The French Revolution: Crash Course European History #21
Summary
TLDRThe video script explores the tumultuous period of the French Revolution in 1789, highlighting the socio-economic crises leading to its outbreak, the formation of the National Assembly, and the radical changes in governance and societal structure. It details the rise of political factions, the Reign of Terror, and the eventual ascent of Napoleon Bonaparte. The script underscores the Revolution's impact on the concept of nation-states and the birth of modern political ideologies.
Takeaways
- 🏰 The script describes 1789 Europe as a continent in turmoil, with France on the brink of crisis due to war, poor harvests, and a bankrupt state.
- 👑 Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette's reign was marked by extravagance and disconnect from the common people, leading to widespread discontent.
- 🗳️ The Estates-General was convened to address the financial crisis, but it highlighted the inequality in representation and led to the formation of the National Assembly.
- 🎾 The Tennis Court Oath symbolized the determination of the Third Estate to enact reforms and establish a nation of citizens with equal rights.
- 🏰 The storming of the Bastille and the subsequent actions in the countryside dismantled feudal privileges and marked the end of the old order.
- 📜 The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen was a radical document that established the principles of liberty, equality, and fraternity, including freedom of religion.
- 🚶♀️ Women, inspired by the revolution's ideals, began to advocate for their rights, with figures like Olympe de Gouges publishing the Declaration of the Rights of Woman.
- 🗽 The revolution led to the establishment of a constitutional monarchy and later a republic, with the Civil Constitution of the Clergy and other reforms challenging the power of the church.
- 💔 The royal family's failed escape attempt and the subsequent war with Austria and Prussia highlighted the instability and external threats to the revolution.
- 🔴 The political spectrum was shaped during this period, with the left-right divide in the assembly hall representing different stances on the monarchy and governance.
- 🗡️ The Reign of Terror under Robespierre and the Jacobins was a period of extreme violence and cultural transformation, where thousands were executed in the name of the revolution.
Q & A
What was the situation in Europe in 1789 according to the script?
-In 1789, Europe had experienced numerous wars, leading to territorial changes and significant loss of life. The weather was also unfavorable, affecting crop yields. There was a desire for reform across the Dutch states and the Habsburg Netherlands, inspired by the United States, while Poland was demanding the reversal of their country's partition. France, despite supporting the North American colonies' revolution, remained an absolute monarchy and was on the brink of bankruptcy due to continuous warfare.
Why was France considered to be in crisis in 1789?
-France was in crisis in 1789 due to its absolute monarchy, which was virtually bankrupt from the costs of war, a countryside filled with beggars, and a tax system where the poor and middle class bore the brunt. The country was also dealing with bad harvests, high bread prices, and a growing divide between the wealthy aristocrats and the struggling populace.
Who was Louis XVI and what were his interests?
-Louis XVI was the king of France in 1789. He had a passion for hunting and was interested in mechanical objects, particularly locks.
What was the significance of the Estates-General in 1789?
-The Estates-General was a historical meeting summoned by Louis XVI in response to the financial crisis. It consisted of representatives from the clergy (first estate), the aristocracy (second estate), and ordinary people (third estate). This meeting was significant as it was an attempt to address the grievances of the people and reform the tax system.
What was the Tennis Court Oath and why was it important?
-The Tennis Court Oath was a declaration made by the members of the third estate who had retreated to a nearby tennis court. They declared themselves the National Assembly and vowed not to disband until they had established a nation of individual citizens with rights, rather than a kingdom of servile subjects. This oath was a pivotal moment in the French Revolution, signifying the beginning of a push for a more representative government.
What was the impact of the Bastille's seizure on July 14, 1789?
-The seizure of the Bastille fortress by the people of Paris on July 14, 1789, was a significant event in the French Revolution. It symbolized the end of the monarchy's arbitrary imprisonment power and marked the beginning of widespread violence and uprising against the old regime.
