Paris July 14, 1789. History of the great bourgeois revolution in France

Prerequisites. 1787–1789.

The Great French Revolution can with good reason be considered as the beginning of the modern era. At the same time, the revolution in France itself was part of a broad movement that began before 1789 and affected many European countries, as well as North America.

The “old order” (“ancien régime”) was undemocratic in its very essence. Having special privileges, the first two classes - the nobility and the clergy - strengthened their positions, relying on a system of various kinds of state institutions. The monarch's rule rested on these privileged classes. “Absolute” monarchs could only implement such policies and carry out only such reforms that strengthened the power of these classes.

By the 1770s, the aristocracy felt pressure from two sides at once. On the one hand, her rights were encroached upon by “enlightened” monarchs-reformers (in France, Sweden and Austria); on the other hand, the third, unprivileged class sought to eliminate or at least curtail the privileges of the aristocrats and clergy. By 1789 in France, the strengthening of the king's position caused a reaction from the first classes, which were able to nullify the monarch's attempt to reform the management system and strengthen finances.

In this situation, the French king Louis XVI decided to convene the Estates General - something similar to a national representative body that had long existed in France, but had not been convened since 1614. It was the convening of this assembly that served as the impetus for the revolution, during which the big bourgeoisie first came to power, and then the Third Estate, which plunged France into civil war and violence.

In France, the foundations of the old regime were shaken not only by conflicts between the aristocracy and royal ministers, but also by economic and ideological factors. Since the 1730s, the country has experienced a constant rise in prices, caused by the depreciation of the growing mass of metallic money and the expansion of credit benefits - in the absence of growth in production. Inflation hit the poor the hardest.

At the same time, some representatives of all three classes were influenced by educational ideas. Famous writers Voltaire, Montesquieu, Diderot, Rousseau proposed introducing the English constitution and judicial system in France, in which they saw guarantees of individual freedoms and effective government. The success of the American War of Independence inspired new hope in the determined French.

Convening of the Estates General.

The Estates General, convened on May 5, 1789, was faced with the task of resolving the economic, social and political problems facing France at the end of the 18th century. The king hoped to reach agreement on a new taxation system and avoid financial collapse. The aristocracy sought to use the Estates General to block any reforms. The Third Estate welcomed the convening of the Estates General, seeing an opportunity to present their demands for reform at their meetings.

Preparations for the revolution, during which discussions expanded about the general principles of government and the need for a constitution, lasted 10 months. Lists, so-called orders, were compiled everywhere. Thanks to a temporary relaxation of censorship, the country was flooded with pamphlets. It was decided to give the Third Estate an equal number of seats in the Estates General with the other two estates. However, the question of whether the estates should vote separately or together with other estates was not resolved, just as the question of the nature of their powers of power remained open. In the spring of 1789, elections were held for all three classes on the basis of universal suffrage for men. As a result, 1201 deputies were elected, of which 610 represented the third estate. On May 5, 1789, in Versailles, the king officially opened the first meeting of the Estates General.

The first signs of revolution.

The Estates General, having received no clear instructions from the king and his ministers, became bogged down in disputes over procedure. Inflamed by the political debate taking place in the country, various groups took irreconcilable positions on fundamental issues. By the end of May, the second and third estates (nobility and bourgeoisie) were completely at odds, and the first (clergy) was split and sought to gain time. Between 10 and 17 June, the Third Estate took the initiative and declared itself the National Assembly. In doing so, it asserted its right to represent the entire nation and demanded the power to revise the constitution. In doing so, it disregarded the authority of the king and the demands of the other two classes. The National Assembly decided that if it was dissolved, the temporarily approved taxation system would be abolished. On June 19, the clergy voted by a slight majority to join the Third Estate. Groups of liberal-minded nobles also joined them.

The alarmed government decided to seize the initiative and on June 20 tried to expel the members of the National Assembly from the meeting room. Then the delegates gathered in a nearby ballroom took an oath not to disperse until a new constitution was put into effect. On July 9, the National Assembly proclaimed itself the Constituent Assembly. The gathering of royal troops towards Paris caused unrest among the population. In the first half of July, unrest and riots began in the capital. To protect the lives and property of citizens, the municipal authorities created the National Guard.

These riots resulted in the storming of the hated royal fortress of the Bastille, in which the national guards and the people took part. The fall of the Bastille on July 14 became clear evidence of the impotence of royal power and a symbol of the collapse of despotism. At the same time, the assault caused a wave of violence that spread throughout the country. Residents of villages and small towns burned the houses of the nobility and destroyed their debt obligations. At the same time, among the common people there was a growing mood of “great fear” - panic associated with the spread of rumors about the approach of “bandits”, allegedly bribed by aristocrats. As some prominent aristocrats began to flee the country and periodic army expeditions began from the starving cities into the countryside to requisition food, a wave of mass hysteria swept through the provinces, causing blind violence and destruction.

On July 11, the minister-reformer, banker Jacques Necker, was removed from his post. After the fall of the Bastille, the king made concessions, returning Necker and withdrawing troops from Paris. The liberal aristocrat Marquis de Lafayette, a hero of the American Revolutionary War, was elected commander of the emerging new National Guard, consisting of representatives of the middle classes. A new national tricolor flag was adopted, combining the traditional red and blue colors of Paris with the white color of the Bourbon dynasty. The municipality of Paris, like the municipalities of many other cities in France, was transformed into the Commune - a virtually independent revolutionary government that recognized only the power of the National Assembly. The latter took responsibility for forming a new government and adopting a new constitution.

On August 4, the aristocracy and clergy renounced their rights and privileges. By August 26, the National Assembly approved the Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen, which proclaimed freedom of the individual, conscience, speech, the right to property and resistance to oppression. It was emphasized that sovereignty belongs to the entire nation, and the law must be a manifestation of the general will. All citizens must be equal before the law, have the same rights when holding public office, as well as equal obligations to pay taxes. The declaration “signed” the death warrant of the old regime.

Louis XVI delayed approving the August decrees, which abolished church tithes and most feudal taxes. On September 15, the Constituent Assembly demanded that the king approve the decrees. In response, he began to gather troops to Versailles, where the meeting was meeting. This had an exciting effect on the townspeople, who saw in the king’s actions a threat of counter-revolution. Living conditions in the capital worsened, food supplies decreased, and many were left without work. The Paris Commune, whose sentiments were expressed by the popular press, incited the capital to fight against the king. On October 5, hundreds of women walked in the rain from Paris to Versailles, demanding bread, the withdrawal of troops and the king's move to Paris. Louis XVI was forced to authorize the August decrees and the Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen. The next day, the royal family, which had become virtually hostage to the gloating crowd, moved to Paris under the escort of the National Guard. It was followed 10 days later by the Constituent Assembly.

Situation in October 1789.

By the end of October 1789, the pieces on the chessboard of the revolution moved to new positions, which was caused by both previous changes and random circumstances. The power of the privileged classes was ended. The emigration of representatives of the highest aristocracy increased significantly. The Church - with the exception of part of the higher clergy - has linked its fate with liberal reforms. The Constituent Assembly was dominated by liberal and constitutional reformers who entered into confrontation with the king (they could now consider themselves the voice of the nation).

During this period, much depended on those in power. Louis XVI, a well-intentioned but indecisive and weak-willed king, had lost the initiative and was no longer in control of the situation. Queen Marie Antoinette - the "Austrian" - was unpopular due to her extravagance and connections with other royal courts in Europe. Count de Mirabeau - the only one of the moderates who had the ability statesman, - The Assembly suspected the support of the court. Lafayette was believed much more than Mirabeau, but he did not have a clear idea of the nature of the forces that were involved in the struggle. The press, freed from censorship and gaining significant influence, largely passed into the hands of extreme radicals. Some of them, for example Marat, who published the newspaper “Friend of the People” (“Ami du Peuple”), had an energetic influence on public opinion. Street speakers and agitators at the Palais Royal excited the crowd with their speeches. Taken together, these elements made up an explosive mixture.

A CONSTITUTIONAL MONARCHY

Work of the Constituent Assembly.

The experiment with constitutional monarchy, which began in October, has raised a number of problems. The royal ministers were not deputies of the Constituent Assembly. Louis XVI was deprived of the right to postpone meetings or dissolve the assembly, and he did not have the right of legislative initiative. The king could delay the adoption of laws, but did not have the right of veto. The legislature could act independently of the executive and intended to take advantage of the situation.

The Constituent Assembly limited the electorate to approximately 4 million Frenchmen out of a total population of 26 million, taking as the criterion for an "active" citizen his ability to pay taxes. The Assembly reformed local government, dividing France into 83 departments. The Constituent Assembly reformed the judicial system, abolishing the old parliaments and local courts. Torture and the death penalty by hanging were abolished. A network of civil and criminal courts was formed in the new local districts. Attempts to implement financial reforms have been less successful. The tax system, although reorganized, failed to ensure the solvency of the government. In November 1789, the Constituent Assembly carried out the nationalization of church land holdings in order to raise funds to pay the salaries of priests, for worship, education and assistance to the poor. In the following months, it issued government bonds secured by nationalized church lands. The famous “assignats” rapidly depreciated during the year, which fueled inflation.

Civil status of the clergy.

