The French Revolution

Transcription

1 The French Revolution 2016

2 French Revolution The Chairs: TARIQ KESSACI DANIEL SHIFREN Hi guys, I m a junior at Edgemont High School. This is my second year on Model UN. Our committee is on the French Revolution, something I ve always been very interested in and felt connected to as a Frenchman myself. The French Revolution was a complex series of events that defined the course of history and has been the source of much inspiration and insight for over two centuries. There are so many perspectives that can be addressed in exploring this topic, and that makes this a committee with a lot of potential. I m excited to see you all in committee! Hi, I m a junior at Edgemont High School. My favorite food is a quality New York bagel and I play soccer and tennis. This is my second year on Model UN, and my second time staffing for EdgeMUN. I have always loved history topics throughout my experience on Model UN and I hope you all enjoy your experience on the French Revolution committee. It is essential that you do enough outside research before the conference, because the more prepared you are for the conference, the more fun the committee will be. I can t wait to see you all in committee! Picture- 2

3 Introduction The French Revolution is said by historians to be one of the most influential events in modern history. This revolution was inspired by the success of the American Revolution and the Enlightenment ideals of the time, mainly Rousseau s social contract and Locke s political theories of natural rights and right to revolution. However, these were not the main causes for the revolution, but only partial factors. Other causes included agricultural failure, social discrimination, a large national debt, failing economic policies, new political ideas and the poor choices of Louis XVI s incompetent regime. It is important to understand all these causes to get a real grasp on the French Revolution. The Revolution started with the calling of the estates General in 1789, which would lead the nation down its radical path. Due to the fact that there were multiple government changeovers throughout the French Revolution, it is usually separated into four different stages: the Moderate Phase ( ), the Radical Stage ( ), the Directory ( ) and the Napoleonic Era ( ) 1. Committee This committee takes place during the Radical Stage in the interim government, the National Convention. The National Convention has to take charge of a nation in the midst of the Reign of Terror and guide it through its major crises while also governing on its revolutionary principles. Each revolutionary in the committee has different political ideas and opinions about the Revolution and where it s going. It is the job of these revolutionaries to decide the fate of the Ancien Regime, including the fate of Louis XVI, and establish an able replacement. Financial crisis By 1789, France had a large debt and no way of paying it. The nation had fought two costly wars, the American Revolution and the Seven Years War, in the preceding decades. The reason the French government couldn t gain any money to pay off these debts was a direct result of their taxation system. At the time, French society was divided into three estates. These estates were the equivalent of social classes; the first estate had 130,000 people, consisting of the upper and lower clergy; about 0.5% of the population, the second estate held the nobility; about 2% of the population, and the third estate was everyone else, ranging from peasants to the bourgeoisie; about 97.5% of the population 2. The Second and Third estate, together 2.5% of the population, owned 30% of the land. The way the taxation system worked, the first and second estates were exempt from any taxes while the third estate bore the burden of the taxes themselves, referenced in the political cartoon above. The two heaviest taxes the third estate had to pay were the taille, which was the direct taxation, and the gabelle, or the salt tax, in addition the First estate received a tithe from the Third estate 1. However, not even this disproportionately heavy taxation could bring enough revenue. To add to the issue, the tax collectors were also very corrupt, took bribes and kept a portion of the taxes they collected for themselves, making tax collection very inefficient. The various finance ministers the King went through could not create an economic solution which didn t involve taxing the nobility. Jacques Necker is the most well known of these ministers. He proposed reducing the tax exemptions and borrowing money from abroad to lessen the debt, but King Louis XVI disapproved and removed him from his position 3. The other two estates were not willing to give up their exemptions and privileges, and the King needed the nobility s support. The food shortages from the poor harvests damaged the economy. The low grain supply increased the grain prices 3. Many peasants and working class wage-earners couldn t afford the expensive dole because of their low wages. The food shortage resulted from a failure to regulate the grain reserve and peasant riots would ensue. 