HIS241 - Lecture 3.doc

HIS241 - Lectthe 3 September 24 , 2013 Dr. Petrakos Review • Crane Brenton'sAnatomy of Revolution o He analyzes the phases of revolutions  Collapse of the old regime  Moderate political revolution  Radical Revolution  Conservative counter revolution • Long term factors o The Enlightenment  Liberalism  Reason  Secularism  Democracy  Progress  Before the enlightenment people explained the world with Christianity, because of God's will  They were critical of religious, or “superstitious” reasons  It has Utopian aspirations  Men, and society, can be perfected • You reform society through reform of political institutions and education • These are a revival of Roman ideas of Virtue o Voltaire  Against religion and clerics  Associates religious relief with a blind adherence to the church  Awriter o Rousseau  Argued private property caused corruption • Produces hierarchies, which in turn produces inequalities o How did these factors cause the revolution?  The enlightenment was about questioning religion and old authority • Short term o All of these ideas are coming about when the French monarchy are making claims of divine right monarch  The French king almost wanted to be treated as a God o Taxes  The tax system was corrupt  TheAmerican revolution started because of taxation  The responsibility off government and how they're spending their money  Property rights • Does the state have access to one's property? • Do they have the right and authority?  The king doesn't know what to do about finances • Leads to a crisis • Realizes he has to do something, the French state is broke and they need more funding  Gathers notables to discuss the issue • Structural issues with the tax structure o He has to pass radical laws and changes to the system  French finance ministers can't figure out what to do • French finance ministers were cooking the books o There was less money than they thought they had • There was no way to keep track of the money o Necker gets fired because of this • People are getting fired of this  Calonne replaced Necker, but he was cooking the books too • The King realizes the only way to fix this was to rely on the law courts o The parliament will block any reform measure the King puts through  They do this because they saw him as corrupt as the system  They don't listen to the King's edicts • This human institution is denying the divine right of the king  The king needs to reduce the privileges of the nobles and clergy • At the same time he needs their approval to do this o He doesn't want to look like a tyrant, he needs to be a benevolent figure  Calonne says they need to sidestep the government to make reforms • They should use anAssembly of Notables to discuss it o Hasn't been called in over 100 years • In reality, they're the king's own handpicked people o He'll just pick people that will vote in his favor o These people will still won't go along with this  It's against their own self interest • People say this way of reform is tyrannical and reeks of despotism, it's not the proper way • He must call an Estates General to to do this o The nobles, clerics, and everyone else o Anational representative assembly of all three states, a will of the nation, the people o 1614 was the last time they met, during France's war of religion o This provides a rival to the king's power and authority, his absolute power o This is a consultative body, and its job is to consult with the king o The idea is for them to form a consensus and consult the king o The problem is it undermines the King's authority, he's supposed to only consult with God  It will reveal he's impotent, or powerless o There was also a grain crisis, which forces the king to negotiate  The king begins to twist the arm of the legislators to follow his bidding  The courts tell the king they won't go along, he has to go along with the estates general, this is the due process of law  At this point the King starts looking like a tyrant who doesn't pay attention to the law or tradition  The estates general was supposed to start in May 1789, months later  During this time there's a huge public debate o The printing press allows people to influence the public sphere and opens political discussion to an unpolitical nation  Will the estates general vote together, or in bloc? • In bloc they will have more influence, the clergy and nobles will always vote above everybody else  The people think the third estate represents the people  Emmanuel Sieyes says everyone should merge together into one state and nation • The privileged classes cannot represent the will of the nation  Majority of people wanted a one man one vote situation • The King says they'll vote by bloc  The King's answer causes the third estate to leave and say the estate general is an illegitimate institution o They leave and form their own assembly, the national assembly  Alot of the clergy and nobles defect to this  This is all a moderate political act  They meet in a tennis court • They take an oath, they promise to not disband until France has a written constitution o There are bread riots going on in Paris  On one end there is political revolution, and on the other people are starving in the countryside  Most of the Estates Generals are talking about the niceties of constitutionalism  1780-95 there were a lot of grain famines due to global cooling  By 1785 the price of grain rose  The government always subsidized bread so the mass wouldn't riot  In 1787 the price in bread