Major European Events Between 1789 and 1835
Senior 4 · History
Major European Events Between 1789 and 1835
Lesson 2 of 5
25 min
On 16 Pluviôse of Year II of the Republic (4 February 1794), the National Convention in Paris passed the decree below. Study the printed heading and the handwritten text.
"The National Convention declares that the slavery of Black people in all the colonies is abolished; in consequence it decrees that all men, without distinction of colour, living in the colonies are French citizens and shall enjoy all the rights guaranteed by the Constitution."
Decree of 16 Pluviôse Year II, translated from the French by Ganzaa. The original uses an 18th-century word for Black people that is now offensive.
Analyse it. Why did a revolution that began over taxes in Paris end slavery five thousand kilometres away? Two forces met. The ideas of 1789, that "men are born and remain free and equal in rights", made slavery hard to defend. And in August 1791 the enslaved people of Saint-Domingue (today's Haiti) had risen in revolt and were winning. The decree is evidence of both the Revolution's principles and the power of enslaved Africans to force those principles to be applied. It was also fragile: on 20 May 1802 Napoleon reinstated slavery in the French colonies, and Haiti won its freedom only by war, declaring independence on 1 January 1804.
Definition
National Assembly: the body formed by the Third Estate on 17 June 1789, which claimed to represent the nation. National Convention: the assembly elected in 1792 that abolished the monarchy and governed France until 1795. Jacobins: the radical republican club led by Robespierre. The Terror: the period from the Law of Suspects (17 September 1793) to Robespierre's execution (28 July 1794) when the government used mass arrests and executions against suspected enemies. Directory: the five-man executive that governed France from November 1795 to 1799.
| Phase | What happened | Why it moved on |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Constitutional monarchy, 1789 to 1792 | The Bastille fell on 14 July 1789. The August Decrees abolished feudalism, cancelling the feudal dues on over 25% of farmland and the Church's tithes; the Declaration of the Rights of Man followed on 26 August. The Church was placed under state control. Louis XVI became "King of the French". | The king's flight to Varennes in June 1791 destroyed trust in him; foreign monarchs threatened France (Declaration of Pillnitz, August 1791); war began in April 1792 and early defeats led to the insurrection of 10 August 1792. |
| 2. Radical republic, 1792 to 1794 | Between 1,100 and 1,600 prisoners were killed in the September Massacres of 1792. Victory at Valmy (20 September) was followed by the proclamation of the Republic (22 September). Louis XVI was executed on 21 January 1793. The Committee of Public Safety ran the war and the Terror: about 17,000 people were officially executed and perhaps 10,000 more died in prison or without trial. | As the armies began to win, the Terror seemed less necessary and its leaders feared each other; Robespierre was overthrown and executed in July 1794. |
| 3. Thermidor and the Directory, 1794 to 1799 | A more conservative republic; the Directory from November 1795; continuing war abroad, corruption and coups at home. | Weak and unpopular, the Directory was overthrown by Napoleon Bonaparte's coup of 18 Brumaire (9 November 1799), which ends the Revolution. |
| Where | Consequences |
|---|---|
| France | End of absolute monarchy and of feudal privilege; equality before the law; Church lands and power reduced; a new calendar with 1792 as "Year One"; a centralised state; a citizen army; but also civil war and the Terror, and in the end military dictatorship under Napoleon. |
| Europe | Wars from 1792 to 1815; the spread of ideas of liberty, equality and nationalism; and a conservative reaction by monarchs determined to prevent revolution (lessons 4 and 5). |
| The colonies and Africa | The revolt in Saint-Domingue (1791), the abolition of slavery (1794), its reinstatement by Napoleon (1802) and the independence of Haiti, the first state founded by formerly enslaved Africans (1804). The language of the rights of man was later used by Africans against colonial rule. |
Warning
Do not treat "the Revolution" as one thing. The liberal Revolution of 1789 and the Terror of 1793–94 were made by different people for different reasons. Name the phase, the date and the actors. Likewise, do not write that "France abolished slavery" without adding that enslaved people in Saint-Domingue forced the issue and that Napoleon reinstated it in 1802.
Tip
Three phases, three colours: blue for hope (1789 to 1792), red for terror (1792 to 1794), grey for exhaustion (1794 to 1799). For each phase learn one law, one event and one person: e.g. Rights of Man, Bastille, Lafayette; Law of Suspects, execution of Louis XVI, Robespierre; Directory, Brumaire, Napoleon.
Important
Discuss. On 5 February 1794 Robespierre told the Convention that "the basis of popular government during a revolution is both virtue and terror; virtue, without which terror is baneful; terror, without which virtue is powerless" (English translation as given on Wikipedia). Can violence ever be justified to defend a revolution or a nation in danger? Compare what happens when governments decide some citizens are "enemies of the people". What does Rwanda's history teach about this?
CrashCourse, "The French Revolution: Crash Course European History #21". Watch for how the Revolution moved from reform to republic to Terror, and for the links the presenter draws between war abroad and radicalism at home.
Practice
Key points
Sources and credits
Written by Ganzaa: the translation, the timeline, the tables and the exercises. This lesson adapts CC BY-SA material and is shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Quick check
Put these events in order, earliest first.
Tap the cards in the right order.