What were the contents of the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen?
-The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen was a document passed by the National Assembly that protected property rights, ensured trial by jury, and guaranteed free speech. It declared that men are born and remain free and equal in rights, including freedom of religion, which was a radical change from the previous system where peasants were seen as neither free nor equal.
Why did the royal family attempt to flee France in 1791?
-The royal family attempted to flee France in 1791 due to the escalating violence and instability of the revolution. They likely sought to escape the growing threats to their safety and the monarchy's power.
What was the significance of the Civil Constitution of the Clergy in 1790?
-The Civil Constitution of the Clergy was significant as it confiscated church property and mandated the election of priests by their parishioners. This move further weakened the power of the Catholic Church and its traditional alliance with the monarchy.
What was the political spectrum in the National Convention like after the revolution began?
-After the revolution began, political parties in the National Convention arranged themselves with republicans, who wanted to abolish monarchs, on the left, and monarchists on the right. Other parties grouped themselves across the hall, leading to the modern concept of left, center, and right in politics.
How did the French Revolution influence the concept of nation-states and citizenship?
-The French Revolution consolidated the idea that a nation is composed of citizens with equal rights, replacing the concept of a kingdom where a monarch ruled subjects. This shift helped usher in the idea of nation-states, where citizens, rather than a king or religion, became the most important component of the nation's identity.
Outlines
🏰 Pre-Revolutionary France and the Crisis of 1789
This paragraph sets the stage for the French Revolution, highlighting the dire state of France in 1789. Europe has been plagued by wars, leading to territorial shifts and significant loss of life. Poor agricultural yields exacerbate the situation. Reformers in the Dutch states and Habsburg Netherlands aspire to emulate the United States, while Polish citizens resist the partition of their country. France emerges as a paradoxical hero, having supported the North American colonies' fight for liberty while remaining an absolute monarchy at home. The nation is on the brink of financial ruin, with the countryside filled with beggars and the tax burden falling heavily on the poor and middle class. The paragraph introduces Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette, whose extravagant lifestyle and disconnect from the common people contribute to the brewing discontent.
🗳️ The Estates-General and the Rise of the National Assembly
In response to the financial crisis, Louis XVI convenes the Estates-General, consisting of representatives from the clergy, aristocracy, and common people. The Third Estate, feeling underrepresented, breaks away to form the National Assembly, vowing to create a nation of citizens rather than subjects. The Assembly's reform efforts are supported by the common people, leading to the storming of the Bastille on July 14, a pivotal event symbolizing the people's resistance to the monarchy. The aristocracy, fearing the growing unrest, relinquish their feudal privileges, and the National Assembly declares the end of feudal society, passing the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, which enshrines individual freedoms and rights.
👥 The Struggle for Equality and the Impact of War
The National Assembly's decrees mark a radical shift towards equality and freedom, challenging the deeply entrenched social hierarchy and religious dominance. The Assembly's actions include the adoption of a constitutional monarchy and the Civil Constitution of the Clergy, which nationalizes church property and democratizes the clergy. The royal family's failed escape attempt and the subsequent war with Austria and Prussia further escalate the revolution. Political factions emerge, with the Jacobins advocating for a republic, leading to the National Convention and the eventual abolition of the monarchy. Louis XVI is executed, and the revolution takes a violent turn under the 'Reign of Terror,' led by Maximilien Robespierre and the Committee of Public Safety, resulting in the execution of thousands, including Marie-Antoinette and Olympe de Gouges.
🌏 The Spread of Revolutionary Ideals and the Legacy of the French Revolution
The revolution's ideals of liberty, equality, and fraternity resonate beyond France, influencing movements for independence and reform in places like Poland, Spanish colonies in South America, and the French colony of St. Domingue, which would later inspire the Haitian Revolution. The French Revolution solidifies the concept of nation-states built on the principles of citizen rights, challenging the traditional monarchical and religious authority. The revolution also sparks a debate on the nature of societal change, with figures like Mary Wollstonecraft advocating for women's rights and education. Despite its violent nature and the temporary regression into dictatorship under Napoleon, the revolution's emphasis on individual rights and the rule of law paves the way for future democratic movements and the recognition of human rights.