The relationship between the congregation and the church caused the next major crisis. Until 1790, the French Roman Catholic Church recognized changes in its rights, status and financial base within the state. But in 1790 the meeting prepared a new decree on the civil status of the clergy, which actually subordinated the church to the state. Church positions were to be held based on the results of popular elections, and newly elected bishops were prohibited from recognizing the jurisdiction of the papal throne. In November 1790, all non-monastic clergy were required to swear an oath of allegiance to the state. Within 6 months it became clear that at least half of the priests refused to take the oath. Moreover, the pope rejected not only the decree on the civil status of the clergy, but also other social and political reforms of the Assembly. Religious schism was added to the political differences; the church and the state entered into the dispute. In May 1791, the papal nuncio (ambassador) was recalled, and in September the Assembly annexed Avignon and Venescens, papal enclaves on French territory.

On June 20, 1791, late at night, the royal family escaped from the Tuileries Palace through a secret door. The entire journey on the carriage, which could move at a speed of no more than 10 km per hour, was a series of failures and miscalculations. Plans to escort and change horses fell through, and the group was detained in the town of Varennes. The news of the flight caused panic and anticipation of civil war. News of the king's capture forced the Assembly to close the borders and put the army on alert.

The forces of law and order were in such a nervous state that on July 17 the National Guard opened fire on the crowd on the Champ de Mars in Paris. This "massacre" weakened and discredited the moderate constitutionalist party in the Assembly. In the Constituent Assembly, differences intensified between the constitutionalists, who sought to preserve the monarchy and social order, and the radicals, who aimed to overthrow the monarchy and establish a democratic republic. The latter strengthened their position on August 27, when the Holy Roman Emperor and the King of Prussia promulgated the Declaration of Pillnitz. Although both monarchs refrained from invasion and used rather cautious language in the declaration, it was perceived in France as a call for joint intervention by foreign countries. Indeed, it clearly stated that the position of Louis XVI was “the concern of all the sovereigns of Europe.”

Constitution of 1791.

Meanwhile, the new constitution was adopted on September 3, 1791, and on September 14 it was publicly approved by the king. It assumed the creation of a new Legislative Assembly. The right to vote was granted to a limited number of representatives of the middle strata. Members of the Assembly did not have the right to re-election. Thus, the new Legislative Assembly at one blow threw away the accumulated political and parliamentary experience and encouraged energetic political figures to be active outside its walls - in the Paris Commune and its branches, as well as in the Jacobin Club. The separation of executive and legislative powers created the preconditions for a deadlock situation, since few people believed that the king and his ministers would cooperate with the Assembly. The Constitution of 1791 itself had no chance of implementing its principles in the socio-political situation that arose in France after the flight of the royal family. Queen Marie Antoinette, after her captivity, began to profess extremely reactionary views, resumed intrigues with the Emperor of Austria and made no attempts to return the emigrants.

European monarchs were alarmed by events in France. Emperor Leopold of Austria, who took the throne after Joseph II in February 1790, and Gustav III of Sweden stopped the wars in which they were involved. By the beginning of 1791, only Catherine the Great, Russian empress, continued the war with the Turks. Catherine openly declared her support for the King and Queen of France, but her goal was to draw Austria and Prussia into war with France and give Russia a free hand to continue the war with the Ottoman Empire.

The deepest response to the events in France appeared in 1790 in England - in the book of E. Burke Reflections on the Revolution in France. Over the next few years, this book was read throughout Europe. Burke contrasted the doctrine of natural human rights with the wisdom of the ages and projects of radical reconstruction - a warning about the high price of revolutionary changes. He predicted civil war, anarchy and despotism and was the first to draw attention to the large-scale conflict of ideologies that had begun. This growing conflict turned the national revolution into a pan-European war.

Legislative Assembly.

The new constitution gave rise to insoluble contradictions, primarily between the king and the Assembly, since the ministers did not enjoy the confidence of either the first or the second and, moreover, were deprived of the right to sit in the Legislative Assembly. In addition, contradictions between rival political forces intensified, as the Paris Commune and political clubs (for example, the Jacobins and Cordeliers) began to express doubts about the authority of the Assembly and the central government. Finally, the Assembly became an arena of struggle between warring political parties - the Feuillants (moderate constitutionalists), who were the first to come to power, and the Brissotines (radical followers of J.-P. Brissot).

Key ministers - Count Louis de Narbonne (illegitimate son of Louis XV), and after him Charles Dumouriez (former diplomat under Louis XV) - pursued anti-Austrian policies and saw the war as a means of containing the revolution, as well as restoring order and a monarchy relying on the army. By implementing a similar policy, Narbonne and Dumouriez became increasingly close to the Brissotines, who later became known as the Girondins, since many of their leaders came from the Gironde district.

In November 1791, in order to stem the wave of emigration, which was negatively affecting the financial and commercial life of France, as well as army discipline, the Assembly adopted a decree obliging emigrants to return to the country by January 1, 1792 under threat of confiscation of property. Another decree of the same month required the clergy to take a new oath of allegiance to the nation, the law and the king. All priests who refused this new political oath were deprived of their salary and subjected to imprisonment. In December, Louis XVI vetoed both decrees, which was a further step towards open confrontation between the crown and the radicals. In March 1792, the king dismissed Narbonne and the Feuillant ministers, who were replaced by Brissotines. Dumouriez became Minister of Foreign Affairs. At the same time, the Austrian Emperor Leopold died, and the impulsive Franz II took the throne. Militant leaders came to power on both sides of the border. On April 20, 1792, after an exchange of notes that subsequently resulted in a series of ultimatums, the Assembly declared war on Austria.

War outside the country.

The French army turned out to be poorly prepared for military operations; only about 130 thousand undisciplined and poorly armed soldiers were under arms. Soon she suffered several defeats, the serious consequences of which immediately affected the country. Maximilien Robespierre, the leader of the extreme Jacobin wing of the Girondins, consistently opposed the war, believing that the counter-revolution should first be crushed within the country, and then fought against it abroad. Now he appeared in the role of a wise people's leader. The king and queen, forced during the war to take openly hostile positions towards Austria, felt the growing danger. The war party's plans to restore the king's prestige turned out to be completely untenable. The leadership in Paris was seized by the radicals.

Fall of the monarchy.

On June 13, 1792, the king vetoed the previous decrees of the Assembly, dismissed the Brissotine ministers and returned the Feuillants to power. This step towards reaction provoked a series of riots in Paris, where again - as in July 1789 - growing economic difficulties were observed. A public demonstration was planned for July 20 in honor of the anniversary of the oath in the ballroom. The people submitted petitions to the Assembly against the removal of ministers and the royal veto. Then the crowd broke into the building of the Tuileries Palace, forced Louis XVI to put on the red cap of liberty and appear before the people. The king's courage endeared him to the crowd, and the crowd dispersed peacefully. But this respite turned out to be short-lived.

The second incident occurred in July. On July 11, the Assembly announced that the fatherland was in danger and called upon all Frenchmen capable of holding arms to serve the nation. At the same time, the Paris Commune called on citizens to join the National Guard. Thus the National Guard suddenly became an instrument of radical democracy. On July 14, approx. arrived in Paris to participate in the annual celebrations of the fall of the Bastille. 20 thousand provincial national guards. Although the celebration of July 14 was peaceful, it contributed to the organization of radical forces who soon came forward with demands for the removal of the king, the election of a new National Convention and the proclamation of a republic. On August 3, in Paris, a manifesto published a week earlier by the Duke of Brunswick, the commander of the Austrian and Prussian troops, became known, which declared that his army intended to invade French territory to suppress anarchy and restore the power of the king, and the national guards who resisted would be shot . The inhabitants of Marseille arrived in Paris to the marching song of the Army of the Rhine, written by Rouget de Lille. Marseillaise became the anthem of the revolution, and subsequently the anthem of France.

On August 9, a third incident occurred. Delegates from the 48 sections of Paris overthrew the legal municipal authorities and established the revolutionary Commune. The Commune's 288-member General Council met daily and exerted constant pressure on political decisions. Radical sections controlled the police and the National Guard and began to compete with the Legislative Assembly itself, which by that time had lost control of the situation. On August 10, by order of the Commune, the Parisians, supported by detachments of federates, headed towards the Tuileries and opened fire, destroying approx. 600 Swiss Guards. The king and queen took refuge in the building of the Legislative Assembly, but the entire city was already under the control of the rebels. The assembly deposed the king, appointed a provisional government, and decided to convene a National Convention based on universal male suffrage. The royal family was imprisoned in the Temple Fortress.

REVOLUTIONARY GOVERNMENT

Convention and war.

The elections to the National Convention, held in late August and early September, took place in an atmosphere of great excitement, fear and violence. After Lafayette deserted on August 17, a purge of the army command began. In Paris, many suspects were arrested, including priests. A revolutionary tribunal was created. On August 23, the border fortress of Longwy capitulated to the Prussians without a fight, and rumors of betrayal infuriated the people. Riots broke out in the departments of Vendée and Brittany. On September 1, reports were received about the imminent fall of Verdun, and the next day the “September massacre” of prisoners began, which lasted until September 7, in which approx. 1200 people.

On September 20, the Convention met for the first time. His first act on September 21 was the abolition of the monarchy. Co next day, September 22, 1792, began counting the time of the new revolutionary calendar of the French Republic. The majority of the members of the Convention were Girondins, heirs of the former Brissotines. Their main opponents were representatives of the former left wing - the Jacobins, led by Danton, Marat and Robespierre. At first, the Girondin leaders seized all ministerial posts and secured strong support from the press and public opinion in the province. The Jacobin forces concentrated in Paris, where the center of the extensive organization of the Jacobin Club was located. After the extremists discredited themselves during the "September Massacre", the Girondins strengthened their authority, confirming it with the victory of Dumouriez and François de Kellerman over the Prussians at the Battle of Valmy on September 20.