1- French Revolution. History.com. A&E Television Networks, n.d. Web. 21 Nov French Revolution. - New World Encyclopedia. New World Encyclopedia, n.d. Web. 21 Nov Furet, François. Interpreting the French Revolution. Trans. Elborg Forster. N.p.: U of Cambridge, Print. 3

4 Run up to the revolution In the years leading up to calling of the estates General, Louis XVI s regime, known as the ancien regime faced a number of political and social conflicts. While many believe that the revolution was led by the masses of lowest class, however; the revolution was led by the rising middle class, or bourgeoisie, a very small portion of the Third estate. The heart of the revolution, the bourgeoisie, were heavily influenced by the ideals of the Enlightenment. Philosophes during the Age of Enlightenment set a precedent for the ideas of liberty, equality, and the limitation of government. The most prominent philosophers included John Locke, Rousseau, and Baron de Montesquieu. Montesquieu put forth the ideas of a limited government through separation of powers. He believed that by separating the powers of government into distinct branches, no single branch would be able to overstep and infringe upon the rights of the people 4. Perhaps even more influential were the works of John Locke. Locke submitted his ideas of a liberalized and limited government, but more important were his ideas of the Social Contract. Locke believed that each individual bound themselves to the betterment of the collective society. Rousseau was equally influential in his proposition that if everyone forfeits an equal amount of rights they would all be equally free; however, he believed that it becomes problematic when certain members of society must forfeit more rights than others 4. The initial leaders of the French Revolution, namely Abbe Sièyes, were heavily influenced by the ideals of the Enlightenment in their demands set forth to the estates General. Abbe Sieyes argued, in What is the Third estate, that the third estate constituted the vast majority of the population and thus should be represented accordingly. He believed that the first and second estates had formed an alliance and the resulting major in order to silence the third estate.. Sieyes radically suggested that the third estate not only be represented equally with the first and second estates but represented based on their population. Since the third estate constituted over 90% of France s population, the aforementioned method would heavily favor the third estate 5. Sieyes argument was very influential in the course of the revolution and united a front ranging from the bourgeoisie to peasant farmers under a common goal 5. The Republican ideals of the American Revolution also energized the French. The American Revolution successfully applied the ideals of the Enlightenment and set an example for the French. If the ragtag Americans successfully forced the world s largest empire out of the colonies, the French could possibly defeat Louis XVI s regime. 4 Moderate stage With no cards left on the table, Louis XVI was forced to call the firvst estates General in centuries in Though all three of the aforementioned estates were represented, history dictated that the Third estate would have no say. However in 1789, leaders of the Third estate were determined to prove otherwise. By May 5th, 1789, the calling of the estates General, members of the Third estate began demanding for equal representations, fiscal reform, and the doing away of noble exemptions Conolly, Patrick J. Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. IEP, n.d. Web. 21 Nov Halsall, Paul. Internet History Sourcebooks. Internet History Sourcebooks. Fordham University, Web. 30 Nov French Revolution. History.com. A&E Television Networks, n.d. Web. 21 Nov Picture- French Revolution. Digital image. Mentalfloss. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Nov 2015.

