The Great French Revolution changed the world, overthrowing the absolute monarchy and making possible the transition to a capitalist system of social order. Thanks to her, the paths were opened to building a new state, spreading education and science, and creating new laws. Her motto “Liberty, equality, fraternity” did not become a reality for everyone, but it was no longer possible to forget it. The beginning of the revolution was the seizure by the people of the Bastille, the main prison of Paris. This happened on July 14, 1789. Later, power in the country fell into the hands of the Girondins, then the Jacobins and Thermidorians. After this came the period of the Directory. The revolution ended on November 9, 1799 with a coup carried out by Napoleon Bonaparte.

Causes of the French Revolution.

France in the 18th century was dominated by an absolutist monarchy - in the hands of King Louis XVI there was power over the life and death of any resident of the country. However, France had significant financial problems and was no longer as strong as in the past. The ideas of the Enlightenment developed, proclaiming equality, humanism and the rule of law, which aroused among the people hostility towards the rich who stood above the laws, in whose hands were all the power. It was primarily the educated townspeople (the bourgeoisie) who rebelled, who were deprived of influence on public life, the peasants who worked for the owners and struggled with crop failure year after year, and the plebs starving in the cities. Public outrage eventually grew into a revolution that changed the face of the world.

Do you know that: 1. One of the bloodiest episodes of the French Revolution was the execution of Louis XVI by guillotine on January 21, 1793. 2. Maximilien Robespierre (1758-1794) was a lawyer by profession and one of the main, radical leaders of the French Revolution. When his friends in the Jacobin Club seized power, imposed a dictatorship and began a reign of terror in order - as they claimed - to save the gains of the revolution, Robespierre was in fact directing the politics of his country. After the overthrow of the Jacobins he was executed.

The Great French Revolution is common name processes that engulfed France in the late 1780s - the first half of the 1790s. The revolutionary changes were radical in nature, they caused:

• breaking the old system
• abolition of the monarchy,
• gradual transition to a democratic system.

In general, the revolution was bourgeois, directed against the monarchical system and feudal remnants.

Chronologically, the revolution spans the period from 1789 to 1794, although some historians believe that it ended in 1799, when Napoleon Bonaparte came to power.

Participants

The basis of the Great French Revolution was the confrontation between the privileged nobility, which was the support of the monarchical system, and the “third estate”. The latter was represented by such groups as:

• Peasants;
• Bourgeoisie;
• Factory workers;
• The urban poor or plebs.

The uprising was led by representatives of the bourgeoisie, who did not always take into account the needs of other groups of the population.

Prerequisites and main reasons for the revolution

At the end of the 1780s. A protracted political, economic and social crisis erupted in France. Changes were demanded by the plebs, peasants, bourgeoisie and workers who did not want to put up with this state of affairs.

One of the most difficult issues was the agricultural one, which was constantly becoming more complicated due to the deep crisis of the feudal system. Its remnants prevented the development of market relations and the penetration of capitalist principles into Agriculture and industry, the emergence of new professions and production areas.

Among the main causes of the Great French Revolution, it is worth noting the following:

• The commercial and industrial crisis that began in 1787;
• The king's bankruptcy and the country's budget deficit;
• Several lean years led to the peasant uprisings of 1788-1789. In a number of cities - Grenoble, Besançon, Rennes and the outskirts of Paris - a series of plebs protests took place;
• Crisis of the monarchical regime. Attempts were made at the royal court to solve the problems that had arisen, but the methods of overcoming the systemic crisis that officials resorted to were hopelessly outdated and did not work. Therefore, King Louis XVI decided to make certain concessions. In particular, the notables and the States General were convened, which last time gathered in 1614. Representatives of the third estate were also present at the meeting of the States General. The latter created the National Assembly, which soon became the Constituent Assembly.