However, during the winter of 1792–1793, the Girondins lost their position, which opened the way for Robespierre to power. They were mired in personal disputes, speaking primarily (which turned out to be disastrous for them) against Danton, who managed to gain the support of the left. The Girondins sought to overthrow the Paris Commune and deprive the Jacobins of support, who expressed the interests of the capital, not the province. They tried to save the king from trial. However, the Convention virtually unanimously found Louis XVI guilty of treason and, by a majority of 70 votes, sentenced him to death. The king was executed on January 21, 1793 (Marie Antoinette was guillotined on October 16, 1793).

The Girondins brought France into war with almost all of Europe. In November 1792, Dumouriez defeated the Austrians at Jemappe and invaded the territory of the Austrian Netherlands (modern Belgium). The French discovered the mouth of the river. Scheldt for ships of all countries, thereby violating the international agreements of 1648 that navigation on the Scheldt should be controlled exclusively by the Dutch. This served as a signal for Dumouriez to invade Holland, which caused a hostile reaction from the British. On November 19, the Girondist government promised “fraternal assistance” to all peoples who wanted to achieve freedom. Thus, a challenge was thrown to all European monarchs. At the same time, France annexed Savoy, the possession of the Sardinian king. On January 31, 1793, through the mouth of Danton, the doctrine of “natural borders” of France was proclaimed, which implied claims to the Alps and the Rhineland. This was followed by Dumouriez's order to occupy Holland. On February 1, France declared war on Great Britain, ushering in the era of “general war.”

The national currency of France depreciated sharply due to the fall in the value of assignats and military expenditures. British Secretary of War William Pitt the Younger began an economic blockade of France. In Paris and other cities there was a shortage of essentials, especially food, which was accompanied by growing discontent among the people. Military suppliers and profiteers aroused ardent hatred. In the Vendée, the revolt against military mobilization, which had raged throughout the summer, flared up again. By March 1793, all signs of a crisis appeared in the rear. On March 18 and 21, Dumouriez's troops were defeated at Neerwinden and Louvain. The general signed an armistice with the Austrians and tried to turn the army against the Convention, but after the failure of these plans, he and several people from his headquarters switched sides on April 5.

The betrayal of the leading French commander dealt a tangible blow to the Girondins. Radicals in Paris, as well as the Jacobins led by Robespierre, accused the Girondins of aiding the traitor. Danton demanded a reorganization of the central executive. On April 6, the Committee of National Defense, created in January to control the ministries, was transformed into the Committee of Public Safety, headed by Danton. The committee concentrated executive power in its hands and became an effective executive body, taking over the military command and control of France. The Commune came to the defense of its leader, Jacques Hébert, and Marat, chairman of the Jacobin Club, who were persecuted by the Girondins. During May, the Girondins incited the provinces to riot against Paris, depriving themselves of support in the capital. Under the influence of extremists, the Parisian sections established a rebel committee, which on May 31, 1793 transformed the Commune, taking it under its control. Two days later (June 2), having surrounded the Convention with the National Guard, the Commune ordered the arrest of 29 Girondin deputies, including two ministers. This marked the beginning of the Jacobin dictatorship, although the reorganization of the executive did not take place until July. To put pressure on the Convention, an extremist clique in Paris incited hostility between the provinces and the capital.

Jacobin dictatorship and terror.

The Convention was now obliged to take measures aimed at pacifying the provinces. Politically, a new Jacobin constitution was drawn up, intended as a model of democratic principles and practice. In economic terms, the Convention supported the peasants and abolished all seigneurial and feudal duties without compensation, and also divided the emigrants' estates into small plots of land so that even poor peasants could buy or rent them. He also carried out the division of communal lands. The new land legislation was intended to become one of the strongest links connecting the peasantry with the revolution. From this point on, the greatest danger to the peasants was the restoration, which could take away their lands, and therefore no subsequent regime attempted to annul this decision. By mid-1793, the old social and economic system was eliminated: feudal duties were abolished, taxes were abolished, the nobility and clergy were deprived of power and lands. A new administrative system was established in local districts and rural communes. Only the central power remained fragile, which long years was subjected to sudden violent changes. The immediate cause of instability was the ongoing crisis provoked by the war.

By the end of July 1793, the French army was experiencing a series of failures, which created a threat of occupation of the country. The Austrians and Prussians advanced in the north and in Alsace, while the Spaniards, with whom Pitt had formed an alliance in May, threatened an invasion from the Pyrenees. The rebellion in the Vendée spread. These defeats undermined the authority of the Committee of Public Safety under Danton's leadership. On July 10, Danton and six of his comrades were deposed. On July 28, Robespierre joined the Committee. Under his leadership, the Committee during the summer ensured a turning point on the military fronts and the victory of the republic. On the same day, July 28, Danton became chairman of the Convention. Added to the personal enmity between the two Jacobin leaders was a bitter clash with a new enemy - Jacobin extremists, who were called "mad". These were the heirs of Marat, who was killed on July 13 by the Girondist Charlotte Corday. Under pressure from the “mad”, the Committee, now recognized as the real government of France, took tougher measures against speculators and counter-revolutionaries. Although by the beginning of September the “mad” were defeated, many of their ideas, in particular the preaching of violence, were inherited by the left-wing Jacobins led by Hébert, who occupied significant positions in the Paris Commune and the Jacobin Club. They demanded a tightening of terror, as well as the introduction of tighter government controls over supplies and prices. In mid-August, Lazare Carnot, who soon received the title of “organizer of victory,” became a member of the Committee of Public Safety, and on August 23, the Convention announced a general mobilization.

In the first week of September 1793, another series of crises broke out. The summer drought led to a bread shortage in Paris. A plot to free the queen was uncovered. There were reports of the surrender of the port of Toulon to the British. Hébert's followers in the Commune and the Jacobin Club renewed powerful pressure on the Convention. They demanded the creation of a “revolutionary army”, the arrest of all suspects, tightening price controls, progressive taxation, the trial of the leaders of the Gironde, the reorganization of the revolutionary tribunal to try the enemies of the revolution and the deployment of mass repressions. On September 17, a decree was adopted ordering the arrest of all suspicious persons by revolutionary committees; At the end of the month, a law was introduced that set price limits for basic necessities. The terror continued until July 1794.

Thus, the terror was due to the state of emergency and pressure from extremists. The latter took advantage of the personal conflicts of the leaders and factional clashes in the Convention and the Commune. On October 10, the Jacobin-drafted constitution was formally adopted, and the Convention declared that the Committee of Public Safety would serve as a provisional, or “revolutionary,” government for the duration of the war. The purpose of the Committee was declared to be the implementation of strictly centralized power aimed at the complete victory of the people in saving the revolution and protecting the country. This body supported the policy of terror, and in October it held major political trials of the Girondins. The committee exercised political control over the central food commission, created in the same month. The worst manifestations of terror were “unofficial”, i.e. were carried out on the personal initiative of fanatics and thugs who were settling personal scores. Soon, a bloody wave of terror covered those who had held high positions in the past. Naturally, emigration increased during the terror. It is estimated that about 129 thousand people fled from France, about 40 thousand died during the days of terror. Most executions took place in rebellious cities and departments, such as the Vendée and Lyon.

Until April 1794, the policy of terror was largely determined by the rivalry between the followers of Danton, Hébert and Robespierre. At first, the Eberists set the tone; they rejected Christian doctrine and replaced it with the cult of Reason, instead introducing Gregorian calendar a new, republican one, in which the months were named according to seasonal phenomena and were divided into three “decades”. In March, Robespierre put an end to the Héberists. Hebert himself and 18 of his followers were executed by guillotine after a speedy trial. The Dantonists, who sought to mitigate the excesses of terror in the name of national solidarity, were also arrested, and in early April they were convicted and executed. Now Robespierre and the reorganized Committee of Public Safety ruled the country with unlimited power.

The Jacobin dictatorship reached its most terrible expression in the decree of the 22nd Prairial (June 10, 1794), which accelerated the procedures of the revolutionary tribunal, depriving the accused of the right to defense and turning the death sentence into the only punishment for those found guilty. At the same time, the propaganda of the cult of the Supreme Being, put forward by Robespierre as an alternative to both Christianity and the atheism of the Héberists, reached its peak. Tyranny reached fantastic extremes - and this led to the rebellion of the Convention and the coup of 9 Thermidor (July 27), which eliminated the dictatorship. Robespierre, along with his two main assistants, Louis Saint-Just and Georges Couthon, was executed the next evening. Within a few days, 87 members of the Commune were also guillotined.

The highest justification for terror—victory in war—appeared and main reason its completion. By the spring of 1794, the French Republican army numbered approx. 800 thousand soldiers and represented the largest and most combat-ready army in Europe. Thanks to this, she achieved superiority over the fragmented Allied forces, which became clear in June 1794 at the Battle of Fleurus in the Spanish Netherlands. Within 6 months, the revolutionary armies reoccupied the Netherlands.

THERMIDORIAN CONVENTION AND DIRECTORY. JULY 1794 – DECEMBER 1799

Thermidorian reaction.

