FRENCH REVOLUTION 1789
CLIL SESSIONS HISTORY ENGLISH 4th of ESO Author: Marta García Andrés
SESSION 1 What would you start a Revolution for?
One of the most important events of European history in the 18th century was the French Revolution. This event affected social values and political systems first in France, then Europe, and finally the world. CAUSES OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION: 1.
The Enlightenment. A period marked by the creative ideas and writings of scientists, mathematicians, and philosophers who rejected the traditional ideas of the Catholic Church and the conventional wisdom. RenĂŠ Descartes, Isaac Newton or John Locke were representatives of this movement and they helped people question the divine right of kings.
2. The Three Estates. By the late eighteenth century, The French population was divided into three estates. The First Estate was made up of the clergy. It numbered around 100,000 people. The Second Estate was made up of the nobility. It numbered around 400,000 people. The Third Estate was made up of the bourgeoisie, wage earners, and the peasantry. It made up the majority of the French population. They were forced to do military service and had to pay taxes to their lord, the King Louis XVI and the Church.
Meanwhile, nobles living in luxury palaces did not have to do military service or pay taxes (and they were the richest!). 3. Economy. At his death, King Louis XIV, the “Sun King”, had left the country deeply in debt. Since many families could no longer pay the high costs of food, rent, and the oppressive taxes, they lost their homes. This caused widespread homelessness. These families were now forced to beg for a living, which became so common that it was considered just another job.
Let’s see if you understood the social problems of the 18th century France…
Find a synonym for each of the words below: Reject (paragraph 1): ________________________ Wisdom (paragraph 1): _______________________ Clergy (paragraph 2): _________________________ Luxury (paragraph 2): ______________________ Rent (paragraph 3): ______________________ Homelessness (paragraph 3): ______________________ Beg (paragraph 3): __________________________ Answer the following questions using your own words: 1. Why were people who believed in the Enlightenment against absolute monarchy?
2. Give at least three reasons why many French people were unhappy with the King in 1789.
Can you imagine what happened next? Did the Third Estate rebel against the King Louis XVI? Let’s watch this video to find it out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VEZqarUnVpo
Why is French revolution so important in History? Can you compare it to present social movements?
SESSION 2 ESTATES GENERAL OF 1789 King Louis XVI tried to tax the nobles, so they demanded a meeting of the Estates General to vote on the issue. The Estates General was a meeting that reunited an equal number of representatives from each Estate to solve this serious political crisis. Each estate used to meet separately, vote and brought back only one vote per estate. But let’s make numbers because the First and Second Estates had 150 members, while the Third Estate had 300 members.
If First and Second Estates used to vote the same, which Estate would win?
Was this voting fair? Who benefited from it?
The Third Estate then asked King Louis XVI for all Estates to meet together and get one vote per person. Although at first the King granted the double representation of the Third Estate by royal decree, he finally said no! One vote by state instead of by head! The Third Estate rebelled and changed its name to the National Assembly. They wrote together a new French Constitution. When the King ordered them to disband and closed their meeting site, they met at a nearby Tennis Court and swore to stay there until the King signed the new Constitution. Robespierre, a Jacobin, was the leader of the National Assembly.
The Tennis Court Oath - Jacques Louis David
I work so much and my factory makes a lot of money. And yet I have no say in how this country is run. Down with the King!
The King does nothing to stop local aristocrat’s animals wandering all over my land, ruining my crops. I am fed up!
Marie Antoinette is a disgrace. She spends all the money in fashion. And she hasn’t got style!
I’ve lost my job in the textile Factory. I have three children to feed. My family and I will starve. The King is an incompetent. He does everything wrong! How can a country be governed by such man? Let us decide!
I was born a noble. I can’t help it! I must have some privileges…
We make money in France and give jobs to peasants. We must have more votes!
It is horrible to think that while some people are starving the clergy and the nobles live in rich palaces.
God sent me to rule France. You can’t take me that huge power!
I have lands to grow and schools to maintain. I need the money! I can’t pay taxes!
The nobility has more lands and power! Ask them to pay taxes!
Imagine you have to speak up in the Estates General. You can be a peasant, a bourgeois, a businessman, a noble, a clerk or even the King! Give reasons to prevent your Estate from paying taxes. You can use the ideas in the previous page and the structures included below.