The nobility and privileged layers of French society, including the clergy, spoke out against such equality and began to prepare to disperse the meeting. In addition, they did not accept the king's proposal to tax them. The peasants, bourgeoisie, workers and plebs began to prepare for a nationwide uprising. An attempt to disperse it brought many representatives of the third estate onto the streets of Paris on July 13 and 14, 1789. Thus began the Great French Revolution, which changed France forever.

Stages of the revolution

Subsequent events are usually divided into several periods:

• From July 14, 1789 to August 10, 1792;
• From August 10, 1792 to June 3, 1793;
• June 3, 1793 - July 28, 1794;
• July 28, 1794 – November 9, 1799

The first stage began with the capture of the most famous French prison, the Bastille fortress. The following events also belong to this period:

• Replacement of old authorities with new ones;
• Creation of the National Guard, subordinate to the bourgeoisie;
• Adoption of the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen in the fall of 1789;
• The adoption of a number of decrees concerning the rights of the bourgeoisie and the plebs. In particular, the class division was eliminated, church property was confiscated, the clergy came under the control of secular authorities, the old administrative division of the country was abolished and the guilds were abolished. The most intense process was the abolition of feudal duties, but in the end the rebels managed to achieve this too;
• The emergence of the so-called Varenna crisis in the first half of the summer of 1791. The crisis was associated with the king's attempt to flee abroad. Associated with this event: the shooting of a demonstration on the Champ de Mars; the beginning of the confrontation between the poorest layers of the population and the bourgeoisie, which went over to the side of the nobility; as well as the separation of the moderate Jacobins from the revolutionary club political party Feuillants;
• Constant contradictions between the main political forces - the Girondins, Feuillants and Jacobins, which made it easier for other European states to penetrate into French territory. During 1792-1792. War was declared on the state torn apart by the revolution: Prussia, Sardinia, Great Britain, Austria, the Kingdom of Naples, Spain, the Netherlands and some German principalities. The French army was not ready for such a turn of events, especially since most of the generals fled the country. Due to the threat of an attack on the capital, volunteer detachments began to appear in Paris;
• Activation of the anti-monarchy movement. On August 10, 1792, the final overthrow of the monarchy and the creation of the Paris Commune took place.

The main feature of the second stage of the revolution was the confrontation between the Girondins and the Jacobins. The leaders of the first were J.P. Brissot, J.M. Roland and P.V. Vergniaud, who spoke on the side of the commercial, industrial and agricultural bourgeoisie. This party wanted a speedy end to the revolution and the establishment political stability. The Jacobins were led by M. Robespierre, J.P. Marat and Zh.Zh. Danton, who were representatives of the middle class and poor bourgeois. They defended the interests of workers and peasants, and also advocated for the further development of the revolution, since their demands remained unheard.

The main events of the second period of the French Revolution were:

• The struggle between the Jacobin-controlled Paris Commune and the Girondin Legislative Assembly. The consequence of the confrontation was the creation of the Convention, whose representatives were elected from the entire male population of France over 21 years of age on the basis of universal suffrage;
• Proclamation of France as a republic on September 21, 1792;
• Execution of the last king of the Bourbon dynasty on January 21, 1793;
• Continuation of peasant uprisings caused by poverty, landlessness and hunger. The poor seized the estates of their masters and divided the common land. The townspeople also rioted, demanding fixed prices for food;
• Expulsion of the Girondins from the Convention at the end of May - beginning of June 1793. This completed the second period of the uprising.

Getting rid of their opponents allowed the Jacobins to concentrate all power into their own hands. The third period of the Great French Revolution is known as the Jacobin dictatorship and, first of all, is associated with the name of the leader of the Jacobins - Maximilian Robespierre. This was a rather difficult period for the young republic - while internal contradictions were tearing the country apart, troops from neighboring powers were advancing towards the borders of the state. France was involved in the Vendée Wars, which engulfed the southern and northwestern provinces.

The Jacobins, first of all, took up the solution of the agrarian question. All communal lands and lands of the fleeing nobles were transferred to the peasants. Then feudal rights and privileges were abolished, which contributed to the formation of a new class of society - free owners.

