The second part of a PowerPoint about the French Revolution. Designed for grade 9 history students.

1. THE FRENCH
REVOLUTION PART 2

2. SECTION FOUR

3. THE FLIGHT TO VARENNES
 Louis and Marie Antoinette were worried about
the actions of the National Assembly. They
sought help from outside countries, especially
Austria.
 In June, 1791, the royal family tried to escape
the country. They made it as far as Varennes,
but were caught and imprisoned again.

4. THE CONSTITUTION OF 1791
 Since they were caught, Louis was forced to
accept the new constitution which created a
Legislative Assembly with which he was to
share power.

5. THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY
 In October 1791, the Legislative
Assembly, elected under the new
constitution, met for the first time. The
seating arrangements in the Assembly
reflected divisions among the revolutionaries.
Moderate revolutionaries sat on the right side
of the meeting hall, and radical
revolutionaries sat on the left side.

6. THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY
 The best known Moderates were the
Girondists. They were embarrassed by the
king’s attempted flight, but they wanted to
preserve the constitutional monarchy.
 They were the voice against violence in the
Assembly.

7. THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY
 Radicals claimed that the king could not
be trusted. They demanded the
establishment of a republic.
 The Jacobins were the most influential
radicals. They demanded a true
democracy in which all male citizens had
the right to vote.
 As the French Revolution unfolded, the
Jacobins and their leaders, Jean-Paul
Marat, Georges Danton, and Maximilien
Robespierre, would gain the upper hand.

8. THE RADICAL JACOBINS
Maximilien Robespierre
(1758-1794)
Georges Danton
Jean-Paul Marat
(1759–1794)
(1743-1793)

9. FRANCE AT WAR
 Many other European nations disliked the
spread of Revolution (especially Austria
and Prussia who ally together).
 France declared pre-emptive war on
Austria in April 1792. At first, the war went
badly for France. French armies were
disorganized and poorly led. Many army
officers, who were nobles, had left France.
 By August 1792, Austrian and Prussian
armies were advancing on Paris.

10. FRANCE AT WAR
 The people of Paris angrily declared that no
foreign troops would crush the revolution. All
over France, people rallied to defend the
revolution and chanted the slogan: “Liberty,
Equality, and Fraternity.” Soldiers from
Marseille hurried to Paris singing a patriotic
marching song, the “Marseillaise,” which was
adopted as the National Anthem of France.

11. FRANCE AT WAR
 In September, 1792 and the months that
followed, revolutionary armies forced the
invaders to retreat from France.
 The war against Austria and Prussia caused
high prices and desperate food shortages in
France.
 This created an opportunity for radical
revolutionaries to push harder for changes.

12. THE NATIONAL CONVENTION
 August 10, 1792. Radical revolutionaries
took over Paris and marched on the
Tuileries, where the king and his family lived.
The troops attacked the palace, killing many
of the king’s Swiss guards.
 The king and queen fled to the Legislative
Assembly, hoping for protection. But the
radicals also seized control of the Assembly.
They removed the king from office and voted
to imprison the royal family. They then called
for a National Convention to write a new

13. THE NATIONAL CONVENTION
 The National Convention voted to abolish
the monarchy and make France a republic.
The Convention then had to decide what to
do with the king. The radical Jacobins
demanded that Louis be tried for treason.
 Letters that showed that Louis was plotting
with foreign troops (émigrés) to crush the
revolution were used in the trial. Louis XVI
was convicted of treason.

14. EXECUTION OF THE MONARCHS
 On January 21, 1793,
Louis mounted the
steps of the guillotine.
“People, I die innocent!”
were the king’s last
words to the watching
crowd.
 Marie Antoinette was
guillotined later that
year - in October, 1793.

15. EXECUTION OF THE MONARCHS

16. THE DEATH OF MARAT
 After Louis is
executed, but
before the Reign of
Terror begins in
earnest, Jean-Paul
Marat is killed by
Charlotte Corday
because she thinks
this will prevent
further deaths.

17. THE REIGN OF TERROR
 After the death of Louis XVI, the government
became more and more radical. Harsh laws
made it possible to arrest and kill almost
anyone just by accusing them of speaking
against the revolution.
 Nobles, clergy, food speculators, Girondists,
and even Jacobins and commoners were
killed in large number (over 37 000).

18. THE REIGN OF TERROR
 Danton was killed by guillotine after trying to
caution against radicalism (April, 1794).
 As the saying goes –
”The Revolution Devours Its Own Children.”

19. THE FALL OF ROBESPIERRE
 Robespierre was the last of the three main
leaders. He had become a dictator running
the Reign of Terror.
 He was turned on after he threatened to
execute more members of government, but
didn’t specify who.
 Robespierre was killed by guillotine three
months after Danton (after failing to commit
suicide properly) (July, 1794).

20. THE FALL OF ROBESPIERRE

21. THE DIRECTORY (1795-1799)
 The Constitution of 1795 established a new
government known as the Directory. The
Directory included an elected legislature and
an executive branch with five directors.
There were five leaders to try to avoid
dictatorships.
 The Constitution restricted the right to vote to
men who could read and who owned a
certain amount of property. As a result, the
middle class and wealthy landowners gained
influence in the new government.

22. THE CONSULATE (1799-1804)
 When the Directory
proved to be
ineffective, it was
replaced by a Consulate
(1799-1804), which was
three men who ran the
government.
 The Consulate was not
much more
effective, because it was
soon dominated by one
man .

23. EMPEROR NAPOLEON
 Napoleon Bonaparte
claimed power from
the Consulate, by
becoming First
Consul in 1800. It
was not long after
this, in 1804, he
declared himself
Emperor of France.