FRENCH REVOLUTION 



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FRENCH REVOLUTION 



for more than a century and a half unsum- 

 moned, could deal with the critical questions 

 that had arisen. In 1789, therefore, that body 

 was- called together and this very act was an 

 acknowledgment that the sovereign of France 

 was not absolute. But the States-General, be- 

 fore it could attack the waiting problems, had 

 to settle its own method of voting. In the 

 olden days the vote had been taken by classes, 

 the nobles having one vote, the clergy one and 

 the third estate, or commons, one, but it was 

 evident to the third estate that if this plan 

 were followed the two other orders could 

 thwart every effort for reform. When the 

 nobles and clergy refused to consider voting 

 by poll the third estate withdrew and declared 

 that they were the National Assembly, and 

 that anyone who wished a voice in affairs must 

 join himself to them. This the clergy did in 

 large numbers, for many of them had sympa- 

 thized with the lower classes in their down- 

 trodden state, and gradually certain of the 

 nobles added themselves to the number. This 

 new Assembly, which was to meet as a single 

 body, one man's vote counting for as much as 

 any other, was known as the Constituent As- 

 sembly. 



Measures of the Constituent Assembly. The 

 task which this body had set for itself was the 

 adoption of a constitution. Naturally enough, 

 two tendencies showed themselves in it. Some 

 members merely wanted reforms in govern- 

 ment regular meetings of the States-General 

 and a lessening of taxation but others wanted 

 far more sweeping changes. The privileges of 

 the nobles must be taken away, they de- 

 manded, and the king must admit the right of 

 the people to a voice in the government; and 

 as the demands of this latter class became 

 more and more radical, the moderate element 

 proved unable to restrain them. The Revo- 

 lution thus was launched. 



It happened that the Minister of Finance, 

 Necker, was very popular with the people. 

 When, in July, 1789, the king dismissed him, 

 the people rose in open insurrection and 

 stormed the Bastille, the great, gloomy prison 

 which stood as the symbol of the tyranny of 

 the upper classes. Necker was recalled, but it 

 was too late for him to stem the tide. In or- 

 der that riot might not go unchecked, the 

 National Guard was organized; and many of 

 the nobles, with the "great fear" upon them, 

 left France, the first of the emigres. Mean- 

 while, the Constituent Assembly declared all 

 feudal rights and privileges abolished, and pub- 



lished flaming articles on the rights of man. 

 In October, 1789, a mob, mostly women, rushed 

 to Versailles, killed the royal guard and com- 

 pelled the king and queen to return to Paris, 

 whither the Constituent Assembly also re- 

 moved. One of its popular acts at the time 

 was the abolition of all titles of nobility. 



In July, 1790, the new constitution was pro- 

 claimed and the king took oath to support it. 

 The people distrusted him, however, and con- 

 stantly suspected the exiled nobles of attempt- 

 ing to gain the aid of foreign powers against 

 the Revolution, as indeed they were doing. 

 Disregarding the advice of Mirabeau, the clear- 

 est headed man whom this first phase of the 

 struggle produced, the king and queen tried, 

 in June, 1791, to escape from France into Aus- 

 tria, but were captured and brought back, now 

 more deeply under suspicion than ever before. 

 A new constitution having been submitted to 

 the king, the Constituent Assembly dissolved 

 itself in September, 1791, and the Legislative 

 Assembly took its place. 



War Declared. Torn with dissensions within, 

 France especially needed peace, that some 

 stable form of government might be estab- 

 lished, but in April, 1792, the Legislative As- 

 sembly hurried the country into war with Aus- 

 tria and Prussia. As always, lack of unity and 

 discipline at home reacted on the army, and 

 news of defeats drove the mob in Paris to 

 frenzy. A band of rioters in August, 1792, 

 broke into the Tuileries, put to death the 

 king's guard and left Louis no alternative 

 save to throw himself on the mercy of the 

 Legislative Assembly. That body, still at the 

 demand of the mob, suspended him from his 

 royal office and imprisoned him with his fam- 

 ily in the Temple. Further news of defeat led 

 to further mob violence, and in September, 

 1792, no fewer than 1,000 royalists were slain 

 in the prisons of Paris. On September 20, 

 however, the tide turned. Victory in the Bat- 

 tle of Valmy fell to the French, and the Paris 

 mob was for a time placated. 



Republic Proclaimed; King Executed. On 

 that same day, September 20, a new governing 

 body, the National Convention, met, and for 

 a time the military successes continued under 

 its direction. So confident did the French be- 

 come that they declared their intention of 

 annexing Belgium and Savoy, and thus they 

 made for themselves new enemies among the 

 European powers. But an event soon oc- 

 curred in France which stirred up still greater 

 opposition among the outside nations. Not 