The next step was the adoption of a new Constitution, which was distinguished by its democratic character. It was supposed to introduce constitutional government, but a complex socio-political and economic crisis forced the Jacobins to establish a regime of revolutionary democratic dictatorship.

At the end of August 1793, a decree was adopted on the mobilization of the French to fight against foreign invaders. In response, opponents of the Jacobins inside the country began to carry out mass Act of terrorism in all cities of France. As a result of one of these actions, Marat was killed.

At the end of July 1796, Republican troops defeated the interventionist forces near Fleurusset. The last decisions of the Jacobins were the adoption of the Ventose decrees, which were not destined to be implemented. Dictatorship, repression and the policy of requisition (expropriation) turned the peasants against the Jacobin regime. As a result, a conspiracy arose aimed at overthrowing the government of Robespierre. The so-called Thermidorian coup ended the rule of the Jacobins and brought moderate republicans and the bourgeoisie to power. They created a new governing body - the Directory. New power carried out a number of changes in the country:

• Adopted a new Constitution;
• Replaced the universal suffrage by qualification (only those citizens who owned property worth a certain amount received access to elections);
• Established the principle of equality;
• Granted the right to elect and be elected only to those citizens of the republic who are over 25 years old;
• Created the Council of Five Hundred and the Council of Elders, which monitored the political situation in France;
• She waged wars against Prussia and Spain, which ended with the signing of peace treaties. Continued military operations against England and Austria.

The rule of the Directory ended on November 9, 1799, when another coup took place in the republic. It was led by Army General Napoleon Bonaparte, who was extremely popular among the soldiers. Relying on the military, he managed to seize power in Paris, which marked the beginning of a new era in the life of the country.

Results and results of the revolution

• Elimination of remnants of the feudal system, which contributed to the rapid development of capitalist relations;
• Establishment of a republican system based on democratic principles;
• The final consolidation of the French nation;
• Formation of government bodies formed on the basis of suffrage;
• Adoption of the first constitutions, the provisions of which guaranteed citizens equality before the law and the opportunity to enjoy national wealth;
• Solution of the agrarian issue;
• Elimination of the monarchy;
• Adoption of the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen.

However, the positive transformations also contained a number of negative features:

• Introduction of property qualification;
• Ignoring the opinions of the majority of citizens, which led to new unrest;
• Establishing complex administrative division, which prevented the formation of an effective management system.

One of greatest events new history- - French Revolution of the 18th century. gave a powerful impetus to social progress throughout the world. In addition, she cleared the way for further development capitalism, which became a new stage in the history of world civilization, an advanced socio-political system for its time. Revolution 1789-1794 became a completely natural result of a long crisis, which became the main obstacle to the further development of France's absolute monarchy.

The commercial and industrial crisis caused by crop failures and famine led to increased unemployment and impoverishment of the urban lower classes and peasantry in the late 70s. XVIII century Massive peasant unrest began, which soon spread to the cities. The monarchy was forced to make concessions (Table 18).

Table 18.

Scientists conventionally divide the course of the French Revolution 1789-1794. to the following stages:

1. first stage - - creation of a constitutional monarchy(14 July 1789 - - 10 August 1792);

2. second stage - - establishment of the Girondin Republic(10 August 1792 - - 2 June 1793);

3. third stage - - establishment of the Jacobin Republic(2 June 1793 - - 27 July 1794).

The beginning first stage of the revolution counts July 14, 1789 when the rebel people stormed the royal fortress - the Bastille prison, which was destroyed within a year. The people removed the royal administration and replaced it with new elected bodies - - municipalities, which included the most authoritative representatives of the third estate.

In Paris and provincial cities the bourgeoisie created their own armed forces- - National Guard, territorial militia. Each national guardsman had to purchase weapons and equipment at his own expense - a condition that denied access to the national guard to poor citizens (Table 19).

Table 19.