Forms of “revolutionary” government remained until October 1795, as the Convention continued to provide executive power through the special committees it created. After the first months of the Thermidorian reaction - the so-called. “White terror” directed against the Jacobins - the terror gradually began to subside. The Jacobin Club was closed, the powers of the Committee of Public Safety were limited, and the decree of 22 Prairial was annulled. The revolution lost its momentum, the population was depleted by the civil war. During the Jacobin dictatorship, the French army achieved impressive victories, invading Holland, the Rhineland and northern Spain. The first coalition of Great Britain, Prussia, Spain and Holland collapsed, and all the countries that were part of it - except Austria and Great Britain - sued for peace. The Vendée was pacified through political and religious concessions, and religious persecution also ceased.

IN Last year existence of the Convention, which got rid of the Jacobins and royalists, key positions in it were occupied by moderate republicans. The convention was strongly supported by peasants happy with the land they had received, army contractors and suppliers, business people and speculators who traded in land holdings and made capital from it. He was also supported by a whole class of new rich people who wanted to avoid political excesses. The social policy of the Convention was aimed at meeting the needs of these groups. The lifting of price controls led to renewed inflation and new misfortunes for workers and the poor, who had lost their leaders. Independent revolts broke out. The largest of these was the uprising in the capital in the prairie (May 1795), supported by the Jacobins. The rebels erected barricades on the streets of Paris and seized the Convention, thereby accelerating its dissolution. To suppress the uprising, troops were brought into the city (for the first time since 1789). The rebellion was ruthlessly suppressed, almost 10 thousand of its participants were arrested, imprisoned or deported, the leaders ended their lives on the guillotine.

In May 1795, the revolutionary tribunal was finally abolished, and emigrants began to look for ways to return to their homeland. There were even attempts by royalists to restore something similar to the pre-revolutionary regime, but they were all brutally suppressed. In the Vendée, the rebels took up arms again. The English fleet landed over a thousand armed royalist emigrants on the Quibron Peninsula on the northeastern coast of France (June 1795). In the cities of Provence in the south of France, the royalists made another attempt at rebellion. On October 5 (13 Vendémière), a monarchist uprising broke out in Paris, but it was quickly suppressed by General Napoleon Bonaparte.

Directory.

The moderate republicans, who strengthened their power and the Girondins, who restored their positions, developed new uniform board - Directory. It was based on the so-called Constitution of the Year III, which officially established the French Republic, which began its existence on October 28, 1795.

The Directory relied on suffrage, limited by property qualifications, and on indirect elections. The principle of separation of powers was established between the legislative power, represented by two assemblies (the Council of Five Hundred and the Council of Elders), and the executive power, vested in a Directory of 5 people (one of whom had to leave his post annually). Two-thirds of the new legislators were elected from among the members of the Convention. The insoluble contradictions that arose in the relations between the legislative and executive powers, apparently, could only be resolved by force. Thus, from the very beginning, the seeds of the coming military coups fell on fertile soil. The new system was maintained for 4 years. Its prelude was a royalist rebellion specially timed to coincide with October 5, which was swept away by Bonaparte with a “volley of grapeshot.” It was not difficult to assume that the general would put an end to the existing regime, resorting to the same means of forceful pressure that happened during the “coup of the 18th Brumaire” (November 9, 1799).

The four years of the Directory were a time of corrupt government within France and brilliant conquests abroad. These two factors in their interaction determined the fate of the country. The need to continue the war was now dictated less by revolutionary idealism and more by nationalist aggression. In treaties with Prussia and Spain, concluded in 1795 in Basel, Carnot sought to keep France practically within its old borders. But the aggressive nationalist doctrine of achieving “natural borders” encouraged the government to lay claim to the left bank of the Rhine. Since European states could not help but react to such a noticeable expansion of the borders of the French power, the war did not stop. For the Directory, it became both an economic and political constant, a source of profit and a means of establishing the prestige necessary to maintain power. In domestic politics, the Directory, which represented the republican majority of the middle class, for the sake of self-preservation had to suppress all resistance on the part of both left and right, since the return of Jacobinism or royalism threatened its power.

As a result, the internal policy of the Directory was characterized by a struggle in these two directions. In 1796, the “Conspiracy of Equals” was discovered - an ultra-Jacobin and pro-communist secret society led by Gracchus Babeuf. Its leaders were executed. The trial of Babeuf and his associates created a new republican myth, which after some time acquired great appeal among adherents of underground and secret societies in Europe. The conspirators supported the ideas of social and economic revolution - as opposed to the reactionary social policies of the Directory. In 1797, Fructidor's coup took place (September 4), when the royalists won the elections, and the army was used to annul their results in 49 departments. This was followed by the Floréal coup (May 11, 1798), during which the results of the Jacobin election victory were arbitrarily annulled in 37 departments. Following them, the Prairial coup took place (June 18, 1799) - both extreme political groups strengthened in the elections at the expense of the center, and as a result, three members of the Directory lost power.

The rule of the Directory was unprincipled and immoral. Paris and other large cities have earned a reputation as hotbeds of debauchery and vulgarity. However, the decline in morals was not general and widespread. Some members of the Directory, primarily Carnot, were active and patriotic people. But it was not they who created the reputation of the Directory, but people like the corrupt and cynic Count Barras. In October 1795, he recruited the young artillery general Napoleon Bonaparte to suppress the rebellion, and then rewarded him by giving him his former mistress Josephine de Beauharnais as his wife. However, Bonaparte encouraged Carnot much more generously, entrusting him with command of an expedition to Italy, which brought him military glory.

The Rise of Bonaparte.

Carnot's strategic plan in the war against Austria envisaged the concentration of three French armies near Vienna - two moving from the north of the Alps, under the command of generals J.B. Jourdan and J.-V. Moreau, and one from Italy, under the command of Bonaparte. The young Corsican defeated the king of Sardinia, imposed the terms of the peace agreement on the pope, defeated the Austrians at the Battle of Lodi (May 10, 1796) and entered Milan on May 14. Jourdan was defeated, Moreau was forced to retreat. The Austrians sent one army after another against Bonaparte. All of them were defeated in turn. Having captured Venice, Bonaparte turned it into an object of bargaining with the Austrians and in October 1797 concluded peace with Austria at Campo Formio. Austria transferred the Austrian Netherlands to France and, according to a secret clause of the agreement, promised to cede the left bank of the Rhine. Venice remained with Austria, which recognized the Cisalpine Republic created by France in Lombardy. After this agreement, only Great Britain remained at war with France.

Bonaparte decided to strike a blow at the British Empire, cutting off access to the Middle East. In June 1798 he captured the island of Malta, in July he took Alexandria and moved troops against Syria. However naval forces Britain blocked his land army, and the expedition to Syria failed. Napoleon's fleet was sunk by Admiral Nelson in the battle of Aboukir (August 1, 1798).

Meanwhile, the Directory was in agony due to defeats at the fronts and growing discontent within the country. A second anti-French coalition was formed against France, in which England managed to attract hitherto neutral Russia as an ally. Austria, the Kingdom of Naples, Portugal and Ottoman Empire. The Austrians and Russians drove the French out of Italy, and the British landed in Holland. However, in September 1799, British troops were defeated near Bergen, and they had to leave Holland, and the Russians were defeated at Zurich. The seemingly formidable combination of Austria and Russia disintegrated after Russia left the coalition.

In August, Bonaparte left Alexandria, avoiding the English fleet guarding him, and landed in France. Despite huge losses and defeat in the Middle East, Napoleon was the only person who managed to inspire confidence in himself in a country where the government was close to bankruptcy. As a result of the elections in May 1799, many active opponents of the Directory entered the Legislative Assembly, which led to its reorganization. Barras remained as always, but now he has teamed up with Abbot Sieyes . In July, the Directory appointed Joseph Fouché as Minister of Police. A former Jacobin terrorist, insidious and unscrupulous in his means, he began persecuting his former comrades, which prompted the Jacobins to actively resist. On Fructidor 28 (September 14), they attempted to force the Council of Five Hundred to proclaim the slogan “the fatherland is in danger” and create a commission in the spirit of Jacobin traditions. This initiative was thwarted by Lucien Bonaparte, the most intelligent and educated of all Napoleon's brothers, who managed to postpone the discussion of this issue.

On October 16, Napoleon arrived in Paris. He was met and greeted everywhere as a hero and savior of the country. Bonaparte became a symbol of revolutionary hopes and glory, the prototype of the ideal republican soldier, the guarantor of public order and security. On October 21, the Council of Five Hundred, sharing popular enthusiasm, elected Lucien Bonaparte as its chairman. The cunning Sieyes decided to involve him in the conspiracy that he had long been hatching to overthrow the regime and revise the constitution. Napoleon and Lucien saw Sieyes as a tool with which to clear the way to power.

The coup of the 18th Brumaire (November 9, 1799), one might say, was an “internal affair” of the Directory, since two of its members (Sieyes and Roger Ducos) led a conspiracy that was supported by the majority of the Council of Elders and part of the Council of Five Hundred. The Council of Elders voted to move the meeting of both assemblies to the Parisian suburb of Saint-Cloud, and entrusted the command of the troops to Bonaparte. According to the plan of the conspirators, the meetings, frightened by the troops, would be forced to vote for the revision of the constitution and the creation of a provisional government. After this, power would be given to three consuls, who were ordered to prepare a new Constitution and approve it in a plebiscite.

