Lesson 4 - The short-term causes of the French Revolution
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The French Revolution was actually two revolutions. The first was led by intellectuals and lawyers, the men who led the Third Estate. The key event in this first stage was the Tennis Court Oath, a dramatic moment when the representatives of the Third Estate defied the king. The second stage happened less than a month later, when the ordinary people of Paris violently stormed the Bastille prison in search of gunpowder to defend themselves from the king's soldiers. This was the day the French chose as their national day: 14th July, Bastille Day.
Into the long-term context we have already outlined, a series of events now unfolds in five discernible phases. |
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1. The Assembly of Notables refuses a tax reform.
To understand what follows, you need to know one person above all others: Jacques Necker. A Genevan banker, Necker served as Louis XVI's finance minister from 1777 to 1781. He was exceptionally popular with ordinary French people, who saw him as a rare honest man in a corrupt system. He introduced important tax reforms, tried to reduce royal spending and even pushed Louis to abolish feudalism. But the costs of the American War of Independence, which he financed through loans rather than taxation, did much to undermine his careful work. He was sacked in 1781 and moved to Coppet where he bought a rather nice chateau.
To understand what follows, you need to know one person above all others: Jacques Necker. A Genevan banker, Necker served as Louis XVI's finance minister from 1777 to 1781. He was exceptionally popular with ordinary French people, who saw him as a rare honest man in a corrupt system. He introduced important tax reforms, tried to reduce royal spending and even pushed Louis to abolish feudalism. But the costs of the American War of Independence, which he financed through loans rather than taxation, did much to undermine his careful work. He was sacked in 1781 and moved to Coppet where he bought a rather nice chateau.
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Chateau de Coppet is open to visitors.
By 1786, France had run out of money and could borrow no more. Louis's new finance minister, Charles de Calonne, proposed a solution: a new land tax that everyone would have to pay, including the clergy and the nobility. To win the nobility over, Louis called together a handpicked group of senior nobles, the Assembly of Notables, in 1787. |
They rejected the proposal. Calonne was dismissed. Louis then tried to force the Paris Parlement to accept the new tax by royal decree. They refused, insisting that only the Estates General had the authority to approve such a measure.
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2. Necker returns, and Louis agrees to call the Estates General.
With the financial crisis deepening and riots breaking out across the country, Louis made a crucial decision in August 1788: he recalled Necker. This was not a small gesture. Necker's return to government as finance minister sent an immediate signal to two very different audiences. For France's creditors, it restored enough confidence in the government's finances to allow new loans to keep the kingdom afloat. For ordinary French people, it was a sign that the king was at last serious about genuine reform. Necker also persuaded Louis to commit to calling the Estates General. In August 1788, Louis announced: 'We need an assembly of our faithful subjects to help us get over our difficulties with money...every kind of abuse will be reformed.' This was a dangerous promise. The Estates General would meet the following May for the first time since 1614. Expectations rose sharply. |
Le Rappel de Monsieur Necker
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3. The Estates General meets amidst a social and economic crisis.
On 13 July 1788 a massive hailstorm destroyed cornfields, vegetable plots, orchards and vineyards across central France. This was followed by drought and then the coldest winter in living memory. Rivers froze over, stopping watermills from grinding flour. Blocked roads prevented food from reaching markets. When the snow thawed suddenly in spring, floods ruined huge areas of farmland. Bread prices rose sharply, leaving people with less money for other essentials. Unemployment spread. Riots and strikes broke out across the country.
Into this crisis, voters were invited to draw up the cahiers de doléances, lists of grievances to present to the king at the Estates General. These were produced all over France and set down in detail everything people thought was wrong with the country. Above all, they raised expectations still further that the Estates General would solve France's problems. It's a tradition that has was resurrected by Le mouvement des Gilets jaunes in 2019.
On 13 July 1788 a massive hailstorm destroyed cornfields, vegetable plots, orchards and vineyards across central France. This was followed by drought and then the coldest winter in living memory. Rivers froze over, stopping watermills from grinding flour. Blocked roads prevented food from reaching markets. When the snow thawed suddenly in spring, floods ruined huge areas of farmland. Bread prices rose sharply, leaving people with less money for other essentials. Unemployment spread. Riots and strikes broke out across the country.
Into this crisis, voters were invited to draw up the cahiers de doléances, lists of grievances to present to the king at the Estates General. These were produced all over France and set down in detail everything people thought was wrong with the country. Above all, they raised expectations still further that the Estates General would solve France's problems. It's a tradition that has was resurrected by Le mouvement des Gilets jaunes in 2019.
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4. The Third Estate defies the king.
When the Estates General met at Versailles in May 1789, there were 1,201 deputies: First Estate (clergy) 300; Second Estate (nobility) 291; Third Estate (commoners) 610. However, each estate had only one vote, meaning clergy and nobles could always outvote the Third Estate together. The Third Estate found this absurd. On 17 June 1789 they declared themselves the National Assembly. On 20 June, Louis locked them out of their meeting hall, so they moved to the royal indoor tennis court at Versailles. There they swore the Tennis Court Oath, promising to stay together until France had a fair constitution. On 9 July, Louis backed down and ordered the other two estates to join the National Assembly. So far, the struggle had been fought with words. It was about to become violent.
