3.1 The Three Estates The population of pre-Revolutionary France was divided into Three Estates: the Church, the Nobility and Everyone Else. 3.2- The Broken Regime The Ancien Regime was a mess in desperate need of reform. 3.3- Resistance to Reform As power passed from Louis XV to Louis XVI, royal ministers attempted to implement reforms, but were thwarted at every turn. 3.4- Necker and the Necklace Just as the financial situation was about to explode the monarchy was hit by a public relations nightmare. 3.5- The Assembly of Notables King Louis called the Assembly of Notables in early 1787 to approve a major financial reform package. But instead of rubber stamping the package, the Notables scrutinized every detail. 3.6- The Stately Quadrille Round and round and round it goes... 3.7- The Séance Royale After the Assembly of Notables disbanded in May 1787, the fight over reform moved to the Paris Parlement. 3.8- The Day of the Tiles The king's attempt to break the Parments in the summer of 1788 was was met by widespread resistence. 3.9- What is the Third Estate?The debate over the coming Estates General awakened the political consciousness of the Third Estate. Also the weather was rotten. 3.10- The Tennis Court Oath On Day 2 of the Estates General, the Third Estate went on strike. 3.11- The Fall of the Bastille On July 14, 1789 a mob of angry Parisians stormed the Bastille. 3.12- The Great Fear After a wave of chaos spread across France, the National Assembly abolished feudalism on the night of Aug. 4, 1789. 3.13- The Rights of Man After the Night of August 4th, the National Assembly divided into new political factions. 3.14- The Women's March on Versailles In October 1789 some angry fishwives changed the course of the French Revolution. 3.15- The Rise of the Jacobins After the move to Paris, radical delegates from the National Assembly formed a new political club to help push their agenda. 3.16- The Society of 1789 In the leadup to the great Fête de la Fédération, the Marquis de Lafayette and a group of liberal nobles began to direct the course of the Revolution. 3.17- A Temporary Summit After the Feast of the Federation, Revolutionary France was outwardly calm, but internally divided. 3.18- The Flight to Varennes In June 1791 the royal family tried to escape from Paris, but they were busted while passing through Verennes. 3.19- The Massacre of the Champ de Mars After the Flight to Varennes, populist agistators in Paris called for an end to the monarchy, leading to a bloody confrontation in July 1791. 3.20- The Constitution of 1791 As the National Assembly drew to a close, the Triumvirate rose to power. 3.21- The Legislative Assembly The new Legislative Assembly convened in October 1791 and quickly put France on the path to war. 3.21a Supplemental- Talleyrand Talleyrand! 3.22- War In April 1792 France declared war on Austria. 3.23- The Insurrection of August 10th On Aug 10, 1792 the radical sections of Paris overthrew the monarchy. 3.24- The September Massacres With the Allied army approaching Paris, the sans-culottes broke into all the prisoners and slaughtered the inmates. 3.25- The National Convention The National Convention voted unanimously to abolish the monarchy on Sept 21, 1792. Then they proceeded to go at each others throats. 3.26- The Trial of Louis XVI King Louis XVI was put on trial by the National Convention and executed Jan 21, 1793. |
Revolutions Podcast - The French Revolution by Mike Duncan.
These are great short podcasts on the French Revolution. 3.27- Advance and Retreat After the Battle of Valmy the French armies advanced on all fronts. 3.28- Provincial Revolt In the spring of 1793 revolts against Paris started erupting all over France. 3.29- The Purge of the Girondins On May 31-June 2, 1793 Paris once again rose in armed insurrection against the national government. 3.31- The Man of Blood Part Deux In the summer of 1793 the Revolutionaries in Paris were besieged from all sides. 3.32- The Committee of Public Safety In the summer of 1793 a re-organized Committee of Public Safety began to consolidate power. 3.33- The Geography of Terror In the fall of 1793, the French Republic started to gain traction against its enemies. Setting up the stage for the Reign of Terror. 3.34- Saturn's Children In October 1793 the Reign of Terror got started with the executions of Marie Antoinette and the Girondins. 3.34a- The Republican Calendar In Oct 1793 the French Revolution took a stab at reforming time itself. 3.34b- Phillippe Egalite Marie Antoinette thought he was behind EVERYTHING 3.34c- Citizen Genet Do not get into a popularity contest with George Washington 3.35- The Law of 14 Frimaire At the end of 1793, the Committee of Public Safety completed it's consolidation of power. 3.36- The Liquidation Process In the spring of 1794, the Revolution devoured a few of her most beloved children. 3.37- The Republic of Virtue If the mainspring of popular government in peacetime is virtue, amid revolution it is at once virtue and terror: virtue, without which terror is fatal; terror, without which virtue is impotent. 3.38- Thermidor The events of 9 Thermidor II brought Act I of the French Revolution to a gruesome end. 3.39- The Death of the Jacobins After the events of 9 Thermidor, the Revolution began to swing back to the right. 3.40- The Frozen Rivers The terrible winter of 1794-95 helped France push back all her enemies. Also...Poland! 3.41- Bread and the Constitution of 1793 That's the slogan that rallied the last remnents of the sans culottes to action...right before they got crushed by the Thermidorean Convention. 3.42- The Whiff of Grapeshot When the Thermidorean Convention introduced the Constitution of Year III, the political Right went a little nuts. 3.43- The Conspiracy of Equals The adventures of everyone's favorite proto-communist. 3.44- The War Feeds Itself Control the central position. Move on the rear. Live off the land. 3.45- The Fall of Mantua Bonaparte almost gets beat! But then he doesn't. Also don't invade Ireland in December. 3.46- The Coup of Fructidor After taking a drubbing in the elections Year V, the Directory decided to just annul the results. 3.47- The Directorial Terror After Fructidor the Directory cracked down on the conservatives. They also created more sister republicans to systematically loot. 3.48- The Coup of Floreal The Directory manipulated the elections of Year VI to block left-wing candidates. Meanwhile Talleyrand provoked the Americans into war and Bonaparte sailed for Egypt. 3.49- The Egyptian Expedition In July 1798 Bonaparte and his healthy, hopeful army arrived in Egypt. In August 1799 Bonaparte ditched his now demoralized, plague-ridden army and sailed for home. 3.50- The Second Coalition While Bonaparte was off trying to conquer Egypt, the rest of Europe mobilized against France. 3.51- The Coup of Prairial When the War of the Second Coalition got off to a terrible start for the French, the Triumvirate that had been running the Directory since 1797 was overthrown. 3.52- There is Your Man And his name is Napoleon Bonaparte. 3.53- The Consulate After coming to power in 1799, First Consul Bonaparte achieved many of the Revolution's dreams and healed many of its open wounds. So he declared himself Emperor in 1804. 3.54- The Empire Napoleon conquered Europe. Then he got beat and the Bourbons came back. |