REVOLUTIONS LIBERATING FRANCE 3RD EDITION JUDY ANDERSON ALLAN KERR First published 2021 by: Beyond the Book To access additional resources for this textbook, visit www.htavshop.com.au/beyond-the-book History Teachers’ Association of Victoria Suite 105 134–136 Cambridge Street Collingwood VIC 3066 Australia Phone 03 9417 3422 Email [email protected] Web www.htav.asn.au Shop www.htavshop.com.au © Judy Anderson (text) and Allan Kerr (activities), 2021 Liberating France, 3rd edition by Judy Anderson and Allan Kerr 978 1 922481 12 2 (print) 978 1 922481 13 9 (ebook) Publisher: Georgina Argus Typesetting and design: Sally Bond Editor: Philip Bryan Historical consultant: Darius von Güttner Proofreader: Giuliana Cincotta Printed by: Southern Impact www.southernimpact.com.au Cover image: The Tennis Court Oath by Jacques-Louis David Reproduction and communication for educational purposes: Reproduction and communication for other purposes: This publication is protected by the Australian Copyright Act 1968 Except as permitted under the Act (for example: a fair dealing for (the Act). 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Give yourself the best chance of exam success ADVICE FOR THE EXAM ··· tasianpmns ofpotlaer t weexdria temixne gwm aitp hhlai gsrahs m-fsopcrol edr iirnfefgse prreeosnnpts oeqnsuseestion types FRENCH REVOLUTION ed2intido n STUDY AND EXAM GUIDE AMERICAN REVOLUTION ed2intido n STUDY AND EXAM GUIDE CHINE S E REVOL UTI ON ed2intido n STUDY AND EXAM GUI DE REVISION TOOLS RUSSIAN REVOLUTION ed2intido n ·· rteimviesiloinne cshecklists STUDY AND EXAM GUIDE · quizzes Ian Lyell Ian Lyell K·E·· · Ytkkca eeoKbyynl N etqiensuO ndaotiWntv medidsL ad uE(ppiaaDprlgsieGm,r damEa mtrooysv tesshoumeume rVmcnCetaEssr aaSisntniundddg hiy dki seeDtayoes sriniicgfanolr imntaetriponretations) www.htavshop.com.au This page is blank LIBERATING FRANCE 3RD EDITION JUDY ANDERSON ALLAN KERR CONTENTS Acknowledgements ............................................................vi About the Authors .............................................................vii Revolutions—an Introduction .........................................viii SECTION A: CAUSES OF REVOLUTION 1 Overview .......................................................................................1 Foreign policy considerations ............................................45 Timeline .........................................................................................2 Why did France wish to aid the American rebels? ...........45 The cost of the American War to France ...........................46 Chapter 1: The Old Regime: France before the Revolution ....4 The ‘American spirit’ ...........................................................46 The King and His Authority ...........................................................6 Necker: Second Financial Reformer, 1776–1781 .......................48 Position of king in old regime power relations ..................7 Necker’s reforms ................................................................48 The personal qualities of the absolute monarch ...............8 A revolutionary moment: The Inequality of French Society ..................................................9 The Compte rendu au roi, 1781 ........................................49 Rural life ...............................................................................9 Necker resigns .....................................................................50 Town-dwellers .....................................................................10 Chapter 3 Review ........................................................................51 The Catholic Church ............................................................10 The three estates ................................................................10 Chapter 4: Fiscal Crisis and Failure to Reform .......................52 The French population ...........................................................................11 Calonne: Third Financial Reformer, 1783–1787 .........................53 The First Estate: Clergy ...............................................................12 Calonne’s plans for reform: A fairer taxation system ......54 The Second Estate: Nobility ........................................................12 Calonne proposes an Assembly of Notables ....................55 The Third Estate: Commoners ....................................................14 The Assembly of Notables, 22 February–25 May 1787 ....56 Bourgeoisie .........................................................................14 The Aristocratic Revolt .......................................................57 Urban workers and the urban population .........................15 Why did the Notables challenge Calonne’s plan? Peasants .............................................................................17 Historical interpretations ......................................................................58 The King’s Administration ..........................................................18 Brienne: Fourth Financial Reformer, 1787–1788 .......................59 The taxation system ...........................................................22 Parlements and powers of remonstrance ..........................59 The economy of the 1780s .................................................24 Parlement of Paris as champion of the people ...............60 Lit de justice, 6 August 1787 and exile to Troyes .............61 Tensions and Grievances on the Eve of Revolution ...................26 Absolutism in action: The Royal Session, Chapter 1 Review ........................................................................27 19 November 1787 ...........................................................62 Chapter 2: The Enlightenment: Ideas for Reform Fundamental Laws of the Kingdom, 3 May 1788 ...........64 of Society.................................................................................28 Lit de justice, 8 May 1788: Brienne’s reform program .....64 The Enlightenment: A Challenge to Absolutism .......................29 Day of Tiles, June 1788 ....................................................65 The