The first stage of the conspiracy went according to plan. The meetings moved to Saint-Cloud, and the Council of Elders showed agreement on the issue of revising the constitution. But the Council of Five Hundred showed a clearly hostile attitude towards Napoleon, and his appearance in the meeting chamber caused a storm of indignation. This almost thwarted the plans of the conspirators. If not for the resourcefulness of the chairman of the Council of Five Hundred, Lucien Bonaparte, Napoleon could have immediately been declared an outlaw. Lucien told the grenadiers guarding the palace that the deputies were threatening to kill the general. He put his naked sword to his brother's chest and vowed to kill him with his own hand if he violated the foundations of freedom. The grenadiers, convinced that they, in the person of the ardent republican General Bonaparte, were saving France, entered the meeting chamber of the Council of Five Hundred. After this, Lucien hurried to the Council of Elders, where he told about the conspiracy hatched by the deputies against the republic. The elders formed a commission and adopted a decree on temporary consuls - Bonaparte, Sieyes and Ducos. Then the commission, reinforced by the remaining deputies of the Council of Five Hundred, announced the abolition of the Directory and proclaimed the consuls a provisional government. The meeting of the Legislative Assembly was postponed to February 1800. Despite gross miscalculations and confusion, the coup of the 18th Brumaire was a complete success.

The main reason for the success of the coup, which was joyfully greeted in Paris and throughout most of the country, was that the people were extremely tired of the rule of the Directory. The revolutionary pressure had finally dried up, and France was ready to recognize a strong ruler capable of ensuring order in the country.

Consulate.

France was ruled by three consuls. Each of them had equal power, they exercised leadership in turn. However, from the very beginning, Bonaparte's voice was undoubtedly decisive. The Brumaire decrees constituted a transitional constitution. In essence, it was a Directory, reduced to the power of three. At the same time, Fouche remained Minister of Police, and Talleyrand became Minister of Foreign Affairs. The commissions of the two previous assemblies remained and developed new laws at the behest of the consuls. On November 12, the consuls took an oath "to be devoted to the Republic, one and indivisible, based on equality, freedom and representative government." But Jacobin leaders were arrested or exiled during the consolidation new system. Gaudin, entrusted with the important task of organizing finances that were in a state of chaos, achieved impressive results through his integrity, competence and ingenuity. A truce was reached in the Vendée with the royalist rebels. The work on creating a new fundamental law, called the Constitution of the VIII year, came under the jurisdiction of Sieyes. He supported the doctrine that "trust must come from below and power from above."

Bonaparte had far-reaching plans. On the sidelines of the coup, it was decided that he himself, J.-J. de Cambaceres and C.-F. Lebrun will become consuls. It was assumed that Sieyes and Ducos would top the lists of future senators. By December 13, the new constitution was completed. Electoral system formally relied on universal suffrage, but at the same time established a complex system indirect elections, which excluded democratic control. 4 assemblies were established: the Senate, the Legislative Assembly, the Tribunate and the State Council, whose members were appointed from above. Executive power was transferred to three consuls, but Bonaparte, as first consul, towered over the other two, who were content with only an advisory voice. The Constitution did not provide for any counterbalance to the absolute power of the First Consul. It was approved through a plebiscite in an open vote. Bonaparte forced the pace of events. On December 23, he issued a decree according to which the new constitution was to come into force on Christmas Day. The new institutions began to operate even before the results of the plebiscite were announced. This put pressure on the voting results: 3 million votes for and only 1562 against. The consulate opened a new era in the history of France.

Legacy of the revolutionary years.

The main result of the Directory's activities was the creation outside of France of a ring of satellite republics, completely artificial in terms of the system of government and in relations with France: in Holland - the Batavian, in Switzerland - the Helvetic, in Italy - the Cisalpine, Ligurian, Roman and Parthenopean republics. France annexed the Austrian Netherlands and the left bank of the Rhine. Thus, it increased its territory and surrounded itself with six satellite states created on the model of the French Republic.

Ten years of revolution left an indelible mark on the state structure of France, as well as on the minds and hearts of the French. Napoleon was able to complete the revolution, but he could not erase its consequences from his memory. The aristocracy and the church were no longer able to restore their pre-revolutionary status, although Napoleon created a new nobility and concluded a new concordat with the church. The revolution gave rise not only to the ideals of freedom, equality, fraternity, and popular sovereignty, but also to conservatism, fear of revolution, and reactionary sentiments.

Literature:

The Great French Revolution and Russia. M., 1989
Freedom. Equality. Brotherhood. The French Revolution. M., 1989
Smirnov V.P., Poskonin V.S. Traditions of the Great French Revolution. M., 1991
Furet F. Understanding the French Revolution. M., 1998
Historical sketches about the French Revolution. M., 1998

In the interests of which the government also did a lot, taking great care of the “national wealth”, that is, the development of the manufacturing industry and trade. However, it turned out to be increasingly difficult to satisfy the desires and demands of both the nobility and the bourgeoisie, who in their mutual struggle sought support from the royal power.

On the other hand, both feudal and capitalist exploitation increasingly armed the masses against themselves, whose most legitimate interests were completely ignored by the state. In the end, the position of royal power in France became extremely difficult: every time it defended old privileges, it met with liberal opposition, which grew stronger - and every time new interests were satisfied, conservative opposition arose, which became more and more sharp.

Royal absolutism was losing credit in the eyes of the clergy, nobility and bourgeoisie, among whom the idea was asserted that absolute royal power was a usurpation in relation to the rights of estates and corporations (point of view) or in relation to the rights of the people (point of view).

General course of events from 1789 to 1799

Background

After a number of unsuccessful attempts to get out of a difficult financial situation, he announced in December that in five years he would convene the government officials of France. When he became a minister for the second time, he insisted that they be convened in 1789. The government, however, did not have any specific program. At court they thought least of all about this, at the same time considering it necessary to make a concession to public opinion.

Estates General

National Assembly

The National Assembly was saved, and Louis XVI again conceded: he even went to Paris, where he appeared to the people, wearing a tricolor national cockade on his hat (red and blue are the colors of the Parisian coat of arms, white is the color of the royal banner).

In France itself, the storming of the Bastille served as a signal for a number of uprisings in the provinces. Peasants were especially worried, refusing to pay feudal duties, church tithes and state taxes. They attacked castles, destroyed them and burned them, and several nobles or their stewards were killed. When alarming news began to arrive at Versailles about what was happening in the provinces, two liberal nobles introduced to the assembly a proposal to abolish feudal rights, some free of charge, others by ransom. Then the famous night meeting took place (q.v.), in which deputies of the upper classes began vying to renounce their privileges, and the meeting adopted decrees abolishing class advantages, feudal rights, serfdom, church tithes, privileges of individual provinces, cities and corporations and declaring equality all before the law in the payment of public taxes and the right to hold civil, military and ecclesiastical offices.

Noble emigration began. The emigrants’ threats to the “rebels” and their alliance with foreigners supported and intensified the anxiety among the people; The court and all the nobles remaining in France began to suspect of complicity with the emigrants. Responsibility for much of what subsequently happened in France therefore falls on the emigrants.

Meanwhile, the national assembly took up the new structure of France. A few days before the destruction of the Bastille, it adopted the name of constituent, officially recognizing for itself the right to give the state new institutions. The first task of the meeting was to draw up a declaration of human and civil rights, which was demanded by many. The court still did not want to make concessions and did not lose hope for a military coup. Although Louis XVI, after July 14, promised not to gather troops to Paris, nevertheless, new regiments began to arrive at Versailles. At one officers' banquet, in the presence of the king and his family, the military tore off their tricolor cockades and trampled them under their feet, and the ladies of the court handed them cockades made of white ribbons. This caused the second Parisian uprising and a march of a crowd of one hundred thousand, in which there were especially many women, to Versailles: they broke into the palace, demanding the king move to Paris (-). Louis XVI was forced to fulfill this demand, and after the king and the national assembly moved to Paris, they moved their meetings there, which, as it later turned out, limited his freedom: the extremely excited population more than once dictated its will to representatives of the entire nation.

Political clubs were formed in Paris, which also discussed the issue of the future structure of France. One of these clubs, called the Jacobin club, began to play a particularly influential role, because it had many very popular deputies and many of its members enjoyed authority among the population of Paris. Subsequently, he began to open his branches in all the main cities of France. Extreme opinions began to dominate in the clubs, and they also took over the political press.

In the national assembly itself, not only were there no organized parties, but it even seemed shameful to belong to any “faction.” Nevertheless, several different political directions emerged in the assembly: some (the higher clergy and nobility) still dreamed of preserving the old order; others (Mounier, Lalli-Tollendal, Clermont-Tonnerre) considered it necessary to provide the king with only executive power and, preserving the primacy of the clergy and nobility, to divide the national assembly into an upper and lower house; still others imagined the future constitution with nothing other than one chamber (, Bailly, ); further, there were figures who wanted to give greater influence to the Parisian population and clubs (Duport, Barnave, the Lamet brothers), and future figures of the republic were already emerging (Gregoire, Pétion, Buzot), who, however, remained monarchists at that time.

Legislative Assembly

Immediately after the constituent assembly ceased to function, its place was taken by a legislative assembly, to which new and inexperienced people were elected. The right side of the meeting room was occupied by constitutional monarchists ( Feuillants); people without sharply defined views took middle places; the left side consisted of two parties - Girondins And Montagnards. The first of these two parties consisted of very capable people and included several brilliant speakers; its most prominent representatives were Vergniaud, and. The Girondins were challenged for influence over the assembly and the people by the Montagnards, whose main strength was in the Jacobin and other clubs. The most influential members of this party were people who were not part of the assembly: , . The rivalry between the Girondins and the Jacobins began in the very first months of the legislative assembly and became one of the main facts of the history of the revolution.