5 A month later, the First and Second estates still held the conference in a stalemate. On June 17th, 1789, leaders of the Third estate declared the establishment of a National Assembly. Three days later members of the Third estate enacted the famous Tennis Court Oath. Members pledged to never leave the room (an indoor tennis court) until a Constitutional reform was submitted. Soon thereafter members of both the First and Second estate caved in and accepted to convene as members of the national assembly. Louis XVI made this official by dissolving the estates General on June 27th and calling all three estates into the National Assembly. As the founding fathers of France worked diligently to produce a constitution, havoc wreaked the streets of Paris. On the 14th of July, France s celebrated Independence Day, rioters stormed the Fortress of Bastille in an attempt to gather arms and ammunition. Bastille acted as the centerpiece of royal authority in Paris thus, the siege of Bastille directly undermined the royal institution. Simultaneously, a peasant insurrection was staged across France. In a time known as La Grande Peur (The Great Fear) 7, peasants across agrarian France ransacked noble holdings and forced many into exile. The Great Fear not only foreshadowed the bloody social upheaval that would follow, but also directly led to the abolishment of feudalism in the summer of Declaration of Rights of Man and of the Citizen, primarily drafted by Marquis De Lafayette, was adopted by the Constituent Assembly on August 27th, The document, heavily influenced by the philosophes of the Enlightenment and by the American Declaration of Independence, laid the foundation the French Revolution. The Declaration represented the revolutionaries commitment to creating an equal and just society. In the years to come the Constituent Assembly would struggle to draft a constitution; the first Constitution was not adopted until September of The drafted Constitution set up a constitutional Monarchy with Louis XVI, and granted the King a number of rights. Among the most problematic of these rights was the King s ability to veto any measures. Radical members of the Constituent Assembly, such as Maximilien de Robespierre, were quick to exploit this flaw within the Constitution, claiming that the King would still hold supreme power under such a Constitution. Different parties The Girondin Faction, a far more moderate faction of the Jacobin party, advocated predominantly for less centralized control and a liberalized economy 9. The mass of its support was found outside of Paris in the French countryside. As a result, the Girondins struggled against the Montagnards who found their support right in Paris. While the Montagnard faction vehemently sought the execution of Louis XVI, the Girondins were, for the most part, against his execution 9. The Montagnards were primarily composed of highly radical leftist Jacobins and were backed by the san-culottes, a radical faction in Paris. The sans-culottes and thus the Montagnards, appealed the the Parisian working class, who was becoming increasingly oppressed. Montagnards argued for a wholly egalitarian and Democratic nation. In order to achieve such a society, Montagnards argued that Louis XVI should be executed for his treasonous actions French Revolution. - New World Encyclopedia. New World Encyclopedia, n.d. Web. 21 Nov Furet, François. Interpreting the French Revolution. Trans. Elborg Forster. N.p.: U of Cambridge, Print. 9- Girondin Political Group, France. Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopedia Britannica, n.d. Web. 21 Nov Montagnard French History. Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopedia Britannica, n.d. Web. 21 Nov Picture- 5

6 Radical stages The failures of the Constitutional Monarchy ignited a radical feeling that would take charge of the revolutionary push for the next two years, The radicals knew the king was unwilling to accept the limitations on his power and they learned he was conspiring with foreign powers to gain back his absolute power. The constitutional monarchy also failed to regulate the economy and the nation suffered massive inflation because of it, which made it even harder for people to afford grain and resulted in an unsuccessful changing in the currency 11. Additionally, the government s abolition of feudalism did not eliminate the payments the peasants owed their lords, which angered the peasant class. Finally, the city working classes the sans-culottes felt exploited because the bourgeoisie were reaping all the monetary benefits of the revolution. The bourgeoisie were at the head of all the revolutionary movements up to this point and thus steered the policies to their own advantage. These revolutionary woes came to a head in the late summer of On August 10, the revolutionary insurgents and militiamen massacred the king s guard and imprisoned the royal family. The ensuing chaos would be known as the September Massacres, in which cities executed prisoners and priests who were suspected traitors 11. The chaos ended on September 20th, 1792, when the Convention, the new government, elected by universal manhood suffrage, abolished the monarchy and declared a republic 11. The Jacobins, a radical group who got their name from the church their clubs met in, and the sans-culottes had formed an alliance to overthrow the more moderate Girondists who were in power at the time. The Jacobins used the mob power of the sans-culottes to bring their revolutionary ideals to the forefront. They established The Law of the Maximum which set a maximum for the food price and a punishment for everyone who broke it. They then set up a Committee of Public Safety to enforce this law, headed by Robespierre 12. The Committee of Public Safety had no restrictions on their affairs and dealt with any issues pertaining to the safety of the French people, which