😂 Napoleon Bonaparte and the Future of France
In a lighter note, the script concludes with a Napoleon joke, hinting at the significant role Napoleon Bonaparte would play in the future of France and Europe. His charismatic leadership and military prowess would lead to the expansion of French influence and the spread of revolutionary ideals, even as the republic would eventually revert to a dictatorship under his rule.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡1789
💡Louis XVI
💡Marie Antoinette
💡Estates-General
💡National Assembly
💡Bastille
💡Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen
💡Feudalism
💡Terror
💡Napoleon Bonaparte
💡Citizen
Highlights
In 1789, Europe was in turmoil with wars, territorial changes, and poor crop yields.
Reformers in the Dutch states and the Habsburg Netherlands aspired to emulate the United States, while Poland sought to reverse its partition.
France emerged as a hero from overseas revolutions due to its support for the thirteen North American colonies.
Despite advocating for liberty in North America, France remained an absolute monarchy facing bankruptcy and a crisis.
Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette's reign was marked by extravagance and disconnect from the poor.
Marie Antoinette's infamous quote, 'Qu'ils mangent de la brioche,' reflects the royal family's disconnect from the populace's struggles.
The French financial crisis led to the summoning of the Estates-General, representing the clergy, aristocracy, and ordinary people.
The Third Estate's formation of the National Assembly and the Tennis Court Oath signified a move towards a more representative government.
The storming of the Bastille and peasant uprisings in the countryside symbolized the people's defiance against the monarchy.
The National Assembly's abolition of feudal privileges and the Declaration of the Rights of Man marked radical societal changes.
The Women's March to Versailles and the subsequent violence highlighted the growing unrest and the people's desire for oversight of the monarchy.
The Civil Constitution of the Clergy and the monarchy's constitutional reform reflected the shifting power dynamics in France.
The French Revolution's impact on political ideologies, with the emergence of left, center, and right political parties.
The rise of the Jacobin club and the radicalization of the revolution under Maximilien Robespierre.
The Reign of Terror, marked by mass executions and the fall of prominent figures, including Marie Antoinette.
The rise of Napoleon Bonaparte and the spread of revolutionary ideals across Europe.
The Haitian Revolution, inspired by the French Revolution, and its impact on slave activism.
The French Revolution's consolidation of the idea of a nation composed of citizens, replacing the traditional monarchical rule.
The emergence of conservative political ideology in response to the revolution, as exemplified by Edmund Burke.
Mary Wollstonecraft's advocacy for women's rights and education, influenced by the revolution.
The long-term outcomes of the French Revolution, including the establishment of individual rights and the concept of nation-states.
Transcripts
Hi I’m John Green and this is Crash Course European History.
It’s 1789 and Europe has been through an endless number of wars.
Territory has changed hands, hundreds of thousands of people have died, and crop yields have
been bad lately.
War is bad for agriculture, for one thing, but also the weather hasn’t been too cooperative.
Reformers across the Dutch states and the Habsburg Netherlands want to be more like
the new United States, while Poles are demanding that the partition of their country be undone.
And one kingdom had emerged a hero from all the overseas revolutions because of its support
for the rebels in the thirteen North American colonies.
France has stood up for liberty and democracy and fraternity--in North America, anyway.
At home, it remained an absolute monarchy, and was virtually bankrupt from all the warring.
Its countryside was full of beggars--as was much of the European countryside even as aristocrats
grew ever wealthier.
And the poor and middle-class paid virtually all the tax collected to support these ceaseless
wars.
All of which is to say that in 1789, France--the strongest and most populous country on the
continent--was in crisis.