The first stage of the revolution became a period domination of the big bourgeoisie, since power in France was in the hands of a political group that represented the interests of the rich bourgeoisie and liberal nobles and did not strive for complete elimination old system. Their ideal was a constitutional monarchy Therefore, in the Constituent Assembly they received the name constitutionalists. The political activity of the big bourgeoisie was based on attempts to come to an agreement with the nobility on the basis of mutual concessions (Table 20, Fig. 3, 4).

The Constituent Assembly on August 26, 1789 adopted the program document of the revolution - Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen.

Art. 1 of the Declaration stated: “Men are born and remain free and equal in rights.” As natural and inalienable rights in Art. 2 proclaimed: freedom; own; safety; resistance to oppression.

Freedom was defined as “the ability to do whatever does not cause harm to another (v. 4).” Articles 7, 9, 10 and 11 asserted personal freedom, freedom of conscience, religion, speech and press. Art. 9 proclaimed the principle of the presumption of innocence: the accused, including those detained, are considered innocent until their guilt is proven in the manner prescribed by law.

One of the main causes of the French Revolution of 1789 was the financial crisis. In the middle of the 18th century, France was involved in a series of devastating wars, so that there was almost no money left in the state treasury.

The only one in an effective way The replenishment of the treasury could come from taxation of the aristocracy, clergy and nobility, who were traditionally exempt from taxes.

But they, naturally, resisted with all their might the change in their financial situation. Although King Louis XVI had absolute power, he still did not dare to use this power in relation to upper classes, because he was afraid of being accused of despotism. In an effort to find a way out of this extremely difficult situation and gain the approval of the people, the monarch decided to convene the States General of France for the first time since 1614.

The Estates General was the highest body of class representation in the country. They consisted of three "states" or estates: the clergy (First Estate), the nobility (Second Estate) and the rest of the population, which included the majority of the French, namely the middle classes and peasantry (Third Estate). A meeting of the Estates General took place in May 1789, with each estate presenting its own grievances.

What the government did not expect at all was a huge number of complaints from the (Third Estate), which mainly consisted of representatives of the already formed bourgeois class; the new bourgeoisie were dissatisfied with the fact that they did not have the political rights that they could count on in the strength of their financial and social situation.

The tension increased further due to the fact that there were many disagreements over the voting procedure: whether to grant the right to vote to each estate, as tradition prescribed (in this case, there would be more privileged estates, and the Third Estate would remain in the minority), or to vote each representative can separately (in this case, the majority would receive the Third Estate).

Under pressure from the people, Louis XVI was inclined to allow individual representatives to vote, but at the same time he began to gather troops to Versailles and Paris, as if he had already repented of having yielded to the Third Estate and was preparing to repel a possible blow.

The threat of an attack by the royal army on Paris led to the fact that the townspeople found themselves in the thick of things. A group of electors, who constituted the final deputies from Paris for the Estates General, occupied the Town Hall and proclaimed themselves the city government, or Commune.

The Commune organized civil uprising, which then became known as the National Guard. The National Guard was supposed to maintain order in the city, which had by this time become restless, and prepare the capital for defense against attacks by royal troops. However, the Guard had to intervene much earlier, since on July 14 a crowd of angry Parisians headed to the arsenal of the Bastille prison in order to obtain weapons for the city detachments, and this campaign was crowned with success.

The taking of the Bastille played a major role in the development of the revolutionary process and became a symbol of victory over the oppressive forces of the monarchy. Although the consequences of the revolution had implications for the whole of France and even for Europe, the most significant events took place mainly in Paris.

Finding themselves at the epicenter of the revolution, ordinary residents of the capital, the so-called sans-culottes (literally “people without short pants,” that is, men who, unlike aristocrats and other rich people, wore long pants) became the main protagonists of the revolution. They formed revolutionary units, which became the main driving force at critical moments of the Revolution.

While the bourgeois deputies were mainly concerned political reforms, the sans-culottes put forward clear economic demands: control over pricing, providing the city with food, and so on. With these demands they took to the streets and thereby founded a tradition of street revolutionary protests that has survived to this day.

