A brief summation of France’s many, many problems…
Causes of the french revolution
• Famine and malnutrition were becoming more
common as a result of shortened food supply, rising bread prices, and a growing population.
• France’s near bankruptcy due to foreign involvement in the American Revolution and other wars.
• Enlightenment ideals such as liberty, progress, constitutional government and separation of church and state that contributed to the American Revolution spread to Europe.
• High unemployment rate
• Peasants wanted their own land.
• Resentment for upper classes who had more significantly more government representation and money.
Context: Pre-Reign of Terror (EVENTS BEFORE THE PLAY)
Scroll down for a timeline of the Reign of Terror
1789: France faces financial difficulties
France is bankrupt from the wars while the poor and middle classes pay essentially all of the taxes while the aristocratic class grows wealthier. While the church and aristocratic class refuse to pay taxes, the monarchy becomes increasingly out of touch with financial crisis. Throughout Europe, ideals of liberty and democracy spurred by the American Revolution begin to take root.
In response to this crisis, Louis XVI is forced to summon the Estates General, a group of representatives of the Clergy (1st estate), Nobles (2nd estate), and Ordinary People (3rd) estate. People from all around gather to state their grievances in register books for their representatives. The Third Estate, Ordinary People, become disenfranchised because their vote is always beaten by the votes of the first two estates, despite the fact that they have a higher population.
June 1789: National Assembly creates the Tennis Court Oath
The third estate declares themselves the National Assembly that is not of the estates, but for the people. The organization demands a constitutional monarchy but Louis XIV refuses.
The National Assembly convenes in a tennis court just outside of the Versailles where they create and swear on the Tennis Court Oath which states “We will not disband until we have constructed a national of individual citizens instead of a kingdom of servile subjects.”
July 1789: Storming of the Bastille
An mob attacks the Bastille Fortress, a state prison in eastern Paris in which the government could imprison individuals at random. The French marched there in order to get gunpowder to protect themselves against a possible attack on the city. The attack was primarily symbolic as only seven individuals actually resided in the prison, but the event is remembered today as an attack on monarchical violence.
August 1789: Abolition of Feudalism and Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen
The National Assembly abolishes the feudal system.
French agriculture has not kept up with innovations in other countries. When peasants could no longer afford to live or eat, riots ensue.
The Assembly passes the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, a document that protected property, ensured trial by jury, and guaranteed free speech.“Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen,” modeled on America’s Declaration of Independence and is seen as “as a precursor to forming a new constitution. ” Keep in mind that rights were only granted to white men over the age of 25.
October 1789: Women’s March on Versailles
Frustrated over high prices and the scarcity of bread, a group of women begin rioting in Parisian marketplaces. They join revolutionaries eager for political reformation and a constitutional monarchy in France. Over a thousand people march to the palace of Versailles. The Women’s March on Versailles is often credited with forcing the royal court and family to move from the traditional seat of government in Versailles to Paris. The march also symbolizes a de-stabilizing of monarchical power in favor of the Third Estate, the Ordinary People.
1790: A Shifting of Structures
The civil constitution of the clergy draws up a constitution making the monarchy constitutional, confiscates the church property and mandating the election of priests by their parishioners.
June 1791: Louis and Marie Antionette unsuccessfully flee to Varennes
After being recognized and arrested in Sainte-Menehould, the king and queen and brought back to Paris. Their escape leads to increased hostility towards the monarchy and becomes the basis for treason charges that lead to Louis’s execution. In 1792, war erupts between the revolutionary government in France, Austria, and Prussia who each have a stake in the French government because members of those countries resided within those circles.
Haitian Revolution
While the French fought for the liberation and representation of their people, their government established colonial rule in Haiti until the Haitian Revolution. The revolt represented the largest slave uprising in 1,900 years. Between the years of 1791 and 1804, Haitian slaves, and British and French colonizers fought until the Haitian people won independence and became the first country founded by formerly enslaved peoples. Click here for more information.
1792: September Massacres
News circulated that the approaching Prussian army had invaded France. Out of fear that the Prussians would attack the capital and release the prisoners, radical journalist, Jean-Paul Marat took preemptive action to defend Paris and called for the massacres. More than 1,000 prisoners were killed within 20 hours. The massacres were repeated in several other French cities; 65-75 incidents were reported. Click here for a map of Paris during this time.
1793 King Louis XVI is executed
Reign of Terror: 1793-1794
Here is a really excellent and comprehensive timeline of the Reign of Terror courtesy of this Marie Antoinette database. By this time the Committee for Public Safety, led by Robespierre has gained momentum, France is in the middle of a war
1793
September 5: The Reign of Terror begins when Robespierre declares Terror “the order of the day.” This marks the beginning of almost two years of repressing perceived enemies of the Revolution. It will claim an estimated 18,500-40,000 lives before its end in July 1794.
September 21: The Convention requires all women to wear the Republic’s tri-colored ribbon insignia.
September 29: Law of the general maximum introduced to control prices and regulate wages.
October 5: Revolutionary Calendar introduced as part of the revolutionary program of dechristianization. Year 1 begins with the declaration of the Republic in September 1792.
October 14: Marie Antoinette is put on trial on charges ranging from treason to her role in the Diamond Necklace Affair and sexually abusing her son, the dauphin.
October 15: Before nine male judges, Marie Antoinette is found guilty on all counts by an all-male jury which unanimously condemns her to death.
October 16: Marie Antoinette is executed by guillotine.
October 31: 21 Girondin deputies who have not gone into hiding are executed by Revolutionary Tribunal. Jean-Marie Roland had escaped, but his wife, Manon Roland, is executed a week later as part of the purge.
November 10: The Festival of Reason is celebrated in Notre Dame Cathedral emphasizing the secular principles of knowledge, reason, and political liberty. All churches will soon be closed.
December 19: Napoleon Bonaparte’s artillery distinguishes itself in the siege and capture of the French naval port of Toulon, forcing evacuation of the British. Counterrevolution collapses in the Vendée.
December 25: Robespierre justifies revolutionary government as a necessary but temporary form of war against the enemies of liberty. Constitutional government, he argues, can only protect liberty once this war has been won. and liberty has been peacefully established.
1794
February 4: Slavery is abolished in all French colonies.
February 26-March 3: The Laws of Ventose authorize the seizure and redistribution of property belonging to enemies of the Revolution.
April to May: Military danger from external forces decreases.
June 8: Robespierre presides over Festival of the Supreme Being.
June 10: The Law of the 22nd Prairial accelerates judicial procedures for accused enemies of the revolution. The Terror is re-enforced. 2/3 of all executions by Revolutionary Tribunal occur after this date.
July 23: Another wage and price control law is passed.
July 27-28: The Reign of Terror ends with the fall of Robespierre on July 27. The Convention charges Robespierre and his allies with crimes against the Republic. They are accused, condemned, and guillotined within two days executed
The Revolutionists Dramaturgy 