[Intro] In 1789 Louis XVI ruled France.
He loved to hunt and tinker with mechanical objects, especially locks.
His wife Marie Antoinette was the daughter of Maria Theresa of the Habsburg Empire and
the sister of Joseph II, its current ruler.
In a world where the marriage of two powerful royal families had long been seen as key to
stability and prosperity, what could go wrong?
Marie Antoinette was a big spender who had trouble relating to the poor of which France
had many.
As bad harvests made the price of bread soar, more families couldn’t afford to eat, or
else were eating bread that was cut with up to 50% sawdust.
In response to unaffordable bread, Marie-Antoinette reportedly said, “Qu'ils mangent de la brioche,”
which is a great opportunity to trot out my amazing French accent.
And also, to talk about brioche, which is in the center of the world today.
IIn English, the line is usually translated “let them eat cake,” but as you can see,
brioche isn’t cake exactly.
It’s just a different fancier more delicious kind of bread.
Mmm!
It’s delicious.
Fluffy, eggy, quite light.
I don’t understand why the peasants couldn’t just eat this stuff...
Stan says I’m hopelessly out of touch, to which I say, can I have some more of that
brioche?
At any rate, France as a whole was broke.
Now, its reform-minded ministers tried to revise the tax system so that the church and
the aristocracy would have to pay at least some taxes.
But you’ll recall, there was a group of appellate judges, the Parlement, who had to
register royal decrees, and they refused to register this one.
Bankers, meanwhile, refused to provide the Crown with additional loans.
Which led to a proper financial crisis.
Let’s go to the Thought Bubble.
1.
In response to this crisis, Louis XVI was forced to summon the Estates-General
2.
—that is, a group of representatives of the clergy (the first estate),
3.
the aristocracy (second estate),
4. and ordinary people (third estate).
5.
In cities, towns, and villages across the kingdom, people met to set out their grievances
in cahiers or register books
6. for their representatives to take to this historic meeting.
7.
Meanwhile, discontent was rising as Marie-Antoinette played at being a shepherdess
8. in a pretend farm that was built for her on the grounds of Versailles
9.
so she could imbibe the air of nature and play at the work so many were forced to do.
10.
On May 5, 1789 members of the Estates-General paraded in great ceremony through Versailles
to begin deliberations.
11.
Louis XVI wrote of the events that day “Nothing happened.
Went hunting.”
12.
Which just goes to show you that history is about perspective.
13.
Members of the Third Estate, meanwhile, immediately protested that their one vote as a group would
always be beaten by the two votes of the first two estates.
14.
So members of the third estate retreated to a nearby tennis court, declaring themselves
the National Assembly
15. and claiming to represent all French people better than the Estates General did.
16.
These representatives swore (in the so-called Tennis Court Oath) that they would not disband
until they had constructed a nation of individual citizens instead of a kingdom of servile subjects.
Thanks, Thought Bubble.
So, the National Assembly’s moves toward enacting a reform program were backed by the
muscle of ordinary people—many of them furious about injustice and poverty.
On July 14, the people of Paris seized the Bastille fortress—a prison full of weapons
and a symbol of the monarchy’s ability to imprison anyone arbitrarily.
And in the countryside peasants took over chateaux and destroyed aristocratic titles
to land and peasant services.
Terrified aristocrats met on August 4, 1789, and surrendered their privileges as feudal
lords.
The National Assembly then elaborated in a series of decrees declaring feudal society
had come to an end.
That same month the Assembly passed the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen—a
document that protected property, ensured trial by jury, and guaranteed free speech.
It read, in part: “Men are born and remain free and equal in rights.”
And that included freedom of religion.
It’s hard to overstate how radical a change that was from a France in which, just months
earlier, peasants were seen as neither free nor equal, and Catholicism was the kingdom’s
official religion.
On October 5, market women from Paris marched to Versailles in the so-called Women’s March
to bring the king and royal family to Paris, where they could be monitored by the people.