Philosophes ..................................................................................................30 Bankruptcy: 8–16 August 1788 ................................................66 Montesquieu, 1689–1755 ..................................................30 Chapter 4 Review ........................................................................67 Voltaire, 1694–1778 .........................................................31 Chapter 5: The Third Estate Finds Its Voice ...........................68 Jean-Jacques Rousseau, 1712–1778 ...............................34 The Harvest Crisis of 1788 ..........................................................69 A ‘Dream of Progress’: The Encyclopédie .............................................37 Momentum for an Estates-General ...........................................72 Historians assess the significance of the philosophes ..................39 The Third Estate demands change .....................................72 Chapter 2 Review ........................................................................41 The Society of Thirty...............................................................................73 Chapter 3: War and Growing Debt ..........................................42 The pamphlet war ...............................................................73 Initial Challenges: Growing National Debt and What Is the Third Estate? A call to revolution ...........................74 the Need for Reform .................................................................43 The cahiers de doléances ...............................................................75 Turgot: First Financial Reformer, 1774–1776 ............................44 Popular Movements ...................................................................77 France’s Involvement in the American War of Independence, Rural revolt begins, March 1789 ........................................77 1778–1783 ................................................................................45 The Réveillon Riots, 27–28 April 1789 ..............................78 Chapter 5 Review ........................................................................79 ii LIBERATING FRANCE 3RD EDITION Chapter 6: The Revolution Takes Shape .................................80 The Estates-General Convenes, May 1789 .................................82 Louis fails to offer reform, 5 May ......................................84 Dispute over credentials, 6 May ........................................84 The Third Estate gains momentum ....................................85 Declaration of the National Assembly, 17 June 1789 ...............87 The effects of Louis XVI’s indecision .................................87 The Tennis Court Oath, 20 June 1789 .........................................88 The Royal Session, 23 June 1789 ................................................89 Escalating Tensions in Paris ........................................................90 A revolutionary trigger: Necker’s dismissal, 11 July 1789 .....................................................................90 The Fall of the Bastille, 14 July 1789 .........................................92 Who stormed the Bastille? .................................................94 The symbolic power of the first journée ..........................94 Reactions to the fall of the Bastille ..................................95 Further Urban and Rural Unrest .................................................96 The Municipal Revolutions: Paris, 13–17 July .................96 The rural revolt continues .................................................97 The Great Fear, 20 July–6 August 1789 .............................97 The 'Night of Patriotic Delirium’, 4 August 1789 .......................99 The year 1789: Historical interpretations........................................101 Chapter 6 Review ......................................................................103 SECTION B: CONSEQUENCES OF REVOLUTION 104 Overview ...................................................................................104 Local government and administrative change ................130 Experiences of Revolution ........................................................106 Who had voting rights? ....................................................130 Timeline .....................................................................................108 The Constitutional Committee considers citizenship qualifications ...............................................130 Chapter 7: New Regime Foundations: Municipal communes ........................................................132 Unity and Reform .................................................................110 Departments, districts, cantons, communes ..................132 The Decrees of 5–11 August ....................................................111 Participation and control of the municipal communes ..132 Did the decrees fulfil their promise? ..............................112 Abolition of titles and distinctions .................................133 The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, Celebrating unity: The Festival of the Federation ..........................135 26 August 1789 .......................................................................113 Nationalisation and Sale of Church Property .........................136 Constitutional Powers of the King ...........................................115 The new currency: Assignats ...........................................136 The voting .........................................................................116 Fiscal and Economic Reforms ....................................................137 The Decree on the Fundamental Principles of Government ...117 Rationalisation of taxes ...................................................137 The October Days: The Women March to Versailles ................118 Rationalisation of tariffs and common weights Immediate causes .............................................................118 and measures .................................................................138 To Versailles! 