French revolution ppp

The French Revolution
1789 – 1795

Allegory of
Truth
Female
revolutionary
figures stood for
all kinds of
qualities and
virtues, in this
case, "Truth."

Women figures appeared so prominently in paintings and engravings because French nouns for the qualities and
virtues were usually feminine (Truth = La Vérité). In other words, paintings such as this one did not represent real
women; they used allegorical figures to make a more abstract point.

Reason
To contemporaries who subscribed
to the Enlightenment, the term
"reason" was to be contrasted to
superstition.

Liberty
Even before the Revolution, the
French had used a woman to
symbolize ‘liberty’. By July 1789 this
symbol had become quite common
and would only grow more familiar
over the revolutionary decade.
Belonging to no group and no
particular place, she stood for a
universal principle based on reason.

Equality
At the beginning of the Revolution, the
term ‘equality’ meant an end to the
legal differences that had characterized
the Old Regime. For example, all
individuals would be subject to the
same regimen of taxation. Over the
course of the decade, however, the
Revolution radicalized, and ‘equality’
expanded to encompass an end to
many other sorts of differences,
particularly economic ones.

Although equality is here represented as a woman,
the revolutionaries were capable of using males,
particularly Hercules. But this powerful symbol
frightened many, especially from the educated elite,
and the female "Equality" seemed far less terrifying.

Fraternity
Using a woman to represent "Fraternity"
seems ironic at best, although
theoretically the term might mean the
community of humanity. In actuality, when
the revolutionaries considered
"community," they certainly thought of
men far more than women. The period
saw women take advantage of
opportunities presented to them, but
outright champions of this kind of
inclusive community were few. What
might the revolutionaries have meant,
then, by their reliance on the female
form? One might hypothesize that in a
revolution that feared the bold action of
crowds, construing fraternity in this
fashion softened and lessened such
concerns

Further discussion:
In the early liberal stage of the revolution, fraternity was vastly
overshadowed by equality & liberty (these ideas were the main
concerns of the Declaration of Rights of Man & Citizen & the
August Decrees). The women demonstrated some sense of fraternity in
their March to Versailles, but again, their concerns lay with the price of
bread and other ideals.
The first show of fraternity came with the Festival of Federation,
which celebrated the success & unity of the Fall of the Bastille.
Lafayette used this festival to elevate his own role as the moderator of
the crowd & the hero of the people, wishing to equate his position with
that of Louis.
The Girondins encouraged the notion of fraternity in the declaration of
the 'motherland in danger' during war with Austria, creating an
opening in the National Guard for sans-culottes. They did this to rally
political support for themselves, as well as military support for the
army.

Fraternity as an idea only gained greater significance in the
latter part of the revolution, particularly during the Terror, when
the notions of personal liberty & equality were sacrificed in
the name of collective liberty & equality.
Leaders like Robespierre used this principle as justification for
their measures including the Law of Suspects, use of
revolutionary tribunals, and watch committees to crush rebellion.
This also justified their use of representatives-en-mission and
grain requisitioning on peasants as a means of protecting the
whole nation.
Ironically, the new order espoused the ideal of fraternity, yet was
coloured by the bloody results of people spying on & 'telling on'
each other eg. September Massacres, show trials.
Finally, Robespierre tried to promote the notion of fraternity with
the Festival of the Supreme Being, which tried to unite France
after the Civil Constitution of the Clergy - however, this
contributed to his downfall.

Republican
Calendar
This poster includes the
Republic’s new calendar
under an image of
Marianne, another
symbol of the Republic as
well as the ultimate
expression of
revolutionary liberation
from the past.

Without her pike & calmly reading a
book with a cupid around, she is
more the mother of the new system
than a warrior for liberty, as in other
prints.

"An Ordinary
Guillotine"
The guillotine was ﬁrst
introduced as a humane,
efﬁcient, and above all
modern form of execution in
April 1792.
During the radical phase of
the Republic, it would
become the symbol of
the Terror.
This engraving suggests the
guillotine is providing "good
support for liberty."

Louis XVI
represented the
"body politic" of
the old regime.
Theoretically,
France existed
only as an entity in
the body of the
King.
The citizens were
his subjects; the
geographical parts
linked together
only through the
monarch.

Madame Elizabeth,
sister of Louis XVI

Oppression of the Third Estate

Such a perspective
on the period
before 1789
purposely
exaggerates social
divisions.
It would have
found few
proponents before
the Revolution, but
the image does
reveal the social
clash felt so
intensely by the
revolutionaries.

‘Fusillade in the Faubourg
St. Antoine, 28 April 1789"
This image chronicles a
riot. Many believe it was
caused by artisans who
attacked the Reveillon
wallpaper shop and
factory because they
believed that the owner was
about to lower wages. Over
two days, more than 6,000
attacked the place. On 28
April troops were called and
ﬁred on the crowd. The
ofﬁcial report noted 71
killed, wounded, or detained.
28 April 1789

These three figures are wearing costumes prescribed for deputies to the Estates-General…

"Departure of the Three Orders for Versailles"
In this image, representatives of each of the three orders depart together in a cart for
the 1789 meeting of the Estates–General at Versailles, where they will advise the King on
behalf of the nation.