Although the family was unharmed, some members of the royal circle, including the queen’s
best friend, were violated, murdered, and mutilated.
Their heads and genitals were displayed on pikes.
And aristocrats began fleeing the country.
Critically, the Declaration of the Rights of Man also stated that the power of the monarch
flowed not from some divinity, but from the nation.
And to that end, the Assembly proceeded to draw up a constitution, making the monarchy
a constitutional one.
then in 1790, they adopted the Civil Constitution of the Clergy, ultimately confiscating church
property and mandating the election of priests by their parishioners.
And then in 1791, the royal family was like, “we should try to get out of here.”
And they tried to flee but were caught.
Meanwhile, war broke out between the revolutionary government in France and Austria and Prussia,
who were intent on crushing the revolution and putting the royals back in full control.
Partly because they, you know, had a vested interest.
Their relatives were on the French throne, but also, as a general rule, monarchs like
monarchy.
As the republic began to take shape, so did political parties.
They arranged themselves in the assembly hall so that republicans, who wanted to do away
with monarchs entirely, sat on the left and monarchists sat on the right.
An array of others grouped themselves as parties across the hall.
And from this arrangement, we got the modern idea of politicians’ ideas being left, center,
or right.
The Jacobin club, a rising political party, was to the left.
But it soon broke into several factions that were on the center, left, and radical left
of the political spectrum.
Ah, politics, where the left has a right and the right has a left and they both have centers
that no one listens to.
Amid these tremendous changes, women were claiming their rightful place as citizens
to match the official expressions of equality and rights for all.
In 1791, Olympe de Gouges, author and daughter of a butcher, published the Declaration of
the Rights of Woman, stating explicitly women’s equality with men.
Women participated in political clubs and successfully pushed for laws that ended men’s
power over the family and also ended the practice of men getting a larger percentage of inheritances
than women.
As war advanced, women also lobbied for the right to serve in the army.
And was war ever advancing!
In 1792 the Parisian masses, threatened by the approach of foreign royal armies, took
extreme action.
They invaded the Parisian palace where the royal family lived—and forced new elections
for a National Convention.
Then in the fall of 1792, further violence produced the abolition of the French monarchy
and a call for every other kingdom to do the same: “All governments are our enemies,
all people our friends,” the Edict of Fraternity read.
Once the Convention had declared France a republic, in January 1793, Louis XVI was executed
after a narrow vote.
A new instrument of execution called the guillotine carried out what would soon become a bloodbath
against many supposed enemies of the people.
Because it killed so swiftly and allegedly painlessly, the guillotine was considered
an enlightened form of execution.
And that brings us to Maximilien Robespierre.
With the king dead and the church legally abandoned, the Jacobins under Robespierre’s
leadership, committed the nation to a so-called reign of virtue and complete obedience to
Rousseau’s idea of the general will of the people—despite all those freedoms agreed
upon in the Declaration of the Rights of Man.
The Jacobins transformed culture: festivals celebrated patriotic virtue; churches were
turned into temples of reason; dishware carried patriotic mottos; a new “rational” calendar
was created; and clothing was in red, white, and blue—the colors of the revolutionary
flag.
Meanwhile the Committee of Public Safety, with its Orwellian name and Orwellian mission,
presided over the “Terror” in which people from all classes and walks of life—at least
40,000 of them—were executed in the name of supporting the nation through purges of
enemies of the general will.
Among these in the autumn of 1793 were Queen Marie-Antoinette, Olympe de Gouges, former
mistresses of Louis XVI’s grandfather, and other well-known women.
Spies and traitors were said to be lurking everywhere, especially in women’s political
clubs and anywhere women congregated.
Women seen in public were said to be threats to the revolution.
But as French soldiers began to win their wars abroad, people tired of revolutionary
bloodshed and mounted an effective opposition.