led to an extreme abuse of power. Following Louis XVI s execution, radical Montagnards successfully purged the masses of the Girondin party in the summer of 1793, thus commencing the short lived radical rule of Maximilien de Robespierre. Robespierre ruled, unofficially, until 1794 when the Montagnard faction was ousted during the Thermidorian Reaction. Robespierre s rule is perhaps the most remembered time period of the French Revolution. Robespierre enacted the infamous Committee of Public Safety The Reign of Terror, orchestrated by the Committee of Public Safety, was made possible by the invention of the guillotine in This was the weapon used to carry out the mass executions that made the Reign of Terror so terrifying. The Reign of Terror planted its roots on December Third, 1792, when the National Convention unanimously convicted the king of treason for his conspiracies with foreign powers and kept him and his family in jail. The members of this National Convention are responsible with determining his punishment; the decision will decide the fate of the French Republic 13. Louis XVI Offenses Louis refused to reform the French economic policies and kept the tax exemptions of the First and Second estates intact. His motives for economic policy were to keep the nobility in line, not wanting another nobility led rebellion like the Fronde in He did not look to establish economic equality among the estates because the lower classes had no political power or influence 14. By the time the Revolutionaries had established a constitutional monarchy supported by the majority of France, Louis was not cooperating. When the National Constituent Assembly abolished feudalism on August 4th, 1789, Louis 11- The Radical Stage. The History Guide. Steven Kreis, n.d. Web. 21 Nov Furet, François. Interpreting the French Revolution. Trans. Elborg Forster. N.p.: U of Cambridge, Print. 13- French Revolution. History.com. A&E Television Networks, n.d. Web. 21 Nov Jordan, David P. The King s Trial (Louis XVI vs The French Revolution). 25th ed. N.p.: U of California, Print. 6

7 played a crucial role in the Committee of Public Safety beginworked to delayed the abolition. He also did not recognize the Declaration of the Rights of Man, which established the rights of the French people 14. He fled the country from June 20-21, 1791 in an attempt to initiate a counter-revolution from the foreign powers, but he was caught in Varennes. These suspicions were confirmed on August 27, 1791 with the Declaration of Pillnitz. This document declared the support of Leopold of Austria and Frederick the Great Elector for Louis XVI to restore his absolute power to the French throne. This was a clear attempt to undermine the Revolution by means of foreign interference without knowledge of the French government, making it treason. Additionally, the king did not increase the military size to one of formidable strength. He did not want the French army to be able under the new government to enforce any new policies or defend the revolutionary ideals against conservative powers. He attempted to bribe members of the Constituent Assembly (to no avail) 15. These actions exemplify his corruption as a politician as he was was working to gain support against the Revolution through monetary persuasion. Please refer to the 33 Official Charges brought to Louis XVI in the resources section. Louis XVI Defenses In midst of all the accusations put against him, Louis XVI put together a stellar defense team. The most pertinent arguments brought forth exploited the very system that revolutionaries established themselves. The defense claimed that Louis XVI was immune from prosecution under the Constitution of 1791, and claimed that the National Convention shouldn t be allowed to stand as Judge and Jury of the trial, in order to ensure a fair trial 16. Desèze, leader of the Defense, put forth the following argument: Louis ascended the throne at the age of twenty, and 7 at the age of twenty he gave to the throne the example of character. He brought to the throne no wicked weaknesses, no corrupting passions. He was economical, just, severe. He showed himself always the constant friend of the people. The people wanted the abolition of servitude. He began by abolishing it on his own lands. The people asked for reforms in the criminal law... he carried out these reforms. The peo ple wanted liberty: he gave it to them. The people themselves came before him in his sacrifices. Never theless, it is in the name of these very people that one today demands... Citizens, I cannot finish... I stop myself before History. Think how it will judge your judgement, and that the judgement of him will be judged by the centuries. 17 Prosecution Team: Jean-Baptiste Robert Lindet Important Figures Appointed deputy to the Legislative Assembly and later the National Convention. Being a member of the Girondins, Lindet was very hostile to Louis XVI, and played a crucial role in his prosecution. In December of 1792, He wrote the Rapport sur les crimes imputés, also known as the 33 Charges, stating all of the King s crimes and wrongdoings 17. Lindet played a major role in establishing the radical Revolutionary Tribunal. The creation of the tribunal created a schism within the Girondin Party as some radical leaders such as Georges Danton supported while other more moderate figures resisted and eventually led to the downfall of the Girondins. Voted for Louis s execution without appeal. Bertrand Barère Elected to the National Convention in 1792, Barère 14-Jordan, David P. The King s Trial (Louis XVI vs The French Revolution). 25th ed. N.p.: U of California, Print. 15- The Radical Stage. The History Guide. Steven Kreis, n.d. Web. 21 Nov French Revolution. History.com. A&E Television Networks, n.d. Web. 21 Nov Walzer, Michael. Regicide and Revolution; Speeches at the Trial of Louis XVI. London: Cambridge UP, Print.

