2 21 13 The French Revolution 1 16 13 Midterm Key Terms Ancien Regime the form of government installed in France before the revolution Absolute Monarchy government where all power sovereignty and legitimacy was in the hands of the king King Louis XVI ultimate governing authority The king had complete power to dictate whatever happened in the realm make laws and make judgments where judgments were needed In reality his power only went as far as his ability to persuade the French nobility to get what he wanted Third Estate the class of society made up of commoners who were constantly reminded of their separation from the nobility Extra fees were placed upon them and money flowed out from the third estate into the pockets of the higher class However when the French population increased members of the third estate became a middle class for France Estates General began in May 1789 After the Seven Years War there was a complete change in France s tax system where nobility and the church were charged as well as the third class Louis XVI brought together delegates from the three estates to deliberate and vote on certain problems fiscal issues etc that were plaguing France The process of electing deputies to be a part of the Estates General unleashed a lot of political energy and allowed a lot of ordinary people to participate in politics for the first time Cahiers de Doliances list of grievances against King Louis XVI that the estates were summoned to bring to the Estates General The ability to write up their complaints and disapprovals of the government was like a political initiation to a lot of French people National Assembly Delegates of the third estate declared themselves the National Assembly and representatives of all of France in June 1789 This was the point where the French revolution started Now the delegates were seeking to reform the entire political order not just solve France s political crisis Held meetings at Versailles to work on a new constitution for Frane Bastille on July 14 1789 French militia captured the Bastille which was a royal fortress used as a prison for political prisoners and was hated by many symbolic takeover Militia also gained weapons from the Bastille s armory Unrest soon spread across France Great Fear July through August 1789 There were rumors that the King was planning a counter revolution and that the nobles were going to send bandits to destroy the French grain crops Great Fear was when there were a whole bunch of peasant uprisings as a reaction to the rumors and resentment toward their lords Peasants marched on the chateaus of their lords and destroyed their record books that contained information on the privileges held by the top two estates Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen August 1789 France s new constitution Stated that all sovereignty and political power would be derived from the people enlightenment ideals would be enacted in government Girondins radicals of the National Assembly who rose in power after the king tried to flee France Wanted to go to war against Austria Believed war would unite France against a common enemy War was declared on Austria in 1792 However French army suffered embarrassing defeats Jacobins a powerful new radical faction who put pressure on the National Assembly to call a new election of delegates after it was uncovered that the king was still in contact with Austria and plotting an invasion that would restore him to his former power National Convention convened September 22 1792 New elected assembly who s major tasks were to judge the king and determine his fate and write a new constitution for France In its first three months of existence the National Convention abolished the monarchy and declared France a free republic instituted a new calendar Sept 22 day 1 of year 1 to part ways with the past and de Christianize France and executed the king when they found him guilty of treason Also abolished slavery in all French colonies Vendee after a nationwide draft was instilled an armed counter revolution uprising occurred in Vendee in March 1973 Pro monarchy and pro church Committee of Public Safety in a move to repress the public s dissent the National convention placed most of its power into the Committee of Public Safety Miximilien Robespierre in control of the Committee of Public Safety starting in July 1973 Oversaw the most radical and bloodiest phase of the revolution known as the Reign of Terror Killed many of those involved in the uprisings in Vendee and stopped all others who resisted the government including the Girondins Thermidorian Reaction July 1974 Robespierre s opponents banded together and brought Robespierre to the guillotine ending the Reign of Terror Napoleon Bonaparte assumed power in 1799 and French revolution ended France was now under a militaristic regime napoleon was also working to restore slavery in French colonies New nobles were created from those in the army The Haitian Revolution Saint Domingue single richest French colony in the Caribbean the jewel of France Produced 40 of sugar and 60 coffee consumed in all of Europe Major part in French economy Slaves made up a majority of the population in Saint Domingue Vadou common religious ritual between the natives and slaves of Saint Domingue Vincent Oge representative of Saint Domingue sent to France to argue for equal rights among all free people including the right to vote in order to keep the peace France s political committee refused to interfere with any Saint Domingue affairs until the white population asked France to do so which they refused to So Oge led an unsuccessful uprising and was executed in February 1791 Toussain Louverture soldier involved in uprisings against France Leger Felicite Sonthonax and Etienne Polverel French commissioners who turned to rebel slaves in Saint Domingue in defending the colony against the Spanish and British who were trying to encroach on their land Offered slaves amnesty and freedom for fighting leading to the emancipation of all slaves Haiti Declared the island Haiti on December 31 1802 completely independent from France Industrialization and the Remaking of Western European Society Flying shuttle invented in 1733 first great innovation that made the process of throwing the shuttle automatic reducing the labor involved in weaving and made the process faster Spinning Jenny invented in 1764 could spin up to 8 threads at once and continued to expand to include more threads Water Frame