5–6 October 1789 ......................................119 Poor relief ..........................................................................139 Théroigne de Méricourt, 1762–1817 ................................................120 Abolition of corporate privileges .....................................139 The King Is Brought to Paris in Triumph .................................122 The Le Chapelier Law, 14 June 1791 ................................139 What Had Been Achieved between 4 August and Legal Change ..............................................................................140 6 October 1789? ......................................................................124 Military Change ........................................................................141 Chapter 7 Review ......................................................................125 The fate of aristocratic officers ......................................141 The first two years: Historical interpretations ...............................142 Chapter 8: Changing French Society .....................................126 Chapter 8 Review ......................................................................143 The Reform Program of the Constituent Assembly .................127 LIBERATING FRANCE 3RD EDITION iii Chapter 9: Challenges for the New Regime .........................144 The preconditions to insurrection ..................................180 Abolition of Church Privileges and Nationalisation The establishment of the Revolutionary Commune, of Property .............................................................................145 9–10 August 1792 ..........................................................181 Early responses of the clergy to The fall of the king, 10 August 1792: administrative reforms .................................................146 The second revolution ....................................................182 The aftermath ..................................................................183 The Civil Constitution of the Clergy, 12 July 1790...................147 Final important legislation...............................................184 Opposition to the Civil Constitution: National Convention elections .........................................184 The first major division .................................................148 The significance of 10 August 1792: The Clerical Oath, 27 November 1790 ...........................148 Historical interpretations ....................................................................185 The pope’s response: The Papal Brief Charitas, 13 April 1791 ..................................................................149 The Invasion of France and the September Massacres ...........186 Refractory and non-refractory clergy .............................149 The September Massacres: Historical interpretations ...................188 The Civil Constitution: Historical interpretations ..........................151 Chapter 10 Review ....................................................................189 The King’s Flight from Paris, 20 June 1791 ............................152 Chapter 11: The Radicalisation of the Revolution ..............190 The reasons for flight ......................................................152 A New Republic ..........................................................................191 Humiliating return to Paris, 25 June ..............................153 Factions in the Convention .......................................................192 The Consequences of Louis XVI’s Flight ..................................154 A Moral and Political Dilemma: The King ................................194 Public responses to the king’s flight: Growing republicanism.....155 Louis XVI’s trial .................................................................194 The Champ de Mars, 17 July 1791: The King’s defence ...............................................................................194 Violence within the Third Estate ........................................................156 The Convention passes judgement ..................................195 The organisational role of the political clubs ................156 The King’s Execution ................................................................196 Petition for the abdication of the king ...........................156 The European War Intensifies ..................................................199 Liberal bourgeoisie v. revolutionary democrats ..............157 Large-scale conscription ...................................................199 Looming War with Austria and Prussia ...................................158 Counter-Revolution in the Vendée ...........................................200 The Declaration of Pillnitz, 27 August 1791 ...................159 First Steps to Government by Terror ........................................202 The 1791 Constitution: Conditions in 1793 ............................................................202 A Liberal Bourgeois Vision of Society ....................................159 Arguments in the Convention ..........................................203 The Legislative Assembly Deputies ..........................................162 The machinery of Terror ...................................................203 Chapter 9 Review ......................................................................163 Terror as a government policy of social control ............205 Chapter 10: Threats from within and Without ...................164 Causes of the Fall of the Girondins .........................................206 The New Legislative Assembly, Economic Anger of the Sans-Culottes ......................................206 Failed attempts to halt the radicals ................................207 1 October 1791–20 September 1792 .....................................165 Marat on trial ....................................................................207 Political alignments in the Legislative Assembly ...........165 Further Girondin mistakes ................................................208 The path to war ...............................................................166 Expulsion of the Girondins .......................................................209 Brissot and the Rise of the Girondins ......................................166 Jacques-Pierre Brissot, 1754–1793 ..................................................167 Chapter 11 Review ....................................................................211 The Brissotins ...................................................................167 Chapter 12: The Totality of the Terror ..................................212 Manon Roland, 1754–1793 ...............................................................168 The Federalist Revolts: June–August 1793 ..............................213 Brissot advocates war ......................................................168 The Bordeaux and Lyons rebellions ................................213 The War with Austria and Prussia ...........................................169 Government reprisals .......................................................214 The king, court and generals ...........................................170 The Noyades of Nantes: Drownings in the Vendée ................215 Early defeats ....................................................................170 What was the Terror? Why was it imposed? ...................................217 Economic problems escalate fears ..................................171 The Power of the Sans-Culottes by 1793 ..................................218 The royal family in danger ...............................................171 Ideas of sans-culottes by 1793 ........................................218 The Rise of the Sans-Culottes ..................................................................172 Concessions to the sans-culottes ............................................218 The Fédérés ........................................................................................................174 Economic Terror: The Enragés and the Right The Protest of 20 June 1792: First Invasion of Tuileries .........176 to Subsistence .........................................................................220 Lafayette’s Last Political Plot ..................................................177 Day of the Enragés, 4–5 September 1793 ......................221 ‘The Homeland in Danger’ Decree, 11 July 1792 .....................178 Terror becomes ‘the Order of the Day’ ...................................222 A call to arms: La Marseillaise ...........................................................179 Judicial Terror: The Law of Suspects, 17 September 1793 ......223 The Brunswick Manifesto, 25 July 1792 ...................................179 The execution of Marie Antoinette ................................224 The Storming of the Tuileries, 10 August 1792 .......................180 iv LIBERATING FRANCE 3RD EDITION Purging the Factions in the Convention ..................................225 Anti-Girondin sentiment: Historical interpretations .....................226 Chapter 12 Review ....................................................................227 Chapter 13: A Republic of Virtue? .........................................228 The De-Christianisation Campaign ..........................................229 The attack on Christian symbols .....................................229 The Constitution of the Terror: The Law of 14 Frimaire Year II ..................................................................230 Centralisation of power and control of anarchy ............231 A reversal of the principles of 1789? .............................231 The End of the Hébertists—the Second Factional Purge .......232 Calls for Moderation: Danton and the ‘Indulgents’ —the Third Factional Purge ...................................................233 Camille Desmoulins, 1760–1794 .......................................................234 The Constitution of Year III: A Liberal Triumph, The Frozen Revolution: The Law of 22 Prairial ........................235 5 Fructidor Year III (22 September 1795) .............................255 The Cult of the Supreme Being ...........................................................236 No promises of political equality or Robespierre: Democrat or tyrant? .....................................................237 equality of rights ...........................................................256 The voting system .............................................................256 The Fall of Robespierre—the Final Factional Purge.................241 The executive: the Directory ...........................................257 Assessing the Terror ..................................................................242 A return to original principles ..........................................257 Historians assess the policy of Terror and its violence ..242 The Two-Thirds Decree ......................................................257 Historians debate the nature of the Terror .....................................244 Bourgeois Life Returns ..............................................................259 Chapter 13 Review ....................................................................245 A Final Royalist Rebellion: 13 Vendémiaire Year IV Chapter 14: ‘Back on Track’: The (5 October 1795) .....................................................................260 Thermidorian Reaction ........................................................246 Thermidor period: Historical interpretations ..................................262 Regrouping after the Terror .....................................................247 Chapter 14 Review ....................................................................263 The triumph of the bourgeoisie .......................................248 Measuring Continuity and Change in Social Experiences Dismantling the Machinery of the Terror ...............................249 of the Revolution .................................................................264 The end of the Jacobins ...................................................250 Revolutionary Upheaval ...........................................................264 Retribution for the Terror .........................................................250 How revolutionary were the years 1789–1795? ............265 