8 ning in Barère was the presiding officer of the National Convention and thus led the questioning of Louis XVI. Voted for Louis s execution without appeal. Defense Team: Gui-Jean-Baptiste Target Worked with a committee in the ancien régime to reform civil and criminal law. He was a major contributor to the Edict of Versailles which granted non-persecution to all religions and was signed by Louis XVI in Target was a revolutionary figure from the start, representing the Third estate at Paris in He went on to help draft the cahiers de doléances, the suspensive veto and the Civil Constitution of the Clergy. He served in the National Constituent Assembly for the year of 1790, but worried the revolution was shifting too radically. In the face of Louis XVI s trial, he drafted a defense discussing the King s constitutional actions 18. Raymond Deséze Deséze was a prestigious lawyer by the time of the Revolution. He was called to Louis XVI s defense on account of this reputation and is said to have presented the most eloquent argument of all the defense lawyers. In his argument, he questioned the Convention s right to judge the King s crimes and argued the King never violated the constitution of François Denis Tronchet In 1789, Tronchet represented the Third estate at the estates General. He then served in the National Assembly and was chosen to interrogate the King after the Flight to Varennes. Louis XVI surprisingly selected him to be part of his defense team in his trial 19. Tronchet defended King Louis on grounds that he never violated the constitution of Radical Leaders: Maximilien de Robespierre A Jacobin and an influential member of the National Convention. Robespierre would go on to play a major role under the Committee of Public Safety during the Reign of Terror. Robespierre asserted that Louis XVI could not protect himself with the constitution that he violated himself. He argued that keeping Louis XVI only serves as a threat to the liberty of France and provides no benefits 20. Voted for Louis s execution without appeal. Camille Desmoulins Elected as deputy to National Convention representing Paris. Desmoulin s views were closely aligned with those of Robespierre and Danton; however, he had affiliations with Montagnards 21. Voted for Louis s Execution. Georges Danton Danton boasted he had been responsible for the King s overthrow. After largely exaggerated his involvement, Danton was elected to the Legislative Assembly as Minister of Justice. As a member of the Public Safety, Danton, along with Desmoulins, attempted to distance himself from the violent aspects of the French Revolution 22. Voted for the Execution of Louis XVI. 18-Jordan, David P. The King s Trial (Louis XVI vs The French Revolution). 25th ed. N.p.: U of California, Print. 19-Walzer, Michael. Regicide and Revolution; Speeches at the Trial of Louis XVI. London: Cambridge UP, Print. 20-Linton, Marisa. Robespierre and the Terror. History Today. History Today, Aug Web. 21 Nov Camille Desmoulins Biography. Camille Desmoulins Biography. French Revolution Biographies, Web. 30 Nov Duhaime, Lloyd. Danton, Georges Jacques. Duhaime.org. Permalink, June Web. 30 Nov Picture- The French Revolution - Explained with a Few Questions. A Few Good Things. N.p., 17 July Web. 23 Jan

9 The 33 charges - Drafted by Jean-Baptiste Robert Lindet Louis, the French people accuse you of having committed a multitude of crimes in order to establish your tyranny by destroying its liberty. 1. On 20 June 1789, you attacked the sovereignty of the people by suspending the assemblies of its representatives and by driving them by violence from the place of their sessions. Proof thereof exists in the procès-verbal drafted at the Tennis Court of Versailles by the members of the Constituent Assembly. 2. On 23 June you wished to dictate the laws to the nation; you surrounded its representatives with troops; you presented them with two royal declarations, subversive of every liberty, and you ordered them to separate. Your declarations and the minutes of the Assembly established these outrages undeniably. 