Creation of the National Assembly

While the king was gathering troops to Versailles, representatives of the Third Estate proclaimed themselves the National Assembly and invited the clergy and nobility to join them (which some nobles and part of the lower clergy did).

Most of the Assembly would probably agree to constitutional reform limiting the power of the monarchy to English manner. But the real power of the deputies was determined mainly by their ability to prevent the threat of a popular uprising in Paris. The king was forced to recognize the National Assembly, which in August 1789 adopted the Declaration of the Rights of Man, abolishing the feudal privileges of the old regime.

There were rumors in the city about counter-revolutionary sentiments at the court at Versailles, so in October special squad Parisians went to Versailles and obliged the king to return to Paris, after which the monarch was placed in the Tuileries Palace, where he actually lived as a prisoner. In 1791, the monarch secretly left the city in the hope of fleeing abroad, but he was caught in Varennes and brought back to Paris in disgrace.

Unlike the king, many nobles managed to leave the country, and they began to persuade foreign countries to oppose the revolutionary government. Some members of the National Assembly believed that in order to unite the nation and for the cause of the revolution, a war should be started, which would help spread the ideals of the revolution outside the country.

Following the initiative of the Girondin faction (a group of deputies from the Gironde region around Bordeaux), the Assembly decided to declare war on certain states in order to protect the Revolution. In 1792, France declared war on Austria, and a series of French Revolutionary Wars began. Since things were going pretty badly at the front, moderate sentiments gradually gave way to more radical ones.

Calls began to be heard to overthrow the king and establish a republic. The National Assembly split, and the Parisians had to take power into their own hands. In August 1792, the sans-culottes marched to the Town Hall, established their rebel Commune and imprisoned the king. Under pressure from the new Commune, the National Assembly agreed to dissolve, and to adopt a new, already republican constitution, announced elections for a new Convention.

There is no doubt that the people's militia played an important role in the establishment of the republic, but at the same time they were responsible for one of the most brutal atrocities of the Revolution - the September massacres of 1792, during which about 1,200 people were brutally killed, prisoners of Parisian prisons ( Conciergerie, La Force and others).

Among those killed were rebellious priests and political prisoners, as well as Marie Antoinette's closest friend, Princess Lamballe. Later that month, the first meeting of the Convention was held, at which the monarchy was abolished, a republic was established, and the king was put on trial for treason.

Louis XVI was sentenced to death and in January 1793 he was guillotined at the Place de la Révolution (now Place de la Concorde). The execution of the king forced the royalists to unite both within France itself and beyond its borders, and a vast military coalition was formed against revolutionary France. The Convention at this time was torn apart by internal contradictions; two main factions emerged in it: the Girondins and the more radical Jacobins.

The moderate Girondins gradually gave way, and as a result, in June 1793, this faction ceased to exist. The Convention established a military dictatorship and carried out its policies through various bodies, including the Committee national security, headed by Maximilian Robespierre.

Justifying its actions on grounds of public necessity, the National Security Committee began the physical destruction of “enemies of the people”; This period went down in the history of the Revolution under the name “Great Terror”. Among the first victims of the Terror was Queen Marie Antoinette, who calmly and with dignity ascended the guillotine in October 1793.

Over the next few months, about 2,600 more people were executed, including many moderate revolutionaries, such as Danton, who, going to his death, remained true to himself and uttered these proud words: “First of all, do not forget to show the people my head , because she deserves to be looked at.” Together with him, the romantic-idealist Camille Desmoulins ascended the scaffold, who on July 12, 1789, having climbed onto a table in a cafe in the Palais Royal, called on people to take up arms.

The Age of Terror ended in July 1794, when Robespierre, who had already proved himself a tyrant, was arrested by members of the Convention, who feared, not without reason, that the weapons of Terror might be directed against themselves, and then shared the fate of those people whom he condemned to death .?

After the end of the Terror, the country returned to a more moderate policy, and power was placed in the hands of a five-member Directory, which, unfortunately, showed weakness and a tendency to corruption. A period of instability ensued, during which there was constant fighting between royalists and revolutionaries. The ruling class needed a strong leader who would pass a constitution that would give more power to the executive branch.