When the Estates General met at Versailles in May 1789, there were 1,201 deputies: First Estate (clergy) 300; Second Estate (nobility) 291; Third Estate (commoners) 610. However, each estate had only one vote, meaning clergy and nobles could always outvote the Third Estate together. The Third Estate found this absurd. On 17 June 1789 they declared themselves the National Assembly. On 20 June, Louis locked them out of their meeting hall, so they moved to the royal indoor tennis court at Versailles. There they swore the Tennis Court Oath, promising to stay together until France had a fair constitution. On 9 July, Louis backed down and ordered the other two estates to join the National Assembly. So far, the struggle had been fought with words. It was about to become violent.
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(Below) Historian Simon Schama examines the significance of the Tennis Court Oath to the history of the French Revolution.
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5. The storming of the Bastille.
Setting up the National Assembly was a great victory for the Third Estate but a serious defeat for the king. Urged on by the queen and the court, Louis ordered 20,000 royal troops to move into the area around Paris, officially to maintain order. Most people suspected they were there to crush the National Assembly.
Then came the news that triggered the explosion. On 11 July, Louis dismissed Necker for a second time. The man whose return to power had restored public confidence eight months earlier, the man who had persuaded Louis to call the Estates General, was gone. The appointment of a known hardliner in his place made the message seem unmistakeable: Louis was preparing to use military force. Angry and frightened crowds began looking for weapons. Over two days they broke into arms stores and seized thousands of guns. On the morning of 14 July, rumours spread that tonnes of gunpowder were stored in the Bastille, an old fortress in the east end of Paris. The rest, as they say, is history.
Setting up the National Assembly was a great victory for the Third Estate but a serious defeat for the king. Urged on by the queen and the court, Louis ordered 20,000 royal troops to move into the area around Paris, officially to maintain order. Most people suspected they were there to crush the National Assembly.
Then came the news that triggered the explosion. On 11 July, Louis dismissed Necker for a second time. The man whose return to power had restored public confidence eight months earlier, the man who had persuaded Louis to call the Estates General, was gone. The appointment of a known hardliner in his place made the message seem unmistakeable: Louis was preparing to use military force. Angry and frightened crowds began looking for weapons. Over two days they broke into arms stores and seized thousands of guns. On the morning of 14 July, rumours spread that tonnes of gunpowder were stored in the Bastille, an old fortress in the east end of Paris. The rest, as they say, is history.
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Crowds gathered in the streets, identifying themselves with a small cockade: red and blue for the colours of Paris, separated by white for the House of Bourbon (see opposite). The tricolour was born. A voice in the crowd cried out: to the Bastille. The old fortress loomed over the east end of Paris, notorious as a symbol of royal tyranny and known to hold the city's stores of gunpowder. The crowd stormed it. The governor attempted to defend it, surrendered, and was dragged through the streets and killed. His severed head was paraded on a pike. That evening, Louis XVI returned to Versailles from a hunting trip. In his diary, under the date 14 July 1789, he wrote one word: nothing. A reference to his unsuccessful hunt. An aide interrupted and told him what had happened. 'Is it a revolt?' Louis asked. 'No, sire,' came the reply. 'It is a revolution.'
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Activity - Causes of the French Revolution - essay plan.
(Part 2 - Short-Term Causes)
Using the text above, supplemented by the video opposite, complete the essay you began to plan last lesson. Use the plan as a basis but remember now to fully develop your PEE paragraphs. The short-term causes are broadly chronological and you could simply need to explain how one event led to the next, but I'd like to challenge you to engage in some genuine historical thinking. Instead, you could choose three of the factors below and write a PEE paragraph for each one, selecting evidence from across the timeline to support your argument. A strong paragraph opens with a point you can defend, not with what happened first. You are writing history, not recounting events.
Next write an introduction which explains the structure of your response (Long-term, short-term etc.) and which outlines all the major points you will make. Next, write a short conclusion which brings your essay to natural and interesting end.
Finally, put your essay together in Lesson 4 in your OneNote.
(Part 2 - Short-Term Causes)
Using the text above, supplemented by the video opposite, complete the essay you began to plan last lesson. Use the plan as a basis but remember now to fully develop your PEE paragraphs. The short-term causes are broadly chronological and you could simply need to explain how one event led to the next, but I'd like to challenge you to engage in some genuine historical thinking. Instead, you could choose three of the factors below and write a PEE paragraph for each one, selecting evidence from across the timeline to support your argument. A strong paragraph opens with a point you can defend, not with what happened first. You are writing history, not recounting events.
- The role of Necker
- The role of Louis XVI
- The weather and the harvest
- The resistance of the First and Second Estates
- The significance of bread prices
- The role of popular violence
- Rising expectations and broken promises
Next write an introduction which explains the structure of your response (Long-term, short-term etc.) and which outlines all the major points you will make. Next, write a short conclusion which brings your essay to natural and interesting end.
Finally, put your essay together in Lesson 4 in your OneNote.