The Legislative Assembly decided to confiscate the property of emigrants, and punish disobedient priests with deprivation of civil rights, deportation, and even prison. Louis XVI did not want to approve the decrees of the assembly on emigrants and unsworn clergy, but this only aroused extreme discontent among the people against himself. The king was increasingly suspected of secret relations with foreign courts. The Girondins, in the assembly, in clubs, and in the press, argued for the need to respond to the defiant behavior of foreign governments with a “war of peoples against kings” and accused ministers of treason. Louis XVI resigned the ministry and appointed a new one from like-minded people of the Gironde. In the spring of the year, the new ministry insisted on declaring war on Austria, where at that time Francis II already reigned; Prussia also entered into an alliance with Austria. This was the beginning that had a great influence on the history of all of Europe.

Soon, however, Louis XVI resigned from the ministry, which caused a popular uprising in Paris (); Crowds of insurgents took possession of the royal palace and, surrounding Louis XVI, demanded that he approve the decrees on emigrants and priests and the return of the Girondin ministers. When the commander-in-chief of the allied Austro-Prussian army, the Duke of Brunswick, issued a manifesto in which he threatened the French with executions, the burning of houses, and the destruction of Paris, a new uprising broke out in the capital (), accompanied by the beating of the guards who guarded the royal palace. Louis XVI and his family found a safe haven in the legislative assembly, but the latter, in his presence, decided to remove him from power and take him into custody, and to convene an emergency meeting called national convention.

National Convention

The system of intimidation, or terror, received more and more development; the Girondins wanted to put an end to it, but sought to strengthen it, relying on the Jacobin club and the lower strata of the Parisian population (the so-called sans-culottes). The Montagnards were only looking for a reason to reprisal the Girondins. In the spring of the year, he fled abroad with the son of the Duke of Orleans (“Philippe Egalité”), whom he wanted, with the help of troops, to place on the French throne (he became king of France only as a result). This was blamed on the Girondins, since Dumouriez was considered their general. The external danger was complicated by internal strife: that same spring, a large popular uprising, led by priests and nobles, broke out in I (northwestern corner of France) against the convention. To save the fatherland, the convention ordered the recruitment of three hundred thousand people and gave the system of terror an entire organization. Executive power, with the most unlimited powers, was entrusted to the Committee of Public Safety, which sent its commissioners from among the members of the convention to the provinces. The main instrument of terror became the revolutionary court, which decided cases quickly and without formalities and sentenced people to death by guillotine, often on the basis of suspicion alone. At the instigation of the Montagnard party, at the end of May and beginning of June, crowds of people twice broke into the convention and demanded that the Girondins be expelled as traitors and brought before a revolutionary court. The Convention yielded to this demand and expelled the most prominent Girondins.

Some of them fled from Paris, others were arrested and tried by the revolutionary court. The terror intensified even more when a fan of the Girondins, a young girl, killed with a dagger, who was distinguished by the greatest bloodthirstiness, and uprisings broke out in Normandy and some large cities (in,), in which the fleeing Girondins also took part. This gave reason to accuse the Girondins of federalism, that is, in an effort to fragment France into several union republics, which would be especially dangerous in view of foreign invasion. The Jacobins, therefore, vigorously advocated a tightly centralized "one and indivisible republic." After the fall of the Girondins, many of whom were executed and some committed suicide, the Jacobin terrorists, led by Robespierre, became masters of the situation. France was governed by the Committee of Public Safety, which controlled the state police (committee of general security) and the convention commissioners in the provinces, who everywhere organized revolutionary committees from the Jacobins. Shortly before their fall, the Girondins drafted a new constitution; the Jacobins reworked it into the constitution of 1793, which was adopted by popular vote. The dominant party decided, however, not to introduce it until all enemies of the republic were eliminated.

After the liquidation of the Girondins, Robespierre's contradictions with Danton and the extreme terrorist came to the fore. In the spring of the year, first Hébert and him, and then Danton, were arrested, tried by a revolutionary court and executed. After these executions, Robespierre no longer had rivals.

One of his first measures was the establishment in France, by decree of the convention, of the veneration of the Supreme Being, according to the idea of “civil religion” by Rousseau. The new cult was solemnly announced during a ceremony arranged by Robespierre, who played the role of high priest of the “civil religion.”

The terror was intensifying: the revolutionary court received the right to try members of the convention itself without the latter’s permission. However, when Robespierre demanded new executions, without naming the names of those against whom he was preparing to act as an accuser, the majority of the terrorists themselves, frightened by this, overthrew Robespierre and his closest assistants. This event is known as the 9th Thermidor (). The next day, Robespierre was executed, and with him his main followers (, etc.).

Bibliographic index

General histories of the revolution- Thiers, Minier, Buchet and Roux (see below), Louis Blanc, Michelet, Quinet, Tocqueville, Chassin, Taine, Cheret, Sorel, Aulard, Jaurès, Laurent (much has been translated into Russian);

popular books by Carnot, Rambaud, Champion (“Esprit de la révolution fr.”, 1887), etc.;
Carlyle, "French revolution" (1837);
Stephens, "History of fr. rev.";
Wachsmuth, "Gesch. Frankreichs im Revolutionszeitalter" (1833-45);
Dahlmann, "Gesch. der fr. Rev." (1845); Arnd, idem (1851-52);
Sybel, "Gesch. der Revolutionszeit" (1853 et seq.);
Häusser, “Gesch. der fr. Rev." (1868);
L. Stein, "Geschichte der socialen Bewegung in Frankreich" (1850);
Blos, "Gesch. der fr. Rev."; in Russian - op. Lyubimov and M. Kovalevsky.
Historical sketches about the French Revolution. In memory of V.M. Dalina (on her 95th birthday) / Institute of General History of the Russian Academy of Sciences. M., 1998.

Periodicals, specially dedicated to the history of the French Revolution:

"Revue de la révolution", ed. Ch. d'Héricault et G. Bord (published 1883-87);
"La Révolution franç aise" (from 1881, and edited by Aulard from 1887).

Essays on the convening of the States General and about the orders of 1789. In addition to the works of Tocqueville, Chassin, Poncins, Cherest, Guerrier, Kareev and M. Kovalevsky, indicated in respectively. article, see

A. Brette, “Recueil de documents relatifs à la convocation des états généraux de 1789”;
Edme Champion, "La France d'après les cahiers de 1789";
N. Lyubimov, “The Collapse of the Monarchy in France” (cahiers’ demands regarding public education);
A. Onou, “Orders of the Third Estate in France in 1789” (“Journal of the Ministry of Public Education”, 1898-1902);
his, “La comparution des paroisses en 1789”;
Richard, “La bibliographie des cahiers de doléances de 1789”;
V. Khoroshun, “Noble orders in France in 1789.”

Essays on individual episodes French Revolution.

E. et J. de Goncourt, “Histoire de la société française sous la révolution”;
Brette, “Le serment du Jeu de paume”;
Bord, "La prise de la Bastille";
Tournel, "Les hommes du 14 juillet";
Lecocq, "La prise de la Bastille; Flammermont, "Relations inédites sur la prise de la Bastille";
Pitra, "La journée du juillet de 1789"; N. Lyubimov, “The first days of Φ. revolutions according to unpublished sources";
Lambert, “Les fédérations et la fête du 14 juillet 1790”;
J. Pollio et A. Marcel, “Le bataillon du 10 août”;
Dubost, "Danton et les massacres de septembre";
Beaucourt, “Captivité et derniers moments de Louis XVI”;
Ch. Vatel, "Charlotte Corday et les girondins";
Robinet, "Le procès des dantonistes";
Wallon, "Le fédéralisme";
Gaulot, “Un complot sous la terreur”;
Aulard, “Le culte de la raison et le culte de l’Etre Suprème” (presentation in volume VI of the “Historical Review”);
Claretie, "Les derniers montagnards"
D'Héricault, "La révolution de thermidor";
Thurau-Dangin, “Royalistes et républicains”;
Victor Pierre, “La terreur sous le Directoire”;
his, “Le rétablissement du culte catholique en France en 1795 et 1802”;
H. Welschinger, “Le directoire et le concile national de 1797”;
Victor Advielles, "Histoire de Baboeuf et du babouvisme";
B. Lavigue, “Histoire de l’insurrection royaliste de l’an VII”;
Félix Rocquain, “L"état de la France au 18 brumaire";
Paschal Grousset, “Les origines d'une dynastie; le coup d"état de brumaire de l'an VIII".

Social significance of the French Revolution.

Lorenz Stein, “Geschichte der socialen Bewegung in Frankreich”;
Eugen Jäger, “Die francösische Revolution und die sociale Bewegung”;
Lichtenberger, “Le socialisme et la révol. fr.";
Kautsky, “Die Klassengegensätze von 1789” and others.

Essays on the history of legislation and institutions of the French Revolution.

Chalamel, “Histoire de la liberté de la presse en France depuis 1789”;
Doniol, “La féodalité et la révolution française”;
Ferneuil, “Les principes de 1789 et la science sociale”;
Gomel, “Histoire financière de la constituante”;
A. Desjardins, “Les cahiers de 1789 et la législation criminelle”;
Gazier, “Etudes sur l’histoire religieuse de la révolution française”;
Laferrière, “Histoire des principles, des institutions et des lois pendant la révolution française”; Lavergne, "Economie rurale en France depuis 1789";
Lavasseur, “Histoire de classes ouvrières en France depuis 1789”;
B. Minzes, “Die Nationalgüterveräusserung der franz. Revolution";
Rambaud, "Histoire de la civilization contemporaine";
Richter, “Staats- und Gesellschaftsrecht der francösischen Revolution”;
Sciout, “Histoire de la constitution civile du clergé”;
Valette, “De la durée persistante de l’ensemble du droit civil française pendant et après la révolution”;
Vuitry, “Etudes sur le régime financier de la France sous la révolution”;
Sagnac, “Législation civile de la révol. franc."