Counterrevolutionary uprisings in the Vendée region of France and activism by moderates
led to the overthrow and execution of Robespierre and several of his closest allies.
And by 1795 new factions headed a conservative government called the Directory.
It inspired the French army to spread revolution to other parts of Europe.
That army was enthusiastic for good reason: the revolution’s anti-aristocratic spirit
allowed for ordinary soldiers to become officers—positions that were formerly allotted exclusively to
noblemen.
One such commoner was named Napoleon Bonaparte.
He was extraordinarily charismatics, not particularly short, and with other ambitious newcomers,
took revolution across the low countries, German states, and even into Italy.
But even without French armies advancing it,revolution was erupting.
During the French Revolution, Poles had revised their constitution, for instance, in 1791
and granted rights to urban people.
But a far different outcome from that in France awaited: while the French pursued revolution,
the other continental powers--Russia, Austria, and Prussia--finished divvying up Poland among
themselves so that it no longer existed.
But Enlightenment ideas of freedom continued to spread.
They spread in Spanish colonies in South America, and also in the rich French sugar colony of
St. Domingue.
The French Revolution, or maybe more properly, the French Revolutions helped people in Saint
Domingue understand that they, too, could seek freedom.
And the ensuing Haitian Revolution inspired slave activism in other places, which you
can learn much more about in an episode of Crash Course World History on that topic.
So when we think about why The French Revolution is so important, one of the big reasons is
that it consolidated the idea that the nation is composed of citizens.
Mostly citizen men at first—a fraternity or brotherhood that replace a kingdom in which
a monarch ruled his subjects.
And this was a huge change for Europe, and eventually the world, because it helped usher
in the idea of nation-states, and the idea that the most important people within those
nation-states are the citizens.
And so enthusiasts for freedom flocked to France from all corners of Europe—if not
in person then at least in their imaginations.
“Bliss was it in that dawn to be alive,” wrote poet William Wordsworth.
In contrast, opponents like the British statesman and thinker Edmund Burke deplored the rapid
change and attacks on traditional institutions and the abandonment of accumulated wisdom
from past ages.
Burke’s theories launched conservative political ideology in the revolution’s aftermath.
And we should be clear that the revolution was extremely violent, and in many cases replaced
poverty with poverty, and injustice with injustice.
History, again, is as much about where you sit as it is about what happened.
But for the moment, however, revolutionary ferment remained alive, exemplified in the
writings of English journalist Mary Wollstonecraft, who witnessed the revolution first-hand by
going to Paris.
She defended the quote “rights of man” in a 1791 book and in 1792 she published A
Vindication of the Rights of Woman.
This enduring work compared the women of her day to the aristocracy--little educated, simpering
and ignorant.
Lacking any rational, developed skills, women in Wollstonecraft’s formulation were, like
aristocrats, conniving and manipulative instead of being forthright, skilled, and open like
Emile in the eponymous Rousseau novel.
To end this debased condition, women needed education and legal protection of their person
and their property.
That is, legal equality.
In the long run, the French Revolution had many important outcomes; as we’ve discussed,
a nation formed by consensus of legally equal citizens came to replace a kingdom of subjects
ruled by a king.
The nation’s bedrock was a set of values including the rule of law, the right of free
speech, and the ownership of property.
Rather than the nation’s bedrock being a king, or a religion.
This idea of individual rights, which would later be called human rights, of course becomes
extremely important in the 20th century and beyond.
Yet in the French Revolution and in many other revolutions, as we’ll see, the nation in
times of stress could jettison this consensus about the rule of law and rights and become
dictatorial, searching out enemies within and relying on force instead of consensus
building.
After 1795, further big changes lay ahead for France and Europe as Napoleon Bonaparte
came to play an outsized role on the world stage, and the new republic became a dictatorship
once more.
But we’ll get to that shortly.
Thanks for watching.
And yes, that was a Napoleon joke.
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