Use constructions like:
Give opinions:
I have been working/living/starving…
I think we deserve better.
I was/worked/paid…
I believe we have worked enough.
I am tired/annoyed/angry/unsatisfied…
I am in favour of each one of us voting.
Express how angry you are:
Give reasons:
I am fed up!
because…
This is enough!
due to…
Down with the taxes!
for that reason…
We need a change!
that is the reason why… so…
Write a few notes in these lines to prepare the speech you would give.
SESSION 3 Fearing the sentiment of revolution that
was
quickly
expanding
throughout the capital, King Louis XVI placed troops throughout the capital city as well as around the palace. In order to defend the National Assembly, rioters attacked the
Prison
of
Bastille
where
weapons and ammunition were stored. In this battle, a number of rioters and soldiers were killed. The rioters were able to gain control of the prison and establish a new radical government in Paris. The National Assembly presented new reforms along with the Declaration of Rights to the King, who refused to acknowledge them. This lack of support from the King greatly angered many of the people in France, who were anxious to see a new era in freedom and equality. People in France demanded that the King not only acknowledged these new laws, but also that he moved to Paris with his family in order to show his support for the National Assembly. In October of 1789, King Louis XVI finally consented to move to Paris after having his palace surrounded by an angry mob who threatened to attack. By 1791, a Constitution was ready. It kept the monarchy, but limited its royal powers. It also established a legislature, which would be elected by the people. This new constitution granted equal rights to all men, who could vote so long as they paid a tax. In order to pay off the national debts which had been accumulated by earlier kings, the lands owned by the Catholic Church were confiscated and sold. In June of 1791, King Louis XVI, fearing for the lives of himself and his family, attempted to escape into Austria because Marie Antoinette’s brother was the emperor there. Their attempt failed, however, when they were recognized along the road by a passerby who called for soldiers to have them arrested. Returned to Paris, the King and his family had no choice but to remain in their home as prisoners.
Once a new republic was
constituted,
in
1792, King Louis XVI was tried before the National
Convention
where he was found guilty
of
having
conspired against the liberty of the nation. The
21st
January
of
1793, he was put to death by the Guillotine.
FINAL TASK Imagine you are a remarkable English journalist whose job is to inform British citizens about the revolts currently happening in France. Yesterday, King Louis XVI was guillotined and you, as a correspondent in Paris for France Today, witnessed the whole event. You can get plenty of information about King Louis XVI’s death here: http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/louis.htm Write a piece of news explaining the historical event in the following newspaper page. You can do it in little groups of 4 people.
FRance Today 22 January 1793 nd
Yesterday in Paris…
He was executed following this trail in December. Lawyers for the prosecution claimed that…
Louis and his defend lawyers claimed that…
On the day of his execution, Louis was…
To end with the lesson, let’s see how much you have learnt about the French Revolution… Answer this quiz. 1. Louis XVI was married to ________. a) Josephine Beauharnais b) Madame Bovary c) Maria Teresa d) Marie Antoinette 2. The Committee of Public Safety guillotined thousands during the _______. a) Battle of Waterloo b) Franco-Prussian War c) National Assembly d) Reign of Terror 3. Under _______, the monarch has absolute control over government. a) absolutism b) constitutional monarchy c) democracy d) totalitarism 4. The _______ (led by Robespierre) represented workers. a) Girondists b) Jacobins c) Loyalists d) Whigs 5. The _______ Estate was a privileged class, containing the nobility. a) First b) Second c) Third d) Fourth 6. What became known as the “national razor”? a) Convention b) guillotine
c) king d) octrot 7. Which of the following was not a privilege of the First Estate? a) censorship of the press b) collection of the tithe (the Church tax) c) keeping of birth, death, and marriage records d) right to elect the monarch 8. The _______ Estate was a privileged class, containing high-ranking members of the Church. a) First b) Second c) Third d) Fourth 9. France’s pre-revolutionary economy was based primarily on _______. a) agriculture b) manufacturing c) mining d) tourism 10. The _______ Estate was an unprivileged class, containing the bulk of the population. a) First b) Second c) Third d) Fourth 11. When news of Louis XVI's plan to use military force against the National Assembly reached Paris on July 14, 1789, Parisians stormed the ________. a) Bastille b) Eiffel Tower c) Tuileries Palace d) Versailles Palace