Links

The French Revolution. Articles from encyclopedias, chronicles of the revolution, articles and publications. Biographies of political figures. Cards.

When writing this article, material from (1890-1907) was used.

It was the result of a long crisis of the feudal system, which led to conflict between the third estate and the privileged upper class. Despite the difference in class interests of those in the third estate of the bourgeoisie, peasantry and urban plebeians (manufacturing workers, urban poor), they were united by an interest in the destruction of the feudal-absolutist system. The leader in this struggle was the bourgeoisie.

The main contradictions that predetermined the inevitability of the revolution were aggravated by state bankruptcy, the commercial and industrial crisis that began in the year, and lean years that led to famine. In - years, a revolutionary situation developed in the country. Peasant uprisings that spread across a number of French provinces, intertwined with performances of the plebeians in the cities (in Rennes, Grenoble, Besançon in the year, in the Saint-Antoine suburb of Paris in, etc.). The monarchy, unable to maintain its position using old methods, was forced to make concessions: notables were convened in the year, and then the Estates General, which had not met since the year.

The sharp deterioration in the economic and especially food situation as a result of the war contributed to the aggravation of the class struggle in the country. The peasant movement intensified again in the year. In a number of departments (Er, Gar, Nor, etc.), peasants arbitrarily divided communal lands. The protests of the starving poor in the cities took very sharp forms. The representatives of the interests of the plebeians - the “mad” (leaders - J. Roux, J. Varlet, etc.) demanded the establishment of a maximum (fixed prices for consumer goods) and curbing speculators. Taking into account the demands of the masses and taking into account the current political situation, the Jacobins agreed to an alliance with the “mad”. On May 4, the Convention, despite the resistance of the Girondins, decreed the establishment of fixed prices for grain. A new popular uprising on May 31 - June 2 of the year ended with the expulsion of the Girondins from the Convention and the transfer of power to the Jacobins.

Third stage (2 June 1793 - 27/28 July 1794)

This period of the revolution is characterized by the Jacobin dictatorship. Interventionist troops invaded from the north, east and south. Counter-revolutionary revolts (see Vendée Wars) swept the entire north-west of the country, as well as the south. By agrarian legislation (June - July), the Jacobin Convention transferred communal and emigrant lands to the peasants for division and completely destroyed all feudal rights and privileges. Thus, the main issue of the revolution - the agrarian one - was resolved on a democratic basis, the former feudal-dependent peasants turned into free owners. On June 24, the Convention approved, instead of the qualification constitution of 1791, a new constitution - much more democratic. However, the critical situation of the republic forced the Jacobins to delay the implementation of the constitutional regime and replace it with a regime of revolutionary democratic dictatorship. The convention on August 23 adopted a historic decree on the mobilization of the entire French nation to fight for the expulsion of enemies from the borders of the republic. Convention in response to Act of terrorism counter-revolution (the murder of J. P. Marat, the leader of the Lyon Jacobins J. Chalier, and others) introduced revolutionary terror.

The so-called Ventoise decrees, adopted in February and March of the year, were not implemented due to the resistance of the large property-owning elements in the apparatus of the Jacobin dictatorship. Plebeian elements and the rural poor began to partially move away from the Jacobin dictatorship, a number of whose social demands were not satisfied. At the same time, most of the bourgeoisie, who did not want to continue to put up with the restrictive regime and plebeian methods of the Jacobin dictatorship, switched to positions of counter-revolution, dragging with them the wealthy peasantry, dissatisfied with the policy of requisitions, and after them the middle peasantry. In the summer of the year, a conspiracy arose against the revolutionary government headed by Robespierre, which led to a counter-revolutionary coup that overthrew the Jacobin dictatorship and thereby put an end to the revolution (Thermidorian coup).

July 14, Bastille Day is a national holiday in France; La Marseillaise, written at that time, is still the national anthem of France.

Used materials

Dictionary of modern geographical names, France
TSB, Great French revolution

At the first stage of the Great French Revolution (1789-1791), France was overthrown absolute monarchy and a constitutional monarchy with limited suffrage was established.

At the second stage of the revolution (September 1791 - August 1792), revolutionary wars began, as a result of which Louis XVI was overthrown.

At the third stage of the revolution (August 1792 - May 1793), a republic was established in France, in which at first the Girondins were in the majority, and then the Jacobins. The latter established a dictatorship and organized reforms that were important for the peasants and the army.

The fourth stage of the Great French Revolution (1793-1794) ends with the overthrow of the Jacobin dictatorship as a result of the Thermidorian coup.

At the last, fifth stage of the revolution (1794-1799), power was in the hands of the “new rich,” and the influence of the generals increased. The new Constitution provided for the creation of a new government - the Directory. The main role in this period was played by Napoleon Bonaparte, who ended the Great French Revolution with a coup d'etat on the 18th Brumaire.

Causes of the Great French Revolution

Pre-revolutionary crisis (1788-1789)

In addition to the immediate causes of the Great French Revolution, some indirect causes contributed to increased tension in society. Among them - economic And economic decline in France.

Economic decline (unemployment and crop failures)

According to the 1786 treaty concluded by the king with England, the French market received a large number of cheap English goods. French industry turned out to be incapable of competition. Manufactories were closed, and many workers were thrown into the streets (only in Paris unemployed became 80 thousand people).

At the same time, the village was hit crop failure 1788, followed by the unusually severe winter for France of 1788-1789, when frosts reached -20°. Vineyards, olive trees, and grain crops were destroyed. Many peasants, according to contemporaries, ate grass so as not to die of hunger. In the cities, sans-culottes gave their last coins for bread. In taverns they sang songs directed against the authorities, and posters and leaflets ridiculing and scolding the government were passed around.

Economic decline

The young king of France, Louis XVI, sought to improve the situation in the country. He appointed the banker Necker as controller general of finance. He began to reduce the costs of maintaining the court, proposed collecting taxes from the lands of the nobles and clergy, and also published a financial report that indicated all monetary income and expenses in the state. However, the aristocrats did not at all want the people to know who was spending the treasury money and how. Necker was dismissed.

Meanwhile, the situation in France worsened. Bread prices fell, and the French nobles, accustomed to selling it on the market, began to suffer losses. Trying to find new sources of income, some nobles extracted from the archives of their great-grandfathers half-decayed documents about the payment of dues by peasants 300 years ago for the right to marry or move from village to village. Others came up with new taxes, for example, for the dust raised by peasant cows on the lord's road. Meadows, watering holes and forests, which had been used by peasant communities from time immemorial, were declared by the nobles to be their full property and demanded a separate payment for grazing livestock or cutting down forests. Outraged peasants filed complaints to the royal courts, but they, as a rule, decided the case in favor of the nobles.

Caricature: peasant, priest and nobleman

Convocation of the Estates General in France (1789)

King Louis XVI of France, convening the Estates General, hoped to introduce new taxes to restore the treasury and pay off debts. However, the meeting participants, taking advantage of the situation, despite the king, decided to correct the situation of the peasants and bourgeoisie in the country by putting forward their demands.

After some time, opponents of the old order announced the creation of a Constituent (National) Assembly, which quickly gained popularity. The king, realizing that he had a minority on his side, had to recognize him.

Beginning of the French Revolution (July 14, 1789)

In parallel with the convening of the Estates General, King Louis XVI was gathering troops to keep the situation under control. But the residents started an uprising, which quickly gained momentum. The king's supporters also went over to the side of the uprising. This marked the beginning of the Great French Revolution.

The revolution, which began with the storming of the Bastille, gradually spread throughout France and led to the overthrow of the unlimited (absolute) monarchy.

Constituent Assembly (1789-1791)

The main task of the Constituent Assembly was to abandon the previous order in France - an absolute monarchy, and establish a new one - a constitutional monarchy. To this end, the assembly began developing a Constitution, which was adopted in 1791.

The king did not recognize the work of the Constituent Assembly, and tried to flee the country, but His attempt failed. Despite the opposition between the king and the assembly, the Constitution did not provide for the removal of Louis XVI, but only limited his power.

Legislative Assembly (1791-1792)

After the formation of the Legislative Assembly, provided for by the Constitution of 1791, French society split into political trends in the revolution. It was divided into “right” constitutionalists, “left” Girondins, and “extreme left” Jacobins.

The constitutionalists, in fact, were not the most “right-wing”. Those who most adhered to the old order, that is, were completely on the side of the king, were called royalists. But since there were only a few of them left in the Legislative Assembly, those whose only goal was not revolutionary actions, but only the approval of the Constitution, were considered “right.”

Beginning of the revolutionary wars in France (late 1792)

Since the royalists were categorically against the revolution, almost everyone emigrated from France. They hoped to enlist help from abroad in restoring royal power, primarily from neighboring countries. Due to the fact that the revolutionary events in France had a direct threat to spread throughout Europe, some countries came to the aid of the royalists. Was created first anti-French coalition, which directed its forces to suppress the revolution in France.

The beginning of the revolutionary wars was unsuccessful for the revolutionaries: the allies of the first anti-French coalition came close to Paris.