3. You caused an army to march against the citizens of Paris; your satellites caused their blood to flow, and you withdrew this army only when the capture of the Bastille and the general insurrection apprised you that the people were victorious. The speeches that you gave on 9, 12, and 14 July to various deputations from the Constituent Assembly indicated your intentions, and the massacres of the Tuileries stood as evidence against you. 4. After said events, and in spite of the promises you made on the 15th in the Constituent Assembly, and on the 17th at the Paris City Hall, you persisted in your designs against national liberty. For a long time you evaded executing the decrees of 11 August concerning the abolition of personal servitude, the feudal regime, and the tithe. For a long time you refused to acknowledge the Declaration of the Rights of Man. You doubled the number of your bodyguards and summoned the Flanders Regiment to Versailles. In orgies held before your very eyes your permitted the national cockade to be trampled under foot, the white cockade to be raised, and the nation blasphemed; finally, you occasioned a new insurrection, caused the death of several citizens, and only after the defeat of your guards did you change your language and renew your perfidious promises. The proofs of these facts are present in foot your observations of 18 September on the decrees of 11 August, in the minutes of the Constituent Assembly, in the events of 5 and 6 October at Versailles, and in the discourse that you gave on the same day to a 9 deputation from the Constituent Assembly, when you told it that you wished to enlighten its counsels and never to separate yourself from it. 5. At the federation of 14 July you took an oath which you have not kept. Soon you attempted to corrupt the public mind with the aid of Talon, who acted in Paris, and of Mirabeau, who was to impart a counter-revolutionary movement to the provinces. You disbursed millions to accomplish such corruption, and you even wished to make popularity a means of enslaving the people. These facts derive from a memoir of Talon, postscript by your own hand, and from a letter written to you by Laporte on 19 April, and in which, reporting a conversation that he had had with Rivarol, he told you that the millions pledged to you for distribution had produced nothing. 6. For a long time you contemplated flight: on 23 February a memoir was sent to you indicating the means therefore, and you approved it. On the 28th a multitude of nobles and officers distributed themselves throughout your apartments at the Tuileries Palace to facilitate such flight. On 18 April you wished to leave Paris to go to St. Cloud, but the resistance of the citizens showed you that opposition was great; you sought to dissipate it by communicating to the Constituent Assembly a letter that you were sending to the agents of the nation in foreign countries, to announce to them that you had freely accepted the constitutional articles presented to you, but on 21 June you made your escape with a false passport; you left a declaration against those same constitutional articles; you ordered the ministers not to sign any documents emanating from National Assembly, and you forbade the Minister of Justice to deliver the Seals of State. The people s money was wasted in achieving the success of this treason, and the public force was to protect it under the orders of Bouillé, who but lately had been charged with directing the massacre of Nancy, and to whom you had written concerning that event to attest to his popularity because he might be useful to you. These facts are proven by the memoir of 23 February, postscript in your own hand; by your declaration of 20 June, entirely in your handwriting; by your letter of 24 September 1790, to Bouillé, and by a note from him in which he gave you an accounting of the use of 983,000 livres provided by you and employed in part in the corrupting of the troops which were to be your escort.