The gilded youth: The Muscadins ....................................250 The White Terror ..............................................................251 Experiences of the Revolution .................................................266 A revolution in political culture ......................................266 Freedom to All Religions in France ...........................................252 The economy: A movement towards capitalism? ..........267 Economic Challenges: Inflation and the Food Crisis ................253 Social and cultural factors ...............................................268 The journée of 12 Germinal Year III (1 April 1975) .........254 Historians assess the short-term consequences The journée of 1–4 Prairial Year III (20–23 May 1795): of the French Revolution ...............................................271 The ‘mainspring of the revolution broken’ ..................254 SECTION C: ADDITIONAL MATERIAL 272 Key Individuals ..........................................................................273 Marie Antoinette, 1755–1793 ..................................................................................273 Louis XVI, 1754–1793 ....................................................................................................274 Jacques Necker, 1732–1804 .......................................................................................276 Emmanuel-Joseph Sieyès, 1748–1836 ................................................................277 The Marquis de Lafayette, 1757–1834 ..............................................................278 Georges Danton, 1759–1794 ....................................................................................279 Jean-Paul Marat, 1743–1793 ..................................................................................280 Maximilien Robespierre, 1758–1794 ...................................................................282 Endnotes ....................................................................................284 Glossary ................................................................................ebook Index ..........................................................................................290 LIBERATING FRANCE 3RD EDITION v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS TEXT ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS IMAGE ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS NB: l=left, r=right, t=top, b=bottom, c=centre pp. 16, 61, 64, 99, 101, 133, 142, 151, 162, 185, 226, 231, 262, 271: William Doyle, The Oxford History of the French Alamy p. 28: The Picture Art Collection / Alamy Stock Revolution. © William Doyle 1989. Reproduced with Photo; p. 68: Painters / Alamy Stock Photo; p. 212: PWB permission of Oxford Publishing Limited through Images / Alamy Stock Photo. PLSclear. a Réunion des musées nationaux p. 83: © RMN-Grand pp. 93, 120, 182, 216, 233, 235, 261: Christopher Hibbert, Palais (Château de Versailles) / image RMN-GP. The French Revolution. © Christopher Hibbert 1980. Bibliotheque nationale de France p. ii: ark:/12148/ pp. 78, 86, 98, 99: Georges Lefebvre, The Great Fear btv1b84105358; p. 4: ark:/12148/btv1b8410972x; of 1789: Rural Panic in Revolutionary France, trans. p. 13: ark:/12148/btv1b6949605w; p. 15: ark:/12148/ Joan White. This translation Copyright © 1973 by NLB. btv1b7703418k; p. 22: ark:/12148/btv1b6944013t; Reproduced with permission of Verso through PLSclear. p. 50: ark:/12148/btv1b8411101d; p. 52: ark:/12148/ pp. 40, 56, 62, 101, 162, 271: Peter McPhee, The btv1b84105358; p. 73: ark:/12148/btv1b6943327k; French Revolution 1789–1799. © Peter McPhee 2002. p. 93: ark:/12148/btv1b8410768b; p. 105(b): ark:/12148/ Reproduced with permission of Oxford Publishing btv1b69442835; p. 161: ark:/12148/btv1b8411572v; Limited through PLSclear. p. 236(b): ark:/12148/btv1b69505496; p. 243: ark:/12148/ pp. 14, 125, 158: George Rudé, The Crowd in the French cb402507196; p. 283: ark:/12148/btv1b53009891h. Revolution. © George Rudé 1959. Reproduced with Library of Congress p. 38(t): LC-USZC4-7599; permission of Oxford Publishing Limited through p. 47: LC-USZC2-3583; p. 49: LC-USZC4-12944; PLSclear. p. 61: LC-DIG-pga-04607; p. 94: LC-USZC4-12944; pp. 65, 91, 98, 102, 185, 187, 188, 226, 244, 262: Simon p. 95: LC-USZC2-3583. Schama, Citizens: A Chronicle of the French Revolution. Pearl Baillieu @nunoftheninch: p. 1(c); pp. 106-107. © Simon Schama 1989. Ruben Hopmans: p. 19; p. 123; p. 134; p. 150; p. 153(b); p. 202. HTAV ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The British Museum p. 30: © The Trustees of the Thank you to authors Judy Anderson and Allan Kerr British Museum; p. 113: © The Trustees of the British for their substantial work on this new edition, and Museum; p. 197: © The Trustees of the British Museum; Jill Fenwick for her work on previous editions. We are grateful to the following people who also Wikicommons: p. 5: Sodacan, CC BY-SA 3.0 <https:// contributed significantly and have helped us meet creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0>, via our multiple aims for the new edition: Darius von Wikimedia Commons; p. 136(both): National Güttner, for his expert advice, content editing Numismatic Collection,National Museum of American and additional writing; Marlo Newton, for her History, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons; outstanding writing skills and for stitching back p. 137: AFP Facing the World, CC BY-SA 3.0 <https:// together a heavily cut text; Maddison Schmidt, creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0>, via for her advice on the Study Design and help Wikimedia Commons. condensing the text; and Philip Bryan, for his Other image contributors: p. 37: Musee Medard; exceptional editing and focus on accessibility. p. 105(r): iStockphoto; p. 120(r): Bridgeman Images; We would also like to thank Ruben Hopmans, p. 173(t): Granger; p. 241: The Morgan Library & Pearl Baillieu at Nun of the Ninch, Catherine Hart, Museum; p. 242: iStockphoto. Sharon Betridge, Dr Deb Hull, Shaun Silcock and the many HTAV members who have provided valuable feedback over the years. vi LIBERATING FRANCE 3RD EDITION