Overthrow of the monarchy

But, despite the disastrous start to the war, the revolutionaries were unstoppable: they not only achieved the overthrow of their king Louis XVI, but also managed to expand the revolutionary movement beyond the borders of France.

This put an end to the old order—the monarchy—and set a course for a new one—the republican one.

First French Republic

On September 22, 1792, France was declared a republic. After discovering evidence of the betrayals of Louis XVI, it was decided to execute the king.

This event caused another revolutionary war of the first anti-French coalition in 1793. Now the coalition has expanded to include several countries included in it.

Another of the first problems of the republic was the peasant rebellion - a civil war that lasted from 1793 to 1796.

Jacobin dictatorship

An attempt to maintain the republican system in France was made by the Jacobins, who in the new supreme government agency the authorities - the National Convention - had a majority. They began to establish a regime of revolutionary dictatorship.

The development of the French Revolution led to the overthrow of the monarchy and the establishment of the Jacobin dictatorship, which resolved most of the contradictions that had accumulated in France and was able to organize an army that repelled the forces of counter-revolution.

Thermidorian coup

As a result of the abuse of revolutionary terror, as well as due to the dissatisfaction of the peasants with some of the economic reforms of the Jacobins, a split occurred in the society of the latter. On 9 Thermidor (the date according to the newly introduced French calendar), key events took place in the further political development of France - the so-called Thermidorians put an end to the Jacobin dictatorship. This event was called " Thermidorian coup".

Directory in France (1795)

The coming to power of the Thermidorians meant the creation of a new Constitution, according to which the Directory was the highest authority. The authorities found themselves in a difficult position, so to speak, between two fires: on the one hand, the remaining Jacobins were opposed to them, on the other, the emigrated “whites”, who still had hope for the restoration of royal order and the return of their property. The latter continued to oppose France during the still ongoing revolutionary wars.

Foreign policy of the Directory

The Army of the Directory was able to stop the attacks of the First Anti-French Coalition and turn the tide of the war thanks to General Napoleon Bonaparte. His invincible army conquered new territories for France with enviable success. This resulted in France now seeking European dominance.

The successes culminated in 1799, when the allies of the Second Anti-French Coalition won a series of victories. The territory of France even temporarily found itself under the threat of enemy intervention.

End of the French Revolution

The final moment of the French Revolution is the coup d'état 18 Brumaire (9 November) 1799, who established the dictatorship of Napoleon Bonaparte instead of the Directory.

On this page there is material on the following topics:

Why couldn't the enlightened King Louis 12 prevent the revolution? conclusion
Results of the French Revolution 1789 abstract
Why the enlightened King Louis 16 could not prevent the revolution
Causes of the French Revolution of 1789 brief presentation
Message on the topic of the French Revolution 1791 reasons

Questions about this material:

What events and actions of the authorities created the conditions for the start of the revolution in France?
The last decade of the 18th century was marked by an event that not only changed the existing order in a single European country, but also influenced the entire course of world history. The French Revolution of 1789-1799 became the preacher of class struggle for several subsequent generations. Its dramatic events brought the heroes out of the shadows and exposed the antiheroes, destroying the usual worldview of millions of residents of monarchical states. The main premises and the French Revolution of 1789 itself are briefly described below.
What led to the coup?
The reasons for the French Revolution of 1789-1799 have been rewritten many times from one history textbook to another and come down to the thesis that the patience of that large part of the French population, which, in conditions of hard daily work and extreme poverty, was forced to provide a luxurious existence for representatives of the privileged classes.
Reasons for revolution in France at the end of the 18th century:
- the country's huge external debt;
- unlimited power of the monarch;
- bureaucracy of officials and lawlessness of high-ranking officials;
- heavy tax burden;
- harsh exploitation of peasants;
- exorbitant demands of the ruling elite.
More about the reasons for the revolution
The French monarchy was headed at the end of the 18th century by Louis XVI of the Bourbon dynasty. The power of his crowned majesty was limitless. It was believed that she was given to him by God through confirmation during his coronation. In making his decision, the monarch relied on the support of the smallest, but most high-ranking and wealthy residents of the country - nobles and representatives of the clergy. By this time, the external debts of the state had grown to monstrous proportions and became an unbearable burden not only for the mercilessly exploited peasants, but also for the bourgeoisie, whose industrial and commercial activities were subject to exorbitant taxes.
The main reasons for the French Revolution of 1789 were the discontent and gradual impoverishment of the bourgeoisie, which until recently had put up with absolutism, which patronized the development of industrial production in the interests of national well-being. However, it became increasingly difficult to satisfy the demands of the upper classes and big bourgeoisie. There was a growing need to reform the archaic system of government and the national economy, which was choking on bureaucracy and corruption of government officials. At the same time, the enlightened part of French society was infected with the ideas of the philosophical writers of that time - Voltaire, Diderot, Rousseau, Montesquieu, who insisted that an absolute monarchy infringed on the rights of the main population of the country.
Also, the causes of the French bourgeois revolution of 1789-1799 can be attributed to the natural disasters that preceded it, which worsened the already difficult living conditions of peasants and reduced the income of a few industrial productions.
The first stage of the French Revolution 1789-1799
Let us consider in detail all stages of the French Revolution of 1789-1799.
The first stage began on January 24, 1789 with the convening of the Estates General at the behest of the French monarch. This event was out of the ordinary, since the last time a meeting of the highest class representative body of France took place at the beginning of the 16th century. However, the situation when it was necessary to dismiss the government and urgently elect a new director general of finance in the person of Jacques Necker was extraordinary and required drastic measures. Representatives of the upper classes set the goal of the meeting to find funds to replenish the state treasury, while the whole country was expecting total reforms. Disagreements began between the classes, leading to the formation of the National Assembly on June 17, 1789. It consisted of delegates from the third estate and two dozen deputies from the clergy who joined them.
Formation of the Constituent National Assembly
Soon after the meeting, the king made a unilateral decision to abolish all the decisions adopted at it, and already at the next meeting the deputies were seated according to class. A few days later, 47 more deputies joined the majority, and Louis XVI, forced to take a compromise step, ordered the remaining representatives to join the ranks of the assembly. Later, on July 9, 1789, the abolished Estates General were transformed into the Constituent National Assembly.
The position of the newly formed representative body was extremely precarious due to the unwillingness of the royal court to accept defeat. The news that the royal troops were put on alert to disperse the Constituent Assembly stirred up a wave of popular discontent, leading to dramatic events that decided the fate of the French Revolution of 1789-1799. Necker was removed from office, and it seemed that the short life of the Constituent Assembly was nearing its end.
Storming of the Bastille
In response to the events in Parliament, a rebellion broke out in Paris, beginning on July 12, reaching its climax the next day and marked by the storming of the Bastille on July 14, 1789. The capture of this fortress, which was in the minds of the people a symbol of absolutism and the despotic power of the state, forever went down in the history of France as the first victory of the insurgent people, forcing the king to admit that the French Revolution of 1789 had begun.
Declaration of Human Rights
Riots and unrest swept the entire country. Large-scale protests by peasants consolidated the victory of the Great French Revolution. In August of the same year, the Constituent Assembly approved the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen, a landmark document that marked the beginning of the construction of democracy throughout the world. However, not all representatives of the lower class had a chance to taste the fruits of the revolution. The Assembly abolished only indirect taxes, leaving direct ones in force, and as time passed, when the fog of romantic illusions dissipated, numerous townspeople and peasants realized that the big bourgeoisie had removed them from government decisions, ensuring their financial well-being and legal protection.
A trip to Versailles. Reforms
The food crisis that broke out in Paris in early October 1789 provoked another wave of discontent, culminating in a march on Versailles. Under pressure from the crowd that broke into the palace, the king agreed to sanction the Declaration and other decrees adopted in August 1789.
The state set a course towards establishing a constitutional monarchy. This meant that the king governed within the framework of existing legislation. Changes affected the structure of the government, which lost royal councils and secretaries of state. Administrative division France was significantly simplified, and instead of a multi-stage complex structure, 83 departments of equal size appeared.
The reforms affected the judicial system, which lost corrupt positions and acquired a new structure.
The clergy, some of whom did not recognize the new civil status of France, found themselves in the grip of a schism.
Next stage
The Great French Revolution of 1789 was only the beginning in a chain of events, including the escape attempt of Louis XVI and the subsequent fall of the monarchy, military conflicts with leading European powers that did not recognize the new government system France and the subsequent proclamation of the French Republic. In December 1792, the king was tried and found guilty. Louis XVI was beheaded on January 21, 1793.
Thus began the second stage of the French Revolution of 1789-1799, marked by a struggle between the moderate Girondin party, seeking to stop the further development of the revolution, and the more radical Jacobins, who insisted on expanding its actions.
Final stage
The deterioration of the economic situation in the country due to the political crisis and hostilities intensified the class struggle. Peasant uprisings broke out again, leading to the unauthorized division of communal lands. The Girondists, who entered into an agreement with counter-revolutionary forces, were expelled from the Convention, the highest legislative body of the First French Republic, and the Jacobins came to power alone.
In subsequent years, the Jacobin dictatorship resulted in a rebellion of the National Guard, ending with the transfer of power to the Directory at the end of 1795. Its further actions were aimed at suppressing pockets of extremist resistance. Thus ended the ten-year French bourgeois revolution of 1789 - a period of socio-economic upheaval, which was marked by a coup d'état that occurred on November 9, 1799.