their thoughts. Next Languille’s eyes fixed themselves on mine and the pupils focused themselves. I was not, then, dealing with a vague dull look without any expression, I was dealing with undeniably living eyes that were looking at me. After several seconds, the eyelids closed again, slowly and evenly, and the head took on the same appearance as it had had before I called out. It was at that point that I called out again and, once more, without any spasm, slowly, the eyelids lifted and undeniably living eyes fixed themselves on mine with perhaps even more penetration than the first time. Then there was a further closing of the eyelids, but now less complete. I attempted the effect of a third call, but the eyes took on the glazed look that they have in the dead. The whole thing had lasted 25 to 30 seconds.”
Fun Fact #10:In 1989, a taxi carrying a U.S. soldier and his friend collided with a truck in Korea. The soldier’s friend was decapitated. He wrote: “My friend’s head came to rest face up, and (from my angle) upside-down. As I watched, his mouth opened and closed no less than two times. The facial expressions he displayed were first of shock or confusion, followed by terror or grief. I cannot exaggerate and say that he was looking all around, but he did display ocular movement in that his eyes moved from me, to his body, and back to me. He had direct eye contact with me when his eyes took on a hazy, absent expression ... and he was dead.”
Fun Fact #11:On April 25, 1792 Nicolas-Jacques Pelletier received the honors of being the first “live” victim to be guillotined. (Sheep and cadavers were used to “test” the machine.) The last official use of the guillotine in France took place on September 10, 1977 when Hamida Djandoubi was executed.
The French Revolution continued…
With Louis dead, the revolution’s leaders begin to turn on eachother.
In Robespierre’s view, before the newly established republiccould work, the enemies of the Revolution had to be dealt with.
He says, “Terror is nothing other than justice, prompt, severe,inflexible.”
Jacobins formed ______
(headed by Robespierre) and launched
“______”.
They feared invasion, so they built up the French Army… and
France started ______battles.
During 1 year Reign of Terror, 250,000 people were arrested…
______are executed.
13,800-17,000 were guillotined.
12,000 more were executed w/o trial; thousands died in jail.
The Reign executed Queen Marie-Antoinette… and even revolutionary leader Danton.
Committee soon goes too far.
A policy of ______Francetargeted Catholics. The word “saint” was taken from all street names.
Churches were pillaged and renamed “______
______”.
Up next… the ______.
On October 24, 1793, the National Convention adopted a newcalendar for France.
______and church holidays were eliminated.
Years were no longer numbered from birth of ______.
They pre-dated calendar and began it with September 22,1792 (day when FrenchRepublichad been declared).
So, ______was changed to ______in the FrenchRevolutionary Calendar, also known as the Republican Calendar.
The new calendar was divided into 12 months of 30 days each,leaving 5 days over at the end of the last month.
If it was a “good year”, they’d add on the days. If not, nope.
There were no ______… instead each month was divided
into 3 ______of 10 days, of which the final daywas a “day of rest” (like a Sunday).
This was an unpopular move because there were _____workdays between each day of rest.
But, to get commoners to go along with new calendar, they
published the calendars using ______women.
Initially, days and months were numbered, which led to
“the 7th day of the 1st month of the 5th year of therepublic.”
Days were named after ______, ______,
______; months took on more “natural” names.
Months were grouped into 4 sets of 3… by seasons.
Calendar began with ______(because this is whenit was adopted in 1793).
It lasted until January 1, 1806 when Napoleon repealed it.
The French Revolutionary Calendar
(1793-1806)
AUTOMNE (Autumn)
#1 Vendémiaire (October) = Vintage/Grapes Month
#2 Brumaire (November) = Mist/Fog Month
#3 Frimaire (December) = Frost/Cold/Sleet Month
HIVER (Winter)
#4 Nivôse (January) = Snow Month
#5 Pluviôse (February) = Rain/Wet Season Month
#6 Ventôse (March) = Wind Month
PRINTEMPS (Spring)
#7 Germinal (April) = Seed Month
#8 Floréal (May) = Blossom/Flowering Month
#9 Prairial (June) = Meadows/Pasture Month
ETÉ (Summer)
#10 Messidor (July) = Harvest Month
#11 Thermidor (August) = Heat Month
#12 Fructidor (September) = Fruit Month
In Britain, these “new” months quickly gained nicknames, like:
“Autumn” (Slippy, Nippy, Drippy);
“Winter” (Freezy, Wheezy, Sneezy);
“Spring” (Showery, Flowery, Bowery);
“Summer” (Wheaty, Heaty, Sweety).