And such a leader was found, he became General Napoleon Bonaparte, who had already proven himself to be outstanding commander on the battlefields of Italy and Austria and easily crushed the royalist rebellion in Paris in October 1795. In November 1799 Napoleon overthrew the Directory and thereby carried out a coup d'état. In 1802, Napoleon appointed himself First Consul for life, and in 1804 he proclaimed himself Emperor of France.

More photos of the French Revolution here: Photo gallery

§ 12. Culture and religion of the Ancient World

Section III history of the Middle Ages, Christian Europe and the Islamic world in the Middle Ages § 13. The Great Migration of Peoples and the formation of barbarian kingdoms in Europe

§ 14. The emergence of Islam. Arab conquests

§15. Features of the development of the Byzantine Empire

§ 16. The Empire of Charlemagne and its collapse. Feudal fragmentation in Europe.

§ 17. Main features of Western European feudalism

§ 18. Medieval city

§ 19. The Catholic Church in the Middle Ages. The Crusades, the Schism of the Church.

§ 20. The emergence of nation states

21. Medieval culture. Beginning of the Renaissance

Topic 4 from ancient Rus' to the Muscovite state

§ 22. Formation of the Old Russian state

§ 23. The Baptism of Rus' and its meaning

§ 24. Society of Ancient Rus'

§ 25. Fragmentation in Rus'

§ 26. Old Russian culture

§ 27. Mongol conquest and its consequences

§ 28. The beginning of the rise of Moscow

29. Formation of a unified Russian state

§ 30. Culture of Rus' at the end of the 13th - beginning of the 16th centuries.

Topic 5 India and the Far East in the Middle Ages

§ 31. India in the Middle Ages

§ 32. China and Japan in the Middle Ages

Section IV history of modern times

Topic 6 the beginning of a new time

§ 33. Economic development and changes in society

34. Great geographical discoveries. Formations of colonial empires

Topic 7: countries of Europe and North America in the 16th - 18th centuries.

§ 35. Renaissance and humanism

§ 36. Reformation and Counter-Reformation

§ 37. The formation of absolutism in European countries

§ 38. English revolution of the 17th century.

§ 39, Revolutionary War and American Formation

§ 40. French Revolution of the late 18th century.

§ 41. Development of culture and science in the XVII-XVIII centuries. Age of Enlightenment

Topic 8 Russia in the 16th - 18th centuries.

§ 42. Russia during the reign of Ivan the Terrible

§ 43. Time of Troubles at the beginning of the 17th century.

§ 44. Economic and social development of Russia in the 17th century. Popular movements

§ 45. The formation of absolutism in Russia. Foreign policy

§ 46. Russia in the era of Peter’s reforms

§ 47. Economic and social development in the 18th century. Popular movements

§ 48. Domestic and foreign policy of Russia in the mid-second half of the 18th century.

§ 49. Russian culture of the XVI-XVIII centuries.

Topic 9: Eastern countries in the 16th-18th centuries.

§ 50. Ottoman Empire. China

§ 51. Countries of the East and the colonial expansion of Europeans

Topic 10: countries of Europe and America in the 19th century.

§ 52. Industrial revolution and its consequences

§ 53. Political development of the countries of Europe and America in the 19th century.

§ 54. Development of Western European culture in the 19th century.

Topic II Russia in the 19th century.

§ 55. Domestic and foreign policy of Russia at the beginning of the 19th century.

§ 56. Decembrist movement

§ 57. Domestic policy of Nicholas I

§ 58. Social movement in the second quarter of the 19th century.

§ 59. Foreign policy of Russia in the second quarter of the 19th century.

§ 60. Abolition of serfdom and reforms of the 70s. XIX century Counter-reforms

§ 61. Social movement in the second half of the 19th century.

§ 62. Economic development in the second half of the 19th century.

§ 63. Foreign policy of Russia in the second half of the 19th century.