10 7. After your arrest at Varennes, the exercise of the executive power was for a time taken from your hands; and still you conspired. On 17 July the blood of citizens was shed at the Champ-de-Mars. A letter in your handwriting, written in 1790 to Lafayette, proves that a criminal coalition existed between you and him, and that Mirabeau had acceded thereto. Revision began under these cruel auspices; all kinds of corruption were employed you paid for libels, pamphlets, newspapers intended to pervert public opinion, to discredit the assignats, and to uphold the cause of the émigrés. The registers of Septeuil show that enormous sums were spent in these liberticide stratagems. On 14 September you apparently accepted the Constitution; your speeches announced a desire to maintain it, and you worked to overthrow it before it even was achieved. 8. An agreement was made at Pillnitz, on 24 July, between Leopold of Austria and Frederick William of Brandenburg, who pledged themselves to restore to France the throne of the absolute monarchy; and you were silent on that agreement up to the time when it was known to all Europe. 9. Arles raised the standard of revolt; you favored it by sending three civil commissioners, who concerned themselves, not with repressing the counter-revolutionaries, but with justifying their attacks. 10. Avignon and the Comtat Venaissin were joined to France; and you did not have the decree executed until a month had elapsed; and during that time civil war desolated that territory. The commissioners you successively sent their completed the work of devastation. 11. Nîmes, Montauban, and Jalès experienced great disturbances from the first days of counter-revolution, up to the time when the conspiracy of Dussaillant manifested itself. 12. You sent twenty-two battalions against the people of Marseilles who were marching to subdue the counter-revolutionaries of Arles. 13. You gave the command of the South to Wittgenstein, who wrote to you on 21 April 1792, after he had been recalled; A little throne thousands of Frenchmen who have again become worthy of the vows you are making for their welfare. 14. You paid your former bodyguards at Coblentz; the registers of Septeuil stand proof thereof, and several orders signed by you show that you had considerable sums passed on to Boullé, Rochefort, La Vauguyon, Choiseul-Beaupré, Hamilton, and Mme. Polignac. 15. Your brothers, enemies of the state, have rallied the émigrés under their colors; they have raised regiments, borrowed money, and contracted alliances in your name; you disavowed them only when you were quite certain that you could not harm their plans. Your understanding with them is proved by a letter written in the handwriting of Louis-Stanislas-Xavier, signed by your two brothers, and worded as follows: I wrote to you, but it was by post and I could say nothing. We are here two persons acting as one, with the same sentiments, the same principles the same ardor to serve you. We are maintaining silence; but that is because, by breaking it too soon, we might compromise you; but we shall speak as soon as we are sure of general support, and that moment is near. If we are addressed on the part of those people, we shall listen to nothing; if it is on your behalf, we shall heed; but we shall go straight along our way; so, if they want you to make us say something, do not worry. Be at ease about your safety; we live only to serve you; we are working ardently for that purpose, and all is going well; even our enemies take too great an interest in your presentation to commit a useless crime which would complete their destruction. Farewell. L.-S. Xavier and Charles-Philippe. 16. The army of the line, which should have been brought to a war footing, was only 100,000 strong at the end of December; you thus neglected to provide for the external security of the State. Narbonne, your agent, requested a levy of 50,000 men; but he stopped the recruiting at 26,000, giving assurance that everything was ready. Nothing, however, was ready. After him, Servan proposed the formation of a camp of 20,000 men in the vicinity of Paris; the Legislative Assembly so decreed; you refused your sanction. An outburst of enthusiasm caused citizens to set out from all sides for Paris; you issued a proclamation which tended to stop them. However, our armies were lacking in sol- 10

11 diers; Dumouriez, Servant s successor, declared that the nation had neither arms, munitions, nor provisions, and that the positions were not defendable. 17. You were issued an order to the commanders of the troops to disorganize the army, to drive entire regiments to desertion, and to have them cross the Rhine in order to place them at the disposal of your brothers and Leopold of Austria; this fact is proved by a letter from Toulon Geon, commander of Franche-Comté. 18. You charged your diplomatic agents with favoring the coalition of foreign powers and your brothers against France; and particularly to strengthen peace between Turkey and Austria, in order to excuse the latter from supplying its frontiers on the Turkish boundary and thereby to procure for it a greater number of troops against France. A letter from Choiseul-Gouffier, former ambassador to Constantinople, establishes this fact. 19. You waited to be actuated by a requisition made to Minister Lajard, whom the Legislative Assembly was asking to indicate his means of providing for the external security of the State, before proposing by a message the levy of forty-two battalions. 