5 May 1789 – opening plenary session of the
Estates General

In July, out-of-work peasants who crowded the slums at the edge of Paris rioted and looted… Below, an
unruly mob sets fire to one of the hated customs barriers at which taxes were levied on goods entering the
city.

‘The Third Incident of 14 July
1789’
This engraving from the Berthault
series depicts Stanislas Maillard
bravely climbing on a plank over
the dry moat surrounding the
fortress to accept from one of the
soldiers Launay’s "capitulation" of
the Bastille.

Taking of the

14 July 1789 Bastille
This print
emphasizes the
populace’s
participation in the
storming of the
Bastille, showing the
urban population
ﬁghting under a red
banner with
muskets, swords, and
pikes against the
royal soldiers.
Stunning images and
dramatic press
reports—
contributed to what
has become the
widespread view
that the taking of the
Bastille was a
spontaneous, and
widely popular
revolt against royal
authority.

At the Palais Royal, one of the
many orators roused the
crowd on July 12, 1789,
addressing citizens carrying
wax busts of Necker and the
Duke of Orleans.

"Speech in
the Garden
of the
Palais
Royal"
This idealized
portrait shows
the
revolutionary
Camille
Desmoulins
exhorting a
crowd of
people to go
to the streets
and defend the
Revolution

Lafayette appears on his famous white
charger in a print celebrating his
appointment as commander of the
Paris National Guards.

"National Assembly Relinquishes All Its Privileges "
In late July 1789, as reports poured into Paris from the countryside of several
thousand separate yet related peasant mobilizations, a majority of them
against seigneurial property, the deputies of the National Assembly debated
reforming not just the ﬁscal system or the constitution but the very basis of
French society.
In a dramatic all–night session on 4–5 August deputies stepped forward,
one after another, to renounce for the good of the "nation" the particular
privileges enjoyed by their town or region. By the morning, noble, clerical, and
commoner deputies had proposed, debated, and approved even more
systematic reform, voting to "abolish the feudal system entirely," effectively
eliminating noble and clerical privilege, the fundamental principle of French
society since the Middle Ages.
As dramatic a gesture as this was, it was also very abstract—after all, the
"feudal system" had virtually ceased to exist in France for several hundred
years; thus, working out the details of this decree became a primary objective
of the National Assembly for the next two years.

Light blue
areas indicate
the main
theatre of the
revolutionary
wars; darker
blue indicates
areas in which
counter-
revolutionary
forces arose.
The areas in
grey are
territories
occupied by
France during
the
Revolution.
The dotted line
from Paris
shows the
escape route of
the King.

Awakening of the Third Estate -
With the Bastille being destroyed in the
background, a member of the Third Estate
breaks his shackles. Here, the clergy and
nobility recoil in fear, thereby emphasizing
the conﬂict between the estates.

Farewell Bastille

This hand–colored engraving equates the taking of the Bastille with the rise of the Third Estate against the clergy and nobility. A
commoner in a black hat sporting a tricolor cockade plays the bagpipe triumphantly over the fallen lion of the absolutist monarchy. To the
side, a revolutionary soldier raises his sword to menace a priest.

Oath of the New Horaces -

Social discrimination against
old regime elites continued in
this parody of a famous
painting prior to the
Revolution, The Oath of the
Horatii, by Jacques–Louis
David which focused on the
courage of three brothers
who thrust their arms bravely
forward to signal their
willingness to sacriﬁce
themselves for their country.

In this image, three ofﬁcers
recruited from the nobility
offer a weak salute, suggesting
their irresolute allegiance to
the king and a lack of
leadership ability.

2 November 1789
They Had Them Too Long –

This image demonstrates the
necessity of nationalizing
church property.

It shows a peasant cutting the
ﬁngers off a priest’s hands; a
nobleman cannot bear to
watch, but has no qualms
about putting on the gloves
the clergyman will no longer
need.

Although the focus is on the
clergy, the noble’s greed is
clearly in evidence

Active Citizen Passive Citizen

This piece of
crockery
demonstrates the
sentiments of
social unity so
prevalent at the
Festival of
Federation. The
crossed sword,
pike, clerical
staff, and bonnet
symbolize the
union of the
nobility,
peasants, clergy,
and workers,
respectively.

In this English cartoon,
entitled ‘French democrats
surprising the royal
runaways’, a startled king
and queen. Still disguised,
are confronted by a
howling mob of citizens of
Varennes.
As a joke, the artist gave
Louis’ profile to Marie.

1792 A British & French
Comparison

Towns & villages planted ‘ Liberty Trees’ hung with cockades and topped by revolutionary caps to
demonstrate republican zeal. Above, a group of sans-culottes dance around a tree set up near the Bastille
and rout an Austrian army with their patriotic ardour.

Game of the Great Men, Minot
the Elder
Revolutionaries redesigned
playing cards in order to
eliminate references to royalty
(kings, queens, jacks) and
replace them with great men
and abstract virtues

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