§ 64. Russian culture of the 19th century.

Topic 12 Eastern countries during the period of colonialism

§ 65. Colonial expansion of European countries. India in the 19th century

§ 66: China and Japan in the 19th century.

Topic 13 International relations in modern times

§ 67. International relations in the XVII-XVIII centuries.

§ 68. International relations in the 19th century.

Questions and tasks

Section V history of the XX - early XXI centuries.

Topic 14 The world in 1900-1914.

§ 69. The world at the beginning of the twentieth century.

§ 70. Awakening of Asia

§ 71. International relations in 1900-1914.

Topic 15 Russia at the beginning of the twentieth century.

§ 72. Russia at the turn of the XIX-XX centuries.

§ 73. Revolution of 1905-1907.

§ 74. Russia during the period of Stolypin reforms

§ 75. Silver age of Russian culture

Topic 16 first world war

§ 76. Military actions in 1914-1918.

§ 77. War and society

Topic 17 Russia in 1917

§ 78. February Revolution. From February to October

§ 79. October Revolution and its consequences

Topic 18 countries of Western Europe and the USA in 1918-1939.

§ 80. Europe after the First World War

§ 81. Western democracies in the 20-30s. XX century

§ 82. Totalitarian and authoritarian regimes

§ 83. International relations between the First and Second World Wars

§ 84. Culture in a changing world

Topic 19 Russia in 1918-1941.

§ 85. Causes and course of the Civil War

§ 86. Results of the Civil War

§ 87. New economic policy. Education of the USSR

§ 88. Industrialization and collectivization in the USSR

§ 89. Soviet state and society in the 20-30s. XX century

§ 90. Development of Soviet culture in the 20-30s. XX century

Topic 20 Asian countries in 1918-1939.

§ 91. Türkiye, China, India, Japan in the 20-30s. XX century

Topic 21 World War II. Great Patriotic War of the Soviet people

§ 92. On the eve of the World War

§ 93. First period of World War II (1939-1940)

§ 94. Second period of World War II (1942-1945)

Topic 22: the world in the second half of the 20th - early 21st centuries.

§ 95. Post-war world structure. Beginning of the Cold War

§ 96. Leading capitalist countries in the second half of the twentieth century.

§ 97. USSR in the post-war years

§ 98. USSR in the 50s and early 6s. XX century

§ 99. USSR in the second half of the 60s and early 80s. XX century

§ 100. Development of Soviet culture

§ 101. USSR during the years of perestroika.

§ 102. Countries of Eastern Europe in the second half of the twentieth century.

§ 103. Collapse of the colonial system

§ 104. India and China in the second half of the twentieth century.

§ 105. Latin American countries in the second half of the twentieth century.

§ 106. International relations in the second half of the twentieth century.

§ 107. Modern Russia

§ 108. Culture of the second half of the twentieth century.

§ 40. French Revolution of the late 18th century.

Causes and beginning of the revolution.

In 1789, the Great French Revolution began. She had deep reasons. The third estate (citizens and peasants) in France was politically powerless, although it made up the majority of the country's population. In the pre-revolutionary period, the situation of the peasants worsened. Many of them were forced to leave their homes and go to the city. 1788 was a lean year. A wave of popular uprisings swept the provinces. At the same time, an acute financial crisis broke out in the country. King Louis XVI was forced to agree to a union of the Estates General, which had not met for 150 years. Representatives of the three classes gathered at Versailles. Deputies from the nobility and clergy sought to limit the Estates General to the functions of an advisory body. Deputies of the Third Estate insisted on expanding the rights of the Estates General, seeking their transformation into the highest legislative body.

On June 17, 1789, the meeting of deputies of the third estate proclaimed itself National Assembly. On July 9, the National Assembly declared itself Constituent Assembly - the highest representative and legislative body of the French people. The assembly was supposed to develop basic laws.