20. The Prussians were advancing on our frontiers. Your minister was called upon, on 8 July, to give an account of the state of our political relations with Prussia; on the 10th you replied that 50,000 Prussians were marching against us, and that you were advising the Legislative Body officially of these imminent hostilities, as required by the Constitution. 21. You entrusted the Department of War to D abancourt, nephew of Calonne; and such was the success of your conspiracy, that the positions of Longwy and Verdun were surrendered as soon as the enemy appeared. 22. You destroyed our navy. Many officers of that body were émigrés; hardly any remained to perform the service of the ports: however, Bertrand always granted passports; when the Legislative Body exposed his guilt to you, on 8 March, you replied that you were satisfied with his services. 23. You favored the maintenances of absolute government in the colonies; throughout them, your agents fomented disorder and counter-revolution, which took place at the same time that it occurred in France, a sufficient indications that your hand conducted this plot. 24. The interior of the State was disturbed by fanatics, and you declared yourself their protector by manifesting the obvious intention of recovering your former power through them. 25. On 29 September the Legislative Body issued a decree against rebellious priests; you suspended the execution thereof. 26. Disturbances increased; the minister declared that, under existing laws, he knew of no means of prosecuting the guilty parties. The Legislative Body issued a new decree; you suspended its execution also. 27. The lack of patriotism on the part of the guards whom the Constitution had given you necessitated their disbanding. The next day you wrote them a letter of satisfaction; you continued to pay them. This fact is proved by the accounts of the treasurer of the Civil List 28. You kept the Swiss Guards with you; the Constitution forbade them, and the Legislative Assembly had expressly ordered their departure. 29. In Paris you had special companies charged with carrying on activities useful to your counter-revolutionary plans. D Anglemont and Gilles were two of your agents; they were on the payroll of the Civil List. The receipts of Gilles, charged with the organization of a company of sixty men, will be presented to you. 30. You tried to bribe, with considerable sums, several members of the Constituent and Legislative Assemblies; letters form Dufresne Saint-Léon and several others, which will be presented to you, establish this fact. 31. You allowed the French nation to be disgraced in Germany, in Italy, and in Spain, since you did nothing to exact reparation for the ill treatment which the French experienced in those countries. 32. On 10 August you reviewed the Swiss Guards at five o clock in the morning; and the Swiss Guards fired first on the citizens. 33. You caused the blood of Frenchmen to flow Trial of Louis XVI. Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web. 23 Jan

12 Questions to Consider: 1. What charges should be brought against or what defenses should be brought up in favor of Louis XVI? 2. What failures is Louis XVI responsible for? 3. What would be a feasible replacement for the Ancien Regime? 4. What are your individual s personal ambitions and goals in the revolution? Additional Readings: 1. Declaration of Rights of Man (pdf attached): VI+trial& source=bl&ots=s-vxuxsy6b&sig=alicv937xffkry1qkybjyvr6dpe&hl=en&sa=x&ved=0ahukewjx19-ojrn JAhXKaD4KHfd1Ab0Q6AEIOTAE#v=onepage&q&f=false 3. tion+and+its+causes&ots=p9kowol05r&sig=qzkw4wadmlna9k5yffg7jni6uus#v=onepage&q=french%20rev olution%20and%20its%20 causes &f=false

13 Works Cited Camille Desmoulins Biography. Camille Desmoulins Biography. French Revolution Biographies, Web. 30 Nov Conolly, Patrick J. Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. IEP, n.d. Web. 21 Nov Duhaime, Lloyd. Danton, Georges Jacques. Duhaime.org. Permalink, June Web. 30 Nov French Revolution. - New World Encyclopedia. New World Encyclopedia, n.d. Web. 21 Nov French Revolution. History.com. A&E Television Networks, n.d. Web. 21 Nov Furet, François. Interpreting the French Revolution. Trans. Elborg Forster. N.p.: U of Cambridge, Print. Girondin Political Group, France. Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopedia Britannica, n.d. Web. 21 Nov Jordan, David P. The King s Trial (Louis XVI vs The French Revolution). 25th ed. N.p.: U of California, Print. Linton, Marisa. Robespierre and the Terror. History Today. History Today, Aug Web. 21 Nov Montagnard French History. Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopedia Britannica, n.d. Web. 21 Nov The Radical Stage. The History Guide. Steven Kreis, n.d. Web. 21 Nov Target, Gui Jean Baptiste. Wikisource. Encyclopædia Britannica, Web. 21 Nov Trial of Louis XVI. Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web. 23 Jan Walzer, Michael. Regicide and Revolution; Speeches at the Trial of Louis XVI. London: Cambridge UP, Print. 13