The French Revolution: A Timeline of Transformation
1. The Outbreak of the French Revolution
Causes of the Revolution
In 1789, France faced a deep economic and social crisis due to three key factors:
- Popular Discontent: Starting in 1760, poor harvests led to rising food prices and widespread popular discontent.
- Restrictive Policies: The bourgeoisie, enriched by economic growth, resented their political marginalization. Only the privileged classes held office and enjoyed social recognition.
- Economic Mismanagement: The monarchy faced a severe financial crisis due to high state and court expenses.
A proposed tax reform aimed to compel the aristocracy to pay taxes, but the absolute monarch feared displeasing the privileged, his main support.
The Beginning of the Revolution
The revolution began with a revolt by the aristocracy, who refused to pay taxes and demanded that Louis XVI convene the Estates-General (the body responsible for approving tax reforms). The Estates-General opened at Versailles in May 1789, chaired by the king and comprised of representatives of the nobility, clergy, and commons. Each estate had one vote, and voting was conducted separately. The Third Estate demanded double representation, joint deliberation, and voting by person, asserting national sovereignty and arguing that all deputies represented the nation’s will. Only double representation was granted. Subsequently, the Third Estate deputies formed the National Assembly (inspired by Enlightenment ideals) and pledged to create a constitution reflecting the will of the French majority.
The End of the Old Regime
The Parisian populace supported the National Assembly, took up arms, and stormed the Bastille fortress to defend the revolutionary process. The revolution spread to the countryside as an anti-seigneurial revolt, to which the king responded with the burning of houses and destruction of noble mansions and documents. Amidst the popular radicalism, the National Assembly decreed the abolition of feudal rights on August 4 and issued the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, recognizing inalienable individual and collective freedoms, equality before the law, and an end to tax exemptions.
2. The Stages of the French Revolution
The Constitutional Monarchy (1789-1792)
The Reform Process
By the fall of 1789, the king and nobility accepted the new situation. With the country pacified, the National Assembly began reforms to establish a constitutional and parliamentary monarchy. The 1791 constitution was based on liberal principles: separation of powers, national sovereignty, and legal equality. However, the king retained veto power. Census-based indirect suffrage was established, dividing the population into active (landowners with voting rights) and passive (those without property or voting rights) citizens. Following the constitution’s adoption, a Legislative Assembly was formed to enact laws guaranteeing equality, prohibiting torture, enforcing taxes on the nobility, and abolishing guilds. A new national guard was created. To address the financial crisis, church assets were nationalized and sold, while the state guaranteed religious worship and a civil constitution separated church and state.
The Different Policy Options
The reforms satisfied bourgeois groups by granting them political rights and economic freedom. However, the new regime faced opposition from the nobility seeking to regain privileges, the clergy discontent with confiscations, and the monarchy conspiring against the National Assembly. Popular sectors also expressed dissatisfaction with restricted suffrage and rising living costs. Key groups included the Girondins, Jacobins, Cordeliers, and sans-culottes (popular militias advocating deeper reforms and a republic).
The Failure of Constitutional Monarchy
The disgraced king joined the Austrian army, leading to war between France and Austria. The sans-culottes stormed the royal palace, imprisoned the king, and proclaimed a republic in 1792.
The Democratic Republic (1792-1794)
The Girondin Convention
The Girondins, advocating universal male suffrage, led the republic and called for elections for a new National Convention. The Convention tried and executed King Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette for treason. The king’s death prompted European monarchies to form a coalition against revolutionary France. By 1793, the republic faced internal counterrevolutionary riots and external threats from invading armies.
The Jacobin Convention
In June 1793, the Jacobins seized power, arresting Girondin leaders. They enacted a new constitution based on social democracy: popular sovereignty, universal suffrage, and the right to equality. The executive power rested with the Committee of Public Safety. To address external threats, the republic organized an army, decreed mass conscription, and initiated the Reign of Terror. A court sentenced suspected counterrevolutionaries. To meet sans-culottes demands, the Committee controlled prices and wages, distributed counterrevolutionary assets to the poor, sold clergy lands in small lots, and mandated compulsory education. Churches were closed, and the Cult of Reason was established.
The Fall of the Jacobins
By the summer of 1794, internal revolts were quelled, and French armies prevailed against the foreign coalition. However, the revolution’s radicalization, the Terror, and dictatorial rule provoked opposition. The Thermidorian Reaction in July 1794 overthrew and executed Jacobin leaders.
The Bourgeois Republic (1794-1799)
After the coup, the conservative bourgeoisie regained control, drafting a new constitution that established a collegial government (the Directory), reinstated census suffrage, and created a bicameral legislature (Council of Five Hundred and Council of Elders). The government aimed to restore the 1791 constitution’s principles, decommissioning and persecuting Jacobins, abrogating the 1793 constitution, and annulling its measures. Exiles returned. This liberal phase faced opposition from both the aristocracy and the popular classes protesting rising prices. The army gained prestige as the sole institution capable of maintaining order and national defense. In 1799, General Napoleon Bonaparte, backed by the bourgeoisie, staged a coup, ending the Directory and establishing the Consulate (1799-1804).
Key Terms and Events
- Liberalism: A philosophical, economic, and political system promoting civil liberties and limiting government power.
- Estates-General: An institution representing the three social classes, with the power to approve taxes.
- Third Estate: The non-privileged group (peasants, bourgeoisie, servants, and the poor) lacking the privileges of the clergy and nobility.
- Census Suffrage: A voting system restricting suffrage based on property or wealth.
- The Estates-General (1789): The Third Estate’s oath at Versailles to establish a constitution marked the start of the French Revolution.
- The Constituent Assembly (1789-1791): Supported by the people’s storming of the Bastille, the Assembly abolished feudalism and drafted a constitution establishing national sovereignty and separation of powers.
- The Legislative Assembly (1791-1792): Dominated initially by the moderate Girondins, it faced social unrest and the rise of the radical Jacobins, leading to a coup.
- The Convention (1792-1795): The era of the Reign of Terror under Jacobin rule, culminating in a new republican constitution and eventual instability.
- The Directory and the Consulate (1795-1799): A period of relative calm under a five-member Directory, followed by Napoleon’s coup and the establishment of the Consulate.