The king and supporters of absolutism did not want to put up with these decisions. Troops were gathered in Paris and Versailles. This caused a wave of indignation in Paris. On July 14, 1789, Parisians captured the royal prison, the Bastille, a symbol of absolutism. In provincial cities, old government bodies were abolished and elected municipalities were created. A wave of peasant pogroms of castles, arson of estates, and division of landowners' lands swept across France. constituent Assembly in August it adopted a decree on the complete destruction of the feudal regime. Personal duties of peasants and church tithes were abolished. Other feudal obligations were subject to ransom.

Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen.

On August 26, 1789, the most important document of the revolution was adopted - the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen. It consisted of 17 articles. The first of them said that people are born free and remain so throughout their lives; they are also equal in rights. This thesis was a challenge to the absolutist idea of ​​the divine origin of the king's power. The Declaration proclaimed freedom of personality, conscience, speech, the right to resist oppression, and the sacred right of private property.

Decisions of the Constituent Assembly.

The situation in Paris continued to remain tense, and popular discontent grew. On October 5-6, 1789, huge crowds of Parisians marched on Versailles. They forced the king and the Constituent Assembly to move to Paris.

The Constituent Assembly, at the proposal of Talleyrand, a former bishop, declared church lands to be national property and put them on sale. This measure was supposed to undermine the power of the church and at the same time help resolve the financial crisis in the country. The Constituent Assembly abolished all the old class divisions.

In June 1791, King Louis XVI tried to flee abroad, but was detained. The king's flight was considered treason. The idea of ​​monarchism was dealt a serious blow. However, moderate deputies hastened to complete work on creating a constitution that established constitutional monarchy.

The beginning of revolutionary wars,

On the basis of the Constitution of 1791, a Legislative Assembly was elected, which began its work on October 1, 1791. It was dominated by supporters of a constitutional monarchy. The opposition to them was Girondins. They stood for the republic. There was also a group in the Legislative Assembly far left headed by M. Robespierre.

In 1792, the economic situation in the country deteriorated sharply. In Paris and some other cities, major protests took place due to need and hunger. The aristocrats who fled the country created a center of counter-revolutionary emigration in Germany. The governments of European powers were preparing armed intervention against France. On April 20, 1792, Louis XVI and the Legislative Assembly declared war on Austria. The hostilities began poorly for France. Defeats by Austria and Prussia sparked a popular movement. Thousands of volunteers flocked to Paris. The news of the interventionists' intention to restore the king's rights sparked an uprising on August 10, 1792. Louis

XVI was overthrown.

Proclamationrepublics.

On August 20, 1792, the National convention. For the first time, he was elected by universal suffrage, in which only men participated. On September 21, the Convention proclaimed a republic. Before this, a wave of reprisals against suspected sympathizers of the old regime swept across France.

By the spring of 1793, the question of land again arose. In some areas, unauthorized seizure of land by peasants began. The Convention, by a special decree, authorized the sale of lands of emigrants and royal lands in small plots.

The issue of punishing Louis XVI was also decided at the Convention and outside it. Opinions on this issue were sharply divided: the majority of Girondins were against the execution of the king, but Jacobins(supporters of radical measures united within the Jacobin Club) and some of the Girondins were in favor of execution. On January 21, 1793, Louis XVI was executed. In October of the same year he was executed

the queen.

Jacobin dictatorship.

In the most difficult time for the country and in June 1793, the Jacobins came to power. A decree was adopted that finally returned all communal lands to the peasants, and a decree abolishing all feudal duties and taxes.

In two weeks, the Jacobins approved a new Constitution, which was based on the principles of freedom, equality and popular sovereignty. The highest legislative power belonged to the Legislative Assembly, elected for a term of 1 year. The highest executive power was exercised by the Executive Council

of 24 people.

The political situation in the country in the summer of 1793 continued to deteriorate. Interventionist armies were advancing, posing a threat to Paris. On July 13, the Jacobin Jean Paul Marat, popular among Parisians, was killed. Products became more expensive and became unavailable to

poor people, the supply of food to the cities was reduced, there was not enough bread and basic food. Back in April)